Über den konfessionellen Religionsunterricht an Berufsschulen hinaus: Perspektiven religions- und vielfaltssensibler Professionalisierung frühpädagogischer Fachkräfte

Perspectives on the religiously and worldview-sensitive professionalization of early childhood educators

Abstract

This article discusses development perspectives for religion- and diversity-sensitive professionalization in vocational schools for future early childhood educators. Based on individual (professional) biographies as well as religious and worldview diversity within vocational education and early childhood education, vocational school teachers and apprentices are required to sensitively discuss and accompany this diversity. From a religion- and diversity-sensitive perspective, this article discusses implications for vocational religious education as well as its relevance beyond the subject itself. The analysis of two exemplary case studies is based on guided interviews with trainees and provides insights into different ways of future educators engaging with the topic of religion and religious diversity within the vocational education context. Furthermore, the article explores little discussed potentials of religious sensitivity as a key competence and cross-thematic that extends beyond the confessional framework of vocational religious education. Finally, three central didactic perspectives are developed - the interrelation of vocational training and practice, dialogical and discursive learning settings, and the role of fellow students as spaces of reflection.