| The
Toledo Principles for Teaching RE |
 |
| 1.
|
Teaching
about religions and beliefs must be provided in ways that are fair,
accurate and based on sound scholarship. Students should learn about
religions and beliefs in an environment respectful of human rights,
fundamental freedoms and civic values. |
| 2.
|
Those
who teach about religions and beliefs should have a commitment to
religious freedom that contributes to a school environment and practices
that foster protection of the rights of others in a spirit of mutual
respect and understanding among members of the school community. |
| 3.
|
Teaching
about religions and beliefs is a major responsibility of schools,
but the manner in which this teaching takes place should not undermine
or ignore the role of families and religious or belief organizations
in transmitting values to successive generations. |
| 4. |
Efforts should be made to establish advisory bodies at different
levels that take an inclusive approach to involving different stakeholders
in the preparation and implementation of curricula and in the training
of teachers. |
| 5.
|
Where
a compulsory programme involving teaching about religions and beliefs
is not sufficiently objective, efforts should be made to revise
it to make it more balanced and impartial, but where this is not
possible, or cannot be accomplished immediately, recognizing opt-out
rights may be a satisfactory solution for parents and pupils, provided
that the opt-out arrangements are structured in a sensitive and
non-discriminatory way. |
| 6.
|
Those
who teach about religions and beliefs should be adequately educated
to do so. Such teachers need to have the knowledge, attitude and
skills to teach about religions and beliefs in a fair and balanced
way. Teachers need not only subject-matter competence but pedagogical
skills so that they can interact with students and help students
interact with each other in sensitive and respectful ways. |
| 7. |
Preparation of curricula, textbooks and educational materials for
teaching about religions and beliefs should take into account religious
and non-religious views in a way that is inclusive, fair, and respectful.
Care should be taken to avoid inaccurate or prejudicial material,
particularly when this reinforces negative stereotypes. |
| 8.
|
Curricula
should be developed in accordance with recognized professional standards
in order to ensure a balanced approach to study about religions
and beliefs. Development and implementation of curricula should
also include open and fair procedures that give all interested parties
appropriate opportunities to offer comments and advice. |
| 9.
|
Quality
curricula in the area of teaching about religions and beliefs can
only contribute effectively to the educational aims of the Toledo
Guiding Principles if teachers are professionally trained to use
the curricula and receive ongoing training to further develop their
knowledge and competences regarding this subject matter. Any basic
teacher preparation should be framed and developed according to
democratic and human rights principles and include insight into
cultural and religious diversity in society. |
| 10. |
Curricula focusing on teaching about religions and beliefs should
give attention to key historical and contemporary developments pertaining
to religion and belief, and reflect global and local issues. They
should be sensitive to different local manifestations of religious
and secular plurality found in schools and the communities they
serve. Such sensitivities will help address the concerns of students,
parents and other stakeholders in education. |
