Post-Digital Religious Education (Cluster C)

Cluster C explores the subject area of religious and religion-based education in post-digital culture and society, into which there has been little investigation within digital religion(s) research to date.

The project focuses on the following research questions:

• What challenges arise for a digital religious and religion-based theory of education and how is educational practice shaped?
• What opportunities and challenges arise for learners and teachers?
• What strategies can be developed in formal and non-formal educational settings and what are the implications for key stakeholders, particularly in terms of education policy?

These and other questions are being investigated in four sub-projects and the results will be brought together within the interdisciplinary coordinated cluster. There is critical reflection on the concept of post-digitality and analysis of its relevance for religious and religion-based education. In addition, the influence of these educational processes on individual lifestyles, with regard to well-being and resilience, is being researched, as well as the influence on civil society processes.

There is particular potential in joint empirical research – both qualitative and quantitative – which relies on shared data usage and thus creates synergies. In terms of methodology, approaches such as citizen science, participatory research and large language models (LLMs) are also embraced. The aim is to make an evidence-based contribution to the ongoing discourse surrounding religious and religion-based education in the post-digital age and to develop a conceptual framework for digital teaching and learning opportunities at various educational levels.