Students’ Perceptions of a Multifaith Environment and its Challenges: Exploring a Way Forward in a Maltese Independent School
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.62695/BRND9334Keywords:
Multifaith, Perceptions, Students, Educators, Independent SchoolAbstract
This paper examines students’ perceptions about the possibility to educate beyond Religious Education and the curriculum in a bid to enhance a multifaith environment. The findings reported in this paper derive from the qualitative component of a larger sequential explanatory mixed methods study carried out with both educators and students in an independent school in Malta. The study revealed significant differences among participants who hail from different faith communities. Student participants in the focus groups specifically noted their school’s endeavour towards inclusion and respect towards all faiths and suggested that more diverse multifaith initiatives for all members of its community should be identified and put into practice in order to better address the needs of a multifaith school. Students claimed that they felt respected as persons at school, although they believe that many faiths remained largely invisible at school. The paper concludes that schools must gradually adopt new multifaith initiatives while remaining faithful to their own identity.
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