Navigating Religious and Secular Identities in Contemporary Religious Studies Classrooms
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Study design: Systematic Review
Abstract: (1)The contemporary religious studies classrooms have become one of the most intellectually contested spaces in higher education. As universities enrol students from increasingly diverse religious, spiritual, and secular backgrounds, the challenge of teaching about religion without marginalising or privileging any single tradition has intensified. (2)This study investigates how students negotiate personal belief, doubt, and nonbelief within academically critical environments, and how educators navigate the tensions between confessional and non-confessional pedagogical approaches. (3)Drawing on a critical systematic literature review of 87 peer-reviewed articles published between 2015 and 2025, sourced from Google Scholar, Web of Science, Scopus, and ERIC. (4)The findings reveal that despite growing rhetorical commitments to pluralism, classrooms remain shaped by residual Christian normativity, Eurocentric epistemological assumptions, and a persistent myth that secularism constitutes a neutral ground. (5)The study argues for a pedagogical reorientation grounded in the Critical Religious Pluralism Theory (CRPT), supplemented by decolonial and intersectional frameworks, to create learning environments where all religious and non-religious identities are taken seriously as sites of knowledge.
Source: EdArXiv (OSF Preprints)
Authors: Owen Mulima, Peggy Mutale
Language: English
Subfield: Education
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7155190344