Tenth International Conference on Religion & Spirituality in Society

Abstract

Shaped by new forms of communication, global migration, and multi-national media corporations, globalisation has created a reality where diversity has become a dominating feature of modern life radically transforming the social and cultural landscape of wide areas of the planet. Therefore, in multicultural societies such as Morocco, education is expected to respect diversity and be designed in such a way that all groups have equal attention and treatment. As essential actors in educational systems, school textbooks are persuasive expressions of positions and values that might therefore be expected to work to establish histories and perceptions of Self and the Other. Using a qualitative content analysis, this paper examines Moroccan high school religious textbooks to determine how other religions are represented and how they contribute to establish knowledge about the Self and the Other. The findings of this study show that Moroccan high school religious textbooks are remarkably exclusive and participate in larger processes of othering. The results can provide the ground to those involved in the practice of creating and teaching religious content in Moroccan schools to understand the role religious textbooks can play in sensitizing learners about the dangers of religious antagonism, terrorism, and extremism. Finally, the results can also highlight the necessity of using religious textbooks infighting illiteracy about foreign religions and contribute to fostering values of respect for religious diversity, tolerance, and coexistence among learners.