Would You Believe? Irish Education Student Perspectives on Religions and Beliefs in Challenging Times

• In Event: 61.069 - MTCC Roundtable Session 24
  In Roundtable Session: 61.069-11 - Religion and Schooling

Abstract

Religion matters deeply in Ireland and this collaborative, funded international research project presents the perspectives of university students on their personal belief. The deficit in research focusing on the tertiary student population in Ireland was a springboard for the research which involved an application of research instruments from European surveys for use with university students in six universities and colleges in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Initial Teacher Educator and Social Science Students were the sample group and the paper explores the challenging nature of belief in a world of growing intolerance and hate crime/speech, challenging the ideology of inter-culturalism in Ireland, and raising the implications for future professional practice of academic tutors, students and policy makers.

Authors

• Marie Parker-Jenkins, University of Limerick

• Patricia Kieran, Mary Immaculate College

• Anne Kathleen Ryan, Mary Immaculate College