An analysis on the concept of Opfer in religous education

The German term Opfer is a hypernym that combines and reveals an interesting and overlapping discourse, which is kept (linguistically) separate in English and Romance languages between victim and sacrifice. Thus, the discussion incorporates both genuine theological concepts (sacrificing for a transcendental reality) and anthropological experiences (becoming a victim but also sacrificing for someone/something). With the concept of Opfer, the present research project investigates a subject matter not only relevant for theological tradition and discourse but ever-present and impactful in daily life: Youths are confronted with and experience victimhood in various forms within the family, among friends, through the media and by being/becoming victims themselves. Many have to deal with marginalisation and stigmatisation in schools. Among German-speaking youths victim has now even become an insult. On the other hand, they experience, that others sacrifice themselves for them and that they are able to make sacrifices for others. Despite its topicality the concept of Opfer has received surprisingly little attention within religious education so far. The research project aims to explore the potential of the socially and theologically relevant subject matter on different levels in (religious) education and didactics of religion. The outset is to examine the concept of Opfer among students regarding the real-life background of the use of such terminology, associated theological ideas, and the interdependencies between the two. Then, current concepts of Opfer among systematic theologists will be investigated, again with respect to real-life implications and theological notions as well as the connection between them. The different data sources require different methodologies: The concepts of Opfer among youths will be collected qualitatively empirically while selected current systematic theological concepts of Opfer will be textually hermeneutically analysed. The thus gained results will be used to developed the following: - Criteria for a fruitful integration of systematic theological concepts as well as didactical principles in a competence-oriented discussion on the concept of Opfer within religious education in school as an example for a general discourse on traditional systematic theological terms and concepts, especially within the correlation discourse - Guidelines for a victim-conscious culture in schools and other organisations, free of victimisation and encouraging empathy - Epistemological approach to religious education and didactics of religion to reflect on the area between real life (especially of youths herein) and theological relational studies (systematic theology herein) 1

An analysis on the concept of 'Opfer' in religious education An investigation of the intersection between the personal lives of youths and theological tradition Significant theological terms - such as 'guilt', 'redemption' or 'Opfer' ('sacrifice' and 'victim') - are also used in everyday life. Regarding the design of religious learning processes, the purpose of this research project was to investigate which everyday conceptions of a term are formative and whether or how students retain or change their conceptions in the light of a theological context. The theme of 'Opfer' seemed to be a demonstrative example. So far, it has received little attention in religious education, although it has great relevance in the theological tradition and is very present in everyday life. On the one hand, young people are confronted with victims in many ways or are marginalized as victims themselves. On the other hand, they experience that others are sacrificing for them and that they are able to sacrifice for others. The 'conceptual change'-approach was used as a theoretical framework. In this approach, which is well established in science didactics, a vertical and a horizontal dimension is distinguished. Vertical 'conceptual changes' describe the change from primary, everyday-world conceptions to secondary conceptions that are more scientifically oriented. On the horizontal perspective, different but equally important conceptions are viewed. In the sense of a 'conceptual change' in a horizontal perspective, the change from everyday-worldly to theologically framed conceptions of 'Opfer' among students aged 17-18 years was investigated by means of a written survey. The contextualization was done by specific semantic markers (everyday: 'Opfer' in the context of 'family', 'friends', 'school', 'media', theological: 'Opfer' in the context of 'death of Jesus'). Commonalities in content emerged across the distinction of five formal 'conceptual change'-types: The young people's conceptualizations tended to be in line with theological intuitions. Within the theological framing, cultic aspects and non-human influencing factors of a sacrificial event were omitted. At the same time, however, unconvincing basic hermeneutical approaches, empty spaces in terms of content and little distinction accompanied these conceptions. The thesis of a 'break with tradition' has therefore to be viewed in a differentiated way. The 'conceptual change'-approach established in the STEM-field, allowed to explore its fundamental potential for the didactics of religious education. Opposite to the natural science domain, no explicit misconceptions were found in the theological conceptions of the students, but there was a lack of full understanding. In the humanities, normativity is characterized by plurality to a greater extent than in the natural sciences. Accordingly, a conceptual change in vertical terms is less about the development of a specific conception, but about a 'widening' of the view, a reflected broadening of horizons within a specific subject rationality.