Religious education in Polish schools : teachers' intercultural competence?

This article concerns religious education in Polish schools. The main aim of the paper is to diagnose its potential to support intercultural education. The analysis is constructed upon the legal aspects that form the religious education’s dominant model. Furthermore, the need for intercultural education in Poland is rationalized. For this kind of education proper preparation of teachers and development of their intercultural competencies should be ensured. The term “intercultural competence” is clarified in the context of developmental models created by Milton Bennett and Darla Deardorff. Theoretical analysis provides the basis for research, which main point is to address the question whether religious educators are competent enough to conduct intercultural courses or not. The preliminary studies are based on five semi-structured interviews. They concern such issues as preparation and motivation for teaching religion, learning about other religions in frame of religious education, and the preparation for teaching about other religions and cultures.