Teacher Training for Religious Education in Türkiye: Policy, Debate, and Diversity

Teacher education is debated all over the world, and a part of this debate concerns the quality of teacher education. For religious education (RE) teacher education, however, the debate is not only about quality but also about growing diversity. In this article, we explore how RE teachers have been educated and how this has changed in Türkiye. How religious diversity has been integrated into the RE teacher education system is also explored. By teacher education/training, we mean initial (not in-service) teacher education, and by RE, we mean different types of RE provided in schools in Türkiye: compulsory, optional, and vocational RE. The findings reveal that there have been frequent changes, back-and-forth reforms, and a lack of RE teacher education philosophy in Türkiye. Therefore, establishing a consistent RE teacher education policy remains a serious challenge. Moreover, it seems that religious diversity has not been well integrated into RE teacher education in Türkiye. Currently, theology faculties only offer two courses which are overtly related to religious diversity, and both of them approach religious diversity from a historical perspective. It seems that there is a need to rethink the program structures of theology faculties to reform RE teacher education. Theology faculties may offer several programs in line with employment areas. In this way, religious diversity might also become better integrated into compulsory RE teacher education programs. However, this process should be carried out with a scientific understanding by conducting stakeholder and needs analyses.