Public Religious Pedagogy Amidst Religious Pluralism: Qualitative Study Among Hindu and Muslim Educators in Salesian Institutions of Tamil Nadu, India

Overcoming its self-referential preoccupations, theology today is urged to exit into the public square characterized by multiple types of diversity. One of the crucial public domains in which religions have played a significant role is education. In the contemporary multireligious Indian context, the question that arises is whether we can consider Salesian pedagogy as public religious pedagogy, that is, if educators affiliated to neighbour religions can share the Salesian/religious pedagogy in Salesian educational institutions. It is our contention that the prism of public theology can shed some light on such a possibility. With this intent, we first elucidate the configuration of public theology amidst religious pluralism focusing successively on public practical theology of education, public religious education, and public religious pedagogy. This is then followed by a synthesis of Salesian pedagogy and the research design of a qualitative study on its lived experience among Hindu and Muslim educators, namely, professors in Salesian colleges, teachers in Salesian schools, and social collaborators in Salesian study centres of Tamil Nadu, India. Lastly, based on the emerging findings we highlight the relevance and advancement of Salesian pedagogy as public religious pedagogy.