Education and Integration: Some Secular and Religious Considerations

This paper takes issue with the relations between modern secular education and religion by taking the main sector of public education in Israel as a case study. By focusing particularly on the educational arena in Israel, the paper presents two reflections. First, that the ‘secular’ is not a universal category but a culturally dependent one that already makes a distinction between ‘insiders’ and ‘outsiders’. Second, and in building on the first reflection, that any appeal for integration in education should also include an engagement with the variety of religious identities that may challenge some of the most intimate secular views and concepts, including the concept of integration itself. To present the case, the paper starts with a theoretical framework, followed by a brief examination of the Israeli case study. The paper concludes by exploring some of the questions that these discussions may present for education.