MORE than 90 per cent of teens agree that welcoming a multicultural society in Australia makes for a better place to live, a collaborative university study has found.<\/p>\n
The research \u2013 which was conducted by researchers at Deakin University, Australian National University and Monash University \u2013 looked at \u201cGeneration Z\u201d teens and discovered broad religious education in schools leads to a better understanding and acceptance of Australia\u2019s religious minorities.<\/p>\n
It was also found that 74 per cent of teens have positive attitudes towards Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism, with 21 per cent expressing moderate to neutral views, and only five per cent possessing negative views.<\/p>\n
Associate Professor Anna Halafoff, who is based at Deakin\u2019s Waurn Pond campus, said although an overwhelming majority of Australia\u2019s teens viewed religious diversity positively, there was still a need to increase understanding of and reduce bigotry towards religious groups.<\/p>\n
\u201cAustralian teens have moderate levels of religious literacy, which we believe is due to a lack of general religious education (GRE) and worldviews education, especially in Australian state and independent schools.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur data suggest GRE programs are associated with reduced negative perceptions of religious minorities \u2013 students who have received GRE have the most positive views towards Australia\u2019s religious minorities, while students who have had
\nno GRE are about twice as likely to hold negative or neutral views.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately, 56 per cent of students attending public schools, and 42 per cent of those attending private schools, have received no dedicated GRE.<\/p>\n
\u201cAustralian schools are still lagging behind the UK, EU and Canada with respect to their treatment of religion.\u201d<\/p>\n
More than 50 per cent of students who hadn\u2019t received any level of GRE wanted to learn more about diverse religions and non-religious worldviews at school.<\/p>\n
Associate Professor Halafoff said these findings suggest there should be more education about diverse worldviews and religion in Australia\u2019s curriculum.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MORE than 90 per cent of teens agree that welcoming a multicultural society in Australia makes for a better place to live, a collaborative university study has found. The research \u2013 which was conducted by researchers at Deakin University, Australian National University and Monash University \u2013 looked at \u201cGeneration Z\u201d teens and discovered broad religious […]<\/p>\n