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Religion and Tolerance in Moroccan Higher Education: The Promises and Challenges of Interfaith Dialogue Education

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EducationSociology

Religion and Tolerance in Moroccan Higher Education: The Promises and Challenges of Interfaith Dialogue Education

After 9/11, several scholars suggested the implementation of interfaith/interreligious dialogue education in the field of education to foster more tolerance and “acceptance” of the “religious Other” in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Very recently, interfaith dialogue has been implemented in the Master’s program: “Communication in Contexts: Culture and Dialogue” (Faculty of Arts and Humanities – Moulay Ismail University of Meknes, Morocco). Therefore, this study’s main aim is to explore this course’s challenges and promises. Three qualitative research questions were used to explore the following issues: (i) the challenges faced by the students, (ii) the competencies they developed, and (ii) the effectiveness and good teaching practices of the course. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect the data and qualitative content analysis was used for data analysis. Results indicated that despite several challenges, students managed to develop different interfaith dialogue competencies. The results also showed a need for more pedagogical strategies and innovative methods to make the course more effective. The findings of this study can give more insights to teachers and researchers of interfaith dialogue in the future.

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