Religionspädagogische Inszenierungen im Konfirmationsunterricht. Zur performativen Qualität religiösen Lernens und Lehrens im Raum der Kirche.

The confirmation is one of the central rituals of the mainline Protestant church in Germany (Evangelische Landeskirche). It is still held in high esteem, and remains a high light for families and parish life. However, the pedagogical preparation is given much less attention. The renaming of the field in German - from “confirmation classes” (Konfirmandenunterricht) to “work with confirmands” (Konfirmandenarbeit) - marks a change of perspective from both a theoretical and a practical point of view. This approach was enriched by empirically-based insights from the social sciences as well as by forms of social work and Christian youth work. Despite these advances, an integrated didactic theory is still lacking; this should provide an analytic framework as well as guidance for pedagogical processes preparing for confirmation, drawing on perspectives from education theory. In this context the present publication opens up a novel field of research: the qualitative analysis of didactic processes used in preparation for confirmation. On the one hand, it presents a set of methodological-methodical instruments for investigating teaching processes. It is shown that specific settings and forms of presentation lead in practice to a specific focus of the religious system acting as a kind of “hidden curriculum”. In its place, a modal analysis is suggested for interpreting and orientating catechetical activities. Among other things, this reveals the extent to which specific ways of teaching (pedagogical settings and forms of presentation) can actually undermine the goal of religious education per se. By implication, the approach presented here makes it possible to name different priorities/focus areas, and bring them into a constructive balance. This thesis makes a contribution to basic research, so that didactic/practical and normative implications can only be derived indirectly. Nevertheless, the insights presented here can inspire other research processes; they can also be used pragmatically for the purposes of shaping both basic and advanced training.