Measuring competences for democratic culture: teaching human rights through religious education

This paper aims to present research on measuring competences for democratic culture. It describes the development of a multiple-item scale that measures competences in teaching democratic citizenship and human rights through religious education. A principal component analysis based on the 135 items of the Council of Europe’s Reference framework of competences for democratic culture was carried out in two phases, in order to construct and refine the scale. The result was a 52-item scale divided into six components. This was tested for its reliability, factor structure and validity; firstly on a sample of 123, and secondly on a sample of 403 secondary RE teachers (2018-19). The research scrutinises the concept of democratic competences as being the ability to mobilise and deploy relevant values, attitudes, skills, knowledge and/or understanding. It concludes that these competences are more complex structures than has been assumed.


Introduction
In a world that is increasingly socially, economically and environmentally interdependent and where COVID-19 has significantly weakened the political, financial and social capacities of nation-states and nation-unions, it is incumbent on democratic education and religious education (RE) to develop the consciousness of a diverse and, at the same time, shared world (Heater, 2004, pp. 240-246). This paper focuses on an education that moves forward from just teaching citizenship to one where, within the curriculum, democracy is taught and learned (Biesta & Lawy, 2006;Dewey, [1916Dewey, [ ] 2002. In this way, schools and humanities subjects can develop young people's capabilities and facilitate critical thinking, world citizenship, and imaginative understanding (Nussbaum, 2006). And RE, as a humanities subject, can contribute to the development of liberal, open-minded and respectful mindsets by studying world religions and worldviews from different points of view (Jackson, 2014;Heilbronn, 2021, pp.27-30).
The paper focuses on RE teachers, the measurement of their 'competences for democratic culture' (CDC), and how these impact on teaching and learning democracy within the curriculum. The faith and beliefs of RE teachers, as well as their secular and non-religious positions, seem to play a role in how 'otherness' is experienced in the classroom; it is important that these teachers examine themselves and their own stereotypes and prejudices (Everington, 2013;Lundie & Conroy, 2015;Franken & Loobuyck, 2016;Kittelmann Flensner, 114 can get in the classroom' (Stern, 2006, p. 94).

Council of Europe's reference framework of competences for democratic culture and teaching professionalism
In the European context, it is recognised that education plays the essential role in building the world in which future generations will live. This acknowledgement is the key foundation of the Council of Europe's 'Reference framework of competences for democratic culture' (RFCDC) (Council of Europe, 2018a; and the starting point for current research within the RE community. The Council of Europe has focused on human rights, democracy, and the rule of law in maintaining and fostering the political systems of the member countries as well as promoting citizenship education. In Recommendation CM/Rec (2007) To empower them to exercise and defend their democratic rights and responsibilities in society, to value diversity and to play an active part in democratic life, with a view to the promotion and protection of democracy and the rule of law. (Council of Europe, 2010) Furthermore, the aim of human rights education is defined as: To empower learners to contribute to the building and defence of a universal culture of human rights in society, with a view to the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms. are so general and basic that they should figure in any complex competence such as the seven we defined…although some of the simple competences are more central for certain complex competences… However, none of the simple ones will be completely absent (whatever that might mean) from any of the complex ones. (Jónsson & Rodriguez, 2019, p. 11) In fact, the democratic competences are complex structural concerns in a social context (Biesta & Lawy, 2006) rather than individuals' skills and capabilities to behave in one particular way. When the competences are so general, and figure in so many aspects of individuals' lives and learning processes, the majority of educators may claim to be working towards one, or more, or all of them; teachers follow the curriculum in the classroom and claim that they work on the competence of listening and observing. That does not mean that there is no value in listing 20 competences. On the contrary, they provide the basis of the democratic competences which must always be conceptualised and analysed by using the 135 descriptors.
These can lead to more complex but recognisable competences. The descriptors are provided to help to operationalise the competences in terms of the observable behaviours of democratic culture (Council of Europe, 2018a, p. 59).
Although a number of researchers challenge the efficacy and the morality of educating 'good citizens' in schools (Merry, 2020;Francis & Mills, 2012;Eksner & Nur Chemma, 2017;Gillborn, 2006;Apple, 2013), education is literally the crucial component in democratic empowerment.
Thus, properly educated and trained teachers are necessary since it is their practice that can promote democratic culture, as the EDC/HRE Charter states: Teaching and learning practices and activities should follow and promote democratic and human rights values and principles (Council of Europe, 2010).
This requires competent teaching professionals, educated and politically astute, who can develop the CDC themselves and, at the same time, be ready to tackle a range of challenges in their communities, schools, and classrooms. It is these individuals who have the task of educating children to be socially active and responsible citizens (Sachs, 2003, p. 154;Salema, 2005 It is apparent from the above that it is of the upmost importance for RE teachers to possess a critical perception, a 'knowledge and critical understanding of the self' and 'knowledge and critical understanding of the world'. These competences can be described in terms of observable behaviours: a) critically examining values and beliefs; b) critically examining prejudices and stereotypes, as well as everything behind them; c) critically examining the deeper causes of human rights violations, such as the role played by stereotypes and prejudices in human rights abuses; and d), recognising the religious symbols, religious rituals, and religious uses of language (Council of Europe, 2018). The examination of the interconnections between beliefs and religion with stereotypes and prejudices but, above all, with human rights, highlights the essential commitment of different dimensions of self-'rational, affective, somatic, spiritual, and sociocultural' (Tolliver & Tisdell, 2006, p.39). The logical dimension of self is a presupposition for a critical understanding of the self and the world to manage the internal interplay between the personal religious beliefs, conditions of education and different social contexts, as well as the external interplay between the interests of stakeholders (state, local authorities, religious communities, etc.) (Christopher, 2020;Jackson & Everington, 2016). This external interplay changes as the politicisation and secularisation of RE has a different impact in different contexts (Zembylas, Loukaidis, & Antoniou, 2019). To conclude, the issue is that both contemporary conditions and educational demands require RE teachers who are competent to transmit democratic culture. This inevitably means a change of paradigm for most of them, and it is well known that teachers resist changes of paradigm (Zimmerman, 2006;Clement, 2014;Hargreaves, 2004;Mutch, 2012;Zembylas, 2003).
Even though this is the case, RE teachers individually initiate processes of (self-) reflection and (self-) evaluation when research puts them in a position of responsibility for educating students about, through and for, human rights (Burridge, et al., 2013;Tibbitts, 2002;Jennings, 2006;Robinson, Phillips, & Quennerstedt, 2020). Teaching 'manifests itself as a gift that occurs beyond learning' (Biesta, 2020, p. 39). Therefore, there is an urgent need for a scale that can challenge teachers to reflect on and evaluate their values, attitudes, skills, and the critical understanding required for democratic culture. Such a scale, based on particular descriptors of competences, will also measure their CDC. This is the starting point of the current research.
The development of a tool to measure CDC, however, construes 'competences' as not just 'performative virtues or instrumental character traits', but also as Aristotelian virtues with a moral dimension (Jónsson & Rodriguez, 2019

Materials and methods
In order to ensure that the development of the scale is valid and reliable and to scrutinise the components/categories, the research was carried out in two stages. In the first stage, 123 secondary RE teachers from all around Greece were called upon to assess their attitudes to the 135 items of the competences for democratic culture, as defined by the Council of Europe.
To do so, an electronic questionnaire was distributed between February 2019 to May 2019.
All questions were based on a 5-point Likert scale where 1 referred to 'never' and 5 referred to 'always'. The items were initially categorised into four components (values, attitudes, skills, and knowledge and understanding) according to RFCDC (Council of Europe, 2018a; 2018b).
Based on the conceptualisation of Parasuraman, Zeithaml, & Berry (1988), the four categories were scrutinised to a degree in order to refine the 135 items instrument by analysing the data.
An initial components analysis was carried out and, in order to ensure the extracted components' reliability, Cronbach's alpha was used.
In the second stage of the research, there were responses from 403 randomly selected RE teachers from all around Greece, between September 2019 and May 2020. This sample is considered sufficient, since in similar studies where the aim is to develop and evaluate a scale for measuring attitudes and opinions, desired samples range from 200 to 400 people (Churchill Jr, Ford, & Walker Jr, 1974;Saxe & Weitz, 1982;Parasuraman, Zeithaml, & Berry, 1988).
In both stages, the collected data was analysed using SPSS V.26 and inductive statistical methods, including principal components analysis and reliability analysis.

First stage
The collected data was initially analysed using principal components analysis. This aims to reduce the number of variables to a few specific components that correspond to new variables and thus explain a large part of the variation in the data. Varimax rotation, which minimises the number of items that have high loadings and makes the extracted components more interpretable, was used in the analysis. The correlation coefficients and the partial correlation coefficients were calculated. The relative sizes of the correlation coefficients were then compared with the partial correlation coefficients. The measure that gives the value of this comparison is the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin, where values higher than 0.750 are considered to be 121 satisfactory. Indeed, for the questions examined using the above method, the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin value is equal to 0.835. Another way to evaluate the suitability of the model is the Bartlett test of sphericity. The test rejects the null hypothesis (sig. = 0.000), which means that the statistical significance of the statistical chi-square indicates that the variables are correlated with each other and therefore the components analysis model is appropriate. Having ensured that the model was a satisfactory fit, the next step was to identify the number of the extracted components. Based on the Kaiser rule, six components were identified (Kaufman & Dunlap, 2000).
Next, the items were categorised into the extracted components. To do this, the items' loadings are used. More specifically, if an item's loading modulus is higher than 0.5, this item can be categorised into a specific component. If the loading of an item is higher than 0.5 in two or more components, then it is categorised into the component with its highest loading.
In our extracted model, the loading moduli of 83 items were lower than 0.5, which meant that they could be excluded from the analysis. Thus, 52 items were categorised into six components. The extracted components are provided below, while the items are provided in Appendix 1. 'Respect for the other' is more a matter of reflecting on and acting out of respect of other people and their beliefs in order to live peacefully and honestly in a community with others, regardless of that community's diversity. This is the standard of a community not just of individuals but of personhoods who maintain their identities by accepting the cosmopolitandialogical self (Habermas, 1990). This is clearly of great importance for RE teachers.
'Intercultural awareness' is also important for RE teachers. It is about thinking and reflecting on personal and cultural conceptions and acting within a continual self-conception. It is a matter of whether and to what extent individuals perceive their tradition/religion as the only central one of their realities or whether they experience their own beliefs and behaviour as one reality among other sustainable possibilities (Bennett, 2004, pp. 62-63).
'Communication skills and emotional intelligence' focus on the components of communication skills in a democratic and intercultural context. Skills such as empathy, active listening, selfcontrol, resilience, conflict resolution (at the level of interaction relationships), the ability to know and understand oneself and to know and understand language and communication (on an individual and intra-person level) are required in order for individuals to achieve selfawareness, and therefore to communicate and behave democratically (Deardorff, 2009, p. 479).
'Critical perception' concerns oneself, others, and the whole world. It refers to how individuals identify their own and others' behaviour, feelings and actions. It is also a matter of questioning what is right and wrong and recognising what motivates one's own and others' actions. It also involves an everyday willingness to think, reflect and act critically within a reasonable plurality (Rawls, 2001), and this is the reason why, for RE teachers, this component is more than just a stipulation for the other components. It is a premise on which the others can be developed.
'Political understanding' is individuals' ability to analyse and interpret the social reality of their own lives and of their communities and therefore to take action. It is about empowering individuals to have a cognitive and intuitive understanding of politics and its power in their lives, as well as to grapple with the interconnection between private and public life.
In order to ensure the scale's reliability, the Cronbach's alpha was calculated. Based on Churchill's analysis (Churchill Jr, Ford, & Walker Jr, 1974), the desired value of the coefficient is between 0.75 and 0.9. In the following table we see that the Cronbach's alpha values for all the extracted components are between the desired values.  Having ensured the model was a good fit, the principal components analysis was carried out.
Based on the results of this analysis, the results of the first stage of the research were confirmed.
In order to ensure the scale's reliability, the Cronbach's alpha was calculated for the new sample as well. In the following table we see that the Cronbach's alpha value for all extracted components is between the desired values. It is apparent that a concise, reliable and meaningful 'Scale for measurement of competences for democratic culture' was developed and tested in two large samples to help educators to recognise for themselves which qualities and competences are practiced, and which descriptors are implemented.

Discussion and conclusion
The study presents a 'Scale for measurement of competences for democratic culture' (SMCDC) which has been effectively tested on a representative sample (Ν=526) of a total population of 3,000 secondary RE teachers in Greece. There is an interconnection between beliefs and religion with stereotypes and prejudices and this is connected the individuals' attitudes towards human rights. That interplay highlights the essential commitment of different dimensions of the 'rational, affective, somatic, spiritual, and sociocultural' self (Tolliver & Tisdell, 2006). The rational dimension of self is a presupposition of critical understanding of the self and the world to manage the internal interplay between personal religious beliefs, conditions of education and different social 125 contexts as well as the external interplay between the interests of stakeholders (state, local authorities, religious communities, etc.) (Christopher, 2020;Jackson & Everington, 2016). This external interplay changes, according to the degree of politicisation and secularisation of RE in different contexts (Zembylas, Loukaidis, & Antoniou, 2019). In conclusion, the issue for RE teachers is that contemporary conditions and educational demands, require well-equipped CDC teachers to teach EDC/HRE through RE, and this inevitably means a change of paradigm for most of them. Self-development and professional development related to RFCDC are needed to confirm research evidence that the humanities can develop the critical thinking and imaginative understanding that will enable young people to be citizens of the world (Nussbaum, 2006). To this end, this study marks a step forward by providing an instrument tested on RE teachers (it is seldom that a tool for all teachers is tested on RE teachers) and measures the impact of their competence in teaching and learning democracy within the curriculum. This does not concern the competences of the RE teachers ( cultures, and behaviours 16. I really seek to get in touch with other people in order to get to know their culture 17. I am always willing to work and cooperate with others 18. I always listen carefully to different points of view 19. I always listen carefully to other people 20. I accept that my worldview is just a worldview among many others 21. I believe that history is often presented and taught through an ethnocentric perspective 22. I enjoy the challenge of dealing with ambiguous problems C. Intercultural awareness 23. I explicitly respect all people as equal 24. I treat everyone with respect regardless of their culture 25. I explicitly respect people who have a different socio-economic status than me 26. I explicitly respect every religious differentiation 27. I explicitly respect people who have different political views than me 28. When I make someone upset, I apologize 29. I explicitly accept the relationship between human rights, democracy, peace, and security in a globalised world D. Communication skills and emotional intelligence 30. Human rights should be always protected and respected 31. All public services must respect, protect and enforce human rights 32. The laws must comply with international human rights, rules and standards 33. We must be tolerant of the different beliefs that other people have in society 34. Schools must teach their students democracy and how to behave as democratic citizens 35. All citizens must be treated equally and impartially by the law 36. The laws must be applied impartially in every case 37. The people in charge of the legislature must be subject to the law and constitutional 46. I critically examine my prejudices and stereotypes, as well as everything behind them 47. I critically examine my feelings and emotions in a wide range of situations 48. I explain how tone of voice, eye contact, and body language can help communication 49. When I work in a team, I inform the other members about any relevant or useful information 50. I encourage the parties involved to listen carefully to each other and share the issues and problems that concern them 51. I critically examine the deeper causes of human rights violations, such as the role played by stereotypes and prejudices in human rights abuses 52. I recognise the religious symbols, religious rituals, and religious uses of language