종교교육이 학업성취도에 미치는 영향 관계에 대한 연구

The Study of the Connectedness between Religious Education and Academic Performance in Overseas Schools located in South Korea

The connectedness between religious education and academic performance is actively explored in many schools in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and in European countries. The researcher studies how relationships are constructed in schools that are members of the Korea Council of Overseas Schools. The researcher feels that religious education in a school context will be a positive and influential resource towards forming a healthy character and developmental identity in the classroom environment where educational participants experience cultural differences and conflict. The researcher focuses on the phenomenological approach of suffering. The educational meaning of suffering provides a new horizon to our consciousness and the researcher regards the educational matter of suffering as a resource and channel for transforming oneself. Since academic performance depends on the quantity of knowledge and information, the researcher emphasizes the transformative role of the self. The educational practice of using the subject matter of suffering in overseas schools particularly suggests the possibility of the transformative self. The researcher recognizes the educational significance in the idea that the transformative self provides a sustainable environment for learners in a diverse and fluid society. Therefore, this study explores the educational implication of suffering as the main source for the transformative self for our learners. Such a perspective will contribute to the public model of religious education, transcending the conventional boundary between the sacred and the secular.