Chapter 6 106 & Miedema, 2001). Strong religious schools are mono-religious: the socio-cultural context is dominated by orthodox Protestantism; the normative basis is the absolute truth claim of Christianity; and the pedagogic aim is the internalization of its own tradition (Alii, 2009; Sterkens, 2001; Wardekker & Miedema, 2001). When it comes to religious diversity, the soteriological categories of exclusivism, inclusivism, and pluralism are especially important. The mono-religious model is mostly related to exclusivism (only those who explicitly confess Christ as Savior can be saved) and, occasionally, inclusivism (Christ is involved in the process of salvation, but a personal confession regarding Christ is not necessary) (Alii, 2009; Moyaert, 2011; Sterkens, 2001; Wardekker & Miedema, 2001). Exclusivism and inclusivism are regularly perceived as not taking the religious other seriously enough, while pluralism is often seen as the best starting point for interreligious dialogue or acknowledgment (Moyaert, 2011). However, pluralism denies the particularity of faith commitments, while the proposed alternative of the irreducible particularity of religions does not provide much room for interreligious dialogue (Moyaert, 2011). Instead, Moyaert (2011) concludes that it is important to recognize that the religious will always experience a tension between particularity (faith commitment) and diversity (openness) and that it is not possible to find a precise balance between the two. We should be aware that the differentiation between schools seems to be more diffuse than the conceptual typology of mono-, multi-, and interreligious learning suggests (Bertram-Troost et al., 2015a). 6.2 Methods This study is part of a larger research project in which we interviewed seven female and nine male participants who worked in grades 4 or 5 of fifteen OPPSs between April 2015 and February 2016.56 This sample was purposefully selected by a maximum variation strategy (Patton, 2002) because our aimwas as in-depth understanding of the central themes around the variation among OPPSs. Our aimwas not empirical generalization. The criteria used were variation of denominational backgrounds (Reformed schools, Reformed Liberated schools and Protestant schools), variation regarding location sizes (villages, towns, big cities and very big cities), and variation regarding the presence of orthodox Protestant believers in the schools’ neighborhood (many and few). We identified how orthodox Protestant schools in a central region of the Netherlands57 could be categorized according to these features and then aimed for the participation of one school for every unique combination of features.58 For 56 The 5th grade is the penultimate year of primary school in the Netherlands. 57 Namely, within a radius of 50 km around Utrecht. Approximately 52% of all Dutch Reformed schools and 29% of all Reformed Liberated schools were included in this region (DUO 2016). 58 For three unique combinations of features, no schools were available.
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