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ERIC Number: EJ1469322
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025
Pages: 15
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1361 7672
EISSN: EISSN-1469-9362
Available Date: 0000-00-00
Jesus, the Bible and 'I Feel Like I Should Be Left-Leaning': The Liberalising Effect of Sociology and Diffused Religion in Australian Non-University Faith-Based Higher Education
Journal of Beliefs & Values, v46 n2 p302-316 2025
Existing literature on teaching sociology depicts a 'liberalising effect' of sociological ideas on student values. Furthermore, research on teaching sociology in conservative contexts is largely contained to North America and, as such, is silent on the impact of diffused religion, or what we term display-aversive spirituality, in the faith-based higher education sector in Australia. Drawing on insights gathered from 17 participants in student-to-student interviews, described as 'friendship as method', from a faith-based higher education provider in Australia, we interrogate the taken-for-granted linear conservative-liberal framing of the effect of studying sociology in higher education. We argue that students studying sociology in this research draw on various religious, individual, cultural, and political discourses to make sense of their values and integrate sociological ideas into their worldview. The findings from this project suggest that the 'political act' of teaching sociology is not always experienced in these terms by students and that students' experiences of studying sociology in faith-based higher education in Australia do not conform to the lineal liberalising student values narrative.
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Australia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: 1Social Work Innovation Research Living Space, College of Education, Psychology and Social Work, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA, Australia; 2Future of Employment and Skills Research Centre (FES), School of Economics and Public Policy, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia; 3School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Tabor College of Higher Education, Millswood, SA, Australia