Religious education in state and private schools Porto Alegre

Religious Education, characterised as a subject in the normal curriculum of schools, with optional enrolment by students and compulsory provision by school institutions, has made me realise the need to better understand its practice as a school subject and an integral part of the student’s integral formation. This reflection, presented as the Final Paper for the DOCTORATE IN RELIGION, aims to analyse in three chapters the reality of Religious Education in Porto Alegre, RS, from the perspective of two educational institutions: the Júlio de Castilhos State School and the Coração de Maria Adventist College. In this way, I intend to understand Religious Education from three perspectives: 1) Analysis of the normative texts; the Federal Constitution of 1988, the Guidelines and Bases Law, the State Teaching Law, and the Curriculum Parameters; 2) analysing the profile of the teachers; 3) outlining the profile of the students with regard to Religious Education. As a reflection, these are initial observations based on a case study, limited by the fact that only two institutions were involved.