The relationship between icons and education in a postmodern society: how teenagers relate to the presence of the icons inside schools and other public places
The relationship between icons and education in a postmodern society: how teenagers relate to the presence of the icons inside schools and other public places

Summary/Abstract: The Relationship between Icons and Education in a Postmodern Society: How Teenagers Relate to the Presence of the Icons inside Schools and Other Public Places. After the fall of the Communist regime, one of the new political system’s educational policies was the reinstatement of Religious Education among the subjects taught in the Romanian public schools. This process was followed by the admittance of icons inside schools. Due to the fact that numerous other researchers point out the icon represents a significant formative factor in Romania, our research is intended to highlight some differences in how the icon is perceived as a means of education inside and outside schools according to the students’ age. The majority of the interviewed students who were in their early teens perceived icons as a way of worshiping God whereas a change was noted in the way in which the students who were in their late teens perceive it and who felt the need to interiorize faith more. Another aspect that has been tackled by this research concerns the formative value that icons have in non-religious publications. Because of the inefficiency of educational programme in schools and churches which should have underlined the educational value of the icon during the chi ldren’s different stages of development, our research stresses the reality of the danger of the desecration of icons because of the extent to which they are ignored in personal spaces or even thrown away together with the publications in which they have been printed.

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