LIVED EXPERIENCES OF GRADE 12 MUSLIM STUDENTS

UNDERGOING RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

A Research presented to
The Faculty of Senior High School
Notre Dame of Dadiangas University
General Santos City

In the Partial fulfillment of the

Requirements in Practical Research 1

By:

Fernandez, Angelika Bea H.

Dana, Noelle Gwendolyn G.

Zarandin, Joseph Albert O.

Nuenay, Juvante Deo V.

Corea, W yatt Jeremy C.

Catolico, Sitti Aaliyah P.

Harid, Mohajerina B.

Glodove, Warren P.

Olandria, Abigail T.

July 2019
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Table of Contents

Chapter I 5

Introduction 5

Statement of the Problem 7

Scope and Delimitation 7

Significance of the Study 7

Definition of Terms 8

Chapter II 11

Theoretical Framework 11

Related Literature 15

Religious Diversity and Inclusion 15

Reasons of Population Influx of Muslim Students in Catholic Schools 16

Perceptions and Experiences of Muslim Students in Catholic Schools 17

Related Studies 18

Secularization and Religious Education 18

Insights about Muslim Students, their Experiences and their Rights 19

Chapter III 20

Research Design 20

Data Analysis 23

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Participants of the Study 25

General Procedure 25

Research Instrument 27

Chapter IV 28

First Theme 28

Difficulty in Retention 28

Subject Matter Comprehension 29

Second Theme 31

Parental Enrollment Decisions 31

Personal Enrollment Decision 32

Third Theme 33

Social Interaction 33

Personal Interaction 34

Chapter V 36

Summary of the Findings 36

Conclusion 36

Recommendation 38

REFERENCES 39

Articles/ Websites/ Online Database 39

Books/Journals 44

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Interview 46

Thesis and Dissertations 46

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Chapter I

THE PROBLEM AND ITS SETTING

Introduction

Education and religion, two of humankind’s most ancient endeavors. The

relationship of the two have been tied even long before (Chaney, 2016).

Both Muslim and non-Muslim students share the cognitive, emotional, and

physical challenges of schooling (Niyozov & Pluim, 2009). However, Muslim

students in school systems have their own concerns (Bashir, 2003). These

concerns often include performing their religious practices; maintaining a certain

dress code; adhering to certain values misunderstood by secular culture, clearing

out stereotypes and misconceptions of their religion (Kahf, 2006). In private

catholic schools, it also includes their participation to Catholic activities and

classes.

Muslim students have different perceptions of the Religious Education

subject and some of them, who study in catholic schools, felt sad that they have to

learn about other religion according to Badriah, a participant from SMA Santa

Theresia Jakarta in 2016 stated in Sejati’s study (2016).

Inferring to Munaroh’s statement in Sejati’s study in 2016, some Muslim

students feel uneasy or uncomfortable to follow the Catholic lessons and scriptures

because of their religion and they avoid reading the Holy Bible.

However, in the Philippines, it has become a worthwhile discussion about

the religion classes.

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LIVED EXPERIENCES

The Department of Education reminded schools that these classes are not

mandatory and may only be conducted in public school elementary and high

schools upon the request of the parent. Yet, if the children want to learn other

religions, it will depend on the religion of the parent according to Jesus Mateo,

DepEd Assistant Secretary. It is their policy to require parents to submit written

permissions requesting particular religion classes under the DepEd Order 49,

s.2009 (Rodriguez, 2015).

It was the department’s practice to challenge stereotypes. “Negative

prejudices flourish when there is a lack of knowledge about the real state of things,”

Manuel Spatipula stated in 2015.

Notre Dame of Dadiangas University, a catholic school, applied Religious

Education in the curriculum of the senior high school. Nevertheless, it never

hindered the enrollment of Non-Catholics despite the subject.

In relation to this, a former Religious Education teacher of the institution,

Jellys Jasper Sarabillo (2019), stated that the Muslim students he once handled

often cannot relate to the topics since it was Catholic-centered. He also added that

it was difficult to include the Muslim students in group tasks because the activity

might be forbidden for their religion. Sarabillo (2019) mentioned that it was a

struggle for him to impart values because the views and opinions of the Muslim

students are different from the Catholics based on his own point of view.

In accordance to the previously stated number of literature, the researchers

would also tackle upon the deficiencies it portrayed. Since the study of Sejati

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(2016) was situated in Jakarta, the group decided to conduct this study in the

Philippines whether it produces the same results.

Thereupon, the researchers would like to know and describe the lived

experiences of Grade 12 Muslim students undergoing Religious Education.

Statement of the Problem

This study aims to determine the lived experiences of grade 12 Muslim

students of Notre Dame of Dadiangas University undergoing Religious Education.

Specifically, the study seeks to answer the question:

1. What are the lived experiences of Grade 12 Muslim students undergoing

Religious Education?

Scope and Delimitation

The study focused on the lived experiences of Grade 12 Muslim students

undergoing Religious Education.

The study is delimited to the randomly selected Grade 12 Muslim Students

of Notre Dame of Dadiangas University.

Significance of the Study

The results of the study is hoped to be beneficial to the following:

Researchers. This study could provide information about the present

problem in their own institution. Furthermore, this study also encourages the

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researchers to be patient in gathering information and to enhance their research

skills.

Teachers. They are now informed with information to be more effective in

their subject and can be expected to extend their understanding and consideration

more to the Grade 12 Muslim students.

It will help the teachers, specifically the Religious Education teachers to be

aware to the factors affecting the religious statuses of the students and to teach

the subject without offending a student’s religion.

School administrators. It may aid the administration to spread awareness

to the school personnel to approach Muslim students fairly despite going into a

Catholic institution.

Muslim students. This study will help them to become knowledgeable

about coping with the R.E. subject despite his/her religion.

Future researchers. This study will serve as a basis for the future

researchers. The proposed study will favor and help the future researchers and

will help them as their guide.

Definition of Terms

The following terms are defined conceptually and operationally for better

understanding of the concepts used in the paper:

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Colaizzi. Conceptually, Colaizzi's strategy for information investigation is

thorough and strong, and accordingly a subjective technique that guarantees the

validity and unwavering quality of its outcomes (Wirihina et al., 2018)

Influx. Conceptually, this is the arrival of large number of people or things

(Cambridge Dictionary, 2019). Operationally, this is the population growth of

Muslim students in a Catholic school.

Lived experiences. It is conceptually defined by the University of Waterloo

(2017), a representation and understanding of a researcher or research subject's

human experiences, choices, and options and how those factors influence one's

perception of knowledge. Operationally, the element that will be described and

delineated in the study.

Muslim. Conceptually, these are people who’s the religion is Islam,

including those who believe in Allah as the sole deity and in Muhammad as his

prophet (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). Operationally, the people who will be

assessed in the study.

Pedagogical. It is conceptually defined by the Cambridge Dictionary as

relating to the theory and methods of teaching.

Religious Diversity. As defined by Dale Tuggy (2019), religious diversity,

conceptually, is the fact that there are significant differences in religious belief and

practice.

Religious Education. Conceptually, it is an education in a school which

places a strong emphasis on the beliefs associated with a particular religion

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(Collins English Dictionary). Operationally, the effects of this subject to the Muslim

students will be assessed.

Secularization. Conceptually, it is the conveying of property from

ecclesiastical to civil possession. (Vocabulary.com)

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Chapter II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

This chapter provides overviews and portions of previous related studies

and literature. It also introduces the framework for the study that comprises the

theories that would support the assumed results garnered from the review of

related literature.

Theoretical Framework

The framework of this study is interdisciplinary, procured from paradigms of

psychology, education and culture. This segment would explain theories that would

support the results and correlate them into each other.

The first theory that this paper would elaborate is the Schema Theory. It

was established by Richard Anderson in the year 1977. This theory explains the

learning style that would require previous knowledge of a certain idea. If there is

none otherwise, the new learning would be hardly accommodated,

incomprehensible and with little pedagogical use. The researchers’ could

associate this to the lived experience of the Muslim students for they may have

inadequate previous information of the subject; Religious Education.

Furthermore, the Acculturation Theory (Redfield, et al, 1936) details the

interaction of two different cultural groups that when come in first-hand contact

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Cognitive
Development
Theory
Syngenism
Theory (Piaget, 1936) Pillar Theory
(Gumplowicz, (Baumrind, 1960)
1897)

Acculturation Transactional
Theory Theory of Stress
and Coping
(Redfield, et al, (Lazarus &
1936) Folkman, 1984)

Grade 12 Monotheism
Schema Theory
(Anderson, 1977) Muslim (Muhammad,
1353-1336 BC)
Students

Lived Experiences

Figure 1. Theoretical Framework

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with each other will bring forth subsequent changes to either or both groups. This

would be applicable if ever there would be noticeable changes to them as

influenced by the Religious Education subject.

The Acculturation Theory continued to the concept of identity formation

where it talked about the developmental process of an immigrant cultural group to

a new environment with a foreign culture to their own. However, if the former

ceased to connect to the culture of the new environment that would lead to identity

diffusion and afterwards into marginalization. Idling in this stage would cause

confusion for the immigrant and frustration for others, because the behavior is

viewed as unpredictable and capricious and would isolate the person (Redfield, et

al, 1936).

Moreover, Ludwig Gumplowicz, a Polish sociologist, constituted the theory

of syngonism in the year 1897. It states that human beings have an innate

tendency to form groups and cultivate a feeling of unity and comfort. Though the

theory was established from pre-political racial groups and a series of war in the

early years, the syngonism theory was applied to the study. (Ward, 1907)

The theory is applicable to the study since the participants tend to form

groups with fellow Muslims because of their homogenous trait which is their

religion.

However, some of the decisions of the participants to study in this type of

institution was influenced by the parents, the Pillar Theory supported the results.

The Pillar Theory states that there is a type of parenting wherein the parent dictates

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rigid rules and decisions that should be followed without question, it is called the

authoritarian parenting (Baumrind, 1960).

Some of the decision was from the participant himself/herself, it was under

Jean Piaget’s Cognitive Development Theory of the year 1936. The Formal

Operational Stage of the theory states that children with ages of 12 and above can

make their own decisions and are capable to think abstractly and reason about

hypothetical problems.

In addition, the researchers included the Monotheism theory by Muhammad

in the year 1353-1336 BC that supported some of the statements of the

participants about their beliefs and practices. Monotheism is said to be the belief

in the oneness of God, or in the actuality of one God and the relatedness of the

different religions (Baren, 2019).

Lastly, to support the results on the constructive consequence of stress

because of the Religious Education, the researchers’ included the Transactional

Theory of Stress and Coping by Lazarus and Folkman in the year 1984. The theory

elaborates stress and coping as a dynamic process. Stress was emphasized as a

product of a transaction between a person (including multiple systems: affective,

physiological, neurological, psychological, cognitive) and his or her complex

vicinity. The originators also based from another study which was from Dr. Susan

Kobasa in the year 1979. Kobasa introduced the concept of hardiness which was

defined as a pattern of characteristics that recognizes people who remain

holistically healthy under life stress, thus, the constructive consequence.

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Related Literature

Religious Diversity and Inclusion

The study of Perdana (2018) aspired to know when and how the Catholic

and Muslim students interacted with each other at SD Ignatius Slamet Riyada, a

school under the Holy Cross. He obtained results which showed that the form of

interaction of the students is through discussion, extracurricular activities, breaks

between classes in school cafeterias and competition in academic terms.

Mcquillan (2008), however, agreed that the number of Non-Catholics attending

Catholic schools are noticeably increasing and are now in an average of 23%

nationally. He accentuated, also, that Catholics are continuously making a

‘Catholic contribution’ whenever they recognize and accept the enrollment of non-

Catholics as a way to advocate a pervasive cultural opposition to religion to the

extensive community.

In association to this, a study of Donlevy (2007) pondered on the

dimensions of inclusion of non-Catholics in Catholic schools. The study showed

that there are ten dimensions, namely: pedagogical, social, psychological, racial,

cultural, spiritual, political, financial, legal and philosophical.

The study of Samaniega (2016), nevertheless, challenged the institution he

was conducting in. The first challenge was that the institution must accept all

students with open arms provided that the students will respect the Christian living

and its conditions. Second, the school must be able to indulge in their learning

needs according to the specification of each. Lastly, the Catholic school must

adapt multicultural education to support culture relativity.

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Reasons of Population Influx of Muslim Students in Catholic Schools

In a census that Gledhill (2016) included in her article, more than 26,000

Muslim students are now studying in Catholic schools across England. The results

showed that one in three pupils who attend Catholic schools are not Catholics.

In France, however, only has four Muslim schools and 8,847 Roman

Catholic schools, the latter have been the refuge for Muslims who seeks:

spirituality, an environment in which good manners count alongside with

mathematics and higher academic standards, in public sectors that are

overburdened and secularist (Bennhold, 2008)

An article of Scott (2015) narrated on the journey of a non-Catholic family

in search for a school for their children. Both parents agreed on the idea of a

Catholic school that focuses on the heart as well as the mind. In correlation to that,

an article of Turner (2011) divulged more to the talk of that topic. Muslim families

see Christian schools as a “fascinating” choice because children will be able to

assimilate with the wider community at a young age. Muslim families accept the

opportunity to send their children to a school which promises mutual understanding

of faith, while being able transparent about the Christian customs and underpinning

narrative on which its ethos and values are created and based.

In the contrary, Gleeson and his colleagues (2018) studied on the

characteristics of Catholic schools in USA to Australia. The study reported that the

parents there enrolled their children in Catholic schools because of pragmatism

rather than religious reasons.

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Parallel to the reasons of their classmates, Muslim students also enrolled in

Catholic schools because of the attractive campuses, the appealing professors

and academic programs that fit their interest, also, the spiritual attraction to the

values that connect the two faiths.

The Muslim students are also interested in the different icons that are

present in most classrooms, namely: crucifixes and statues. Also, Catholic schools

put-up prayer rooms for them, a trait that other schools don’t have (Wan, 2010).

Anyhow, in Ontario, Lowson (2018) wrote about how the Catholic schools

in that area are allowing the mass enrollment of non-Catholic students to reach a

quota to receive funding from the Provincial Funding Catholic Boards.

Perceptions and Experiences of Muslim Students in Catholic Schools

Each school has its own way of handling situations. In SMA Santa Theresa

Senior High School, as observed by the study of Sejati (2016), all students, no

matter their religion, must undergo the same Catholic Religious Education for the

school was handled by a Catholic foundation. The results of the study showed that

some Muslim students have a “positive perception” to lessons that are applicable

in their daily lives and a negative perception to lessons that require memorization

and theories. One student stated that they felt sad that they have to learn about

other.

An article of Ali (2017) also recounted the experiences of a Muslim parent

that worked hard for his children to be able to enroll into a Catholic school. The

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greatest thing the parent observed in the school was the serious and solemn way

the students pray and how they respected all faith.

Rabah (2011) also narrated the experiences of a Muslim college student

that attends a Catholic college, yet, still participate actively in religious class

discussions. Usually, the student shared, that his peers never really know that he

was a Muslim until that specific subject comes up.

In Stapleton’s (2016) column that talked about the experiences of minority

faiths in an Irish Catholic school, it pondered on how most non-religious and anti-

religion students felt a strong urge that Catholicism should be respected and how

some of them felt regret that they lost the ability to believe anymore.

Related Studies

Secularization and Religious Education

In relation to this was Jakob’s (2018) thesis on the current situation of

Religious Education while coexisting with secularization and religious diversity in

Austria. The conclusion of the researcher’s study was to develop the Religious

Education of Austria so it can manage to overcome the changes brought by

secularization and religious diversity.

Last is Hannam’s (2016) study that deals about what really should be the

aim of Religious Education in a public sphere. The results of the study showed that

if Religious Education was understood more as faith rather than a practice, it could

open more ways of considering the role of Religious Education in a public sphere.

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Insights about Muslim Students, their Experiences and their Rights

With the goal of giving voices to the minority faith students in Catholic

schools in Ireland, Stapleton (2018) explored the experiences of these students

and how the school catered their need for spiritual and moral development. The

study showed that the students still wanted to learn Religious Education and

strongly valued class discussion in this particular subject.

In contrary to Stapleton’s (2017) approach, Fernando (2014) inquired about

the Catholic students’ insight about Muslims and Islam in their school, which is a

Catholic school. The results showed that majority of the students have a positive

attitude towards them and a few negative responses when the rights of the

Muslims were discussed.

On the other hand, Owusu-Ansah (2016) tackled about the rights of Muslim

students in Government Assisted Christian schools. Whether if it was compulsory

for them to attend the Mass of Christians and if this was against the constitutional

right to religious freedom.

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Chapter III

METHODOLOGY

This chapter aspires to delineate the research design, the locale of the

study, the general procedure, the data analysis, and the participants of the study.

Research Design

A research design is defined as a framework of methods and techniques

chosen by a researcher to combine various components of research in a

reasonably logical manner so that the research problem is efficiently handled. It

provides insights about how to conduct research using a particular methodology.

Every researcher has a list of research questions which need to be assessed –

this can be done with research design (Bhat, 2019).

The purpose of the research design, as narrated by Burns and Grove

(2001), is to attain greater control of the study and to enhance the validity of the

study by examining the research problem. In choosing which research design to

use, the researcher has to regard a number of factors. These include the focus of

the research (orientation or action), the unit of analysis (the person or object of

data collection) and the time dimension.

The research carried out is known as a qualitative research. As defined by

DeFranzo (2011), Qualitative Research is primarily exploratory research. It is used

to gain an understanding of underlying reasons, opinions, and motivations.

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It provides insights into the problem or helps to develop ideas or hypotheses

for potential quantitative research. Qualitative research is also used to uncover

trends in thought and opinions, and dive deeper into the problem.

This study also employs a phenomenological approach which designs to

explore and understand people’s daily lived experiences. (Wojnar and Swanson,

2007).

The research aims to describe the experiences of the Grade12 Muslim

students in Notre Dame of Dadiangas University undergoing Religious Education.

Data will be collected from the Grade 12 Muslim student participants using a semi-

structured interview.

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Existing
Theories

Preparing
Research Selecting
Interview
Questions Participants
Guide

Semi-
Grand Tour Snowball
Structured
Question Sampling
Interview

Gathering
Data

Data Analysis

Data
Interpretation

Drawing of
Conclusions

Figure 2. Research Design

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Data Analysis

Data will be analyzed by employing Colaizzi’s (1978) strategy in descriptive

phenomenology. This strategy uses 7 steps to analyze data garnered from the

semi-structured interview. The steps are as follows:

Step 1. The researcher familiarizes him or herself with the data by

repeatedly reading through all the participant accounts.

Step 2. The researcher distinguishes all statements in the accounts that are

of direct significance to the phenomenon which is under investigation.

Step 3. The researcher identifies meanings relevant to the phenomenon

that emerged from timely pondering of the significant accounts.

Step 4. The researcher clusters the identified meanings into themes that

are frequent across all accounts.

Step 5. The researcher writes a full and comprehensive description of the

phenomenon, incorporating all the themes procured at the previous step.

Step 6. The researcher liquefies the exhaustive description down to a short,

dense statement that encompasses just those aspects considered to be significant

to the structure of the phenomenon.

Step 7. The researcher returns the fundamental structure statement to all

participants to inquire whether it encompassed their experience.

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Familiarisation

Identifying siginificant
statement

Formulating meanings

Clustering themes

Developing an
exhaustive description

Producing the
fundamental structure

Seeking verfication of the

fundamental structure

Figure 3. Colaizzi’s (1978) Strategy in Descriptive Phenomenology

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Participants of the Study

The participants of the study are the grade 12 Muslim students of NDDU

and will be gathered using homogenous purposive sampling.

According to Patton (1990), purposive sampling is the method of

choosing samples by taking topic not based on the level or region, but based on

the particular purpose. Homogenous sampling is a type of purposive sampling

where the samples are chosen for they share a specific trait (Lund Research,

2012).

For the number of participants, Glaser and Strauss (1967) recommend the

concept of saturation for achieving an appropriate sample size in qualitative

studies. For this study is a phenomenological study, Creswell (1998) suggested to

have five to 25 participants while Morse (1994) advice to have at least six.

In conformity to saturation, the researchers would start off with 15

participants and would saturate when needed.

General Procedure

The research presented in this study will be carried out according to the

following steps:

First, a letter for the administration will be constructed to ask permission to

interview students from the institution to participate in the said study.

Second, the researchers would conduct a homogenous purposive sampling

wherein the researchers would set a number of criteria to become the basis in

choosing their participants. The criteria are the following:

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LIVED EXPERIENCES

 Bona fide Grade 12 student of Notre Dame of Dadiangas University.

 Both parents are Muslim by birth.

The researchers used simple random sampling amongst the students that

had passed the criteria to determine the 15 participants of the study.

Afterwards, an interview guide will be provided by the researchers to

generate a semi-structured interview. In accordance to what Calmorin (2014)

stated, a semi-structured interview is an interview that uses a protocol to help direct

the researcher through an interview process. It also provides the researcher with

the capability to inquire more about the participant and address follow-up questions

that are not stated in the interview guide. Also in conformity to Keller (2018)

statement, this type of interview is conducted with an open framework which allows

focused, conversational and two-way communication.

Next, a letter will be created to be sent to the participants if they are willing

to participate in the interview.

The selected 15 participants would undergo the semi-structured interview

using the interview guide. The participants will also be asked if ever they would

allow the researchers to record their responses.

A recording device will be used to record their responses, if they would

consent to it, while it is also being jotted down by the researcher. Subsequently,

the collected data will be analyzed using Colaizzi’s (1978) strategy in descriptive

phenomenology.

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Thereafter, the data will be interpreted by the researchers. Lastly, the

researchers will draw conclusions from the findings of the interpreted data.

Research Instrument

The researchers will conduct an interview with their participants using a

semi-structured interview that in accordance to what Calmorin (2014) stated, a

semi-structured interview is an interview that uses a protocol to help direct the

researcher through an interview process and it also provides the researcher with

the capability to inquire and address follow-up questions that are not stated in the

interview guide.

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Chapter IV

PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTEPRETATION OF DATA

This segment of the paper aspires to summarize the collected data by using

Colaizzi’s (1978) Strategy in Descriptive Phenomenology. This process has

proven to be refined and systematic where in every step is detailed and exact

(Morrow et al., 2015).

First Theme

The first theme revealed by the significant statements of the participants’

answers in the interview was about their Academic Performance. The main theme

disclosed two other sub themes that discussed about the participants Difficulty in

Retention and their Subject Matter Comprehension.

Difficulty in Retention

The significant statements of the participants disclosed their experiences

during Religious Education. They stated that they have difficulty in retaining the

lessons because some words and lessons are unfamiliar and they cannot relate to

certain situations.

“Sometimes, I have a hard time understanding some words because

I am not familiar to them and they are new to me (Participant 12).”

“I remember when we were told to memorize the clothes of the Priest

and I was like, “What’s that?” During our exam, it was difficult for me

because there were only pictures and I didn’t know anything about it.

(Participant 05).”

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LIVED EXPERIENCES

“When I was in Grade 11, in the very first meeting in RE, we already

had a quiz about the Catholic religion, and us non-Catholics or

Muslims, did not know anything about it. I remembered that I had a

hard time and only scored zero in the first quiz (Participant 01).”

“Sometimes, I cannot understand and I feel out of place because I

only know a few things about the background of the subject

(Participant 08).”

“Naturally, I feel out of place because I don’t know anything about

what the teacher teaches (Participant # 13).”

The participants had difficulties in understanding the lesson and in

answering the quiz because most of them are not familiar to the words used in the

subject and to the subject itself.

The researchers related the participants’ statements to the Schema Theory

of Richard Anderson (1977). The theory expatiated about the learning style

wherein a person would need previous knowledge about a certain topic in order to

comprehend the new lesson related to it. If there is no previous knowledge

otherwise, the person would have difficulty in retaining and relating to the new

lesson.

Subject Matter Comprehension

The second sub theme conferred about the other participants’ way of

comprehending the subjects in Religious Education. Some participants revealed

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that even though they have difficulties in the subject, they still do their best so that

they can comprehend.

“Actually, none, but sometimes, yeah, sometimes I cannot relate but

I do listen to the teacher so that I can cope up the lessons (Participant

09).”

“Umm, I feel happy because RE helps me become open minded

about their (Catholics) religion and it also helps me share knowledge

to them despite the difference of our religion (Participant 01).”

The participants inferred that they have some adversities encountered

during Religious Education however they still strived and enjoyed the subject.

The researchers associated their statements to the theory of Lazarus and

Folkman (1984), the Transactional Theory of Stress and Coping, where it talks

about stress and coping as a dynamic process. The authors of the theory

consorted also to the study of Kobasa (1979) where she established that some

people who are under life stress still remain healthy, happy and striving.

The participants’ reaction to the stress they feel during difficulties in

Religious Education is in line to the Transactional Theory of Stress and Coping

because they managed to be happy, to strive harder and to put extra effort for the

subject.

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Second Theme

The second theme revealed by the participants’ statements is the

Enrollment Decisions of the Muslim students. The main theme had two other sub

themes which are the Parental Enrollment Decisions and the Personal Enrollment

Decision.

Parental Enrollment Decisions

The first sub theme disclosed about the enrollment decisions of the

participants where it was influenced by their parents’ choice.

“Me and my mom always make the decision in choosing schools. It

was either this institution, but we don’t base in the religion, only in

the financial aspect (Participant 06).”

“Uhm. She (mother) likes it here because according to her, it’s high

standard. I really wanted to choose another school but she does not

allow it, otherwise, she wouldn’t let me study at all (Participant 14).”

The participants shared that the reason they enrolled in Notre Dame of

Dadiangas University was influenced by their parents’ decisions. The first

statement made mention that it was her and her mother’s decision to enroll in the

institution while the second statement claimed that her mother threatened to stop

her studying if she will not study in the said institution.

The researchers correlated their response to the Pillar Theory of Diana

Baumrind (1960). The theory explains the three types of parenting styles; the

Authoritative Parenting, Authoritarian Parenting and Permissive Parenting.

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Authoritarian Parents are stiff and controlling, and they demand a lot without

providing warmth or reacting to the needs of a child. The authoritative parent also

sets high standards, however, unlike the authoritarian parent, they respond to the

needs of their child.

Lastly, the permissive parents offer plenty of warmth, but they don't set

boundaries. They let their kids do as they please and they may grow up without

understanding that their actions might be limited by society’s norms.

The first statement is inclined with the Authoritative type of parenting since

her mother let her have her own opinion in choosing a school. However, the second

statement is parallel to the Authoritarian Parenting since the participant’s mother

forced her to go to another institution.

Personal Enrollment Decision

The second sub theme describes how some participants chose to enroll in

the institution based on their own decisions. The following statements answer the

question “Was it your decision to enroll in a catholic institution that teaches Catholic

Religious Education?”

“Yes, it’s my decision to enroll here knowing that it is a Catholic

school (Participant 10).”

“Yes, umm, because since when I was in elementary until high

school, I was already studying in a Catholic school. (Participant 08).”

The researchers observed from the answers of the participants that

some chose to study in Notre Dame of Dadiangas University because of their own

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preferences. They conjugated the results to the theory of Jean Piaget (1936), the

Cognitive Development Theory that states when children reach the age of 12, the

Formal Operational Stage, they are capable of making their own decisions, to think

abstractly and reason about hypothetical problems.

Since the chosen participants are aged 16-18, the researchers applied the

theory to their responses.

Third Theme

The third theme revealed by the participants’ significant statements

expound about the concept of the Participants’ Interactions towards theirselves

and to the people around them.

Social Interaction

The first sub theme of the third theme presents the concept of the social

interactions of the participants actuated by their experiences in Religious

Education.

“It (Religious Education) inspires me to help some poor people

(Participant 15).”

This statement of the participant shows how learning in Religious Education

inspired him to be charitable to the poor. The researchers related this to the

Acculturation theory of Redfield, et al, (1936), that explains the different reactions

of a certain cultural group transferred to a different environment with a different

cultural group. The statement of the participant demonstrates how his character

was shaped because of the subject, inspiring and teaching him to be charitable.

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LIVED EXPERIENCES

“Sometimes in RE, when Catholics start making their reflection paper

about the topic in every Mass, us, Muslims, often do not know what

to do so I get pressured, I still need to ask from the Muslims of the

other sections to get a clear objective of what to do. (Participant 08).”

This statement exhibits how the participant tends to circumscribe herself

with fellow Muslims to be able to understand directives from their teachers on a

certain tasks. The researchers connected this to the theory of Gumplowicz (1897),

the Syngonism Theory, which states that it is in a human’s nature to form groups

and cultivate a feeling of unity and comfort. It is remotely applicable because the

participant still needs to surround herself to enable her to understand the

instructions of the teacher.

Personal Interaction

The second theme talks about the personal interaction of the participant,

their emotions and the internal conflict they feel, provoked by the experiences of

undergoing Religious Education.

“For example, since I am a Muslim and my classmates are Catholics,

I have difficulties when they demonstrate the sign of the cross and

when they use the rosary. (Participant 06).”

“Sometimes, I’m pressured during Catholic events like their Mass

and others. (Participant 15).”

The participants’ statements share how they feel pressured and

uncomfortable whenever Catholic students perform their exercises and events.

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LIVED EXPERIENCES

The researchers lined this with the Acculturation theory of Redfield, et al,

(1936), however, the researchers discussed the effect if the cultural group

transferred into a new environment with a different cultural group would cease to

connect. It would lead into marginalization then into frustration and discomfort just

like some of the participants. The researchers noticed from the participants’ inputs

how they feel discomfort and pressure whenever the Catholics would perform their

sign of the cross and when they held out their Mass.

The following statements are the opinions of the participants about their

religion and how they view it together with the Catholic religion.

“For me, I feel like there’s a connection between Muslims and

Christians because there is a specific part of Qur’an that talks about

Christians also. (Participant 04).”

“I’m bothered because I usually compare my religion which is Islam

and the Catholic religion and identify their differences. (Participant

13).”

The statements show how the participants see their religion, together with

its similarities and differences. The researchers articulated this with the theory of

Monotheism by Muhammed (1353-1336 BC) which expounds how the different

religions of the world are connected with one another. Monotheism is said to be

the theory where people believe in the oneness of God, thus, connecting the

different religions with each other and supporting the claims of the participants.

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Chapter V

SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

This chapter presents the research findings and the summary of the

research interpretation. It also includes the recommendation for the future

researchers.

Summary of the Findings

The focus of the study was to describe the lived experiences of the Grade

12 Muslim students undergoing Religious Education. The data gathered had the

results wherein the experiences were clustered into three different main themes.

The first theme discussed about the Academic Performance of the participants. It

had two sub themes which are the following; difficulty in retention and subject

matter comprehension.

The second main theme introduced the concept of Enrollment Decisions

where the verdict of enrolling in the institution of the participants were based upon

the two sub themes which were the parental enrollment decisions and the personal

enrollment decisions.

The third and final theme tackled about the Participants’ Interactions

including their interaction to their environment and to themselves as provoked by

their experiences in Religious Education.

Conclusion

The researchers concluded the following based upon the participants’

significant statements and the related literature of their study:

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LIVED EXPERIENCES

1. The participants have a hard time understanding the lessons in Religious

Education because they lack schema of the subject as accordance to the Schema

Theory of Anderson (1977).

2. Some of the participants managed to be happy, healthy and striving despite the

stress they feel in Religious Education in conformity to the Transactional Theory

of Stress and Coping of Lazarus and Folkman (1984).

3. Some of the students enrolled in Notre Dame of Dadiangas University because

some were influenced by their parents’ decisions while others were forced. This

conclusion was based from Baumrind’s (1960) Pillar Theory where there are three

types of parenting, the Authoritative Parenting, Authoritarian Parenting and

Permissive Parenting.

4. Other participants enrolled in the institution because of their own preferences

based on their logical thinking in congruence with Piaget’s (1936) theory of

Cognitive Development where at the age of 12, children are able to make their own

logical decisions.

5. Participants tend to interact with their fellow Muslims to learn as based from the

Syngonism Theory of Gumplowicz (1897) where it is in a human’s nature to form

groups and cultivate a feeling of unity and comfort.

6. A few of the participants were inspired by Religious Education, teaching them

to be charitable and helpful. This conclusion is supported by the Acculturation

Theory of Redfield, et al, (1936) that describes how a cultural group connects when

transferred to another environment with a different cultural group.

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LIVED EXPERIENCES

7. Some of the participants felt pressured and uncomfortable during Catholic

exercises and events which is supported by the Acculturation Theory of Redfield,

et al, (1936), that also describes the opposite reaction when a cultural group would

cease to connect and adapt to a new environment with a different cultural group.

8. Participants see the connection and the similarities of the Catholic religion to

their own and is reinforced by the Monotheism theory of Muhammed (1353-1336

BC) which expounds how the different religions of the world are connected with

one another because of the oneness of God.

Recommendation

The researchers would recommend the following:

1. To the future researchers to replicate the study in order to fortify the results and

strengthen the findings.

2. To the administration of the school, to have more consideration and patience for

the Muslim students regarding with their Religious Education subject.

3. To the Muslim students enrolled in Catholic schools to invest more time, effort

and patience for the subject matter.

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LIVED EXPERIENCES

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