Back to top 2.1. Within each class group there are clear differences to be observed with respect to the pupils' atitude to religion and other fundamental approaches to human existence. While this may be due, on the one hand, to the general composition of the class group, it also bears witness to the fact that pupils today tend to stem from a greater variety of religious and ideological backgrounds. The diverse and often contradictory options and ways of thinking which can emerge in a class group with respect to a particular subject or, in other words, the hermeneutical problems which tend to manifest themselves within a particular group, call for an appropriate, accompanying hermeneutical learning process. Differences between one option and another demand explanation.
Justifications demand critical analysis.
The ultimate aim of the educational process is that pupils should make progress with respect to basic insight and justified involvement in religious traditions, fundamental life options, values and life styles. Back to top 2.2. The horizontal axes 2.2.1. The class group There can be no doubt that the composition of a particular group of pupils engaged in a religious studies class constitutes a key datum. While the tendency to group pupils differently for relgious studies classes is more evident than with other subjects, the class group as such is only given concrete form when the pupils arrive in the class room.