Saudi Tradition, the Culture of Dialogue, and Religious Education: A Qualitative Study within a Saudi University

Developing dialogue and critical thinking ability encourages discussion between cetizins regarding the challenges and possibilities facing the community. Social dialogue can be seen as a national activity that requires citizens who are able to participate fully in dialogic activities. Education, in this case, can play a significant role in educating the public or students towards the common good and a common goal for many states across the world is to attain social cohesion through educational systems that promote moral individuals and good citizens. Thus, in recent decades, the Saudi government has sought to foster the practice of social dialogue between citizens and put forward educational policies to support that aim. This study attempted to investigate the role of the environment of higher education in promoting dialogue, in particular, in religious education modules and within its classrooms. To achieve these objectives, different qualitative methods were applied to collect the data, including semi-structured interviews with some government officials, academic teachers, and university students, as well as observations within religious education classrooms. The study found limited awareness of higher educational policy among both teachers and students. It is suggested that the Saudi Universities should play a greater role in enforcing higher education policy and have a clear vision of the policy formulation stage through to the implementation stage, in order to achieve the objectives of that policy. Hence, education in general and higher education can contribute to provide a good teaching in the frame of respecting opinions and diversities, as well as in opening the spaces within the classrooms for two-way connections among students and between students and teachers.