Abstract:
This dissertation analyses the discipline of Religious Education for adolescents in Lutheran
schools. The first part describes the emergence of confessional schools, particularly of those
related to the Riograndense Synod, which later on, along with other synods, formed the
Evangelical Church of the Lutheran Confession in Brazil (IECLB). The emergence of
Lutheran schools is seen against the background o f the Brazilian educational system and its
development in various historical stages. This first part is concluded with considerations on
the reality of Religious Education in Lutheran schools and on the decisions and arrangements
made by the IECLB in relation to that discipline. The second part analyses the Lutheran
concept of pedagogy on the basis of Martin Luther’s theological and pedagogical thinking.
The pedagogical rationale for Christian Education, as an element of its identity based on the
foundation of the gospel, determines the school’s daily life and establishes a differentiating
factor of Lutheran schools in the context of education in Brazil. The third part describes the
stage of adolescence in its biological, psychosocial and cognitive aspects on the basis of the
theories of development. One important element in this context is the issue of the religiosity
of adolescents. In order do address this issue a social research was conducted, including
questions about God and faith. The fourth and last part raises the question about the nature of
Religious Education as a discipline in a Lutheran confessional school. The answer to this
question takes into account the pedagogical rationale for Christian education and the
adolescents’ needs as shown by the social research carried out among students who attend the
course on Christian Education. The last part is concluded with the description of a plan of
work with adolescents in Lutheran schools on the basis of the characteristics of adolescence
and the needs that this life stage brings with it. Religious education for adolescents in a
confessional school should be a safe and protected ecumenical space where adolescents can
express their doubts and questions about the meaning of life and the future, where they can
get answers that are grounded in God’s action and get orientation to make decisions and
choices in order to be gradually integrated into adult society as autonomous and responsible
persons.
