BG GIBS Graz International Bilingual School Georgigasse 85

Students should:

• integrate themselves, with all their strengths and weaknesses, in the group.
• experience themselves as unique beings, recognizing their own positive  and negative aspects.
• be able to  describe life experiences, in particular  with regards to separation and loss.
• learn to express experiences of justice and injustice and recognize the necessity for societal rules, with which personal freedoms are limited by the personal freedoms of others.
• be able to name biblical concepts and names for God and grasp the Hebrew Bible and the stories it passes down as a collection of written work on religious experiences.
• see the celebrations of different religions as expressions of living belief.

Students should:

• know how the New Testament was created and passed down.
• realize the difficulties in obtaining exact historical accounts of the life of Jesus and early Christianity.
• examine the main ideas of the teachings of Jesus and the symbolism found in his parables.
• learn to see themselves as people with fears, worries and problems. Even in times of catastrophe or when fate strikes it is valid to express one’s feelings, be they accusatory, doubtful or prayerful.

Students should:

• pose the question of the significance of the Christian actions in their own limitations and personal responsibility.
• understand criticism of the church and religion to be a possible search for the true form of belief.
• examine historical, cultural, societal and theological reasons for the Reformation.
• know the history of the Protestant Church in Austria.
• analyze the similarities and differences between denominations.
• be able to name historical links between the church and abuse of power and learn how to recognize misunderstandings and concepts of the enemy.

Students should:

• discover the impact of the Christian church for political, economic and social life in the past, present and future.
• discuss the answers given by the religion to different ecumenical, missionary and ethical challenges.
• learn the role of religion in view of crises, new beginnings and extreme experiences.
• learn to describe and question the messages and means of expressions used in pop cultures, particularly in regards to roles and partner relationships.
• aim at having a positive attitude towards their own body and examine the topic of sexuality in a cross-curriculum setting.

At this age, students are effected in their personal development by the demystification of the childhood beliefs. Their surroundings are determined and made complex by numerous influences. They live in an increasingly multicultural and society with different religions. The students are part of a culture shaped by Christian tradition, come in contact with art, architecture and music, though often without reflecting on it.

Students should:

• recognize through Bible study that development is a main idea in the relationship between god and people
• allow themselves to be open to a variety of approaches to religious experiences.
• examine the influences and observe their different meanings in their own lives.
• be able to identify the teachings of world religions and their guiding principles and religious motivation and accept tolerance as a prerequisite for social interaction.
• learn to grasp the spiritual dimension of art, become acquainted with the church’s contribution to occidental culture, and become curious about the present and future of this contribution.
• be able to describe everyday religious themes in music, advertising, literature, art and film.

Students experience sorrow due to violence in their personal surroundings and in a world whose future in threatened by environmental changes, war and terrorism. Students are confronted with death in their own surroundings.

Students should:

• examine the traditions of violence and freedom from violence in religions and learn to deal with conflicts in their own surroundings and in society.
• develop their own ideas of life after death, put it in relation to the Christian message of the resurrection  and understand the significance of burial rituals in coping with the absoluteness of death.
• Become acquainted with the development of Christian creed through the passion and Easter and distinguish between the historical Jesus and the heralded Christ.
• be able to name traditional christological names for god and identify and describe Christ figures in film and art.

Students should:

• encounter the topic Armageddon and eschatology  in youth culture and in contact with religious wing denominations and destructive cults. They should understand this theme in light of biblical tradition and learn to differentiate between apocalyptic messages of hope from terrifying images.
• encounter a yearning for salvation and new beginnings.
• look for answers in a variety of methods of salvation.
• view the life and works of Jesus as a possible answer to the search for a fulfilled life.  develop a set of personal criteria for their own definition of happiness out of Christian traditions, other religions, philosophical concepts and societal developments.
• as protestants in Austria, experience what it means to be a minority group, with all its chances and difficulties.
• examine selected stages of the history of Protestants in Austria, recognize the central meaning of the doctrine of justification and develop a conscious appreciation of their protestant selves.

Students should:

• analyze the meaning of suffering in light of biblical examples and modern witnesses of the faith, thereby gaining support in coping with their own challenges.
• experience doubt as an acceptable form of man’s relationship to God, and comment on arguments on criticism of religion.
• remain open to possible changes in their own notions of God.

Students are a part of a society that has begun to deal with its national socialist past. They should

• be able to examine the Christian roots of anti-Judaism, as well as the consequences of old and new scapegoat mechanisms.
• be able to substantiate why the church now considers itself to be a champion for the disadvantaged.

Students are confronted with the challenge of planning their future.  They should be able to examine ethical questions and contemplate how their religious biographies might factor in to their career paths.