Chapter 3 54 the confession of the absolute truth and value of the (orthodox Protestant) Christian tradition and the pedagogic aim is the internalisation of that tradition (De Wolff et al., 2003; Sterkens, 2001). The tensions about religious tolerance as an educational goal have to do with the strong emphasis of OPPSs on their own religious identity, namely, their own convictions and/or community. We recognise the potential for both ideological and didactical tensions in that. Ideological tensions stem from the normative basis and the related pedagogic aims of these schools. The normative basis is the exclusivist conviction that it is necessary for everyone to have a personal relationship with Christ through faith in order to be eternally saved. Those who are not Christians are excluded from salvation (Moyaert, 2011)29. Orthodox Protestant Christians then sometimes understand tolerance as surrendering to the Truth (Kater, 2017). For the same reason, orthodox Protestant Christians do not always automatically adhere to liberal democratic values in general, including tolerance (cf. De Ruyter & Merry, 2009; Kole & De Kruijf, 2005). Furthermore, contact with religious others is sometimes regarded as dangerous, as it might lead to religious relativism or secularisation and moral erosion (Pons-de Wit, 2017). The didactical tensions have to do with the (relatively) homogenous school populations present especially in those OPPSs with restricted pupil enrolment. Having a homogeneous school population conflicts with the assumption that classroom diversity is necessary to teach children to live together with others who are culturally and religiously different (Bertram-Troost & Miedema, 2017; Elias, 2010; Ipgrave, 2004; Jackson, 2004; MartínezAriño & Teinturier, 2019; Orteza y Miranda, 2010; Turkenburg, 2005; Versteegt, 2010; Vogt, 1997; Willems, 2013). 3.3 Religious Tolerance as an Educational Goal in OPPSs Before we examine the foreseen tensions in OPPSs in depth, we must examine the lack of clarity around the concept of tolerance in general and describe what this means for teachers in OPPSs. Tolerance can be understood as a personality trait, belief, commitment, attitude or action (Vogt, 1997). According to Vogt (1997), attitudes and beliefs are the most important of these and are always included in the other mentioned appearances. 29 This is the ideal-typical description. In practice, the boundaries between exclusivism, inclusivism and pluralism are regularly blurred, as is shown, for example, within the study by Wardekker and Miedema (2001).
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