"My justice, your justice. What do we mean when we talk about justice?"

On November 15, 2017, up to 240 pupils, 10 religion teachers, 20 trainee teachers and 20 students attended the Theological Study Day at the Institute of Catholic Theology at the University of Kassel. High school students from Kassel schools as well as from schools in Duderstadt, Heiligenstadt and Fritzlar accepted the invitation. Based on an initiative between the university and the study seminar and in the spirit of an overarching and interdisciplinary teaching concept, the idea was developed to work on the socially central topic of "justice" from different theological disciplines and academic perspectives.

After a welcome in the Gießhaus by Prof. Dr. Reese-Schnitker (Professor of Religious Education at the University of Kassel), Ms. Siedentopp (Head of L4 at the Studienseminar in Kassel) and Ms. Strecha (Head of L3 at the Studienseminar in Kassel), the main lecture by Dr. theol .theol. Daniel Bertram (research assistant at the Chair of Religious Education) entitled "Justice as an (always topical) issue of Christian ethics" focused on theological and philosophical considerations on the concept of justice.

After an introduction to theological perspectives on justice, John Rawls' theory of justice was explained, including his "veil of ignorance" thought experiment. Rawls' ideas were questioned as an aid to understanding the New Testament parable of the laborers in the vineyard (Mt 20:1-16). A very intensive transfer of the sense of justice to everyday school situations as well as socially virulent problems was undertaken and critically evaluated. The lecture ended with the question for personal reassurance: "What do I mean when I talk about justice?", which was written down and collected by all participants.

Afterwards, various workshops were repeatedly offered by students, trainee teachers and a research assistant, which broadened the perspective again, for example to biblical-theological or experiential approaches, or concretized it for the school context, for example by asking about bullying situations or performance justice at school.

The learning situations presented here were characterized by an interdisciplinary approach in which the current, theologically and socially relevant topic of justice was considered and reflected upon from different theological disciplines and academic perspectives. In addition, the testing of teaching situations by students and trainee teachers as part of the self-guided workshops with pupils was a great gain in competence with a view to their future professional practice.

An initial summary of the results of the written backup question "What do I mean when I talk about justice?", a lively discussion and final critical and constructive feedback in the plenary session brought the very lively and discursive study day to a close. It is planned to evaluate the data and feedback forms collected on the study day. In addition, there will certainly be a repeat of this study day for students at the Institute of Catholic Theology in the coming years.