Misclusion as ‘othering’ of religious minorities in Malawi through schooling with special reference to religious education

In Malawi, little research has examined the contested nature of RE in the context of religious diversity. Even less known is how religious minorities are miscluded (i.e., included/acknowledged but maligned) through schooling and the impact of this on how children are socialised to (dis)engage with religious diversity. This chapter attempts to address this gap in the discourse. The chapter highlights the problem of misclusion as a troubling form of ‘othering’ in the way a Christonormative socio-religious culture engages with religious minorities both in the social space and RE (i.e., education) and by extension how these entities shape the socialisation of children. It is a dynamic that creates a space of discomfort for religious minority children in education despite not only rhetoric of inclusivity in curriculum policy and curriculum-making but also claims that Malawian schools are democratic spaces (like the country) where rights and freedoms of children supposedly are guaranteed under the constitution.