A phenomenological study on the effect of religion education on the formation of God concept in early adolescence

The aim of the study was to examine the effect of religion education received in early adolescence on the formation of the understanding of God. In this study, the qualitative research method was adopted and the phenomenology design was used. In this research, face-to-face interviews were conducted with 24 middle school students aged 12, 13 and 14 in the study group. The criterion determination technique from the purposeful sampling method was used to determine the study group. Semi-structured interview questions were developed to collect qualitative data. As a result of the interviews, the students who were still in early adolescence stated that they sometimes felt negative feelings besides their positive feelings about God. It was concluded that the religion education they received in school and outside of school had cognitive and affective effects on their understanding of God. The participants stated that other factors affecting their understanding of God were the encouragement of the family and the positive attitudes of the religion educator. Therefore, families and religion educators may need to pay attention to the effects of attitudes and behaviors on the formation of adolescents' feelings and thoughts about God. It was concluded that the content of religion education given in school and outside of school should be organized within a healthy understanding of God. Keywords: Early adolescence, religious development, understanding of god, religion education