The methods of Religious Culture and Moral Knowledge teachers working in high schools to cope with students' skeptical religious questions: The Bayburt case

This study has two main purposes. The first of these is to determine the probing religious questions that religious culture and ethics teachers working in high schools in Bayburt city center frequently ask students in religious culture courses. The second is to examine the methods of religious culture teachers to cope with these questions. We conducted the study using the qualitative research method, which aligns with these purposes. We preferred the case study design as the research design. In the study, we conducted interviews with 15 DKAB teachers working in high schools in the Bayburt city center using the semi-structured interview form. We collected data from the interviews and evaluated them within the framework of themes, subthemes, and codes created using the content analysis method. We determined that the tendency to ask questions increases during adolescence and that they ask more questions, especially about the existence and attributes of Allah, the unseen world, the social and religious position of women, the problem of evil, and LGBT issues. Teachers stated that the questions asked by students mainly stem from incomplete or incorrect information learned from social media and families. We determined that teachers displayed a cheerful approach to the questions asked by students and sometimes used the postponement method. We detected that teachers use various methods when answering questions and prefer plain narration and exemplification methods more among these methods. Teachers said they use mass media, especially the Quran, Hadith, and various religious books.