Learning Orientations in Interfaith Initiatives: A Case Study of the Interfaith Leadership Program Emoena

Abstract This study examines participants’ self-reported learning orientations over the course of the interfaith leadership program Emoena. Participants started the program with a range of different expectations and motivations, and this influenced the insights they gained and the challenges they faced throughout the program. Based on an inductive analysis of participants’ reflection reports, four interfaith learning orientations were distinguished: 1) literacy-oriented learning, 2) connection-oriented learning, 3) competency-oriented learning, and 4) reflection-oriented learning. Knowing more about these learning orientations will benefit curriculum designers in choosing relevant learning activities, and will direct future empirical work on the complex dynamics of interfaith learning.


Introduction
As our societies have become more religiously diverse, academic, societal, and political actors increasingly recognize the potential of interfaith collaboration to contribute to more peaceful societies (cf. Marshall 2021).This recognition has led to a rapid increase in the number of interfaith initiatives and has attracted considerable attention to the emerging field of interfaith studies (cf.Patel et al. 2018).In response, scholars have recently been developing pedagogies and/or theories to facilitate interfaith interactions in the classroom (Jones and Meyer 2022).Despite these promising developments, there is little empirical research into the impact of interfaith learning, its concepts, and its approaches (e.g.Seyle et al. 2021).To understand the impact and process of interfaith learning (conceptually and empirically), we have, in previous studies, reviewed the learning objectives, learning outcomes, and evaluation methods of interfaith initiatives (Visser et al. 2023;Visser, Liefbroer, and Schoonmade 2023).These studies have increased our understanding of the impact of interfaith learning, but not of its process.This article focuses on the process of interfaith learning by delving into participants' learning orientations within the interfaith leadership program Emoena, which is a Interfaith learning; leadership; reflection reports; learning orientation year-long program in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands for professionals who work in leadership positions and encounter religious diversity.The term "learning orientations" refers to the participants' (changing) hopes and expectations for the program, which affect the insights they gain and the challenges they face.By focusing on participants' learning orientations, the study responds to two challenges relating to our understanding of interfaith initiatives.
First, while many interfaith initiatives have started as hopeful responses to societal challenges, a curricular foundation -ongoing consideration of the interaction between concrete learning objectives, learning activities, and assessment or evaluation (Biggs 2003) -is often missing.In our systematic literature review of recent publications on interfaith initiatives in various contexts, we observed that researchers sometimes face challenges in empirically studying certain aspects of participants' learning (Visser, Liefbroer, and Schoonmade 2023).These observations are underlined by a recent analysis of the debates about interreligious literacy by Schweitzer et al. (2023), who observe that, with a few exceptions, the educational ideas that form the base for directing efforts to improve pupils' religious literacy and assess their abilities or competences remain vague and underdeveloped" (Schweitzer et al. 2023, 9).As a response to that hiatus, this study introduces a detailed empirical perspective on participants' learning orientations.
Second, the emerging literature on interfaith learning recommends considering the complex dynamics involved (cf.Abu-Nimer and Nelson 2021, 9).Scholars in this field increasingly promote an intersectional approach, which involves considering gender, race, ethnicity, and other identity aspects alongside worldview (e.g.Sayuki Tiemeier 2022; Aronson et al. 2021;Syeed 2020).There are, however, other issues related to the diversity of participants in interfaith initiatives that have received less attention.Moyaert (2020) illustrated that interfaith initiatives attract students from various disciplinary backgrounds and with diverse expectations.Understanding the differences between these students can stimulate initiatives to speak to and engage with these different expectations, needs, insights, and challenges.Similarly, scholars in curriculum building and instructional design stress the need to consider the differences in participants' learning process.1By analyzing participants' learning orientations, our study contributes to understanding the complex and diverse nature of interfaith learning.
Our research question for this article is: Which learning orientations can be distinguished among participants of interfaith initiatives, and which specific challenges and benefits does each learning orientation bring?Using an inductive case study method, this paper delves into the self-reported learning orientations of participants in the interfaith leadership program Emoena.We explore the learning orientations described and implied in the participants' intermittent reports written throughout the program, following participants' initial expectations at the start of the program to the insights they gained and challenges they faced during and following the program.Because of its broadly formulated learning objectives and its wide target population, the Emoena interfaith leadership program brings together a diverse group of participants, and this can shed light on the diversity and complexity of interfaith learning.Before describing our empirical study in more detail, we will introduce the Emoena program.

Interfaith leadership program Emoena
Emoena is an interfaith leadership program founded in France in 2015 and started in Belgium and the Netherlands in 2019 in an adjusted version. 2 This article focuses on the Emoena program in the Netherlands.The program aims to equip professionals (circa 20-25 each year) from diverse religious backgrounds and professional contexts with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to become interfaith leaders.The year-long program is made up of 18 days, with participants meeting every two weeks.The program days are organized in various locations in the Netherlands, such as churches, mosques, temples, synagogues, neighborhood centers, and universities.In the main, participants identify with (different denominations within) the Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Humanist, and Bahá'í traditions, and there are also participants who do not identify with any religious or non-religious tradition.Professionally, all participants are working in leadership positions and are dealing with religious diversity: from imams, rabbis, and priests to school principals, government officials, and artists.
The program consists of five modules.The first module focuses on developing participants' dialogical skills and creating a 'brave space'; setting up a social contract to encourage participants to participate in dialogue regarding challenging and controversial topics (Arao and Clemens 2013, 141-2).The second module centralizes participants' religious literacy from a critical perspective.Participants are challenged to rethink their normative understanding of religion and diversity and to look again at the hegemonic histories of religious tolerance, secularity, and 'good' and 'bad' religion in the Dutch context (Moyaert 2018).In the third module, participants learn about each other's worldviews by visiting houses of worship, meeting spiritual leaders, and discussing their worldviews and (religious) practices.The program focuses on appreciative and embodied knowledge about other worldviews.The fourth module addresses leadership in the context of societal challenges such as the migration debate, the climate crisis, and racism and discrimination in Dutch society.It focuses on understanding the religious dimensions of these challenges and building the skills to become an inspiring bridge-builder amidst these challenges.In the final module, participants 'give back' to society by working on collective projects in small groups; the groups work the projects into material form and present them toward the end of the program.In these projects, participants organize activities to serve their communities as interfaith leaders.Examples of such projects are interfaith podcasts, prayer books, or dialogue handbooks.
Emoena follows an integral critical interfaith pedagogy, stimulating participants to see themselves and each other as hermeneutical and embodied beings who are part of societal dynamics whereby some social identities are privileged while others face challenges (Moyaert, Blaauwendraad, and Visser 2021).Throughout the program, 2 information about the emoena program in the netherlands can be found on the website www.vu.nl/emoena.information on the original program in France can be found at www.emouna.organd on the Belgian programs at www.emouna.be(for the French-speaking program) and www.emoena.be(for the dutch-speaking program).
lectures and conversations are alternated with workshops.Participants' learning is supported by their reflection reports, which are included in order to stimulate participants' critical self-reflection and encourage their personal development during the program.The supervisors provide individual feedback on the reflection reports.The reports follow Ricoeur's hermeneutical circle by encouraging reflection on the preconceptions participants bring to each day: their perspectives and prejudices, what they learned, and how they connect their new insights to their own perspectives and positions (cf.Moyaert 2019).

Materials and methods
This article uses the Emoena program as a case study by conducting an in-depth analysis of the reflection reports of three cohorts of participants in the interfaith leadership program.

Participants
Each cohort consisted of circa 20-25 participants.All participants of all the three cohorts were approached by the first author (HJV) to gain access to their reports.A total number of 46 participants gave consent to access their reflection reports: 20 from cohort 2019/2020, 11 from cohort 2020/2021, and 15 from cohort 2021/2022.Since three of them had submitted very few reports or none at all, we ended by analyzing the reflections of 43 participants, who wrote a total of 607 reflection reports.Although the religious identity of some participants was fluid rather than solid or fixed, the participants can be roughly categorized as Christian (20 participants), Muslim (7), Jewish (6), Humanist and/or secular (5), Buddhist (3), Bahá'í (3), and Hindu (2).

Reflection reports
The reflection reports are a unique resource for understanding participants' self-reported learning orientations in interfaith initiatives, as they were written before and after each program day.All the reports were written in Dutch, except for the reports of two bilingual participants who wrote in English.The nature of the material differed per participant: some participants wrote five pages per reflection report while others wrote only a few sentences; some answered the reflection questions in a narrow and precise way while others reflected in a more free form.The reflections also differed per program day and per cohort: the Emoena core team suggested different reflection questions for each day and changed the formulation of the questions per cohort.Also, the number of submissions of the reflection reports differed per program day and per cohort.In addition, the reflection reports were impacted by Covid-19, which influenced the program's set-up (online or hybrid instead of in-person) and limited the time the participants had to fill out the reports.Examples of the reflection questions are: 'How did this day change your ideas about identity and diversity?';'What did you learn today about/from people with other worldviews than your own?'; 'What will stick with you?' .

Research ethics and researcher characteristics
This study was approved by the ethical committee of the Faculty of Religion & Theology of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.Because of the professional and religious diversity of participants in this program, we understood that participants could be recognized if we included citations of their reflection reports in this article.Therefore, we asked for participants' consent for every quotation used in this article and did not include any personal characteristics to introduce the citations.
The study was conducted by researchers from Belgium (MM) and the Netherlands (HJV, GBT, AIL), who are all white and female, and who identify with dominant worldviews in these countries: Catholic (MM), Humanist (HJV), and Protestant (GBT, AIL).Two of the authors were also previously involved in the organization of the Emoena program: one author (HJV) was involved in setting up the first cohort, and one author (MM) was the coordinator of all three cohorts.Their involvement could have contributed to the participants' willingness to participate in this study and the researchers' ability to recognize patterns in participants' learning.We tried to ensure trustworthiness of the analysis by staying as close as possible to participants' experiences by coding on a semantic level and by conducting a member check with participants.

Data analysis
This study uses an inductive case study approach (Patton 2002, 447).In Atlas.ti,one of the authors (HJV) coded the passages where participants explicitly described a) what they hoped to learn from the program, b) what they actually learned from the program, and c) the aspects of the program they found most insightful or challenging.Learning was defined as a change in knowledge, skills, or attitudes.We did not assess their learning from a researcher's or educator's perspective but stayed as close as possible to the participants' self-description on a semantic level (cf.Braun and Clarke 2006, 84).The first round of coding resulted in an extensive collection of open, semantic codes.To generate themes, the subsequent rounds of coding followed the steps of inductive thematic analysis by merging and organizing the open codes into larger themes and categories (Corbin and Strauss 1990).The themes identified in the analysis were categorized into four learning orientations by one author (HJV).These four categories were further developed and described in collaboration with another author (MM).The remaining authors (GBT and AIL) provided several rounds of feedback, which was incorporated to complete the final description of the findings.
To check if our analysis did justice to the self-understanding of the participants and how they themselves conceived of their learning orientation(s), we invited participants to take part in a member check.All study participants received a one-page description of the four learning orientations with an invitation to tell us in which of these orientations, if any, they most strongly recognized themselves. 3Thirteen participants responded.All of them could relate their experiences during the Emoena program to our findings.The member check, albeit incomplete, confirmed the four learning orientations based on the analysis of the reflection reports while at the same time 3 the one-page description can be requested by contacting the corresponding author.
underlining that these orientations should not be seen as mutually exclusive or static.Significantly, some participants stated that their learning orientation itself changed during the program, and almost all participants emphasized that they recognized themselves in more than one orientation.

Results
Based on the reflection reports of participants in the Emoena program, we found that participants started off with a range of expectations and motivations, and that these influenced the insights they gained and the challenges they faced throughout the program.These differences can be distinguished as four learning orientations: 1) literacy-oriented learning, 2) connection-oriented learning, 3) competency-oriented learning, and 4) reflection-oriented learning.Each learning orientation consists of several aspects.Most importantly, each of them says something about why participants think interfaith learning is important: about their (continuous and changing) hopes and expectations for their participation in the program.These hopes and expectations related to the aspects of the program they referred to as most insightful or challenging (their experiences), and to the insights they gained throughout the program (their learning outcomes).Most participants emphasized one of the four learning orientations most strongly.However, the four learning orientations are not meant to be exclusionary, as if participants only learn in one way.Rather, their emphasis on one of the learning orientations at times shifted and overlapped with other orientations.
In what follows, we will provide a detailed description of each learning orientation.This description will include four aspects: first, we will provide a general description of this learning orientation as it functions throughout the program.Secondly, we will discuss the learning orientation as mentioned by participants at the beginning of the program.Thirdly, we will describe which aspects of the program participants found most meaningful and challenging in relation to the learning orientation.And, fourthly, we will highlight for each learning orientation which learning outcomes participants emphasized at the end of the program.

Literacy-oriented learning
'I am less illiterate, but there is so much I do not know yet, which keeps me curious.' 4

General description
Initially, literacy-oriented learning was characterized by participants' expectations to deepen their knowledge about various worldviews and socio-political themes.As the Emoena program progressed, participants described becoming more aware of their illiteracy and growing increasingly motivated to learn more about new aspects of other worldviews.In their reflections, participants saw the interactions and locations in the program as an opportunity to broaden and deepen their understanding of lived religion and societal challenges.

Initial orientation
The central literacy-oriented learning expectation that participants voiced was to expand their cognitive understanding of various worldviews: at the start of the course, the majority of Emoena participants (20) described wanting to learn more about other religions and worldviews in order to become more sensitive to religious diversity and revise their perspectives on 'others' .Some of them (4), especially those who had been less professionally active in the Netherlands, explicitly mentioned that they wanted to learn more about religion in the Dutch context so that they would be better able to navigate the religious landscape there.

Insights and challenges
Once the program had started, several participants (8) described how they became more aware of their lack of knowledge -their 'illiteracy' -through their interactions with people whose worldviews were unfamiliar to them.As the participants became more acquainted with each other, these participants emphasized that the program was their first introduction to worldviews they had not previously encountered, particularly to the Bahá'í Faith.For instance, after the first day of the program, one participant reflected: "It was wonderfully sobering to be confronted with all the things I did not know yet in this sea of knowledge and skills." 5  Almost all participants reported at some point that they had learned something new about religion or about other worldviews anywhere in their reflection reports, but some of them (9) emphasized this in most of their reports.They stressed the importance of interactions with other participants and of the site visits as ways of deepening their understanding of various worldviews.In addition, through site visits and lectures about socio-political topics such as the relationship between the church and the state, participants described developing their knowledge about socio-historical and political developments regarding religion in the public sphere, and about societal topics such as gender, sustainability, and discrimination.As one participant wrote after day six: "It was as though I had always looked at history from one single perspective and hadn't realized that there are also other perspectives on the same histories."

Learning outcomes
Toward the end of the program, several participants (6) referred to their newly-gained knowledge as one of the central aspects of what they had learned in Emoena.Some of them also illustrated how their learning had not yet finished.They described a feeling of humility and curiosity to learn more.For example, one participant reflected: I was quite illiterate, as they call it at Emoena.I knew something about some traditions but not the finer points …It worked on me like a sponge…Now almost at the end of the course, I can say that I am less illiterate, but I also still don't know a lot, which keeps me curious." 65 Reflection after day 1. 6 Final reflection after day 18.

Connection-oriented learning
'The mutual ties strengthen and we grow closer together.The wonderful encounters between people who otherwise would never have met.What a gift this is.' 7

General description
Participants who primarily centered connection-oriented learning emphasized how they were inspired and transformed thanks to the close contact with people of other religious and non-religious worldviews.However, their longing for connection was sometimes challenged when they experienced interfaith encounters as less harmonious.Such encounters confronted participants with aspects of other participants' (world)views that they disagreed with, and raised questions about how to build relationships despite such differences.Toward the end of the program, many participants concluded with feelings of enrichment and inspiration, even though they were more conscious of possible caveats in interfaith encounters.

Initial orientation
For the majority of participants (25), building interfaith relations was one of the main motivations for partaking in the Emoena program; the unique significance of Emoena had to do with its potential to burst monocultural bubbles.For them, the diverse group of participants was a particularly important motivation for participating; even before the start of the program, many of them had hoped that they would build sustainable and positive relationships with other participants: "The encounters with people from other circles, with different identities and backgrounds and at unique locations, will enrich me.Connected to (some of) them, we will continue together.Together we will color the world a little more beautiful, no matter what." 8

Insights and challenges
During the first days of the program, several participants (18) described feeling impressed by the diversity of co-participants.In their reflection reports, they expressed their appreciation for the openness of other participants and their amazement at how quickly they felt connected to others.For example, after the second day, a participant reflected: "While listening to the personal story of what inspires the other, the other became even more human to me, evoking my admiration." Throughout the program, participants emphasized the beauty of this diversity and their growing appreciation of those with other worldviews.
In addition, throughout the program, participants described how the group -as a whole -changed and developed.Again, especially after the first few days, several participants (11) described how the group became more connected and how it established mutual trust.At the same time, however, participants also became increasingly aware of the tensions inherent in religious diversity and of their differences.Halfway through the program, some participants (13) started reflecting on challenges they faced in their interactions with other participants, mentioning some of the -in their view -less positive elements of other worldviews.These challenges became more visible when participants discussed controversial topics, or when they felt someone was not willing to participate in dialogue.Experiences of this nature sometimes left the participants who were initially looking for connection confused about how to deal with the tensions of religious diversity, although these challenges were also mentioned as a learning opportunity.One participant described precisely these two facets: The difficult conversations are also beautiful.Especially because I experience trust during these conversations." 9

Learning outcomes
Toward the end of the program, several participants (11) emphasized how they had revised their views on religious others, reflected on their own values, and concluded with a feeling of appreciation and connection.As one participant wrote at the end of the program: "I'm more able to see the light in others, to appreciate the hitherto unknown vistas of human experience which those of other philosophical traditions have been so kind to share with me."

Competency-oriented learning
'I see it as a task to use my acquired knowledge and experience to build something sustainable.' 10

General description
Participants' competency-oriented learning mostly concerned the question of what they could do, as interfaith leaders, with the skills and insights they were hoping to gain during the program.These participants started off with an ambition to bring about change in their own communities.Throughout the program, they were looking for concrete tools to apply outside of the program to deal with the religious diversity that they faced professionally.Their feelings of competency were at times shaken when they were faced with large, societal challenges that did not have a clear solution; it was essential to them that they could do something to alleviate the situation.Toward the end, as participants worked together on a project, they described feeling more equipped to make changes outside of the program as well.

Initial orientation
At the start of Emoena, a large number of participants (28) described how one of their motivations for participating was to organize new initiatives with other participants and to gain tools to bring about change in their own contexts.For example, in their reflections before the program started, one participant described: "I will have learned to work out my plans better and find more support for them…I don't have to do it all by myself.And it doesn't have to be perfect either.Working together with people of other traditions to strengthen our community.

Insights and challenges
Throughout the program, the most important theme relating to competency-oriented learning can be summarized as 'transfer:' almost every participant reflected somewhere in their reports on the question of how they should build skills that they would be able to transfer to their own contexts.For some participants (18), this theme came up several times.They would refer to their jobs and to their religious communities, and the tools they could apply there.These tools could be models or theories of leadership, such as dialogue methods, models to help identify stakeholders, or recommendations on how to set up an initiative.For example, several participants described how they wanted to use the method of Socratic dialogue in their jobs and professional contexts.As one participant wrote: "I see the dialogue exercises we do as an enrichment of my repertoire of dialogue forms that I can use in my work (and elsewhere)." 12  However, when the program addressed large societal challenges, participants tended to reflect on their perception of the future.Several participants (13) described how these insights could make them feel pessimistic, especially later in the program when the program addressed topics such as sustainability.These participants were looking for guidelines to help them do something useful about these challenges.If these guidelines did not become clear, several participants described a feeling of "ok, and now what?Back to reality and what can we do?" 13 They reflected on how a lack of perspective could lead to feelings of discouragement.Toward the end of the program, however, participants mostly described feeling more hopeful and motivated about the future.

Learning outcomes
At the end of the Emoena program, several participants (9) described having developed the skills to continue what they had started in the program.They wanted to apply their insights in their local contexts and felt inspired to work for a more inclusive society at large: "As interfaith leaders, we can bring about a lot with small things and make a world of difference.I invite everyone (or: colleagues, volunteers, and board members) to take steps to open up the world still further by making our shared space even more open, more accessible, and more inclusive." 14Most of these participants felt motivated to keep in contact with other Emoena participants to continue the interconnected process after the program ended.

Reflection-oriented learning
'I learned to be more conscious of my prejudices and privileges.I also learned to look at other people's positions, people who do not have the same privileges.' 15

General description
The fourth and final learning orientation was reflection-oriented learning: participants' reflection on their own position in relation to a diverse society.Initially, participants 12 Reflection halfway through the program.
13 Reflection after day 14.often did not describe reflection-oriented learning as a central goal of their participation.However, as the program progressed, participants described becoming increasingly aware of their own background and their blind spots about (religious) others.They described learning to see themselves as being part of society's challenges and to reflect on how becoming aware of their own bias and position could contribute to solutions to such challenges.Emoena raised questions with these participants about what our society needs from them, sometimes leaving them in confusion and awkwardness about the future.

Initial orientation
Before the start of the program, most participants did not identify awareness of societal challenges or reflection on their own background as one of their key learning expectations.Compared to the other learning orientations, a smaller number of participants (9) referred to self-reflection as a central expectation.The ones who did described hoping to develop their capacity to suspend their judgments and prejudices about (religious) others.As one participant wrote: "I hope to get closer to understanding my own judgments and blind spots; the way I approach the other and how that comes across." 16Others (3) described as an initial motivation that they wanted to become better in expressing their opinions and views.

Insights and challenges
Most participants started to reflect on their positionality and the societal challenges it implied as the program proceeded and covered themes regarding power, privilege, and the histories of tolerance and discrimination in workshops and lectures.In the first few days, many participants (24) described having been confronted with their own habits and having learned to look at their own positionality and worldview through the eyes of others.By stepping outside of their social bubble, these participants described learning how to explain their background to others, as well as finding the tools to reflect on their own backgrounds.As one participant wrote: "I realize how privileged I am and what that means.It's also scary because you're so used to thinking and speaking from that position." 17 The program covered various socio-historical themes, which sparked participants' self-reflection on their position, and many participants described feeling confronted by these new insights.The majority of participants (32) referred to this feeling of confrontation somewhere in their reflection reports; several of them (8) referred to this sense of confrontation multiple times throughout the program.For instance, one participant wrote after the third day: "The fact that (since the Enlightenment) we mainly attach value to the type of religion that can be explained and that is stripped of visible expressions in the public space was a shocking insight into my prejudices and judgments about religion.That this resulted in a hierarchy of traditions, I will keep chewing on that for a while."The socio-historical developments of power and privilege related to participants' positions in society, and they became increasingly 16 Reflection before the first day.17 Reflection after day 13.conscious of individual and structural prejudices and the Dutch cultural archive.In their reflections, several participants reported on what these interfaith power dynamics meant for them, which privileges they held based on their worldview and background, and whether they belonged more to a majority or minority worldview.

Learning outcomes
In their final reflections, several participants (8) described their increased reflection and awareness as one of the central outcomes of the program.The program addressed reflection-oriented learning through lectures or encounters, but participants mentioned that the process of self-reflection did not stop when the program ended.As one participant wrote in the final reflection: "The words 'final reflection' also do not feel appropriate because the reflection does not stop.Reflection continues.Every day, during conversations with colleagues, encounters in the church, walks with friends, reading the newspaper or a book: all the encounters during Emoena have done something to me."

Discussion
This study started from the observation that, although we have seen promising developments in the theoretical and pedagogical work that has been carried out on interfaith learning, an empirical understanding of the diverse and complex processes involved has remained largely absent.Using the interfaith leadership program Emoena as a case study, we looked at participants' learning orientations by analyzing the reflection reports they wrote throughout the program.Our main purpose was to distinguish the learning orientations among the participants, in order to understand which specific challenges and benefits the program offers its participants.Based on participants' reflection reports, we distinguished four interfaith learning orientations: 1) literacy-oriented learning, 2) connection-oriented learning, 3) competency-oriented learning, and 4) reflection-oriented learning.Although the orientations were not mutually exclusive or fixed, participants usually laid particular emphasis on one of these four learning orientations.Within the context of each of the learning orientations, it is certain aspects of the program which will be seen as the most enriching or challenging, so they all bring along various challenges and opportunities when it comes to organizing interfaith initiatives.
First, participants who emphasized literacy-oriented learning were mostly looking to gain knowledge about other worldviews.They described becoming more aware of their illiteracy and saw the theoretical lectures, interactions, and site visits in the program as most relevant, because they gave them new insights about (lived) religion.Attention to literacy-oriented learning in interfaith initiatives can stimulate participants' curiosity and contribute to their interpretation and awareness of socio-political dimensions of religious diversity (Bowling 2022).At the same time, literacy alone is not sufficient for interfaith learning: by staying at the level of understanding, we can question what actually changes in participants' practical contexts.The activist and interpersonal aspects of interfaith learning may not receive enough attention when emphasizing literacy.
Secondly, participants who emphasized connection-oriented learning came in with a strong motivation to build an interfaith network and connect with others.They referred to interpersonal learning as most inspirational.This learning orientation faces challenges, however, if/when participants encounter insurmountable differences.Such challenges can be seen as enriching participants' learning process, functioning as fruitful 'provocative encounters' that positively trigger their interfaith orientations (Rockenbach and Mayhew 2013) or even as a 'dialogical necessity' (Mikva 2018, 480).However, owing to their strong emphasis on local contexts, a lack of perspective for change or connection may also lead to feelings of discouragement through destructive provocation (Mayhew et al. 2023).
Thirdly, some participants highlighted competency-oriented learning.They were looking for concrete skills (dialogue methods, leadership tools) to apply in their own contexts and communities.These participants were mostly looking to develop the skill set of interfaith leadership (Patel 2016).However, competency-oriented learning risks moving to action before actually understanding the socio-historical dynamics at play, and moving too quickly beyond reflecting on one's own position, which may then reiterate and reinforce power imbalances.This may be particularly the case for participants who belong to the dominant religious group, who "may not make any substantive steps toward social justice for religious minorities" (Edwards 2018, 172).
On the other hand, participants who accentuated reflection-oriented learning were mostly stimulated by knowledge about and reflection on their own position amidst large societal challenges.Echoing the observation that reflection and awareness of injustice are often not seen as central topics of interest for interfaith programs (Visser et al. 2023), few participants identified reflection-oriented learning as a primary motivation to participate.As the program proceeded, however, these participants emphasized becoming more aware of their biases and perspectives.While acknowledging the importance of socio-historical awareness and self-reflection, the reflection-oriented learning orientation risks getting in the way of action and connection: if participants, especially those belonging to more dominant groups, are too focused on their own privileges and feelings of guilt, it can make them feel "paralyzed to real change" (Joshi 2022, 89).
The four interfaith learning orientations should be read with consideration of the fact that the orientations are based on a single interfaith program, Emoena, which raises the question of whether the same learning orientations would emerge from other initiatives as well.In its set-up and learning objectives, the Emoena program addressed all four orientations.Further empirical research should investigate whether other interfaith initiatives find learning orientations not found in the context of the Emoena program, and whether the orientations found in the Emoena program are present in other initiatives and other contexts as well.Furthermore, the reflection reports that we analyzed were far from uniform, and this may have influenced our analysis; not only did the format of the reflection reports differ between participants, there were also differences in the formulation of reflection questions per session and cohort.In addition, COVID-19 has had a large impact on the program and caused some days to be held online or hybrid.As the interfaith learning and development framework suggests, such external contexts shape participants' learning (Mayhew and Rockenbach 2021).We have currently not focused on the impact of these contexts on participants' learning orientations.Future research should consider how external circumstances, such as the composition and dynamics of the group of participants or societal developments at the time, may affect participants' experiences and learning in interfaith initiatives.Therefore, this study should be seen as a first step toward contributing to our empirical understanding of the diverse and complex process of interfaith learning, which will itself inspire further empirical work on interfaith learning orientations in other contexts.
The four interfaith learning orientations can sensitize curriculum builders to the various learning expectations, needs, and challenges of participants.Although we should be cautious not to reduce or classify participants on the basis of these four orientations -any categorization of learning risks being reductionist -the learning orientations can make curriculum builders and educators more aware of participants' characteristics and help them to create a program that is as relevant as possible to those participating.As the four learning orientations can have contradictory interests and needs, there might (and probably will) be parts of the program that resonate more with some participants than others.If participants feel that the content of the program does not align with their interests, they may tune out at certain parts of the program or even quit participating.This requires curriculum builders to manage participants' expectations at the start of and during the program and to prepare participants for the fact that the program will also include activities that do not fully fit with their comfort zone and interests.Rather than trying to cater to each participant's individual orientation, we believe that interfaith initiatives will benefit the most by actively addressing, bringing together, and stimulating all four learning orientations, so that they can inspire and complement one another.

Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes on contributors
Hannah J. Visser is a PhD candidate in interfaith learning at the Faculty of Religion and Theology at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.In her research project, she focuses on interfaith learning objectives and competencies and reflects on the question of how best to understand the development of participants in interfaith initiatives.Email: H.j.visser@vu.nlMarianne Moyaert is full professor of Comparative Theology of Religions at the Research Unit of Systematic Theology and the Study of Religions, Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies at the KU Leuven.She specializes in the (comparative) theology of religions, interreligious hermeneutics and Jewish-Christian relations.Email: Marianne.moyaert@kuleuven.beGerdien D. Bertram-Troost is full professor of Religious Education at the Faculty of Religion and Theology at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.Her main research interests lie in the fields of education, developmental psychology, theology, and their overlap.Email: g.d.bertram-troost@vu.nlAnke I. Liefbroer is associate professor of Psychology of Religion and Spiritual Care at the Tilburg School of Catholic Theology.She obtained her PhD at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, focusing on the empirical study of interfaith spiritual care.Email: a.i.liefbroer@tilburguniversity.edu

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Final reflection after day 18.

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Reflection after day 12. 8 Reflection before the first day.
the first day.