Showing papers on "Religious education published in 2015"

The Routledge international companion to multicultural education

Abstract: Part One: Multicultural Education: Theoretical Perspectives and Issues * Multicultural Education: Dimensions and Paradigms, James A. Banks * Critical Multiculturalism and Education, Stephen May * Worldwide Population Movements, Diversity, and Education, Stephen Castles * Globalization, Immigration, and Schooling, Marcelo Suarez-Orozco and Carola Suarez-Orozco Part Two: Multicultural Education and Diversity Across Nations * Multicultural Education in the United States: Historical Realities, Ongoing Challenges, and Transformative Possibilities, Sonia Nieto * Multicultural Education Policy in Canada: Competing Ideologies, Interconnected Discourses, Reva Joshee * Multicultural Education in Australia: Two Generations of Evolution, Christine Inglis * Multicultural Education in the United Kingdom, Sally Tomlinson * From Intercultural Education to the Inclusion of Diversity: Theories and Policies in Europe, Cristina Allemann-Ghionda * Multicultural Education in South Africa, Crain Soudien * Multicultural Education in Japan, Yasu Hirasawa Part Three: Race, Intergroup Relations, and Schooling * Critical Perspectives on Race and Schooling, David Gillborn and Deborah Youdell * The Nature and Origins of Children's Racial Attitudes, Rebecca S. Bigler and Julie Milligan Hughes * Modifying Children's Racial Attitudes, Frances E. Aboud * Education Programs for Improving Intergroup Relations between Palestinians and Jews in Israel, Zvi Bekerman * Multicultural Education for Young Children, Patricia G. Ramsey Part Four: Culture, Teaching, and Learning * Cultural Influences on Learning, Carol D. Lee * Socialization, Literacy, and Empowerment, Thor Ola Engen Part Five: The Education of Indigenous Groups * Connecting the Circle in American Indian Education, Donna Deyhle and Karen Gayton Comeau * Indigenous Education in Peru, Maria Elena Garcia * The Struggle to Educate the Maori in New Zealand, Wally Penetito Part Six: Citizenship, Immigration, and Education * Diversity, Group Identity, and Citizenship Education in a Global Age, James A. Banks * Education, Integration, and Citizenship in France, Eva Lemaire * Citizenship Education in France and England: Contrasting Approaches to National Identity and Diversity, Audrey Osler and Hugh Starkey * Democracy, Antiracism, and Citizenship Education in England and Sweden, Hugh Starkey and Audrey Osler * Diversity and Citizenship Education in Bulgaria, Hristo Kyuchukov Part Seven: Language, Culture, Identity, and Education * Language, Culture, and Identity Issues Across Nations, Suzanne Romaine * Language Policies and Language Education in Francophone Africa: A Critique and a Call to Action, Hassana Alidou * Language Education Policy in Multi-Ethnic Malaysia, Saran Kaur Gill Part Eight: Religion, Culture, Identity, and Education * Cultural Diversity, Muslims, and Education in France and England: Two Contrasting Models in Western Europe, Nasar Meer, Valerie Sala Pala, Tariq Modood, and Patrick Simon * Religion, Culture, Language, and Education in India, Reva Joshee and Karen Sihra * Islamic Religious Education and Muslim Religiosity in Singapore, Mukhlis Abu Bakar * Religion, Ethnicity, and Identity in Indonesian Education, Joel C. Kuipers and Ella Yulaelawati Part Nine: The Education of Ethnic and Cultural Minority Groups in Europe * Migrant Minority Groups in Germany: Success and Failure in Education, Sigrid Luchtenberg * The Education of Ethnic, Racial, and Cultural Minority Groups in Spain, Teresa Aguado * Ethnic and Cultural Groups and Educational Policies in Russia, Isak D. Froumin and Andrei Zakharov Part Ten: The Education of Ethnic and Cultural Minority Groups in Asia and Latin America * The Education of Ethnic Minority Groups in China, Gerard A. Postiglione * Social Inequality as a Barrier to Multicultural Education in Latin America, Martin Carnoy * Achieving Quality Education for Indigenous Peoples and Blacks in Brazil, Petronilha Beatriz Goncalves e Silva and Sonia Stella Araujo-Olivera * The Education of Ethnic Minority Groups in Mexico, Sonia Stella Araujo-Olivera and Petronilha Beatriz Goncalves e Silva

Religious Education in contemporary pluralistic Sweden

Abstract: In the mandatory, integrative and non-confessional school subject of Religious Education in Sweden, all students are taught together regardless of religious or secular affiliation. The overall aim of this thesis is to explore and analyse how Religious Education (RE) can be socially constructed in the upper secondary school classroom practice in the pluralistic context of contemporary Sweden. The result is based on findings from participant observations of 125 Religious Education lessons at three upper secondary schools in Sweden, both on vocational programs and on preparatory programs for higher education. Discourse analysis, curriculum theory, and didaktik of religion are used as theoretical and analytic approaches. The findings indicate that a secularist discourse was hegemonic in the classroom practice and implied norm of talking about religion, religions and worldviews as something outdated and belonging to history. A non-religious, atheistic position was articulated as neutral and unbiased in relation to the subject matter and was associated with being a rational, critically thinking person. However, there were also spiritual and swedishness discourses of religion that in some respects challenged the hegemonic discourse, but also enforced it. The programs at upper secondary schools were influenced by different educational discourses called a private discourse and an academic rational discourse, which affected the construction of the subject in these different contexts. Implications of the discourses are discussed in relation to the classroom practice and aims of Religious Education.

Effect of Islam’s Role in State Nationalism on the Islamization of Government: Case Studies of Turkey and Pakistan

Abstract: Why are governments Islamizing in many Muslim-majority countries? Scholars have linked this phenomenon to the authoritarian regimes’ lack of legitimacy or the presence of powerful disruptive Islamist movements. These explanations, however, fail to explain the phenomenon. This dissertation, using comparative historical analysis of Turkey and Pakistan, argues that Islam's role in state nationalism is the primary reason for the Islamization of government. The indicators used to measure Islam’s role in state nationalism are constitutional provisions, national symbols, and banknote imagery while Islamization of government is estimated by focusing on religious education, religious basis of family law, and the ministry of religious affairs’ presence and functions.

Religious pluralism in Ismaili Muslim religious education: from difference to diversity

Abstract: Three questions command even greater attention today, as over forty countries, including many Muslim-majority states, unite against Daesh (the so-called ‘Islamic State’): How do Muslims relate to the Muslim ‘other’? How do Muslims relate to the religious ‘other’? What role can Muslim religious education play in fostering peace? Islam and Muslim education are suspected of promoting intolerance This thesis investigates a group of Shia Ismaili Muslim trainee-teachers’ attitudes to plurality in their religious education programme The Secondary Teacher Education Programme (STEP) is a two-year postgraduate course of the Ismaili Muslim community to train religious education teachers STEP, a novel development in Muslim education, experiments with an innovative pedagogical approach to plurality The research spanning over three years involved in-depth interviews, focus group, observations and textual analysis 21 trainee-teachers from 13 different countries participated in the study Alan Race’s (1983) typology ‘inclusivismexclusivism- pluralism’ serves as a key theoretical lens through which to examine attitudes to religious others The thesis argues that a ‘rooted religious pluralisation’ is taking place in the Ismaili community facilitating the emergence of the ‘tradition’ of pluralism in the community The study shows that initially, the participants were inclusive of other religious communities and worldviews on ‘theological’, ‘humanistic’ and ‘instrumental’ grounds, but were selective about how they embraced it Many of them believed that their religious perspective exceptionally equipped them over their religious ‘other’ Gradually, STEP’s ‘civilizational, normative and humanistic’ approach cultivated an ‘academically informed pluralism’ in most trainee-teachers It strengthened their Ismaili Muslim identity on the one hand and generated an appreciation for diversity on the other The individuals developed not only greater socio-cultural and historical awareness of religion, but also their ability to make a space for faith academically It cultivated in the participants a degree of ‘inter-tradition competence’ and ‘intra-Islam competence’ The individuals were not ‘pluralist angels’, but they discursively participated in pluralism The present study makes three key contributions Firstly, this is the first study to propose the thesis of ‘rooted religious pluralisation’ It identifies the key features and tendencies inherent in a religious community’s engagement with diversity through a five-dimensional working framework Moreover, as a study of the socio-cultural process of ‘intra-faith pluralisation’ in Muslim religious education setting, it is unique It is about making sense of the everyday experiences of the Muslims who encounter diversity within their own faith The thesis identifies various stages involved in the process of developing intra-faith competence and provides tools and vocabulary to discuss them meaningfully Moreover, the study suggests the possibility of a Muslim education that can play a vital role in combating extremism and sectarianism Current scholarship does not sufficiently take account of new and thought-provoking pedagogical developments in Muslim education There is a dearth of studies on Muslim faith communities’ efforts to build ‘intra-Islam competency’ in their followers through faith-based education The literature is also silent about how Ismaili Muslims handle differences among themselves regarding matters of faith, how they view differences within Islam and relate to wider religious plurality Thus, the study contributes to a niche in the existing literature on religious pluralism

Anti-Islam or Anti-religion? Understanding Objection against Islamic Education

Abstract: Opposition against the accommodation of Islam in Western societies is often attributed to a prejudice against Muslims. This overlooks the possibility that opposition against Islam could also be caused by a more general aversion towards religion and a desire for a stricter separation between the state and religion in general. Based on the German General Social Survey (ALLBUS) of 2012, the current study investigated the non-Muslim majority’s attitude towards religious education preferences in German public schools. By applying a multinomial logit model, we examined to what extent Islamophobic, xenophobic and religious attitudes predict whether people (i) support the provision of Islamic education, (ii) prefer only Christian education or (iii) opt for no religious education at all. Results show that Islamophobic and xenophobic attitudes are relevant indicators of objection against the provision of Islamic education in particular, while religiosity and religious style determine whether people support having religious education in general. Furthermore, the effect of Islamophobia and xenophobia depends on religious style. With these results the current study provides a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying resistance towards accommodating Islam in the public sphere.

‘That Would be an Ecumenical Matter’: Contextualizing the Adoption of the Study of World Religions in English Religious Education Using 'Statement Archaeology', a Systematic Operationalization of Foucault's Historical Method

Abstract: ........ ............................................................................................................................ 3 Table of

British values and British identity: Muddles, mixtures, and ways ahead

Abstract: In the final eleven months of its five-year term, the Coalition Government placed much emphasis in the education system on what it called fundamental British values (FBV). The phrase had its origins in counter-terrorism strategies that were of dubious validity both conceptually and operationally, and the trigger for its introduction into the education system (the so-called Trojan Horse letter in Birmingham) was a malicious forgery. Nevertheless the active promotion of FBV became a legal or quasi-legal requirement, was zealously inspected by Ofsted under instructions from the secretary of state, and was complemented and reinforced by new requirements under counter-terrorism and security legislation. Much damage appears to have been done already in schools and universities and more damage is likely. Much critical, corrective, and restorative work therefore needs now to be done. For restorative work to be effective a range of measures is needed: substantial discussion and clarification through dialogue; greater respect for the professional experience and insights of teachers and subject communities, particularly in the fields of citizenship education, history teaching, religious education, and spiritual, moral, social, and cultural (SMSC) development; greater trust and cooperation, both nationally and at local levels, between Muslim and nonMuslim organizations and communities; greater attention to Islamic values, wisdom, and pedagogy in the field of education; renewed emphasis on the role of Her Majesty's Inspectorate as a critical friend who identifies, commends, and promotes good practice; and much higher levels of due regard for the values enshrined in equalities legislation.

Non-governmental religious schools in Europe: institutional opportunities, associational freedoms, and contemporary challenges

Abstract: The European Convention on Human Rights guarantees freedom of education, including opportunities to create and operate faith-based schools. But as European societies become religiously more diverse and ‘less religious’ at the same time, the role of religious schools increasingly is being contested. Serious tensions have emerged between those who ardently support religious schools in various forms and those who oppose them. Given that faith-based schools enjoy basic constitutional guarantees in Europe, the controversy surrounding them often boils down to issues of public financing, degrees of organisational and pedagogical autonomy, and educational practices and management. This introduction to a special issue on controversies surrounding religious schools in a number of Western European countries briefly introduces structural pressures that affect the position of religious schools and sketches the relevant institutional arrangements in the respective countries. We then go on to introduce some of the main ...

Publicly Funded Islamic Education in Europe and the United States

Abstract: Islamic religious education in the United States and Europe has become a subject of intense debate after Muslims raised in the West carried out attacks against their fellow citizens. People worry t ...

Adoption of Mobile Technology for Teaching Preparation in Improving Teaching Quality of Teachers

Abstract: The use of mentor teachers to sustain the longevity of a novice special education teacher is not a new tactic nor is the use of a mentor teacher’s guidance in professional development for novice teachers. This study examines a new method of mentor teachers conducting professional development sessions for novice special educators through the use of short video clips, which can be viewed at the novice teachers’ convenience; thus making the professional development more user-friendly and less time consuming for the busy, novice special educator. Three secondary teachers were instructed through video modelling led by a mentor teacher. The researcher used a single-subject, range changing criterion design to show the relationship between the use of mentor video instruction and the implementation of visual supports in participants’ classrooms. The results of this pilot study revealed teachers improved their use of visual supports in their classrooms.

The politicisation and securitisation of Religious Education? A rejoinder

Abstract: I consider Liam Gearon’s critique of what he calls the politicisation and securitisation of religious education, focusing on his criticisms of a European research project, the REDCo project (Religion in Education: a Contribution to Dialogue or a Factor of Conflict in Transforming Societies of European Countries?) funded by the European Commission Framework 6 Programme, and a European policy discussion document, the Toledo Guiding Principles on Teaching about Religions in Public Schools, published by the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe. I criticise Gearon’s representation of both projects, offering alternative accounts, and relating my comments to Gearon’s essentialist view of religious education. I give a critique of Gearon’s view that initiation into ‘the religious life’ is the only legitimate form of religious education. I conclude that, although educators should always be wary of being manipulated by politicians and others, support for research and/or development concerning studies of religions (or of religions and non-religious worldviews) is a legitimate concern for bodies such as the European Commission, and the OSCE/ODIHR, provided that participants are enabled to work freely and openly in the pursuit of scholarly enquiry and liberal educational goals.

The conundrum of religious schools in twenty-first-century Europe

Abstract: In this paper Merry examines in detail the continued – and curious – popularity of religious schools in an otherwise ‘secular’ twenty-first century Europe. To do this he considers a number of motivations underwriting the decision to place one's child in a religious school and delineates what are likely the best empirically supported explanations for the continued dominant position of Protestant and Catholic schools. He then argues that institutional racism is an explanatory variable that empirical researchers typically avoid, though it informs both parental assessments of school quality as well as selective mechanisms many mainstream religious schools use to function as domains of exclusion. He then distinguishes between religious schools in a dominant position from those serving disadvantaged minorities and argues that the latter are able to play a crucially important function other schools only rarely provide and hence that vulnerable minorities may have reason to value.

Curricular choices of ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities: translating international human rights law into education policy

Abstract: This paper employs the provisions of international human rights law in order to analyse whether and how liberal states should regulate Haredi educational practices, which sanctify the exclusive focus on religious studies in schools for boys. It conceptualises the conflict between the right to acceptable education and the right to adaptable education in international human rights law, and analyses four case studies of Haredi education that exemplify different socio-legal approaches towards this conflict. The case studies show how education laws are transformed along the cogwheels of education policy, in which there are plural normative orders and many agents who implement them. Based on the case studies, I suggest that policies providing financial incentives for implementing educational standards may facilitate the realisation of the right to acceptable education in Haredi schools more than policies devised to enforce this right. I also suggest stipulations for effective conditional-funding policies.

Liberal equality and toleration for conservative religious minorities. Decreasing opportunities for religious schools in the Netherlands

Abstract: Liberal democratic states face new challenges in balancing between principles of religious freedom and non-discrimination and in balancing these constitutional principles with other concerns, including social cohesion, good education, and immigrant-integration. In a context of increased prominence of secular and anti-Islamic voices in political debate, there are demands to reduce legal ‘exceptions’ for (conservative) religious groups in the Netherlands. This article focuses in particular on public debate and jurisprudence with regard to education and explores discussions of associational freedoms that are of importance to religious schools, including the right to select and refuse pupils (the debate on the so-called duty to enrol (acceptatieplicht)), the possibilities for schools to refuse hiring staff who do not support the school's philosophy (for example in relation to sexual orientation), and teaching on sexuality and sexual diversity. The article concludes by arguing that the Netherlands is undergoin...

Re-defining ‘learning about religion’ and ‘learning from religion’: a study of policy change

Abstract: The study of how policy processes shape religious education as a curriculum subject, rather than within faith schooling, is relatively unexplored. This paper applies a policy analysis perspective to an important distinction in non-confessional English religious education, which has also been adopted internationally: ‘learning about religion’ and ‘learning from religion’. The changing nature of the distinction in English policy documents from 1994 is examined in the light of three main voices of influence on educational policy: neo-conservatives, neo-liberals and progressives. These changes are also analysed through three policy contexts: influence, text production and practice. Revisions to policy wording are interpreted in the light of this theory, showing the growing significance of neo-liberalism, and the nature of compromise, amendment and ambiguity. The implications for an understanding of the inter-relationship between policy, pedagogy and practice are then considered.

How Does the State Structure Secularization

Abstract: Why do similar modern nations accord religion different roles in their public institutions? This paper engages this question by examining trends in religious instruction in the public schools of the United States and Australia from 1850 to 1950. I find that American education secularized farther and faster than Australian education because of its decentralized system of educational administration. In the United States, decentralized educational administration facilitated challenges to religious exercises by religious minorities, fostered professional development among educators, and allowed novel educational practices oriented in new educational theories rather than religion to spread. In Australia, by contrast, centralized state control over education insulated majoritarian religious exercises from minority criticism, suppressed professional development, and helped maintain traditional educational practices that sustained religious instruction. The state thus has both mediating and constitutive effects on secularization, a finding which opens new directions for research into the dynamics of secularization.

Bodo Saori as a Resource for an Integrative Model of Christian Religious Education in a Postcolonial Perspective: A Subaltern Approach

Abstract: Among the Bodo families and communities of Assam, India, a centerpiece of socioeconomic and cultural life is community work called saori. Saori involves a reciprocal exchange of service that is replete with pedagogical implications. Drawing from the concept and practice of saori, this dissertation attempts to form a catachrestic Christian religious education in an integrative model for the Bodo churches in India, working from postcolonial perspective and a subaltern approach. The aim is to envision, how the various templates of saori, emerging from a particular cultural context, can be potential contributors for Christian religious education in a global context through hospitality, dialogue, humility and justice for dwelling together in solidarity. The dissertation shows that such endeavor has to take place in a dialectical integration of various tensions—i.e., tradition (continuity) and transformation (change), gospel and culture, identity and difference, and local and global. Further, it also proposes that these tensions play out between dominant/cosmopolitan and periphery/vernacular perspectives, especially in pedagogical practices. Examining the above proves important for more fruitfully attending to cultural expressions, experience and histories of a particular community in

Impact of Religious Education and Religiosity on Adolescent Alcohol Use and Risk-Taking Behavior

Abstract: Alcohol use and risk-taking behavior among 345 male adolescents from three Israeli secular (n = 168) and three religious (n = 177) high schools were studied from 2009 to 2013. Findings show the positive impact religious education and religiosity have on minimizing alcohol use, binge drinking, school underachievement, violence, weapons possession, and driving behavior. These results should be considered by school, social service, and health care personnel addressing the needs of young people, especially those in danger of school failure, drop out, and risk-taking behavior.

What can international comparisons teach us about school choice and non- governmental schools in Europe?

Abstract: All European states have a primary obligation to establish and maintain governmental schools everywhere, but as the result of political struggle and constitutional guarantees, they have also allowed and often financed non-state schools based on special pedagogical, religious or philosophical ideas. Depending on the level of state grants for non-state schools, states have more or less the right to supervise these non-governmental schools and seek to guarantee that the quality of organisation and teachers are not lower than those in governmental schools. Using comparable cross-national data for all member states of the European Union, we first describe four existing basic arrangements of non-governmental and governmental schools: integrated educational systems of public and non-state schools, denomination supportive educational systems, limited-support non-governmental schools and educational systems with segregated public and non-state schools. Using the same cross-national data for all member states of the European Union, we then explore three other topics: parental background and the choice of non-governmental schools, non-governmental schools and their cognitive outcomes, and non-governmental schools and their non-cognitive outcomes. There are important differences between non-governmental-independent (without state grants) and non-governmental-dependent schools (with state grants); that school choice of non-governmental-dependent schools is more related to socially mobile parents, whereas schools choice of non-governmental-independent schools is more related the reproduction of social classes; that in a majority of European countries, non-governmental-dependent schools are more effective cognitively than governmental schools, but that non-governmental-independent schools are more effective cognitively only in a few countries and more ineffective in a larger number of countries. Also non-governmental-dependent schools are not more effective non-cognitively than governmental schools.

Humanism, non-religious worldviews and the future of Religious Education

Abstract: This article considers whether non-religious worldviews ought to be included in the curriculum content of religious education (RE). While the immediate context is that of the campaigns of the Religious Education Council for England and Wales (REC) and the British Humanist Association (BHA) to extend the content of RE to include non-religious worldviews, the arguments reviewed have a wider application to RE elsewhere. A short account is provided of the 2013 REC Framework and of current legislation governing RE. The main part of the article is devoted to the evaluation of a number of publicly expressed recent arguments advanced by humanists in favour of including non-religious worldviews in the RE curriculum. Critical attention is also given to two further considerations, that of the principle of inclusion and that of the aim of RE to challenge religious bigotry and intolerance. It is concluded that the case for the inclusion of non-religious worldviews in the content of RE is unconvincing on educational gr...

Confusion in the Field! Providing Clarity on Constructivism and Constructionism in Religious Education

Abstract: Constructivism and constructionism are two distinct epistemologies. Yet, within religious education many have tended to use these terms interchangeably or as being complementary to one another. This article provides conceptual clarity in relation to both epistemologies by comparing each in terms of their origins and epistemological premises, their ontologies, and their respective purposes. It concludes by articulating some implications concerning the use of each to contribute to research in the field of religious education.

On Holy Ground: the theory and practice of Religious Education

Abstract: In On Holy Ground, Liam Gearon argues that ‘[t]he problem of modern religious education [is] how to ground the subject when it is no longer grounded in the religious life, in the life of the holy’ ...

Terrorism and Insecurity in Nigeria: Moral, Values and Religious Education as Panaceas

Abstract: The act of terrorism and general insecurity situations in Nigeria require that solution be sought to safe-guard the nation against balkanization and the educational system from collapse. Every nation’s educational system is to help it overcome her peculiar problems. If this is a truism, then Nigeria’s educational system is supposed to help her overcome the problem of terrorism that is shaking it to its foundation. It is in the light of this that this paper examines terrorism and insecurity in Nigeria and proffered moral, values and religious education as panaceas. In doing this, the paper discusses the central role that security plays in the development of nations for which Nigeria cannot be an exception. The paper further explains the concepts of terrorism and insecurity with instances of terrorist acts in Nigeria. The possible causes of insecurity in Nigeria such as bad governance, corruption, graduate unemployment, among others pointed out by other writers were highlighted. These factors were according to this paper symptomatic rather than causative. The paper therefore, queries false values, bad morality and misleading or inadequate religious education as cardinal causative factors and recommendations were given in this regard. Keywords: Terrorism, Insecurity, Moral, Values and Religious Education, Direct Instruction, Selective Reinforcement

Court-Led Educational Reforms in Political Third Rails: Lessons from the Litigation over Ultra-Religious Jewish Schools in Israel.

Abstract: This paper offers a model for evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of judicial involvement in educational reforms. It uses the model to analyze two case studies of court-led educational reforms in the third rail of Israeli politics – the curricula and the admission policies of ultra-Othodox (Haredi) schools. These case studies are located at the knotty junction of human rights, religion, and politics in education policy, generating concern in many countries. The conclusions demonstrate that even when the courts are cautious, judicial involvement in third rail educational reforms may produce impacts that drive the cogwheels of policy-making in directions that are apt to undermine the interests of the petitioners. Therefore, the choice of courts as a forum for shaping education policy in political third rails should be prudently considered. The paper also demonstrates the need to evaluate litigation by means of a contextual, evidence-based analysis. It highlights that in certain cases, what may appear to...

Religion and education in Ireland: growing diversity – or losing faith in the system?

Abstract: This paper examines the evolution of the state-supported denominational education system in Ireland in the context of increasing social diversity, and considers the capacity for incremental change in a system of institutional pluralism hitherto dominated by a single religion. In particular, we examine challenges to the historical arrangements emerging in two recent contentious issues: cuts in special funding for Protestant secondary schools and proposed diversification of the patronage of primary schools, revealing pressures on the dominant role of the Catholic Church and on the privileged place of religion in education. We identify a shift towards a more varied pluralism, or greater ‘diversity of schools’, in which multi- or non-denominational schools now feature more prominently, rather than towards either a secular system or privileged recognition of religious schools. These developments entail a change in the historical balance of religious equality and freedoms: from leaning more towards collective r...

The Continued Existence of State-Funded Catholics Schools in Scotland.

Abstract: Catholic schools in Scotland have been fully state-funded since the 1918 Education (Scotland) Act. Under this Act, 369 contemporary Catholic schools are able to retain their distinctive identity and religious education and the teachers have to be approved by the Catholic hierarchy. Similar to the position of other forms of state-funded and partially state-funded faith schools in Europe, the position of state-funded Catholic schools in Scotland has been contested. This paper initially locates the debate and discussion about Catholic schools in Scotland in the history and development of the wider faith schools debate in the UK, particularly England and Wales. The paper outlines the key themes in the debate on faith schooling in England and Wales identifying the similarities between the debate in Scotland and England and Wales and the distinctive features of the debate in Scotland. The paper will then focus on a critical examination and analysis of two key themes concerning state-funded Catholic schools in t...