Religious education

About: Religious education is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 9554 publications have been published within this topic receiving 65331 citations. The topic is also known as: faith-based education & RE.

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.

Competing and consensual voices : the theory and practice of argument

Abstract: Situating the teaching and learning of arguments within historical contexts, M. Daly Goggin ushering in the tigers of wrath - playfulness and rationality in learning to argue, S. Clarke narrative and arguemnt, argument in marrative, Mike Baynham argument as a key concept in teacher education, G. Harvard and R. Dunne argument, dialogue and religious pluralism - reflections on the current state of religious education in Britain, Howard Gibson and Jo Backus argument and science education, Carol J. Boulter and John K. Gilbert raised and erased voices - what special cases offer to argument, J. McGonigal extending children's voices - argument and the teaching of philosophy, Patrick Costello conflict and conformity - the place of argument in learning a discourse, S. Mitchell signalling valuation through argumentative discourse, M.A. Mathison thinking through controversy - evaluating written arguments, C.A. Hill negotiating competing voices to construct claims and evidence - urban American teenagers rivalling anti-drug literature, E. Long et al a different way to teach the writing of argument, A. Berner and W. Boswell argumentative writing and the extension of literacy, P. O'Rourke and M. O'Rourke.

Religious Upbringing Reconsidered

Abstract: There is, on the face of it, a logical difficulty as well as a practical one about ascribing to parents both a right to give their children a religious upbringing and a duty to avoid indoctrinating them. Curiously, this logical difficulty was largely overlooked in the debate on religious upbringing and parental rights between Terence McLaughlin, Eamonn Callan and Peter Gardner in the 1980s. In this paper I set out the terms of the logical problem and propose a solution to it.

The Delphi method: gathering expert opinion in religious education

Abstract: The ‘Does Religious Education work?’ project is part of the Religion and Society programme funded by two major research councils in the UK. It sets out to track the trajectory of Religious Education (RE) in secondary schools in the UK from the aims and intentions represented in policy through its enactment in classroom practice to the estimations of its impact by students. Using a combination of approaches, we are in the process of investigating the practices which determine and shape the teaching of RE in secondary schools through linked case studies, semi-structured interviews and a practitioner enquiry strand. In this article we focus on the first stage of the project where we used the Delphi method to elicit expert opinion on the aims and intentions of RE in secondary schools in Scotland, England and Northern Ireland. We outline the place of the Delphi process within the rationale of the project, discuss emerging themes and some of the issues arising from the use of this approach.