34 research outputs found
The interpretive approach to religious education : challenging Thompson's interpretation
In a recent book chapter, Matthew Thompson makes some criticisms of my work, including the interpretive approach to religious education and the research and activity of Warwick Religions and Education Research Unit. Against the background of a discussion of religious education in the public sphere, my response challenges Thompsonâs account, commenting on his own position in relation to dialogical approaches to religious education. The article rehearses my long held view that the ideal form of religious education in fully state funded schools of a liberal democracy should be âsecularâ but not âsecularistâ; there should be no implication of an axiomatic secular humanist interpretation of religions
Including the religious viewpoints and experiences of Muslim students in an environment that is both plural and secular
This paper sets out the context and some main lines of argument about the education of Muslim children in England, including concern over low attainment, over segregation and violent extremism. Three approaches to inclusion of Muslims in mainstream educational settings are identified. The paper describes and assesses the identity-based approach to inclusion common to many English schools using a distinction between permissive and affirmative stances to analyse practice. It proceeds to argue for an epistemology-based approach that makes room for studentsâ experiential and theological perspectives on the content of their learning
Religion and religious education : comparing and contrasting pupilsâ and teachersâ views in an English school
This publication builds on and develops the English findings of the qualitative study of European teenagersâ perspectives on religion and religious education (Knauth et al. 2008), part of âReligion in Education: A contribution to dialogue or a factor of conflict in transforming societies of European countries?â (REDCo) project. It uses data gathered from 27 pupils, aged 15-16, from a school in a multicultural Northern town in England and compares those findings with data gathered from ten teachers in the humanities faculty of the same school, collected during research for the Warwick REDCo Community of Practice. Comparisons are drawn between the teachersâ and their pupilsâ attitudes and values using the same structure as the European study: personal views and experiences of religion, the social dimension of religion, and religious education in school. The discussion offers an analysis of the similarities and differences in worldviews and beliefs which emerged. These include religious commitment/observance differences between the mainly Muslim-heritage pupils and their mainly non-practising Christian-heritage teachers. The research should inform the ways in which the statutory duties to promote community cohesion and equalities can be implemented in schools. It should also facilitate intercultural and interreligious understanding between teachers and the pupils from different ethnic and religious backgrounds
Reported schooling experiences of adolescent Jews attending non-Jewish secondary schools in England
'Respect Study' the Treatment of Religious Difference and Otherness: An ethnographic investigation in UK schools
Understanding and appreciating the beliefs and practices of others feature prominently among the aims and purposes of Religious Education in UK schools. Drawing on ethnographic data from the âDoes RE Work?â project, this paper presents two conceptions if âin/entolerationâ a deliberate process of inculcating tolerance in pedagogy. Entoleration, akin to enculturation, encourages sympathetic and transformative encounter with othersâ beliefs. Intoleration, akin to indoctrination, risks eliding both difference and encounter in the service of a pre-determined aim of nurturing uncritical tolerance. The former is categorised by pedagogies of encounter with the other as person, while the latter often focuses on externals and strangeness