A Religious Education Otherwise? An Examination and Proposed Interruption of Current British Practice

International Journal of Christianity & Education

2015

This article considers potential problems concerning Religious Education in public (state-funded) secondary schools in England in order to inform ongoing debates about religion in public education in the United States and elsewhere. Findings of empirical studies conducted in England are discussed in relation to arguments that critique Religious Education. It is argued that Religious Education as it is currently conceived and practised in England may be problematic for religious believers because it can misrepresent and critique religions, particularly Christianity. It is also suggested that the subject may be confused in its aims and purpose because it is not based upon any theological or religious authority. It is suggested that these problems may present challenges to religious identity formation among adolescents and therefore may be a cause of concern for religious communities.

Section: Pathologizing Pupil Religionsupporting

confidence: 60%

Doubts about Religious Education in public schooling

International Journal of Christianity & Education

2015

“…These criticisms resonate with the perspectives of educators who have also argued that Religious Education can present secular, inaccurate or distorted accounts of religions, or encourage its critique among students (e.g. Thompson, ; Copley, ; Hayward, ; Barnes, ; Strahn, ).…”

Section: Challenges For Religious Adolescents In Secondary Schoolsmentioning

confidence: 78%

Religious identity choices in English secondary schools

British Educational Res J

2014

This paper explores religious adolescents' reported experiences of secondary schools. Fifty‐four qualitative interviews were conducted in places of worship in three cities in England with Christians (n=46), Jews (n=38) and Muslims (n=15). Secondary schools of a religious and non‐religious character were reported as not providing a suitable environment for religious observances, nor as a place to act and behave according to participants' religious principles. Religious adolescents reported prejudice and criticism of their beliefs or religious affiliations from their peers and sometimes from teachers. They also perceived their religious traditions to be distorted, inaccurately or unfairly represented in some lessons. The focus of this paper is the identity choices religious adolescents reported in response to these challenges. Three groups of identity choices are theorised and explored: religious identity seeking, religious identity declaration and religious identity masking. The findings are discussed in view of religious identity construction theory, good practice for teachers and also the potential concerns of faith communities.

“…Fulfilling the oft-stated and laudable aims of Religious Education to promote social cohesion and respect for members of religions in a multi-faith society, on the other hand, may require developing a Religious Education curriculum that represents (or refers to) Judaism and Jewish identities authentically without appearing to undermine or stereotype themas also suggested by other researchers (e.g. Copley 2005;Barnes 2009;Strhan 2010;Lundie 2010).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Reported schooling experiences of adolescent Jews attending non-Jewish secondary schools in England

Race Ethnicity and Education

2015

This paper explores the reported schooling experiences of 28 adolescents attending non-Jewish English secondary schools who self-identified as Jews. Their reported school peerinteractions suggest Jews attending non-Jewish schools may face several challenges from members of non-Jewish peer groups, including anti-Semitism. Their reported experiences of classroom worlds, on the other hand, suggest that curricula and pedagogical methods could be perceived to exacerbate these challenges. These findings are discussed in relation to two on-going educational debates: the provision of state-funded faith schools, and the debate about the nature and purpose of the curriculum subject Religious Education in non-faith schools.