Does religious education promote good community relations?

Promoting positive community relations: what can RE learn from social psychology and the shared space project?

“…Second, they have been required to take a positive and active role on behalf of wider society in promoting community relations; Religious Education (RE), as a compulsory subject on the school curriculum in England, is often defended by its supporters as being "uniquely placed to help children and young people develop the knowledge and skills they need to play their part in today's society and tomorrow's world" (All Party Parliamentary Group [APPG], 2014, 1). However, understanding the extent to which RE can promote community relations, and whether teachers see this role as integral to RE, has yet received little empirical investigation (Chater and Erriker 2013;Orchard 2015).…”

“…As previously mentioned, one argument commonly used to defend Re's inclusion as a compulsory subject on the school curriculum in England is the claim that learning in RE can promote better community relations (Orchard, 2015). Learning about different religions in the world, it is assumed, will impact positively on attitudes that guide interactions with diverse others (Orchard, 2015).…”

“…As previously mentioned, one argument commonly used to defend Re's inclusion as a compulsory subject on the school curriculum in England is the claim that learning in RE can promote better community relations (Orchard, 2015). Learning about different religions in the world, it is assumed, will impact positively on attitudes that guide interactions with diverse others (Orchard, 2015). Between December 2013 and March 2014, an All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for RE sat for three sessions to hear how RE contributes to community cohesion, at which advisers, teachers, academics and faith representatives asserted the connection.…”

Promoting positive community relations: what can RE learn from social psychology and the Shared Space project?

“…As previously mentioned, one argument commonly used to defend Re's inclusion as a compulsory subject on the school curriculum in England is the claim that learning in RE can promote better community relations (Orchard, 2015). Learning about different religions in the world, it is assumed, will impact positively on attitudes that guide interactions with diverse others (Orchard, 2015 Further, an independent Commission on Religious Education (CoRE, 2017) concluded that RE contributes to community relations by providing a space to discuss difference (Jackson, 2014(Jackson, , 2015.…”

The case for Humanism in religious education

“…Felderhof (2012) takes as his starting point the inherited content of religious education -the religious 'life' -and advocates that students should be encouraged to consider what it has to offer them. Other contributions might emphasise the aim of community cohesion, and select content in accordance with how the curriculum might contribute toward achieving that aim (see Orchard 2015, or Grimmitt 2010 for further discussion). The appeal of fixing in place a 'starting point' for pedagogical discussion is clear: it offers an ordering principle around which we might design or select curriculum content, construct a defence of the importance of religious education in the curriculum, and commend particular approaches to teaching and learning.…”