Gender and attitudes towards religious education in the primary school

Three approaches to religious education at Key Stages one and two in Wales: how different are church schools?

“…In particular, Davies (2002) found that headteachers responsible for village schools tended to have more traditional views about religious education than those in town schools; and that headteachers in charge of Welsh medium schools in Wales displayed even more traditional attitudes to the subject than those in English medium schools. With regard to the effect of gender on attitudes, Davies (2004) found a more complex situation. Support for the teaching of religious education was found to be very high among both males and females.…”

“…Much less research attention, however, has been given to the attitudes of the teachers who work in church schools or who structure and deliver religious education in the classroom, apart from a few key studies like O'Keeffe (1986), Francis (1986), Wilcox and Francis (1996), Davies (2000Davies ( , 2002Davies ( , 2004 and Francis and Grindle (2001).…”

“…Sixth, comparison of the studies conducted in 1982 and 1996 demonstrated that there had been no overall shift in attitude toward traditional teaching methods over the period. Davies (2000) undertook a study in West Wales of headteachers' perceptions of religious education. He found that religious education was deemed to be an essential part of the primary school curriculum by almost all headteachers (95.6%).…”

Gender, age, attendance at a place of worship and young people’s attitudes towards the Bible

“…Davies (2004) has cited numerous studies that demonstrate that females have more positive attitudes towards religion than males (Hyde, 1965;Hyde, 1990;Turner, 1970;Greer, 1972b;and Francis, 1987). Greeley (1992) and Roberts (1996) have also reported the greater religiosity of females over males.…”