New Representations of Religion and Belief in Schools

Abstract

Discussions around the future of Religious Education (RE) in England have focused on the need to address the diversity of religion and belief in contemporary society. Issues of the representation of religion and belief in Religious Education are central to the future of the subject. This article draws on research into key stakeholders’ views and aspirations for RE to map an alternative representation of religion and belief to that found in existing approaches that universalise, sanitise and privatise religion. The data reveal a thirst for the study of a broader range and a more nuanced understanding of religion and belief. This incorporates a focus on religion and belief as identity as well as tradition, the study of the role of religion in global affairs as well as the controversies and challenges it can pose for individuals and the exploration of religion and belief as fluid and contested categories. What may be described as a contemporaneous and sociological turn, moves beyond the existing binaries of religious/secular, public/private, good/bad, fluid/static that shape much existing representation, towards a representation of the ‘real religion and belief landscape’ in all its complexity.

Growing in maturity, growing in faith, growing out of crime: the role of children’s and young people’s faith in desistance

“…This rapid change combined with a lack of religious literacy has resulted in broader society increasingly becoming ill-equipped to engage positively with the current reality of religion and belief and has left practitioners, particularly those working with children, on the back foot when it comes to engaging with those who profess some sort of faith. If religion is to be viewed alongside race, ethnicity, gender and class as a concept central to an understanding of society, there is a need for improved religious literacy among practitioners too, recognising this is a key life skill which is central to the effective, peaceful functioning of a plural democracy (Moore, 2007;Shaw, 2018). Robust religious literacy should not only be concerned with understanding the 'building blocks' of religious traditions (Prothero, 2007) but also the 'ability to discern and analyse the fundamental intersections of religion and social/ political/ cultural life through multiple lenses' too (Moore 2007, p 56;Parker, 2020).…”

Worldview literacy as intercultural citizenship education: A framework for critical, reflexive engagement in plural democracy

“…The latter highlight the need for an understanding of the socio-political dimension of religion, the role (good and bad) that religion plays in history and contemporary society (Davie, 2015b; Moore, 2007). Others stress the power dimension and the need for critical deconstruction of the very notion of ‘religion’ and its representation in society, including in education (Goldburg, 2010; Shaw, 2018, 2020).…”