Religious Literacy through Religious Education: The Future of Teaching and Learning about Religion and Belief

Abstract

This article reports on research undertaken between July 2014 and November 2015 in secondary schools (for young people aged 11-16) across England to ask what young people need to know about religion and belief in schools in order to increase 'religious literacy' when they go in to the workplace and wider society. The research arises in the context of an urgent debate which has been underway in England about the future of Religious Education (RE), a subject which remains compulsory in England under the Education Act 1944, but which gives rise to widespread confusion about its purposes, content and structure, as reflected in growing criticisms of the policy muddle that frames it. The key findings are: that there is an appetite for review and reform of teaching and learning about religion and belief in schools, inside and outside the RE space, in order to clarify confusion about its purposes, content and structure; that the key perceived purposes which are emerging are the ability to engage with diversity, and personal spiritual (but not religious) development; and that stakeholders want to learn about more religions and beliefs, and ways of thinking about them, which reflect a much broader and more fluid real contemporary religion and belief landscape of England and the world than education has reflected.

Exploring the Potential of Religious Literacy in Pakistani Education

“…With the growing number of religious intolerance incidents in Pakistani society as well as in educational institutions, it is necessary to understand the role of religion in education. The literature on religious literacy, mainly from the West, justifies the role of religious literacy in providing better understandings of religion and its role in a particular society (Noddings 1993(Noddings , 2008Moore 2007;Dinham and Shaw 2017;Davie 2015b;Dinham and Francis 2016;Wright 1993). Therefore, ignorance of religion itself and the different beliefs between or within religions may promote misunderstanding that diminishes respect for diversity.…”

“…Religious literacy is a widely discussed and well-researched topic in Western Europe and the United States (US;Jackson 1997;Wright 1993;Moore 2007;Dinham and Francis 2016). The basic concept of religious literacy is similar to the concepts of other types of literacy that are required for peaceful societies, such as the notions of 'cultural literacy' by Hirsch (1988; also cited by Dinham and Shaw 2017) and 'political literacy' by Crick and Porter (1978). Wright (1993) defines religious literacy as an ability to reflect, communicate, and act in an informed, intelligent, and sensitive manner toward the phenomenon of religion.…”

New Representations of Religion and Belief in Schools

“…Such a turn is necessary in terms of the intrinsic value of understanding the world in which they live and in preparing young people for encounters with the religion and belief diversity of which they are part. This has begun to be recognised in emerging literature, for example on religious literacy of pupils (see Dinham and Shaw 2017) and in the proposed national plan for RE in England (CoRE), but has yet to be realised. This presents us with a pressing agenda for ongoing research and practice.…”

Religious/Spiritual Referrals in Hospice and Palliative Care

“…They are an integral part of the interdisciplinary hospice and palliative care team consisting of physicians, nurses, however, religious education is different from religious literacy and the latter could be understood as the (desired) product of the former (Parker 2020). Dinham and Shaw (2017) assert that schools can play an important role in increasing religious literacy by reviewing and reforming the religion and belief lessons. With this in mind, this paper draws on the theoretical and conceptual drives of religious literacy to report on findings from a study that explores religious/spiritual referral patterns to the chaplaincy team in hospice and palliative care.…”