Buddhism in RE Textbooks in England: Before Shap and After the Call for Community Cohesion

Abstract

This article examines how the representations of Buddhism in religious education (RE) textbooks and their social meanings have changed in England. Buddhism first appeared in RE textbooks in England in the early 1960s. In the 1970s, Ninian Smart's phenomenological approach gradually prevailed. Although it is now regarded as a typical "world religions" approach, phenomenological textbooks commonly did not include Buddhism, because of the advent of political multiculturalism. Buddhism re-entered into textbooks in the mid-1980s. In the 2000s, the Department for Children, Schools and Families made it a duty for schools to promote "community cohesion." This has resulted in notable changes in the representations of Buddhism in textbooks.