“I’m just British—normal British”: Exploring Teachers’ and Pupils’ Conceptualisations of Religion(s) and Religious Belonging

Céline Benoit

doi:10.1080/13537903.2021.1958493

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article seeks to foreground the voices of primary school teachers and children—often silenced in research—and explore how they understand religion(s) and religious belonging. The findings draw on qualitative data investigating the narratives of teachers and pupils from five primary community schools in the West Midlands (England). The research shows that religious traditions in contemporary Religious Education classes still tend to be constructed as un-diverse, impermeable, monolithic wholes as teachers rely on the dominant World Religions Paradigm. As religions as lived tend to be ignored, children find it difficult to situate themselves within debates and conversations pertaining to religion(s) and religious diversity and consequently tend to speak about ‘others’ and imagined ‘them’. As a result, most children believe that RE is learning about the ‘Other’ and tend to construct ‘world religions’ as un-British. The article concludes that, overall, RE fails to challenge static representations of religion(s) and rigid categorisations and that the subject ought to offer alternative representations of religious beliefs and practices by foregrounding the lived realities of children and religious communities.

Highlights

The research shows that religious traditions in contemporary Religious Education classes still tend to be constructed as un-diverse, impermeable, monolithic wholes as teachers rely on the dominant World Religions Paradigm
Since 1944, weekly Religious Education (RE) classes and daily acts of Collective Worship have been compulsory in all types of state-funded schools, whether they are of a religious character or not (Education Act 1944; Education Reform Act 1988)
Stephen Parker and Rob Freathy (2011, 248) suggest that this account is oversimplified and does not take into consideration all historical, structural, and contextual factors. As they examine the context in which the Birmingham Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education of 1975 was drafted, they argue that change in RE was the result of a desire to meet the needs of a diverse population, and a political response to anxieties pertaining to “issues of immigration and ‘racial’ integration” (Parker and Freathy 2012, 383)

Summary

Introduction

Since 1944, weekly Religious Education (RE) classes and daily acts of Collective Worship have been compulsory in all types of state-funded schools, whether they are of a religious character or not (Education Act 1944; Education Reform Act 1988). As debates about the place and function of religion in state-funded schools took place, curricula were reformed to mirror the pedagogical changes, which resulted in Religious Education replacing Religious Instruction in the Education Reform Act (ERA) of 1988 and eventually led to today’s multi-faith approach to RE (Barnes 2008, 81, 2009, 611; Barnes and Wright 2006, 67; Jackson 2015, 15; O’Grady 2005). Stephen Parker and Rob Freathy (2011, 248) suggest that this account is oversimplified and does not take into consideration all historical, structural, and contextual factors As they examine the context in which the Birmingham Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education of 1975 was drafted, they argue that change in RE was the result of a desire to meet the needs of a diverse population, and a political response to anxieties pertaining to “issues of immigration and ‘racial’ integration” (Parker and Freathy 2012, 383). While the legislation required contemporary syllabi for RE to “tak[e] account of the teachings and practices of the other principal religions represented in Great Britain” (Education Act 1996, s. 375.3), Christianity had to predominate in non-confessional state-funded schools (Circular 1/94 1994, s. 35)

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Conclusion