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.
Highlights
Changes in the religion and belief landscape of the UK over recent decades have been significant and are well documented in contemporary sociological research
The sample of 97 teachers was made up of 29 RE specialists, 49 non-specialists in RE and 19 members of senior leadership teams. This sample sought to reflect the situation across most secondary schools, in which more than 50% of RE teachers have no qualification in the subject (APPG All Party Parliamentary Group on Religious Education)
This article asks what kind of representation of religion and belief meets the aspirations of key stakeholders for the content of RE? Participants’ views on content are analysed in relation to debates on the representation of religion and belief in curricula to suggest a new set of representations that better prepare pupils to engage with the real religion and belief landscape
Summary
Changes in the religion and belief landscape of the UK over recent decades have been significant and are well documented in contemporary sociological research As Dinham and Francis observe, there is a growing gap between this real religious landscape and that imagined by the majority (Dinham and Francis 2016) This gap is related to the diversity of beliefs, diversity within traditions and the nature of ‘being religious’. The complexity of this landscape and its implications for society and its individuals is not grasped and poses a challenge to educators seeking to promote an understanding that prepares young people for engagement with religion and belief diversity in their everyday encounters, in communities and work places. Attention has been focused on the shortcomings of various pedagogical approaches, in particular the phenomenological approach, that universalises, sanitises and privatises religion within a secular liberal mould This is mirrored in policy too, where a narrow, static representation is apparent (Revell 2012; Jackson et al 2010). The importance of representation lies in both the intrinsic value of such understanding and its instrumental purpose of preparing young people for engagement in the global society of which they are part
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