The Future of Religious Education in the Context of Postmodernity

Abstract

Since the beginning of European settlement, most Australians have identified with one of the Christian denominations, although not all have been rigorous in their practice of faith. Some have been enthusiastic about their faith, while others have been lukewarm, and some have felt excluded from its social expressions and its benefits. Most Australians have, at some time in their lives, participated in religious education that has been offered through Sunday school or day school. Patterns are changing, however. The Australian Community Survey, a survey of 8500 Australian adults randomly selected from electoral rolls in 1998, found that of those people 60 years of age and older, 85 per cent had attended a church or Sunday school as a child. Among Australians in their twenties, just 59 per cent had had such involvement. If these trends continue, the next ten-year age group of Australian children may be the first in which the majority have no memory of involvement in a religious organisation (Bellamy, Black, Castle, Hughes, & Kaldor, 2002). One reason for the change is the antipathy, and occasionally hostility, towards such education among young people and their parents. Where religious education is occurring, many young people feel negatively towards it. These attitudes and the apparent lack of impact of religious education on the public practice of faith provide good reasons for re-thinking religious education. The first section of this chapter will outline evidence for these attitudes to religious education. The second section will suggest explanations for these attitudes in terms of changes in the nature of religion. The third section will suggest that alternative forms of religious education under the term of ‘spiritual literacy’ are appropriate, given the changes in the nature of religion. This chapter is based on data gathered in Australia, although the findings reflect general trends found in some other parts of the Western world.