This book is about international knowledge transfer in religious education as an academic discipline; at the same time, though, it is related to the school subject of RE. Its aim is to strengthen the awareness of the need for international cooperation in the field of religious education in general and especially for clarifying the role of knowledge in this kind of cooperation. The contributions discuss a number of issues, among others related to the validity and transferability of knowledge in religious education. Thus, the book takes up a topic which so far has remained implicit and therefore also untreated. This approach implies a whole spectrum of new methodological and epistemological problems. Some crucial questions that are discussed in the chapters from different national contexts are: – How can the national and the international context be productively connected to each other? – Which concept or understanding of ›international‹ should be used when it comes to the transfer of knowledge? – What exactly is meant by ›knowledge‹ in religious education? – What does ›transfer‹ mean in this context? The scope of the book is an invitation to other colleagues to take part in and to continue the discussion.

International knowledge transfer in religious education (RE) is still a fairly new topic. Many scholars in the field consider this discussion of prime importance for the future of both the academic discipline of religious education and the related school subject RE. This book continues this discussion and specifies it in the direction of teacher education. Its focus is on the challenges that teacher students and their trainers are facing in the light of RE in a pluralized and detraditionalized society. The impact of these challenges on RE research is obvious. However, international exchange of research results for purposes of comparison and mutual enrichment is still rare. This book provides insights that can encourage and facilitate this exchange.

This book unites and explores different approaches to understand and develop knowledge-based religious education. While the importance of methodological issues in RE is understood and acknowledged, the editors and contributors interrogate what kind of knowledge should be explored, how this knowledge is defined and what the consequences would be. Subsequently, the book focuses on the concept of powerful knowledge which transcends students' everyday experiences, and how it can be incorporated into the RE curriculum. Drawing together international research from RE teaching and learning, the book explores various paths to integrate a truly knowledge-based religious education. The book will appeal to students and scholars of religious education, sociology of education and the philosophy of religion.

This essential book provides a comprehensive introduction to current debates in religious education. Exploring the rich variety of opinions and ideas that constitute and impact upon religious education, both novice and experienced teachers will benefit from deepening their theoretical knowledge and understanding through reading Debates in Religious Education. This second edition has fully updated all chapters and included an additional thirteen new contributions, providing a provocative yet informative introduction to current debates and allowing teachers to reach informed decisions about how they approach this subject. Responding to recent controversy and challenging assumptions about the place of religion in education, expert contributors cover key topics such as: The aims of religious education Religious education in the United Kingdom and Ireland Agreed syllabuses and the role of Standing Advisory Councils Educational issues, such as the right of withdrawal, collective worship, and faith schools Teaching and learning in religious education Multi-faith religious education Relating science and religion. With its combination of expert opinion and fresh insight, this essential text is the ideal companion for any student or practising teacher engaged in initial training, continuing professional development or Master's-level study.

This book brings together two topics which have both been of increasing interest in different countries. The first refers to the quality of Religious Education as a school subject (RE) in general, the second is about the education of teachers of RE and its possible contribution to better quality RE. There have been many public, and often controversial, debates concerning both of these topics. The chapters contained in this volume, however, are not meant to continue such debates (even if it is inevitable that they will contribute to these debates as well), but to make use of research, especially research on teacher education in the field of RE, in order to provide insights based not just on political or personal opinions, but on rigorous academic scholarship.

Crisis, Controversy and the Future of Religious Education sets out to provide a much-needed critical examination of recent writings that consider and respond to the crisis in religious education and more widely to a crisis in non-confessional forms of religious education, wherever practised. The book is critical, wide-ranging and provocative, giving attention to a range of responses, some limited to the particular situation of religious education in England and some of wider application, for example, that of the role and significance of human rights and that of the relevance of religious studies and theology to religious education. It engages with a variety of positions and with recent influential reports that make recommendations on the future direction of religious education. Constructively, it defends both confessional and non-confessional religious education and endorses the existing right of parental withdrawal. Controversially, it concludes that the case for including non-religious worldviews in religious education, and for the introduction of a statutory, ‘objective’ national religious education curriculum for all schools, are both unconvincing on educational, philosophical and evidential grounds. Timely and captivating, this book is a must-read for religious and theological educators, RE advisers, classroom teachers, student teachers and those interested in the field of religious education.

Religious education is always a local or regional practice. This is evident in the studies in the present volume on religion and education. The production and the transfer of knowledge in this field are particular and take place in certain historical contexts, so that both can be understood as historical processes. With regard to these theoretical assumptions, the authors of the present volume deliver case studies concerning religious education research in Germany, Ireland, Sweden, Argentina, as well as other countries. Several questions from these contributions might be relevant for further studies: Is religion being underrated in educational research? Is education, on the other hand, being underrated in religious studies? Do these questions depend on national traditions in educational as well as religious research? Are there transnational exchanges between countries through networks, guilds and media? And finally, what might be the additional benefits of such research compared to international comparative studies?