This timely book offers a critically important contribution to debates around the meeting place of religious and secular worldviews in education. Edited by five leading figures in the field, and drawing on expert international scholarship and research, the book provides cutting-edge analysis that bridges the religious and secular in global educational contexts. Considering the role of the United Nations, UNESCO, OECD and PISA in varied international contexts, the book draws on critical analysis of primary empirical research and secondary critique to offer a coherent blend of theoretically complex yet practical analysis of policy implementation. Throughout this accessible and logically structured volume, the authors assert that the meeting place of religious and secular worldviews is one of the most important and pressing issues for religion in education. As a field-defining work of research into education, religion and worldviews, the book will be essential reading for scholars, researchers and postgraduate students in the fields of religious education, religious studies, philosophy of education and international education.

Religion and Worldviews: The Triumph of the Secular in Religious Education provides the first serious analysis and review of the Commission on Religious Education’s proposed worldviews framework for the subject. It argues that religious education has an important contribution to make to the aims of liberal education and examines whether the shift to a worldview framework is capable of overcoming current weaknesses and initiating a new positive direction for the future. Chapters explore the role of worldviews in Religious Education, covering key debates including: Whether there is need for new legislation on RE The nature of professionalism and the role of ‘experts’ The extent to which there is educational value in study of the personal worldviews of students The role of the religious voice in RE The relation of religions to religious worldviews The aims of RE The relationship between the state and religion Consideration of the nature of a worldview The personal reflections of a member of the Commission on its proposals The chapters provide all that is necessary to understand and to evaluate the current debate on the appropriateness of a worldviews approach to RE. Bringing together leading names in the field, this is essential reading for trainee and practising teachers of Religious Education, RE advisers and schools’ leaders responsible for curriculum development.

Religious Education (RE) holds a unique place within the state education system. Yet, the teaching of RE has often been criticised for its tendency to present simplified and stereotypical representations of religions. Bringing together the theory of metacognition with RE curriculum content, this book offers a coherent and theoretically supported approach to RE and beyond that is applicable to a range of subjects and students of various age groups. Metacognition, Worldviews and Religious Education seeks to support teachers in creating a new and exciting classroom approach. With a focus on putting children and teachers’ worldviews back on the RE agenda and developing awareness of these through metacognitive processes, it includes • Tables, frameworks and checklists to make it easy for teachers to adapt the approach to their own context • Concrete examples of how the approach can work in the classroom, including case studies from teachers • Call-out boxes for teachers and others to reflect on their own practice and to consider their own beliefs and values in relation to teaching and learning Co-authored by three researchers from Exeter University and one experienced advanced skills RE primary school teacher, this book explains in a jargon-free way the theories of metacognition and worldviews which underpin the creation of a unique learning environment, making it an essential read for students, experienced teachers, researchers in RE and anyone interested in taking a thinking skills approach to pedagogy.

Beyond the Big Six Religions: Expanding the Boundaries in the Teaching of Religion and Worldviews is a timely addition to the literature surrounding Religious Education teaching in schools. The book explores the desirability and possibility of expanding the breadth of religious and non-religious worldviews within the classroom. Written by an expert in Religious Education and minority religions, this book articulates the importance of the inclusion of minority voices within the classroom, and in wider society.

This volume presents the findings of a number of empirical and theoretical studies on education about religions and worldviews (ERW) conducted in the Western societies of Britain, Ireland, Canada, Norway, Finland, New Zealand, Australia and Canada. Educational programmes about diverse religions and worldviews began to be investigated and implemented as strategies to encourage interreligious understanding and social cohesion, particularly following the 2005 London bombings when a fear of youth radicalisation and home-grown terrorism became prevalent. In addition, as a growing number of people in Western societies, and young people especially, declare themselves to have no religious affiliation, state actors are currently grappling with the reality that we are living in increasingly multifaith and non-religious societies and government education systems have become places of contestation as a result of these changes. This volume examines ERW research and policies in a number of diverse places in the hope of identifying common themes, overlapping insights and best practices that can inform research and policy for religious literacy and interreligious understanding in other contexts. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Intercultural Studies.

Teachers of religious education experience the challenge of secularization and diversity in the classroom. Schools rooted in the Christian tradition wonder how they can adapt religious education to an increasing plurality in worldviews. How can worldview education contribute to the identity development of children and at the same express the identity of the school? Learning for Life introduces a hermeneutical-communicative model that helps teachers to reflect on their goals, didactical roles, religious sources and students’ abilities. Teachers invite students to search for meaning in all kinds of religious and non-religious sources, to exchange views with each other in a respectful way and to respond individually using imagination as a powerful learning tool. Learning for Life explains the model, provides pedagogical backgrounds and shows results from research at nine primary schools in the Netherlands. Hermeneutical-communicative learning appears to be an inspiring perspective for both private and public education.