Religious education in a changing world
Religious education in a changing world
In the 1940s, Britain was a predominantly Christian country. Over the past 50 years, the UK’s religious and cultural landscape has changed in unprecedented ways. This has important effects on Religious Education.
This article is part of our series on the role of religion in education across Europe.
Religious education in the UK
Religious Education (RE) is taught in schools across the United Kingdom (UK). It is part of the basic curriculum but not part of the national curriculum: unlike compulsory subjects like English and maths, RE is one of two subjects (along with sex and relationship education) where parents have a legal right to withdraw their children from class.[1] In other words, the provision of RE is compulsory in all publicly-funded schools, but it is not compulsory for any children to take the subject. What is actually taught as part of RE changes according to where in the UK a school is and what type of school it is. In terms of location, RE changes across nations: England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. The regulation of RE also depends on the specific nation in the UK, and this has a close impact on what is taught as well.[2]
Religious education across nations
Mandated by the Education Act of 1944 and amended by the Education Reform Act of 1988 and the School Standards and Framework Act 1998, the syllabus in England and Wales is agreed locally by two different bodies, one permanent (Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education) and one occasional (Agreed Syllabus Conferences) to advise on religious education and to determine the content of religious education. These bodies seek to reflect the predominant place of Christianity in religious life, but also give an equal platform to the major world religions that reflect the religious diversity of their local communities. All parents have the right to withdraw a child from religious education, which schools must approve.[3]
Given Scotland has maintained its own civil and criminal law and its education system, religious education is determined by the Scottish Parliament. In Scotland, religious education is commonly known as Religious and Moral Education (RME). RME is similar to RE in England and Wales in that it consists of learning on Christianity and other world religions. A key difference, however, is that RME also emphasises the role of religion in Scotland’s cultural history and identity. The Education (Scotland) Act 1980 gives parents the right to withdraw their child from instruction in religious subjects and religious observance.[4]
In Northern Ireland, the syllabus has been less inclusive of other world religions: it has been determined exclusively by representatives of the four numerically largest Christian denominations: Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Anglican, and Methodist. There is, therefore, no prominent reference to other faith communities.[5]
In terms of schools, it is compulsory for all state-funded schools to teach RE, while faith schools have the flexibility to give priority to their distinctive faith ethos and values and have selection criteria that includes learners from that faith.[6] In English and Welsh law, special schools for students with learning disabilities are not required to give religious education. They can still still offer it, but only if the syllabus is locally agreed and especially tailored to learning disabilities.[7] As with other parts of the United Kingdom, parents have the right to withdraw their child from religious education and collective worship, in whole or in part.[8]
Recent developments
In the 1940s, Britain was a predominantly Christian country. Over the past 50 years, the UK’s religious and cultural landscape has changed in unprecedented ways. Now, a significant proportion of people say they have no religion, while other religions besides Christianity have also gained more followers.[9] With the population becoming more diverse and engaged with a globalised world than ever before, RE is undergoing an overhaul in the UK. The aim is for students to be taught in a way so that they are able to understand people from multiple backgrounds and outlooks.[10]
In England and Wales, this would see a new nationally, as opposed to locally, determined syllabus called either ‘Religion, Belief and Values’[11] or ‘Religion and Worldviews’.[12] Replacing religious education, this syllabus will not only be obligatory in all state-funded schools but no longer give parents the right to withdraw their children from classes. Moreover, while faith schools would continue to give priority admission to students of the school’s religion, the proportion admitted on the basis of this religious criteria would be reduced. These proposed changes represent a significant shift in the UK since the Education Act 1944.[13]
A key issue that is also being revisited is the daily act of collective worship. All schools are required by the 1944 act to provide a daily act of collective worship with “a broadly Christian character”[14] but an estimated one in three state schools do not follow this requirement. Charles Clarke, ex-education secretary, says that “the answer is not to insist on enforcement of an inadequate law, but to change the requirement in order to reflect society today.”[15]
While distinct from RE, collective worship is likely to be affected by new developments in RE. Clarke as well as other lead reviewers of the UK’s RE overhaul have called for collective worship to be replaced with worship “reflecting the diversity of the school.”[16] Collective worship will remain a requirement for all state-funded schools but will be “in keeping with the values and ethos of the school and reflecting the diversity and character of the school community.”[17]
Religious education in a changing UK
The developments being recently proposed in RE appear to reflect significant demographic and religious transformations in the UK, but do they go far enough?
The National Secular Society advocates a comprehensive reform of RE. It calls for all publicly-funded schools, including academies with a religious designation, to not only teach about major faiths other than Christianity in the UK, but also non-religious philosophies.[18] Moreover, the Society calls for confessional teaching of RE to be completely outlawed in the UK. Religious education, in other words, cannot become religious instruction. To even strike a balance between confessional and non-confessional teaching would amount to a bias for an exclusive viewpoint.[19]
While the reforms being proposed in the UK do recognise diversity and take it into account, they do not offer a full break from the interest of various faith groups, including the Church of England. The focus on the diverse representation of faith groups arguably reflects two key trends. Firstly, Christianity still remains a majority, if not the main, religion people identify with in the UK. Eurostat’s 2018 Eurobarometer survey found that the majority of the UK’s population, nearly 54%, is still Christian.[20] Secondly, religions other than Christianity, such as Islam, Hinduism, and Judaism, have established an unprecedented foothold in the UK, primarily through immigration. Eurostat’s 2018 Eurobarometer survey found that over 6% of the UK’s population belongs to these other religions.[21]
Whether the expected reforms in RE reflect a changing UK free of any bias remains to be seen. What is certain, however, is that the UK has moved on from the world in which the Education Act of 1944 was introduced.
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[1] Religious education across the UK
[2] Religious education across the UK
[3] Religious education across the UK
[4] Religious education across the UK
[5] Religious education across the UK
[6] Religious education needs overhaul to ‘reflect UK’, says report
[7] Religious education across the UK
[8] Religious education across the UK
[9] Religious education needs overhaul to ‘reflect UK’, says report
[10] FINAL REPORT. Religion and Worldviews: the way forward. A national plan for RE
[11] Religious education needs overhaul to ‘reflect UK’, says report
[12] FINAL REPORT. Religion and Worldviews: the way forward. A national plan for RE
[13] Religious education needs overhaul to ‘reflect UK’, says report
[14] Religious education across the UK
[15] Religious education needs overhaul to ‘reflect UK’, says report
[16] Religious education needs overhaul to ‘reflect UK’, says report
[17] Religious education needs overhaul to ‘reflect UK’, says report
[20] Eurobarometer 90.4: Attitudes of Europeans towards Biodiversity, Awareness and Perceptions of EU customs, and Perceptions of Antisemitism. European Commission. (December 2018)
[21] Eurobarometer 90.4: Attitudes of Europeans towards Biodiversity, Awareness and Perceptions of EU customs, and Perceptions of Antisemitism. European Commission. (December 2018)
