“Following the publication of the Commission on Religious Education (CoRE) Final report there has been a mood change in the theoretical discussions about the nature and purpose of RE. The true game-changing significance of the Commission’s introduction of the language of worldview is beginning to dawn. This fine collection of essays from a variety of talented thinkers represents some green shoots heralding the paradigm shift that might be to come. The authors are a mixture of well-known old hands, including three who served as commissioners on the CoRE team, and some mid-career rising stars whose ideas will no doubt become increasingly influential. Their interests are wide-ranging across, amongst others, the representation of Islam, the nature of religion and of education, the place of theology in Catholic schools, GCSE question setting, pedagogy and hermeneutics. But the common theme is the offer of an alternative to a lazy approach to notions like knowledge, understanding and academic rigour that forget that our pupils are developing human beings and not just consumers of knowledge organisers. This book is a must-read for anyone wanting to grapple with the future direction of a Religious Education that takes seriously both religion and education.”
– Trevor Cooling, Professor, National Institute for Christian Education Research, Canterbury Christ Church University, UK
“This compilation is a valuable contribution to all people interested in religion and worldviews in public education. It can be seen as a call for focus on the fundamentals of religion in education. The volume comprises of several independent scholarly essays on what is the very ‘soul’ of religion in public education: religion and education. Each internationally recognized author draws from his or her scholarly background in their contribution so that the reader will find the issues brought up to resonate with and be relevant to several disciplines. While the individual works are diverse in their approach, topics and execution, the editorship and authors have managed to produce a contribution with coherence and high-quality. We simply need this kind of critical scholarship to lay the foundation against which more peripheral, but also important, issues can be analysed and solved, but also, when necessary, kept in the periphery of what is called good research, curriculum or practice concerning religion and worldviews in education. To me this book represents an urgent call for focus. Policy-makers, scholars, teachers and students alike will find this compilation a versatile, timely and high-quality research-based contribution to the discussion on religion in public education.”
– Martin Ubani, Professor of Religious Education, University of Eastern Finland
“Religious education is more important now than ever before as children and young people grow up in an increasingly diverse and complex world. This text nourishes – educare – and leads us – educere – into a broader and more ambitious understanding of religious education. The emphasis on the relational nature of the subject and a clarion call for a reframing and recontextualization of the subject rooted in both education theory and new understandings of ‘religion’ will no doubt bring the reader to attention and action. In their different ways, the authors challenge and disrupt some of the current understandings of religious education presenting their wisdom with depth, discernment and insight. This is an exciting contribution in current debates about the subject.”
– Kathryn Wright, CEO, Culham St Gabriel’s Trust