Should World Religions be Taught to Primary School Children in Predominantly White, Traditionally Christian Areas? A survey of headteacher attitudes in West Wales
The 1988 Education Reform Act stipulated that the character of RE should ‘reflect the fact that the religious traditions of Great Britain are in the main Christian whilst taking account of the teaching and practices of other principal religions represented in Great Britain’. The Act did not, however...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
1999
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| In: |
Journal of beliefs and values
Year: 1999, Volume: 20, Issue: 1, Pages: 75-87 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | The 1988 Education Reform Act stipulated that the character of RE should ‘reflect the fact that the religious traditions of Great Britain are in the main Christian whilst taking account of the teaching and practices of other principal religions represented in Great Britain’. The Act did not, however, ask whether multifaith RE was relevant to primary school children in predominantly white, traditionally Christian areas. This article explores headteachers’ perceptions of the relevance of multifaith RE. Attention is given to the views of headteachers in South West Wales about possible reasons for and against teaching world religions. It also looks at their views about which religions are most relevant to the primary curriculum and about the balance of time which they believe should be allocated between Christianity and the other world religions. The article concludes that, although some headteachers in predominantly white areas are aware of difficulties inherent in this multifaith RE, it is seen by the majority as being both educational and relevant to the needs of primary school children in a modem western society, whatever cultural mix or lack of it exists in the school. |
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| ISSN: | 1469-9362 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of beliefs and values
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/1361767990200107 |