‘To make more room for 21st century themes’: the secular dynamics and demise of Quebec’s ‘Ethics and Religious Culture’ curriculum

In this article, I examine the secular dynamics of Quebec’s controversial and ultimately short-lived Ethics and Religious Culture curriculum (ERC). I argue that the conflicting criticisms the ERC attracted over the course of its brief existence emerged from the tensions inherent in its conceptualisa...

Full description

Saved in:  
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Farr, Eric (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Interlibrary Loan:Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany)
Published: 2025
In: British Journal of religious education
Year: 2025, Volume: 47, Issue: 2, Pages: 211-224
Further subjects:B Ethics and Religious Culture Programme
B Quebec
B Secularism and education
B Religious Literacy
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Summary:In this article, I examine the secular dynamics of Quebec’s controversial and ultimately short-lived Ethics and Religious Culture curriculum (ERC). I argue that the conflicting criticisms the ERC attracted over the course of its brief existence emerged from the tensions inherent in its conceptualisations of religion, learning, and knowledge. These tensions were themselves rooted in the constitutive concepts and epistemic assumptions of Quebec’s broader socio-spiritual context of political secularism. In this way, my analysis makes a broader argument about the dynamics and viability of religious education programming in secular societies, especially those programmes aimed at fostering ‘religious literacy’.
ISSN:1740-7931
Contains:Enthalten in: British Journal of religious education
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1080/01416200.2024.2336545