Anglican school inspectors will usually be Christian. Is it possible that their beliefs might compromise their inspection judgements? Neutrality is impossible when holding opinions or making judgements about matters of signal importance. Religious beliefs are strongly held. Using the concept of "ordinary theology" I argue that religious beliefs…

The argument in this paper is that in spite of the acknowledgement of plurality, many countries in sub-Saharan Africa seem reluctant to introduce multi-faith approaches preferring to maintain Christian confessionalism in religious education. Even in those countries where new approaches are being tried, there is some unwillingness to make wholesale…

In this article, the author makes some further remarks on the legacy of Ninian Smart and related issues in reply to L. Philip Barnes. In his judgement, the exchange between them is worth following up. Substantial issues are raised that are not resolved. In the Editorial of the issue of this journal in which Barnes' response appears, Vivienne…

The importance of the legacy of Ninian Smart is a crucial issue, precisely because, to the author's mind, much of contemporary British religious education has signally failed to face up to the reality of its historical and continuing failure to further and realise liberal educational aims: it congratulates itself on its achievements while…

What are the prospects for joining religious education and human rights education? (1) Human rights educators may cite good historical and philosophical reasons for teaching about human rights without making any reference whatsoever to a religious foundation. (2) For their part, many religious communities have resisted opportunities to form…

The new National Framework for Religious Education (RE) suggests, for the first time in national advice on agreed syllabuses, that atheism can be included in the curriculum alongside world religions. This article counters objections to the inclusion of atheism in RE and argues that children and young people can learn from atheistic beliefs and…

This article responds to Andrew Wright's critique of my views on the representation of religions. Using various literary devices--associating my work closely with that of others whose views are in some ways different from my own, referring very selectively to published texts and exaggerating, and sometimes misrepresenting, what I actually…

This article discusses how the concept of "good citizens" in Singapore is linked to the principle of harmony, characterised by collectivism and a strong interventionist government. The value of religious harmony is actively promoted by the Singapore government and supported by the religious leaders. This article argues that the principle of…

The authors consider the potential and promise of the 2000 UNESCO "Earth Charter" for the work of the religious educator in situating a "common" ethical core in a global world. It is argued that the Charter represents a courageous attempt to negotiate a global ethic of universal and multi-faceted responsibility based on the foundation of…

John Hull's recent educational writings have included several on what he calls the "money culture". This is analysed and criticised in this article. Hull offers a Marxist and a neo-Marxist account of the role of money in western societies utilising the labour theory of value, false consciousness and the materialist interpretation of history. It is…

Although well documented from a British perspective, empirical research exploring the spiritual lives of primary school children in the Australian context is a field in which scholarship is beginning to emerge. This article reports on one particular finding which emerged from an Australian study seeking to identify some characteristics of…

This article argues that, considering the current trends of polarization between adherents of different religions, courses on world religions should no longer focus only on the transmission of knowledge, but include material from human rights studies, inter-religious dialogue, and peace studies as well. According to the author, due to their…

This article provides some concluding reflections on religious education and peace-making in different countries in East and West (Indonesia, Korea, Japan, Israel, Spain, Germany, USA), as discussed in the previous papers of this volume. I mention the changed nature of modern forms of violence and war, so that peace is no longer just an option in…

The aim of this article is to respond to Kevin O'Grady's critique (in "BJRE", 27, 2005, pp. 227-37) of my interpretation and assessment of Ninian Smart's contribution to religious education. I begin by dealing with a range of issues that lend themselves to fairly summary discussion and then address two further aspects of his critique in more…

Peter Doble has recently made his opinions on an article written by the author (Thompson, 2004a). Several of the points Doble raised were addressed in the author's book "Whatever Happened to Religious Education?" (Thompson, 2004b). In this article, the author addresses the points made by Doble in response to her article. The author contends how…