This article treats the various forms of adjustment between scientific and religious discourses at school. It aims to analyse the beliefs and practices of schoolmasters and to explore how the oppositions between the "dominant" discourses of Western science and those of religion are addressed in secondary education in Senegal. The…

Language does not only play an active part "in all processes" of comprehension, recognition and learning, it is also essential for "specific religious learning processes." Religious experiences and traditions have their own characteristic linguistic forms, and religious education has come to realise the necessity for an…

The aim of this study was to assess the self-evaluations of Finnish secondary school students' (N?=?549) interreligious sensitivity. The data were collected from 12-16-year-old young people with a 15-item Interreligious Sensitivity Scale Questionnaire (IRRSSQ). The IRRSSQ is based on Abu-Nimer's Developmental Model of Interreligious…

Islamic fundamentalism is an extreme perception of Islam that views "the 'Other' as the enemy demonized" against the "West", which also views the Muslim "enemy within". In contrast, pluralism perceives 'others' as different people, with different values from us. While the fundamentalist seeks to…

The Religious Education Council's (REC) 2013 "Review of Religious Education in England" consists of a National Curriculum Framework for RE (NCFRE) designed to unite the RE community around a shared programme of study for pupils aged 4-14, and a set of six policy recommendations for the consideration of the RE community and…

This article reports on a small scale study, examining the influence of parental faith belief on parental engagement with children's learning. The literature surrounding parental engagement and the impact of familial belief on children's outcomes is examined. It is clear from work in the US that familial faith belief has an impact;…

There are many pitfalls associated with teaching about religions. One such pitfall entails the risk of presenting religions as stereotypical monolithic systems; that is, all who belong to a particular religious tradition think and act in the same way. I like to call this sort of stereotyping the "robotic tendency" because it has a habit…

The article presents a method for analysing recurring curriculum documents using discourse theory inspired by Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe. The article includes a presentation of the method in seven practical steps, and is illustrated and discussed throughout using the author's recent case study on religion, identity and values in…

This paper presents data gathered in interviews with 29 informants in Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture of Yunnan, China--an administrative region with Theravada Buddhist religious identity. The data highlight tensions between the traditional faith-based education provided by Theravada Buddhist temple schools and secular state education. The…

Religion Education teaching in post-independence Zimbabwe has remained bible-oriented and confessional at a time when most Religion Education stakeholders expect an "open", plural and authentic multi-faith Religion Education curriculum. Despite curriculum innovation initiatives aimed at introducing new approaches such as experiential…

In the Finnish National core curricula for religions, the aims of religious socialisation have been replaced with aims of personal identity development. This shift of aims is also prevalent in many other countries, but the practical implications of it are not clear. This paper presents the results of a case study examining different ways of…

This article is an attempt to provide an educational justification for the British Government-funded project, "REsilience," on addressing contentious issues through religious education (RE) which was carried out by the RE Council of England and Wales. A number of issues relating to the inclusion of religiously inspired violent extremism in the…

This article explores the attitudes and experiences of key stage one and two children concerning the British autumn festival of Hallowe'en, and then compares the results with data on the attitudes and practices of British primary schools and their teachers towards the festival, showing that there is a discordance between the two. After outlining…

This study builds on the research tradition modelled by the Francis Scale of Attitude towards Christianity, the Katz-Francis Scale of Attitude towards Judaism, the Sahin-Francis Scale of Attitude towards Islam and the Santosh-Francis Scale of Attitude towards Hinduism to propose a generic instrument concerned with attitudes towards theistic faith.…

Religious categorisation occurs at enrolment in Australian state-run (public) primary schools, with children segregated into religious instruction classes during their first week. Lesson content has no government oversight and, in some schools, options are limited to Christianity. The effect of this categorisation on children's attitudes to…