ERIC Number: EJ983065
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2012
Pages: 16
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0305-4985
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Contestable Beliefs in Education: Fairness and/or Neutrality?
Cooling, Trevor
Oxford Review of Education, v38 n5 p551-566 2012
This article is the final paper in the symposium which took place at the British Educational Research Association conference in September 2011 and, subsequently, at the American Educational Research Association conference in April 2012, where my report "Doing God in education" was debated. It constitutes a response to the points made by the other four participants in the symposium. "Doing God in education" was a sustained critique of humanist responses to the place of religion in education as exemplified in publications emerging from the British Humanist Association. This article first defends, then develops that critique by responding to Richard Norman's rejoinder, arguing that the root problem lies in humanist attachment to neutrality and its epistemological implications. The article then goes on to respond to Michael Hand's criticisms of my use of the concept of worldview and his claim that I confuse this with conceptual schemes. Accepting that there is some substance in this criticism I offer a more precise understanding of my use of the term worldview. The article concludes with further reflections on the implications of my position for some current debates about religion and education.
Descriptors: Educational Research, Religion, World Views, State Church Separation, Beliefs, Reader Response, Democratic Values, Realism, Humanism, Parochial Schools, Educational Practices, Educational Philosophy
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 325 Chestnut Street Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Fax: 215-625-2940; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Opinion Papers; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A

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