This article discusses the place of 'theology' in multi-faith Religious Education (RE) in English schools without a religious affiliation, highlighting reasons for its sometimes taboo-status, particularly since the emergence of Ninian Smart's phenomenological approach to Religious Studies in the late 1960s. The article explores a diversity of…

Every individual has a different interpretation in understanding religion because of internal factors (differences in background, education, religious experience, environment that shapes character, and socio-economic status). The pattern of individuals understanding on religion is believed to be inseparable from the basic doctrine they acquired.…

Over the past two decades, the internet has become a central platform affording lay-learners access to a multiplicity of experts. While these outlets empower lay-learners, they create competition amongst clerical and knowledge authorities. This article addresses the question: "how is religious authority understood and negotiated by learners,…

Children's literature can serve as mirrors, windows, and sliding glass doors. They are mirrors for marginalized groups to see themselves represented, windows for dominant cultures to learn about marginalized groups, and sliding glass doors to develop empathy. In this study, I examined Middle East Picture Book Award to address what books are…

The field of adult learning theory, or how adults learn, has exploded in recent years yielding increased knowledge and awareness of how adults learn. While preachers do have a wide variety of ages in their congregations, most of the people they preach to are adults. This dissertation looks at preaching and adult learning theory and what the…

Small rural schools have often been characterised as being at the heart of their communities. However, there is no clarity on what that means nor on the perceived meaning of 'community' within this context. The findings of the Small School Rural Community Study focused on the relationship between small rural schools and the communities they serve…

Purpose: This paper delves into the profound influence of societal beauty standards and the prevalence of body shaming in contemporary culture. It explores how these societal norms contribute to self-esteem issues and psychological distress among individuals, particularly young people. Design/methodology/approach: Through the poignant medium of…

The unwillingness of the Somali community to finance higher education has largely gone unnoticed within the academic literature and government policy documents. This study explores the role of religion and the influence of Shari'ah scholars on the use of interest-bearing student loans within the Somali community. In the absence of any theoretical…

Evolutionary theory (ET) is the unifying theory of Life Sciences, but it is largely misunderstood and the target of dispute in many countries, mainly because of conflicts with religious beliefs. Brazil is a country with a culture that is deeply rooted belief in God. In this paper, we report a study in Brazil where we applied a 12-question…

Spirituality is impossible to define, but numerous, common themes can be discerned. I suggest a model of spirituality based upon the oeuvre of Julia Kristeva, the Bulgarian/French philosopher, semiologist, and psychoanalyst. She is an atheist who has a great respect for belief. Her therapeutic work reveals compassion and a desire for the creation…

The notion of a teacher is an archaic, dynamic, and diverse concept that is embedded in and therefore revealed in the various complex and coexisting cultural and national contexts, ways of teaching and learning, and the entanglements with beings in multiple worlds. However, under the fundamental impacts of westernization, coloniality, and…

Much knowledge production, both academic and non-academic, is driven by a need to simplify the world in order to enable people to navigate the complexities of everyday life. Such simplifications not only risk offering less reliable representations of the world, they can also turn into disruptive and harmful images of the world. In this article,…

It is often argued, rightly, that critical thinking is a necessary condition for democracy. This essay looks at the other side of that relationship, how certain democratic conditions are necessary for critical thinking to flourish. In turn, this dynamic, interactive account of democratic culture, institutions, and dispositions has implications for…

The present paper reports findings from interviews with thirty ex-choristers from cathedrals and collegiate chapels in England, aged from eighteen to eighty. These interviews explored choristers' religious commitments before entering choir school and factors for staying with, leaving, or later returning to religious practice. The findings suggest…

There is a need for meaningful inclusion of people with disabilities in faith communities beyond physical presence. Although it has been recommended that evidence-based practices be used to increase the meaningful participation of people with intellectual disability in faith communities, there is a lack of empirical studies. The purpose of this…