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Religious Education must change to better reflect modern Britain, report says

27 September 2018

UCL Institute of Education (IOE) academic Dr Farid Panjwani informs a report proposing that Religious Education adapts to reflect social changes under a new name: ‘Religion and Worldviews’.

Secondary school pupils raising their hands in class. Image: Phil Meech for UCL Institute of Education

The report, produced by the independent Commission on Religious Education, suggests these changes should be made in order for pupils to receive adequate preparation for life in modern Britain. 

As well as a new approach to RE in schools, ‘Religion and Worldviews: a national plan for RE’, also recommends changes to the laws and policies governing the subject. It sets out eleven recommendations for a reformed subject that prepares young people for living in an increasingly diverse world.

The core recommendation is a new National Entitlement for all pupils in all schools that specifies nine broad requirements for what they should be taught, including the concepts of ‘religion’ and ‘worldviews’, which the Commission describes as ‘complex, diverse and plural’. 

It also recommends that pupils examine the roles religious and non-religious worldviews play in societies and the lives of individuals, including their influence on moral behaviour and social norms. 

The lessons would be able to draw from a range of approaches to life including the different traditions within Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and Sikhism, non-religious worldviews such as Humanism, secularism, atheism and agnosticism. Teachers and curriculum planners would also have some freedom to develop curriculum plans that take account of a broader range of worldviews where appropriate.

All schools, including free schools, academies, and schools of a religious character, would be required to ensure that every pupil has access to Religion and Worldviews learning through the curriculum, lessons, and wider experiences. 

The report, the result of a two-year long consultation process involving teachers and pupils, as well as individuals and organisations involved in religious education and policy across England, reaffirms that all pupils should be taught the subject in every year up to and including year 11.

In addition, the Commission proposes a comprehensive national plan for the subject, including a major programme of support for teachers in the form of funding for training in Religion and Worldviews for new and existing teachers.

Dr Farid Panjwani, speaking at a roundtable discussion about religious education on TRT World, said: 

“We need to recognise that [subject] range has to be broadened… 

“The point is to understand the nature of religions and how religious experience has shaped human beings. There are two things that we are highlighting: one is the internal diversity of religions, the second is that these [religions] are not static things: they change, respond, react, and resist. 

“The purpose is not to make children literate in any particular religion but to make them understand the nature of human experience of religion.”

Media contact

Rowan Walker, UCL Media Relations
Tel: +44 (0)20 3108 8515 
Email: rowan.walker@ucl.ac.uk

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