Muting the Religious Voice in English Religious Education

Smalley, Paul (2025) Muting the Religious Voice in English Religious Education. In: Religion in Modern Education Conflict, Economics, and Politics. Brill Research Perspectives in Religion and Education . Brill. ISBN 9789004756014

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Abstract

The statutory Religious Education (RE) curriculum in state-maintained schools in England has always been developed in partnership between faith representatives, schools and the Local (Education) Authority. The system of Agreed Syllabus Conferences (ASCs) and Standing Advisory Councils on Religious Education (SACREs) has arguably been a strength of the school RE system. However, this system, and indeed the ability of any religious community to have a voice in RE curricula, is under threat from two different forces. This chapter will set out the background for those unfamiliar with the English education system and will consider in turn the threats: the structural threat of the Academisation process (which places curriculum design solely in the hands of schools or groups of schools) and the alleged curricular threat, on the one hand from the inclusion of non-religious worldviews in RE and also from the growing influence of the ‘Worldviews paradigm’ which scholars (in Barnes 2022, for example) have suggested is leading to a secularisation of RE in England. It will argue that religious input into an RE curriculum is vital, is threatened by the Academisation process but potentially protected by the Religion and Worldviews approach.

Item Type:	Book Section
Faculty / Department:	Faculty of Education and Social Sciences > School of Education
Depositing User:	Paul Smalley
Date Deposited:	17 Dec 2025 16:19
Last Modified:	17 Dec 2025 16:19
URI:	https://hira.hope.ac.uk/id/eprint/4821

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