Table Of ContentConceptualisingReligionandWorldviewsfortheSchool;byKevinO’Grady
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This superb book is both scholarlyand professionallyengaged. It starts out from
the recent English report on religious education that proposes a change to
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religion and worldviews. In tackling that possible change, OGrady explores the
whole range of philosophical, professional, educational and religious issues rele-
vant to the future of religious education globally. There are few writers able to
tackle so many dimensions of the topic. All interested in religious education
policy and practice, and all interested in teaching, learning and researching
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religion, will nd this book interesting, informative, and valuable.
– Julian Stern
, Professor of Education and Religion, Bishop
Grosseteste University, UK and General Secretary of the
International Seminar on Religious Education and Values
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As schooling is being reimagined and recon gured in response to a multitude of
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global issues and challenges, OGradys new book provides a valuable resource
for examining and creating the next iteration of religious education (RE) in
England. Following the report of the Commission on Religious Education
(CORE), this book tackles complex and crucial questions, including those
around the concepts at the very heart of this endeavor: the nature of religion
and worldviews, how to educate for democratic citizenship, and how these
mightbe understood in the contextof religion courses. A thorough examination
of the CORE report and other relevant literature provide a solid footing for the
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theoretical re ections and make the discussion accessible to scholars and prac-
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titioners across multiple disciplines. Most importantly, OGrady never strays too
far away from the practical and concrete setting of the classroom, bringing
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considerations such as engaging age-appropriate vocabulary and students prior
knowledge to his discussion of philosophical concepts. This results in a book
that is both lofty in its vision for the future of Religion and Worldviews and
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rmly grounded in the reality of schools and classrooms. This skillful balance
invites conversation among the many stakeholders engaged in this work and will
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surely inform ongoing e orts to create rigorous and meaningful education about
religion and worldviews for the next generation of students.
– Kate E. Soules
, Executive Director, Religion & Education
Collaborative, USA
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Over the years Kevin OGrady has shown himself to be an able and articulate
commentator on developments in English religious education. In this, his latest
book, he speaks as an advocate of interpretive religious education, of which he
is associated as a member of the research team which developed this approach,
under the direction of Robert Jackson. Beginning with the assumption that the
proposals of the Commission on Religious Education that religions should be
reconceptualised as worldviews and that a studyof secular worldviews should be
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included in religious education, OGrady broadens the scope of the interpretive
approach to incorporate these new ideas. He also shows how a worldviews
ConceptualisingReligionandWorldviewsfortheSchool;byKevinO’Grady
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vision for religious education can contribute to the public good, which he
regards as closely related to personal well-being and to democratic citizenship.
This is an important book, scholarly and broad ranging; it shows how inter-
pretive religious education can be reinterpreted and extended for a new gen-
eration of religious educators. Conceptualising Religion and Worldviews for the
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School makes a signi cant contribution to debates about the future direction of
religious education.
– L. Philip Barnes
, Emeritus Reader in Religious and Theological
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Education, Kings College London and recent editor of
Religion and Worldviews, Routledge, 2022
How to educate children and young people about religions and worldviews in a
superdiverse and globalised world? What about knowledge, understanding and
experience on and in religion and world views? These questions are central in
this book that brings together current curriculum debates and empirical
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research in the eld of religious education (RE). OGrady provides a welcome
and comprehensive look at debates on the RE subject within an English context
but goes far beyond and brings in theoretical and empirical research and con-
ceptual understandings on religious education and/or religion and world views
from many contexts and perspectives. The central thesis in the book is that
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religious education is best understood as a democratic dialogue with di erence
which is substantiated by solid arguments. The book is a must for everyone
teaching or researching in religious education, but also for students and
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researchers in broader educational elds such as citizenship studies, curriculum
theory and intercultural and postcolonial studies.
– Kerstin von Brömssen
, Professor Educational Science,
University West, Sweden
ConceptualisingReligionandWorldviewsfortheSchool;byKevinO’Grady
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Conceptualising Religion and
Worldviews for the School
This timely volume addresses current debates surrounding the transition from
the teaching of religious education (RE) to the more holistic subject of Religion
and Worldviews (R&W) in England, and posits criteria for best practice among
educators in varied settings and in a broader international context.
By examining empirical sources, governmental reports, and in particular the
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2018 nal report from the Commission on Religious Education (CORE), the
volume suggests key principles needed to guide the transition and ensure that
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R&W is e ectively integrated into curricula, pedagogy, and teaching resources to
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meet the needs of all student groups. By e ectively conceptualising R&W, the
volume gives particular attention to the intersections of the subject with
democraticcitizenshipeducation,interculturalcompetence,andreligiousliteracy.
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This text will bene t researchers, academics, and educators with an interest in
religiouseducationandteachereducationaswellasthephilosophyandsociologyof
educationmorebroadly.Thoseinterestedineducationpolicyandpolitics,aswellas
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citizenshipandschoolingintheUK,willalsobene tfromthisvolume.
Kevin O’Grady
is an independent educational consultant and researcher based
ffi ff
in She eld, England. His book Religious Education as a Dialogue with Di erence
was published by Routledge in 2019.
ConceptualisingReligionandWorldviewsfortheSchool;byKevinO’Grady
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Routledge Research in Religion and Education
Series Editor Michael D. Waggoner, University of Northern Iowa, USA
Curriculum Renewal for Islamic Education
Critical Perspectives on Teaching Islam in Primary and Secondary
Schools
Edited by Nadeem A. Memon, Mariam Alhashmi, and Mohamad Abdalla
Islamic Religious Education in Europe
A Comparative Study
Edited by Leni Franken and Bill Gent
Teaching Religious Literacy to Combat Religious Bullying
Insights from North American Secondary Schools
W. Y. Alice Chan
Law, Education, and the Place of Religion in Public Schools
International Perspectives
Edited by Charles J. Russo
Engaging with Vocation on Campus
Supporting Students’ Vocational Discernment through Curricular and
Co-Curricular Approaches
Edited by Karen Lovett and Stephen Wilhoit
Equipping Educators to Teach Religious Literacy
Lessons from a Teacher Education Program in the American South
Emile Lester and W. Y. Alice Chan
Conceptualising Religion and Worldviews for the School
Opportunities, Challenges, and Complexities of a Transition from
Religious Education in England and Beyond
Kevin O’Grady
ConceptualisingReligionandWorldviewsfortheSchool;byKevinO’Grady
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Conceptualising Religion and
Worldviews for the School
Opportunities, Challenges, and
Complexities of a Transition from
Religious Education in England
and Beyond
’
Kevin O Grady
Firstpublished2023
byRoutledge
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©2023KevinO’Grady
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Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereprintedor
reproducedorutilisedinanyformorbyanyelectronic,mechanical,
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Trademarknotice:Productorcorporatenamesmaybetrademarks
orregisteredtrademarks,andareusedonlyforidentificationand
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ISBN:978-1-032-04619-8(hbk)
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DOI:10.4324/9781003193944
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ConceptualisingReligionandWorldviewsfortheSchool;byKevinO’Grady
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Contents
About the Author viii
Foreword ix
Preface xi
Acknowledgements xiii
Introduction: Religion, Worldviews, and Education: Opportunities,
Challenges, Complexities, and Position 1
1 The Core Report: Background, Content, and Reception 11
2 Religion, Worldviews, and Education for Democratic Citizenship:
Perspectives from beyond England 33
3 Religion and Religions 53
4 Worldview and Worldviews 73
5 Religion and Worldviews within RE 91
6 Religion, Worldviews, Knowledge, and Disciplines 109
7 Well-Being and the Public Good: Education, Religion, and
Worldviews 129
8 Religion and Worldview Literacy 149
9 Big Ideas and the Challenge of Curriculum Design 163
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10 Review, Re ections, Recommendations 182
Index 194
ConceptualisingReligionandWorldviewsfortheSchool;byKevinO’Grady
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About the Author
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Kevin OGrady taught and led religious education (RE) in six di erent English
secondary schools over 30 years, before moving to Andalucía in Spain and
teaching in a primary school for a further two. In parallel, he was a part-time
graduate student, associate fellow, and research fellow at the University of
Warwick, contributing to various projects including the EC-funded Religion in
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Education: A Contribution to Dialogue or a Factor of Con ict in Transforming Societies
of European Countries? (REDCo). His book Religious Education as a Dialogue with
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Di erence was published by Routledge in 2019. Since returning to England in
2018, he has worked as an independent consultant, researcher, and author.
ConceptualisingReligionandWorldviewsfortheSchool;byKevinO’Grady
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Foreword
The opening years of the 21stcentury brought increased attention to religion as
an important dimension of culture and politics. Early in this period, the dra-
matic multi-pronged attacks of September 11, 2001, came as a jolting reminder
of the potential for violent action that can have bases in religious motivations.
Over the same period, we came to see an increase in religiously motivated
activity in politics. In the US, we see this in the evolution from the Moral
Majority movement that emerged as a force in the late 1970s as the beginning
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of the New Religious Right. On further re ection, however, we can see the
involvement of religion extending much further back as a fundamental part of
our social organisation rather than a new or emerging phenomenon. We need
only recall the religious wars of early modern Europe through to the con-
tentious development of US church and state relations as evidence of the
longstanding role religion has played as a source ofcompeting values and beliefs.
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That said, there has been a signi cant upturn in research and scholarship
across many disciplines relative to the study of religion in recent decades. This
is particularly the case in the area of the interplay of education and religion.
While religious education-study toward formation in a particular faith tradition
has been with us for millennia, religion education-study about religion as an
academic subject apart from theology is more recent.
Whereas theology departments proceeded from religious assumptions aiming
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to promulgatea faith tradition, the religious studies eld emerged as a discipline
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that sought to bring a more objective social scienti c approach to the study of
religion. The origins of this approach date back to the European research cen-
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tres that in uenced US scholars beginning in the 18th century. The formalisa-
tion of this trend, however, is a fairly recent phenomenon as illustrated by the
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1949 formation of Society for the Scienti c Study of Religion with its scholarly
journal and the creation of religious studies departments across the US in the
wake of the US Supreme Court decision in 1963 that allowed teaching about
religion (rather than for) in public education institutions. That same year, the
American Academy of Religion was born out of a group of scholars that had,
since 1909, been meeting under the various names related to biblical study.
