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Faith in Education
A tribute to Terence McLaughlin
Edited by Graham Haydon
‘Thoughtprovoking,stimulatingandoftenprovocative,thistimelycollectionappearssetfairtoestablishitselfas
alandmarkpublicationinitsfield.’-ProfessorAndrewWright,King’sCollegeLondon
‘Itisphilosophyofeducationatitsverybest.’-WalterFeinberg,C.D.HardieProfessorEmeritus,The
UniversityofIllinois
‘TerenceMcLaughlinbroughtahighlevelofmuchneededphilosophicaldiscussiontothefieldofreligious
education.Thechaptersinthisbookattesttothefactthatreasonableandresponsiblecommentinthefieldis
verydifficulttomakewithoutreferencetohiswork.Therecouldbenogreaterormorefittingtributetothe
timelinessandtimelessnessofhiscontribution.’-GrahamP.McDonough,AssistantProfessor,Centreforthe
StudyofReligionandSociety,UniversityofVictoria,Canada
Thisbookattemptstogettotheheartofdebatesaboutreligiousupbringingandautonomyandtheplace
offaithschoolswithinaliberalsociety.Contributionsaredrawnfromscholarswithresearchinterestsin
philosophyofeducationandarangeoffaithtraditions,workingintheUKandinternationally.Theypose
keyquestionssuchas:
• Whatisthejustificationforfaithschools,andforstatesupportoftheseschools?
• Whatisdistinctiveaboutupbringingandeducationwithinafaithtradition?
• Isanupbringingandeducationwithinafaithtraditioncompatiblewiththedevelopmentof
autonomy?
• Coulditbepossiblethatautonomycanbedevelopedthroughfaith?
Eachchapterappliesdifferingphilosophicalperspectivestotherelevantissues,interactingcriticallywith
eachothertoformarichandvarieddebate.
ThiscollectionisatributetotheworkofTerenceMcLaughlin,whowasProfessorofPhilosophyofEducation
attheInstituteofEducation,UniversityofLondon.Hemadeimportantcontributionstothephilosophical
literatureonthecommonschool,andwroteextensivelyonthenatureandjustificationofupbringingand
educationwithinareligiousfaith.
Thetimelydebatesinthisbookwillbeofinteresttostudentsandscholars,bothwithinphilosophyof
educationandmorewidely.Itwillalsoprovideausefultooltoleaders,supportersandcriticsoffaith
schools,aswellaspolicy-makersininformingtheirunderstandingofthiskeyeducationalissue.
ISBN978-0-85473-853-3 InstituteofEducation,London
20BedfordWay
London
WC1H0AL
780854 738533 ioe.ac.uk/publications
‘Terence McLaughlin brought a high level of much needed philosophical
discussion to the field of religious education. The chapters in this book attest to
the fact that reasonable and responsible comment in that field is very difficult
to make without reference to his work. There could be no greater or more fitting
tribute to the timeliness and timelessness of his contribution.’
Graham P. McDonough, Assistant Professor, Centre for the Study of Religion
and Society, University of Victoria, Canada
‘Graham Haydon has gathered an outstanding team of international scholars
to pay tribute to the life and work of Professor Terence McLaughlin. Terry would
have been justly proud of Faith In Education, not because his own distinctive
contribution permeates almost every page, but because each contributor, without
exception, takes the debate about faith and education that Terence cared so
passionately about into previously uncharted territory. Thought provoking,
stimulating and often provocative, this timely collection appears set fair to
establish itself as a landmark publication in its field.’
Professor Andrew Wright, King’s College London
‘Terry McLaughlin was best known for his thoughtful appraisal of religious
education and for his careful arguments that religious education could contribute
much to furthering liberal democratic principles. For those who knew him well
he will be remembered almost as much for his fun loving spirit, his rib-splintering
jokes and his lilting Irish tenor as for his judicious and insightful philosophical
arguments. He was a profound scholar who wore his wisdom with warmth and
gentleness. His untimely death was a profound shock to his friends in both the
religious and the philosophy of education communities.
Faith in Education is a fitting tribute to Terry. Together the contributors reflect his
good will and his gentle, ecumenical spirit while they engage some of the most
critical issues in religious education in a spirited and philosophically exciting way.
The results are both provocative and sometimes surprising. It is philosophy of
education at its very best.’
Walter Feinberg, C.D. Hardie Professor Emeritus, University of Illinois
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Faith in Education
i
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Faith in Education
A tribute to Terence McLaughlin
Edited by Graham Haydon
iii
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First published in 2009 by the Institute of Education, University of London,
20 Bedford Way, London WC1H 0AL
ioe.ac.uk/publications
© Institute of Education, University of London 2009
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data:
A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library
ISBN 978 0 85473 853 3
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or
otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner.
Typeset by Hobbs the Printers Ltd, Totton, Hampshire SO40 3WX
Printed by Elanders
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Terence McLaughlin
v
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Contents
Notes on contributors vii
Introduction ix
Graham Haydon
1 Terence McLaughlin: contributions to the study and practice of faith schooling
and of Catholic education 1
Gerald Grace
2 Why bring the kids into this? McLaughlin and Anscombe on religious understanding
and upbringing 9
Eamonn Callan
3 Autonomy, faith and reason: McLaughlin and Callan on religious initiation 27
Hanan A. Alexander
4 In defence of faith schools 46
J. Mark Halstead
5 Can faith schools serve the common good? 68
Richard Pring
6 Faith schools, personal autonomy and democratic competence 78
Harry Brighouse
7 Faith-based education and upbringing: some concluding remarks 94
Michael Hand
References 106
Bibliography of the writings of Terence H. McLaughlin 117
Index 126
vi
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Notes on contributors
Hanan A. Alexander is Richard and Rhoda Goldman Visiting Professor of
Education and Israel Studies at the University of California, Berkeley and Professor
of Philosophy of Education at the University of Haifa where he heads the Center
for Jewish Education. He is also a senior research fellow at the Van Leer Jerusalem
Institute and a visiting fellow of St Edmund’s College Cambridge.
Harry Brighouse is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Wisconsin,
Madison and was previously Professor of Philosophy of Education at the Institute
of Education, University of London. He is the author of On Education (Routledge,
2006) and of books and articles on social justice and education.
Eamonn Callan is Pigott Family Professor in the Stanford University School of
Education. He was formerly Professor of Education at the University of Alberta.
He is the author of Creating Citizens: Political Education and Liberal Democracy
(Oxford, 1997) and other works on the philosophy of education.
Gerald Grace is Director of the Centre for Research and Development in Catholic
Education (CRDCE), Institute of Education, University of London. He was a
close colleague of Terry McLaughlin during their time together in Cambridge,
1980–1986.
J. Mark Halstead is a research professor at the University of Huddersfield. He has
written widely on moral education, multicultural education and Islamic education.
In 2008 he co-edited (with David Carr and Richard Pring) a collection of essays
by Terence H. McLaughlin entitled Liberalism, Education and Schooling in the St
Andrews Studies in Philosophy and Public Affairs series (Imprint Academic) and
also with Graham Haydon co-edited The Common School and the Comprehensive
Ideal in honour of Terry McLaughlin (Wiley-Blackwell, 2008).
Michael Hand is Reader of Philosophy of Education at the Institute of Education,
University of London. He has research interests in the areas of moral, religious,
political and philosophical education. His publications include Is Religious
Education Possible? A Philosophical Investigation (Continuum, 2006).
vviiii
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Notes on contributors
Graham Haydon is Reader of Philosophy of Education at the Institute of
Education, University of London. Much of his work has been on moral and
citizenship education in plural societies. Recent publications include Values in
Education (Continuum 2006) and The Common School and the Comprehensive
Ideal, co-edited with Mark Halstead (Wiley-Blackwell, 2008).
Richard Pring is currently Lead Director, Nuffield Review 14–19 Education and
Training, previously Director of Educational Studies, University of Oxford. His most
recent book is John Dewey: A Philosopher of Education for our Time? (Continuum,
2007).
viii
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Introduction
Graham Haydon
Terence H. McLaughlin, who died tragically early in 2006, was a philosopher of
education and a person of deep religious faith. Those who knew the first fact
through his writing did not necessarily know the second, for as an academic of
scrupulous and painstaking intellectual honesty, he did not speak in a specifically
religious voice when writing on topics such as citizenship, or the nature of liberal
education, or the nature of philosophy of education itself. But there is little
doubt that his faith did influence him in his choosing to devote attention over
many years to the nature and justification of upbringing and education within a
religious faith; within that broad theme, he also contributed specifically to the
literature on Catholic education.
After spending most of his career first in school teaching and then
at Cambridge University, Terry – as he was known to friends and colleagues
worldwide, including all the contributors to this volume – had been Professor
of Philosophy of Education at the Institute of Education in London for less than
three years when he died, following a short and unexpected illness. A series of
lectures in his memory took place at the Institute in the following academic year.
Those lectures were the nucleus from which the present volume has resulted,
after several changes and additions.
As organiser of those lectures, it was always my intention that they should
be a tribute not only to Terry’s academic work but also to the man. Accordingly
the lectures and responses to them were delivered by people who not only
knew Terry’s work, but also had known him personally and in several cases had
collaborated with him. That the same writers are also in their own right major
contributors to the literature is itself a testament to Terry’s standing in the field.
The same linking of personal and academic connections is retained in this
volume. In one respect the essays here are more narrowly focused than were the
memorial lectures. The wide span of Terry’s work in philosophy of education has
already been recognised in a posthumous collection of his writings (McLaughlin
2008);1 readers who would like to know more about Terry’s work are referred
to this excellent collection. Terry’s important contribution to the philosophical
literature on the common school has been marked in a volume of essays on
that theme dedicated to his memory (Halstead and Haydon 2008). It seemed
appropriate to give unity to the present volume by concentrating on the debates
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