A new report, Promoting the Exploration of Religion and Worldviews in Schools: Fostering Coherency and Diversity, produced by Inform, the Faith and Belief Forum and the Open University, highlights issues with the current model of Religious studies as taught in schools. Despite the report finding a societal fear of religion feeds into a negative perception of religious education, it also found people think RE is important to foster social cohesion and improve religious literacy, and advocates for to to be renamed “religion and worldviews” to help young people enter a diverse and global workforce. Ruth Peacock hosted this discussion with guest speakers:
- Dr Suzanne Newcombe, Honorary Director of Inform
- Michael Wilcockson, representing the views of the Independent Schools Religious Studies Association
- Dr Stephen Pett, national RE adviser, RE Today
- Carrie Alderton, Education Manager at the Faith & Belief Forum
- John Michaelis and Vanda Dey, volunteer school speakers for the Faith and Belief Forum
- Amardeep Bassey, journalist and trainer
- Frank Cranmer, honorary Research Fellow at the Centre for Law & Religion UK
- Professor Tim Hutchings, Religious Ethics at the University of Nottingham, and liaison for TRS-UK / Religion Media Centre
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Report: From RE to RW – how Religion and Worldviews makes sense of religion today
FULL BRIEFING YOUTUBE VIDEO
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