IT IS NOW over thirty years since the publication of the Schools' Council, Working Paper 36: Religious Education in the Secondary School. It is widely regarded as one of the most influential documents on British religious education in the post-war era. The aim of this paper is to reassess and re-evaluate Working Paper 36's central arguments: (1) its critique of Christian confessionalism in education; (2) its advocacy of a phenomenological approach to religious education; and (3) its strategy for developing tolerance among adherents of different religions or none. I conclude that the central arguments of Working Paper 36 are much less robust than is believed by many contemporary commentators on religious education.
BarnesL. Philip, ‘Rudolf Otto and the Limits of Religious Description’ in Religious Studies30 (1994), pp. 219–230.
2.
BarnesL. Philip, ‘Ninian Smart and the Phenomenological Approach to Religious Education’ in Religion30 (2000), pp. 315–332
3.
BarnesL. Philip, ‘What is Wrong with the Phenomenological Approach to Religious Education?’ in Religious Education96 (2001), pp. 445–461.
4.
BarnesL. Philip, ‘Ideology, the Phenomenological Approach and Hermeneutics: A Response to Professor Lovat’ in Religious Education96 (2001), pp. 572–581.
5.
BarnesL. Philip, ‘The contribution of Professor Ninian Smart to Religious Education’ in Religion31 (2001) (in press).
6.
BarnesL. Philip, ‘World Religions and the Northern Ireland Curriculum’ in Journal of Beliefs and Values23 (2002), in press.
7.
BarnesL. PhilipKayWilliam K., ‘Developments in Religious Education in England and Wales (Part 1)’ in Themelios25 (1999), pp. 23–38.
8.
BarnesL. PhilipKayWilliam K.‘Developments in Religious Education in England and Wales (Part 2)’ in Themelios25 (2000), pp. 5–19.
9.
BarnesL. PhilipKayWilliam K., Developments in Religious Education in England and Wales: Innovations and Reflections (Leicester: RTSF, 2002).
10.
BatesDennis, ‘Christianity, Culture and Other Religions (Part 1) in British Journal of Religious Education17 (1994), pp. 5–18.
11.
BrigidBrophy, Religious Education in State Schools (London: Fabian Society, 1967).
12.
BruceSteve, Religion in Modern Britain (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995).
13.
BurnJ.HartC., The Crisis in Religious Education (Kingsbury: Educational Research Trust, 1988).
14.
CopleyTerence, Teaching Religion: Fifty Years of Religious Education in England and Wales (Exeter: University of Exeter Press, 1997).
15.
CoxEdwin, Problems and Possibilities for Religious Education (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1983).
16.
DavieGrace, Religion in Britain Since 1945: Believing Without Belonging (Oxford: Blackwell, 1994).
17.
Department of Education and Science, Children and their Primary Schools (London: HMSO, 1967).
18.
GoldmanRonald J., Religious Thinking from Childhood to Adolescence (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1964).
HayDavid in New Methods in RE Teaching: An Experiential Approach (Harlow: Oliver & Boyd, 1990).
21.
HirstPaul, ‘Christian Education: A Contradiction in Terms’ in Learning for Living11, No. 4 (1972), pp. 6–11 (first published in Faith & Thought, Vol 99No 1 (1971) pp. 43–54).
22.
DouglasHubrey, The Experiential Approach to Christian Education (London: National Sunday School Union, 1960).
23.
HughesFred, ‘Serving Many Masters: The place and nature of Christian nurture’ (ISREV, 1998), unpublished.
24.
HulmesEdward, Commitment and Neutrality in Religious Education (London: Geoffrey Chapman, 1979).
25.
HuntStephen J., Religion in Western Society (Houndmills: Palgrave, 2002).
26.
Institute of Christian Education, Religious Education in Schools (London: SPCK, 1957).
27.
JacksonRobert, ‘The Misrepresentation of Religious Education’ in Ethics, Ethnicity and Education, LeicesterMalTaylorM. (eds) (London: Kogan Page, 1992), pp, 100–113.
28.
KayWilliam K., ‘Phenomenology Religious Education, and Piaget’ in Religion27 (1997), pp. 275–283.
29.
KayWilliam K.SmithD. Linnett, ‘Religious Terms and Attitudes in the Classroom, (Part 1)’ in British Journal of Religious Education22 (2000), pp. 81–90.
30.
KayWilliam K.SmithD. Linnett, ‘Religious Terms and Attitudes in the Classroom (Part 2)’ in British Journal of Religious Education22 (2000), 181–191.
31.
LauraRonald S.LeahyMichael, ‘Religious Upbringing and Rational Autonomy’ in Journal of Philosophy of Education, 23 (1989), pp. 253–265.
MalonePatricia, ‘Religious Education and Prejudice among Students Taking the Course Studies of Religion’ in British Journal of Religious Education21 (1998), pp. 7–19.
34.
McCutcheonRussell, Manufacturing Religion (New York: Oxford University Press, 1997).
35.
PlaskowMaurice, Life and Death of the Schools Council (London: Falmer Press. 1985).
36.
PennerHans H.Impasse and Resolution: A Critique of the Study of Religion (New York: Peter Lang, 1989).
37.
RawlsJohn, ‘The Priority of Rights and Ideas of the Good’ in Philosophy and Public Affairs, 17 (1988), pp. 251–276.
38.
RobsonGeoff, ‘Religious Education, Government Policy and Professional Practice 1985–1995’ in British Journal of Religious Education19 (1996), pp. 13–23.
39.
Schools Council, Working Paper 36: Religious Education in the Secondary School (London: Evans/Methuen, 1971).
40.
ShorttJohn, A Critical Problem for Rational Autonomy?’ in SpectrumVol 18No 2 (Summer, 1986), pp. 107–121.
41.
SmartNinian, Secular Education and the Logic of Religion (London: Faber and Faber, 1968).
42.
SmartNinian, The Religious Experience of Mankind (London: Collins, 1971).
43.
Swann Report, Education for All (London: HMSO, 1985).
44.
SnookI. A., Indoctrination and Education (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1972).
45.
ThiessenElmer John, Teaching for Commitment (Leominster: Gracewing, 1993).
