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Changing the Game in English Religious Education: 1971 and 2018

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Religious Education in a Post-Secular Age

Abstract

In this chapter, Cush re-examines Schools Council Working Paper 36 (Schools Council 1971), subsequently recognised to be a ‘game-changing’ moment in English religious education (RE), shaping RE for decades and still influential today. Proposals of the ‘working paper’ are explored, as well as some of the criticisms that have been made of both the document and Smart’s ‘phenomenological’ approach to RE which it endorsed. To some extent defending both the working paper and Smart, she also recognises the many developments in both the religious landscape and academic study of religion which necessitate a new ‘game-changing’ move in English RE. Could the recommendations of the Commission on RE (CoRE 2018) mark the beginning of a new era for RE in England?

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bath Spa University, Bath, UK

    Denise Cush

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  1. Denise Cush
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Correspondence to Denise Cush .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Olof Franck

  2. University of Gävle, Gävle, Sweden

    Peder Thalén

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Cush, D. (2021). Changing the Game in English Religious Education: 1971 and 2018. In: Franck, O., Thalén, P. (eds) Religious Education in a Post-Secular Age. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-47503-1_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-47503-1_8

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-47502-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-47503-1

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