Introduction

Abstract

In the postmodern world, there have been radical changes in human society. This is an era of globalisation. The traditional boundaries that separated ideologies and communities are being broken, creating a change in the “sense of place.” The digital innovations—Facebook, Twitter, the internet, smart boards—are transforming the education scene. With the internet and Kindle, the whole notion of literacy has changed. The values that may have been context-specific and unique in particular social milieus are being challenged in the light of a global perspective and increasing secularisation. In addition, a key characteristic of “fluid modernity” is individuation, where each individual constructs, confirms, and maintains her/his identity according to her/his choice, desires, and tendencies. The current era brings with it a breaking and blurring of all kinds of boundaries—national, social, political, technological, and in communication. Within this complex picture, the validity of religion is being questioned and the percentage of the population which is affiliated with a specific faith group is declining. Yet, many people thought that with secularisation, religion would die, but this is not the case, and religion is still a very important actor in contemporary society. This creates significant challenges for religious education in government schools. As such, we seek to explore generational differences to help to illuminate the broader generational shifts and to highlight how, within the challenges of the post-modern world, current research highlights that it is still meaningful to teach values education within the framework of Special Religious Education (SRE) in the government school system.