The 2018 Religious Education Council of England and Wales' review of Religious Education proposes that the subject should be reframed as Religion & Worldviews. Although follow-up studies have explored this idea in some depth, comparatively little thought has been given to the exploration of "personal" worldviews. This paper explores…

Under Communism, the Catholic Church in Poland played the role of guarantor of preserving the national traditions and defender of freedom. Such was one of reasons for removing religion from the state school curriculum by the government of Poland in 1961. The political transformation of 1989 changed the concept of the Polish state. Religion as a…

This paper reports from a symposium exploring the application of Virtual Reality (VR) in RE. The contributors presented empirical case-studies of interventions and instructional designs that had been tested in classroom settings ranging from primary to teacher education. The presentations illustrate the ways in which VR can be understood as a…

In Sweden and in other parts of Europe, the nature of religious education (RE) and its place in schools is the subject of ongoing discussions. Concepts used in the RE classroom can either open or close classroom conversations. A growing consensus can be observed among researchers that the concept of 'religion' is not sufficient to describe -- and…

Critical reflection on the curriculum offered in the Catholic school is a valuable addition to wider dialogue on the nature of education and schooling. It enables the Church's educational agencies to offer a distinctive vision of education to the diverse range of students who freely participate in its educational ventures. In Catholic thinking,…

The notion of worldview figures prominently in the recent discourse surrounding Religious Education (RE) in English schools following the publication of the final report of the Commission on Religious Education (CoRE) in 2018. This article reflects on the veracity of this initiative. It begins with an autobiographical reflection on the impact of…

This article explores the implications of a proposed move towards a religion and worldviews curriculum in England for contact-based interfaith programmes in schools, through a case study of the Faith and Belief Forum's School Linking programme. Quantitative and qualitative data collected through 1,488 teacher and student surveys, teacher focus…

Although the teaching of nonreligious worldviews has been advocated in a Council of Europe Recommendation, few European countries include such a study in religious education (RE). Guidance on implementing the Recommendation recognises that inclusion is problematic, raising issues for policymakers, teacher trainers and schools. In this article,…

The purpose of this study was to find out what kind of worldviews Finnish principals identify in their schools and the kind of lived realities of worldviews that are affecting schools from the perspective of school leadership. The issues were considered using a wide worldview framework, which includes religious and non-religious worldviews and…

The Council of Europe's 2008 'Recommendation' advocates the study of 'non-religious convictions' in schools in addition to religions. In 2018, there is evidence of growing academic interest in the inclusion of non-religious worldviews in the school curriculum, but few European countries include such a study within religious education. The guidance…

This article outlines the 'Big Ideas' approach to curriculum reform, as applied in the 'Principles and Big Ideas of Science Education' project. A critical analysis follows of the outcomes of the University of Exeter's 'Identifying Principles and Big Ideas for Religious Education' project, which sought to apply the same approach to Religious…

Since 2009, there is a discussion about how RE should be organised in state and 'private' (mainly Catholic) schools in Flanders. Especially the proposal to introduce non-denominational and integrative RE for all pupils in all schools stimulated the debate. More than ten years later, the RE system, which is based on (semi-)confessional and in state…

This article traces the Council of Europe's work on teaching about religions and non-religious worldviews, regarded as an important contributor to intercultural education. It explains why studies of religions came late in the Council of Europe's educational work and traces the development of a project which led to a Recommendation from its…

Ongoing global issues relating to the decline of the popularity of institutional religions, the rise of numbers of non-religious persons, and new models of spirituality in superdiverse societies have resulted in the need to reconceptualise religious diversity as worldviews diversity, and to critically examine increasing calls for the provision of…

Professional ideals arise from personal worldviews and specify teachers' professional identities. This study aimed to explore how faith is present in the professional ideals of Christian teachers. The professional ideals of 107 Dutch teachers from conservative Protestant primary and secondary schools were explored using an open-ended…