This article proposes the notion of 'worldliness' as a necessary companion to the Religion and Worldviews curriculum. We posit that an understanding of 'worldliness', grounded in empirical research, in which the individual negotiates commitments to one's home (filial) and host (affilial) communities, is pedagogically relevant and heuristically…

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…

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…

This article presents the findings of a qualitative interview study undertaken with RE teachers (n = 30), working in English schools with secondary status. Despite recent policy interest in character education, there is a lacuna of information about the extent RE contributes to character education. The present study focuses on teachers'…

This article provides a defence of my theoretical analysis of paradigm shift in contemporary religious education, particularly in light of Robert Jackson's (2015) article published in this journal: 'Misrepresenting religious education's past and present in looking forward: Gearon using Kuhn's concepts of paradigm, paradigm shift and…

The aim of this study is to explore pupil perspectives on religions and worldviews in a mutual integrative space of religious and worldview education in a Finnish context. Analysing group interview data (N = 38) gathered from lower secondary school pupils attending mutual classes of religious and worldview education, the article explores how…

This article discusses the way teachers in primary and secondary schools in England engaged with a project to develop a Worldviews approach to Islam in the RE classroom. The project identified challenges and barriers to the teaching of Worldviews that were demonstrated by some teachers' unwillingness to engage with knowledge and curriculum content…

This paper responds to the Commission on Religious Education's proposed National Entitlement to Religion and Worldviews in England and Wales. Qualitative data were collected from nine English primary Religious Education (RE) teachers to establish their responses to the proposed National Entitlement from their perspectives as RE practitioners.…

The primary goal of religious education (RE) in Germany is to enable students to develop a personal worldview. According to the literature, this goal can best be achieved when RE a) presents material from various worldviews and b) relates this material to the student's daily life. Denominational RE, which is the organisational format of this…

This article discusses the recent report of the Commission on Religious Education on "Religion and Worldviews". While it praises the report for its honest critical evaluation of the current situation of Religious Education in England as well as for the effort of improving this situation by suggesting far-reaching amendments at a systemic…

An active discussion of the questions of the advisability of forming new principles of national unity and creating an orderly harmonious world in the minds of people, strengthening the educational functions of the state, its concern for public morality do not primarily concern education, humanization of its content, and revision of the educational…

This paper explores a conflict a pre-service physics teacher experienced while completing a teaching practicum at a religious high school that supported creationism. As a result of the conflict, the pre-service teacher was scapegoated by the staff and students at the school. An analysis of the projective dynamics involved in this conflict are…

This paper explores Anatheism as a pedagogically justifiable theory for teaching our learners how to acquire new memories about life- and worldview diversity, as well as religious diversity, and also how to accompany each other so that whosoever wants to, may return home to a more credible God after they might have started to doubt the credibility…

In this article we examine the profiling of human rights and children's rights in religious education (RE) and its secular alternative in Finland. We use the term 'worldview education' to describe the combination of these subjects. We analyse what kinds of human rights and ethical issues are raised in Finnish worldview education. One specific…

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…