Issues in Religious Education

Lynne Broadbent is Director of the British and Foreign School Society National Religious Education Centre at Brunel University.Alan Brown is an educational consultant, advisor and writer.

'This is an exhaustive study done with the needs of teachers in mind and it provides the starting point for effective and accurate inclusion of citizenship within the RE curriculum.'- Clive Erricker, County Inspector for RE'It is, clearly, a text book to service initial teacher education but also a map of significant debates that all teachers of the subject need to be aware of and position themselves within to ground the approach taken to teaching the subject.'- Clive Erricker, County Inspector for RE'This book is an impressive source of information as well as one of practical advice, in outline upon which addressing citizenship in religious education can be systematically served. Each chapter (11 in total) offers an introduction, a historical background, relevant legal documentation concisely presented (conventions, for example), planning notes covering skills and attitudes under attainment targets (QCA), and identification of resources, especially websites.'- Clive Erricker, County Inspector for RE

• Part 1: The Nature of Religious Education Within the School Curriculum 1. The Statutory Requirement for Religious Education 1988 - 2000: Religious, Political and Social Influences 2. A Rationale for Religious Education 3. Religious Education in Church Schools 4. Commitment and Indoctrination: A Dilemma for RE? 5. Assessing Achievement in Religious Education from Early Years to A-Level 6. Inspecting Religious Education: Can Inspections Improve Religious Education? 7. Religious Education in the European Context Part 2: Religious Education in the Classroom Development Through Religious Education? 9. Ethnography and Religious Education 10. Not 'Either - Or', More a Case of 'Both - And': Towards an Inclusive Gender Strategy for Religious Education 11. Education for All: Religious Education and Pupils with Special Needs: A Dialogue 12. The Birth of a New Religious Studies at Post-16 Part 3: Religious Education and the Wider Curriculum 13. The Contribution of Religious Education to Whole School Initiatives 14. Is Religious Education and Ethical and Moral Debate a Contradiction? 15. Embodying the Spirit - Realising RE's Potential in the Spiritual Dimension of the Curriculum 16. Religious Education and Collective Worship: Bedfellows or Just Good Friends? 17. World Religions: The Boundaries of Belief and Unbelief