Whatt h
Wh
has Morality
M
lit to
t
do with Religious
Education?
L. Philip
p Barnes MA, MTh, PhD
Reader in Religious and Theological Education
King’s College London
What has Morality to do
with Religious Education?
• The aim of this lecture is to provide a positive case
f iincreasing
for
i the
th role
l and
d importance
i
t
off religious
li i
morality within the subject of religious education in
British schools
schools, and this not just because moral
practice is central to religion but also because
religious moralities can make a positive contribution
to both personal development and the creation of a
just society, where civility and respectfulness are
extended
t d d to
t all.
ll
What has Morality to do
with Religious Education?
M argument iis structured
My
d in
i the
h following
f ll i way.
•
First, attention is given to the reasons for the diminished role
First
accorded to moral education within religious education.
•
Secondly, a genealogical/historical account is constructed of
RE in relation Moral Education.
•
Thirdly, the notion that morality and religion are discrete
domains of human experience is criticised.
•
Finally, there is a short exploration of the ways in which the
religious and moral content of the different religions can
contribute to the personal and moral development of pupils and
to the social development of communities and societies.
What has Morality to do
with Religious Education?
Working
W
ki
Paper
P
36 (Schools
(S h l C
Council,
il 1971) on morall education
d
i
and religious education
•
‘‘morall philosophers
hil
h
argue that
th t the
th study
t d off ethics
thi and
d the
th
study of religion are separate and distinct academic disciplines
or areas of study.’ (WP 1971, p. 67)
•
Paul Hirst: ‘morality and religion are autonomous domains of
human knowledge.’
•
Is there an adequate secular basis for ethics? The responses
of Gordon Graham, John Gray and Alasdair MacIntyre.
•
The phenomenology of religion.
What has Morality to do
with Religious Education?
A genealogical account of the contribution of post-confessional
religious
g
education to moral education:
•
The Multi-Cultural Model.
•
The Spirituality Model.
•
The Civic Model.
What has Morality to do
with Religious Education?
R li i
Religion
and
d Morality
M
li
Is morality independent of religion?
•
The Euthyphro Dilemma: Is the pious loved by the gods
because it is pious, or is it pious because it is loved by the
gods? (Plato)
•
A philosophical response: a distinction between the right/the
good.
•
Democratic mandate.
•
Why should secularists have the right to conform
representations of religion in education to their secular
commitments?
What has Morality to do
with Religious Education?
Back to Birmingham
•
1975 Birmingham Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education
(City of Birmingham District Council Education Committee).
•
Some fform off multi-faith
S
lti f ith religious
li i
education
d
ti
is
i best
b t suited
it d to
t
the aims of education in pluralist societies.
•
2007 Bi
Birmingham
i h
Agreed
A
d Syllabus
S ll b for
f Religious
R li i
Ed
Education.
i
•
Birmingham City Council Website for Religious Education,
http://www.birmingham-asc.org.uk
What has Morality to do
with Religious Education?
Further Reading
•
L. Philip Barnes (2006) ‘The misrepresentation of religion in
L
modern British (religious) education’, British Journal of
Educational Studies 54, No. 4: 395-411.
•
L. Philip Barnes (2011) ‘What has Morality to do with Religious
Education? Journal of Beliefs and Values 32, No. 2: 131–141.
•
L. Philip Barnes (2011) ‘Reconciling Enemies: Righteousness
and peace in Northern Ireland, Studies in Christian Ethics 24,
No. 2: 183-198.
•
Schools Council ((1971)) Working
g Paper
p 36: Religious
g
education
in the secondary school. London: Evans/Methuen Educational.
Whatt h
Wh
has Morality
M
lit to
t
do with Religious
Education?
L. Philip
p Barnes MA, MTh, PhD
Reader in Religious and Theological Education
King’s College London