Policies and Politics of Teaching Religion


Book Description

In states in which the public role of religion is controversial, religious instruction becomes both a means and an end of politics. This groundbreaking collection of case studies drawn from Arab, Asian and European countries examines different aspects of religious instruction: how it is regulated, who decides its content, the values it imparts and, in particular, whether it triggers, deepens or reduces conflict.




Does Religious Education Have a Future?


Book Description

The place of religion in the modern world has changed significantly over the past two decades. This has been partially reflected in the academic study of religion, but little, if at all, in religious education. In addition, the place of RE in schools has been the subject of intense debate due to changes to the curriculum and school structure, as well as being part of wider debates on religion in the public sphere. Written by two highly experienced leading practitioners of RE, Does Religious Education have a Future? argues for a radical reform of the subject based on principles of pedagogy set free from religious concerns. It challenges teachers, researchers and educators to rethink their approaches to, and assumptions about, religious education, and enables them to see their work in a larger context that includes pedagogical ideas and political forces. The book offers readers fresh, provocative and expertly informed critical perspectives on: the global context of RE, debates about religion in public places, religion’s response to modernity, violent extremism, science and secularism; the evolving educational rationale for RE in schools; the legal arrangements for RE and their impact on the teaching of the subject; the pedagogy of teaching approaches in RE and their effect on standards and perceptions of the subject; the educational commitment of faith/belief communities, and how this influences the performance of RE. Does Religious Education have a Future? proposes a new attitude to the subject of religious education, and a new configuration of both its role and content. This book is essential reading for academics, advisers and policy makers, as well as teachers of RE at primary and secondary levels and trainee and newly qualified teachers.




Public Matters


Book Description

Virtual enterprises and mobile computing are emerging as innovative responses to the challenges of doing business in an increasingly mobile and global marketplace. In this rapidly changing environment, it is critical to focus on the fundamental technological aspects that enable the concept of pervasive computing. Mobil Computing: Implementing Pervasive Information and Communication Technologies is designed to address some of the business and technical challenges of pervasive computing that encompass current and emerging technology standards, infrastructures and architectures, and innovative and high impact applications of mobile technologies in virtual enterprises. The various articles examine a host of issues including: the challenges and current solutions in mobile connectivity and coordination; management infrastructures; innovative architectures for fourth generation wireless and Ad-hoc networks; error-free frequency assignments for wireless communication; cost-effective wavelength assignments in optical communication networks; data and transaction modeling in a mobile environment, and bandwidth issues and data routing in mobile Ad-hoc networks. The book is organized around four categories of mobile and pervasive computing and technologies: (1) business and management, (2) architecture, (3) communication, and (4) computing. The first three chapters focus on the business aspects of mobile computing and virtual organization. The fourth chapter lays out an architecture for a fourth generation wireless network. Chapters 5 and 6 are geared towards communication technology, both wireless and wireline. Chapter 7 is a taxonomy of data management environments in mobile computing and Chapter 8 is a review article on data and transaction management and research directions in this area. Finally, Chapter 9 addresses various routing strategies for the seamless switching between mobile hosts in an Ad-hoc network. The primary audience for this book is industry practitioners, university faculty, independent researchers and graduate students. The articles have a mix of current and successful efforts, innovative ideas on providing the infrastructure support, and open problems-both conceptual and experimental. People in the academic as well as industry can benefit from this book. All the articles have gone through a peer review process. It is anticipated that the book will act as a single, consolidated source of information on the cutting edge of pervasive computing technologies.




Religious Education in the Secondary School


Book Description

Religious Education in the Secondary School is a comprehensive, straightforward introduction to the effective teaching of Religious Education in the secondary classroom. Acknowledging the highly valuable yet often misunderstood contribution of RE, this text shows how the subject can be taught in a way that explores the impact of religion on the lives of people and society, engaging pupils and preparing them to become individuals who celebrate and respect diversity. It is illustrated throughout with ideas for teaching at different key stages and offers expert chapters introducing you to both the World Religions and the core aspects of effective teaching and learning. With an emphasis on developing an understanding of the importance - and different ways - of meeting the learning needs of all pupils, key chapters cover: -Understanding different pedagogies of RE -Spirituality and RE -Tips on effective planning and assessment -An approach to teaching across the Key Stages -Core subject knowledge in Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Sikhism Written by an experienced teacher, teacher educator and examiner, Religious Education in the Secondary School is a succinct compendium and has a real classroom applicability offering all trainee RE teachers, as well as those teaching Religious Education as specialists or non-specialists a wealth of support and inspiration.




Unearthing Policies of Instrumentalization in English Religious Education Using Statement Archaeology


Book Description

This book presents the theoretical basis and practical steps involved in using Statement Archaeology, an innovative method that enhances understandings of policy development, exemplifying its use in relation to one curriculum subject, Religious Education. The book is the first of its kind to fully describe the theoretical foundations of Statement Archaeology and the practical steps in its deployment, acting as a methodological handbook that will enable readers to use the method subsequently in their own research. Further, the book offers an unparalleled contribution to the historical account of the development and maintenance of compulsory RE in English state-maintained schools and uses this to engage with key current debates in Religious Education policy. It unearths important insights into how the present is built, informs future policy direction and potential implementation strategies, and helps prevent the repetition of unsuccessful past endeavours. This book will be of great interest for academics, researchers and post-graduate students in the fields of religious education, educational policy and politics, and research methods in education.







Education Policy and the Political Right


Book Description

This work attempts a comparative description and analysis, focusing on the US, the UK, and Australia on the topic of the Right, educational policy, and schooling. It adopts as its underlying theme the burning fuse in tracing the topic back to Joseph de Maistre a Rightist who fled revolutionary France to seek safety in the company of Tsar Alexander I’s Russian Empire. Here, he had much to say about school education, not for all, but rather the “deserving” social elite. During the past three or four decades in the US, the UK, and Australia, the Right has been remarkably successful in amassing political power. And in doing so, the right of politics in these countries has reshaped school educational policy and practice, a necessary step in securing the future of the Right as a political force. Moreover, even during the years the Right has been on the opposition benches in these countries, such has been the strength of their political force that governments of the Left have acquiesced to much of their school educational policy. A pioneering effort, this book asserts that to understand school educational policy in the third decade of the 21st century, we need to comprehend the politics of the Right. This book will be of interest to researchers and postgraduate students interested in Education Studies, Theory and Policy, and International and Comparative Education.




Handbook of Education Politics and Policy


Book Description

This revised edition of the Handbook of Education Politics and Policy presents the latest research and theory on the most important topics within the field of the politics of education. Well-known scholars in the fields of school leadership, politics, policy, law, finance, and educational reform examine the institutional backdrop to our educational system, the political behaviors and cultural influences operating within schools, and the ideological and philosophical positions that frame discussions of educational equity and reform. In its second edition, this comprehensive handbook has been updated to capture recent developments in the politics of education, including Race to the Top and the Common Core State Standards, and to address the changing role politics play in shaping and influencing school policy and reform. Detailed discussions of key topics touch upon important themes in educational politics, helping leaders understand issues of innovation, teacher evaluation, tensions between state and federal lawmakers over new reforms and testing, and how to increase student achievement. Chapter authors also provide suggestions for improving the political behaviors of key educational groups and individuals with the hope that an understanding of political goals, governance processes, and policy outcomes may contribute to ongoing school reform.




British Qualifications


Book Description

The field of professional, academic and vocational qualifications is ever-changing. The new edition of this highly successful and practical guide provides thorough information on all developments. Fully indexed, it includes details on all university awards and over 200 career fields, their professional and accrediting bodies, levels of membership and qualifications. It acts as an one-stop guide for careers advisors, students and parents, and will also enable human resource managers to verify the qualifications of potential employees.




Curriculum Politics, Policy, Practice


Book Description

Offering a range of studies on the intersections of curriculum politics, policy, and/or practice, this book addresses the following questions: Who decides what is taught in K-12 schools? On what basis? What actually happens in classroom practice? What do students have opportunities to learn? Who benefits from these decisions and practices? It includes case studies that span school levels, subject areas, and national boundaries, thus enriching the possibilities for cross-case analysis, interpretation, and insight. Curriculum dynamics are revealed in cases ranging from the macro—as in the case from South Africa—to the micro—as in the case of U.S. special education placement. Instances of curriculum politics, policy, and/or practice are brought to life and situated in their contemporary and historical contexts with particular attention to questions of knowledge control and distribution of benefits. Included is this uniquely comparative text are several American case studies, including a discussion of implications of "science for all," the politics and consequences of placing a significantly disabled student in a separate classroom after several years of inclusion, trying to embrace multicultural literature without dealing with racism close to home, and history-social studies curriculum policy intended as cultural containment. Also examined are the business-education culture clash in creating meaningful technology education in Canada, the politics of mandating "religious knowledge" curricula in Singapore, white South African students negotiating divergent stories of their country's past and present while trying to make sense of their own roles and future, and critical analysis of British educational discourses of social justice and their impact in the 1940s and 1990s. Contributors include Angela Calabrese-Brown, Nadine Dolby, Vivian Forssman, Diana Lawrence-Brown, Suzanne Miller, Margery Osborne, Jason Tan, Gina DeBlase Trzyna, Gaby Weiner, and John Willinsky.