A Religious Approach to Religious Education: the Implications of John Hick’S Religious Interpretation of Religion for Religious Education
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CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by University of Birmingham Research Archive, E-theses Repository A RELIGIOUS APPROACH TO RELIGIOUS EDUCATION: THE IMPLICATIONS OF JOHN HICK’S RELIGIOUS INTERPRETATION OF RELIGION FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. BY GEOFFREY TEECE A thesis submitted to The University of Birmingham For the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY College Of Social Sciences School of Education University of Birmingham May 2010 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. ABSTRACT This thesis is concerned with the question as to how to present the study of religion to students in religious education (RE) in schools that reflects a distinctively religious character but not a confessional one. It recognises that how religion is conceptualised in RE and the search for a distinctive rationale that reflects the subject’s nature and purpose, has been a contested question over the history of the subject in state maintained schools since the Education Act of 1870. More recently, criticism of what has been termed ‘modern liberal RE’ has focused on the claim that, in many instances, the subject has misrepresented religion, by being guilty of essentialism and in denying students opportunities to engage with the ‘truth claims’ of religions. It is within this context that this thesis argues that a nuanced understanding of John Hick’s religious interpretation of religion can positively illuminate these debates by providing a second order explanatory framework for the study of religion in RE. DEDICATION Thomas Teece 1913-2004 Margaret Teece 1917-2005 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There are a number of people whom I would like to thank for their help and support. I would like to thank those who have supervised me: Professor John Hull Emeritus Professor of Religious Education, University of Birmingham and Honorary Professor for Ecumenical Education at the Queen’s Foundation, Birmingham, for his wisdom, kindnesses and for encouraging me to think, and Dr Nick Peim University of Birmingham for encouraging me to believe that what I have written has some merit. Thanks also go to Dr Dennis Bates who made very helpful comments about the structure of the thesis, for keeping me clearly focused and for his vast knowledge of the development of RE in the UK. Special thanks go to Dr Karen Walshe, University of Exeter who has kindly read the whole thesis and has given me great encouragement, support and collegiate advice; particularly when the writing got tough. Special thanks also to Dr Tonie Stolberg who has always taken a great interest in my work and has added to the development of my original conception of RE as skilful means by developing the original diagram that is included on page 199. My thanks also to Professor Robert Jackson (Editor, British Journal of Religious Education) and Dr Bill Campbell (Editor, Journal of Beliefs and Values) for the opportunity to publish four peer reviewed papers from this thesis.1 1 Teece, G. (2005) Traversing the gap: Andrew Wright, John Hick and critical Religious Education, British Journal of Religious Education 27, no. : 29-40. Maybury, J. and Teece G. (2005) Learning from what? A question of subject focus in religious education in England and Wales, Journal of Beliefs and Values. 26, no. 2: 179-190. I am particularly grateful to a number of colleagues and friends who have offered encouragement and critical feedback during the writing, in particular: Jill Stolberg, Birmingham Diocese; Dr Graham Butt, University of Birmingham and Dr Michael Grimmitt, University of Oxford. Very special thanks go to Professor John Hick for his interest and encouragement throughout the time of researching and writing. Finally I would like to thank my family: Liz, David and Anna for their support and understanding throughout the research and writing of this work. Teece, G. (2008) Learning from religions as skilful means: A contribution to the debate about the nature of religious education, British Journal of Religious Education 30, no. 3: 187-198. Teece, G. (2010) Is it learning about and from religions, religion or religious education? and Is it any wonder some teachers don’t get it? The British Journal of Religious Education 32, no. 2: 89-103 CONTENTS ABSTRACT DEDICATION ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS CONTENTS 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 The nature and motivation of my thesis ...................................................................................1 1.1.2 Early professional career and changes in religious education ............................................2 1.1.3 Philosophical context ...........................................................................................................6 1.1.4 The professional dilemma and philosophical questions as evidenced in my later professional context..............................................................................................................................9 1.2 Methodology: ............................................................................................................................17 1.2.1 Problems with research methodology in philosophy of education. ....................................17 1.2.2 How I went about it ............................................................................................................18 1.3 Research questions and hypotheses ...........................................................................................21 2: RELIGIOUS EDUCATION IN ENGLAND.............................................29 2.1 The evolution of religious education in England....................................................................29 2.2 Towards the 1944 Education Act ............................................................................................30 2.3 The West Riding Agreed Syllabus 1966.................................................................................31 2.4 Implicit and explicit RE and the Birmingham Agreed Syllabus 1975 .................................32 2.5 1980s onwards: a growing consensus......................................................................................34 2.6 The Schools Curriculum and assessment Authority: Model syllabuses for RE..................35 2.7 A National Non Statutory Framework for RE.......................................................................37 2.8 2010 Non Statutory Guidance..................................................................................................38 3. THE SELF UNDERSTANDING OF RELIGIOUS EDUCATION ...........39 3.1 Why is it important to concentrate on the self understanding of RE?.................................39 3.2 How has the nature of RE been understood?.........................................................................42 3.2.1 Historical perspective: .......................................................................................................42 3.2.2 What is the academic discipline that informs school based religious education?..............45 3.3 Criticisms of the ‘establishment’ view of religious education...............................................50 3.4 Why does the debate about the nature and purpose of RE need enriching and refining?.53 4. CLIMBING THE FOOTHILLS OF UNDERSTANDING: .......................57 THE INFLUENCE AND DEVELOPMENT OF JOHN HICK’S WORK ...........57 4.1 Introduction ..............................................................................................................................57 4.2 Hick’s influence in philosophy of religion and theology........................................................58 4.3 The development of Hick’s work.............................................................................................61 4.4 Early influences ........................................................................................................................64 4.5 Major themes in Hick’s work ..................................................................................................67 4.5.1 The rationality of religious faith in an ambiguous universe...............................................68 4.5.2 Faith as ‘experiencing-as’..................................................................................................70 4.5.3 Eschatological verification.................................................................................................73 4.5.4 An Irenaean theodicy..........................................................................................................78 4.5.5 Many lives in many worlds .................................................................................................80 4.5.6 Religious pluralism.............................................................................................................83 4.5.6.1 Hick’s Irenaean Intuition ................................................................................................85 4.6 Conclusion.................................................................................................................................90