Abstract:
Australia and other western countries have witnessed the development of a polyethnic society with its multifaith concomitant. The same development has given rise in the western world to theories of religious pluralism, the rationale for accepting all extant religious traditions as equally valid.
Invariably such theoretical frameworks have included a broad definition of "religion", often claiming that in some sense all rational adults are "religious".
This cultural change has repercussions for educational curriculum. Religion has traditionally been seen as the responsibilty of family and religious institution, but not of the state. As a result any attempt on the part of the state to involve itself in religious education has been greeted with suspicion. This stand may need to be revised.
Religious educational curricula have been divided into an objective *teaching about religion* curriculum which endeavours to educate young people in the phenomenon of religion without any suggestion of indoctrination and a religious instruction whose purpose is religious enculturation. Usually the two curricula have operated in isolation.
This paper critiques a curriculum of each type from the point of view of the new cultural developments and proposes a way forward in consonance with religious pluralism.
Invariably such theoretical frameworks have included a broad definition of "religion", often claiming that in some sense all rational adults are "religious".
This cultural change has repercussions for educational curriculum. Religion has traditionally been seen as the responsibilty of family and religious institution, but not of the state. As a result any attempt on the part of the state to involve itself in religious education has been greeted with suspicion. This stand may need to be revised.
Religious educational curricula have been divided into an objective *teaching about religion* curriculum which endeavours to educate young people in the phenomenon of religion without any suggestion of indoctrination and a religious instruction whose purpose is religious enculturation. Usually the two curricula have operated in isolation.
This paper critiques a curriculum of each type from the point of view of the new cultural developments and proposes a way forward in consonance with religious pluralism.