Seeing the kaleidoscope: Investigating whether Year 12 understandings of Christianity’s internal diversity can be enhanced through an ethnographic approach
Zoë Grainger
(PGCE Religious Studies, 2021-2022)
email: z.grainger@hotmail.com
Abstract
For the past 50 years, Religious Education in British schools has been non-confessional; rather than nurturing children into the Christian faith, the subject now seeks to help students learn critically about, and from, a wide range of religious phenomenon. Yet, this new model poses an ongoing challenge: how do we ensure that these religious traditions, in all their rich diversity, are authentically represented within the Religious Education classroom? With students now learning about six major world religions, as opposed to just one, many will do so without ever interacting with these faith communities personally. Building on the work of Robert Jackson, this research thus explores the extent to which ethnographic material can be used to practically invite diverse religious perspectives into the classroom, to ensure that generalised understandings of religious communities are debunked and not perpetuated.
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The full paper is available for download as a pdf file: [pdf] 133-160graingerz
Citation: Grainger, Z. (2023). Seeing the kaleidoscope: Investigating whether Year 12 understandings of Christianity’s internal diversity can be enhanced through an ethnographic approach. Journal of Trainee Teacher Educational Research, volume 14 pp. 133-160. https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.96937