Religious education syllabus development and the need for education theory

Religious education in England is experiencing change of 'spring tide' proportions during the third decade of the twenty-first century. This paper offers a flavour of aspects of education theory informing the development of a locally agreed syllabus in the English context. After offering some background contextual information, the paper proceeds to demonstrate some implications of the absence of education theory in religious education discourse in recent times. The body of the paper lays out ways in which a remedy for this has been sought through syllabus development, followed by a discussion identifying practical implications. These include (i) a focus on the importance of teaching and professional responsibilities of each teacher and (ii) attention to curriculum making. The paper concludes by reiterating a desire to bring the educational position of religious education into the open so as to articulate an educational orientation that can secure the value at this point in history of bringing anything concerning religion to children and young people at all. This paper is of course limited as to what can be achieved entirely in this respect; greater consideration of this belongs in a further paper. However, it is hoped the matter will be seen as a pressing one.