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Although the teaching of nonreligious worldviews has been advocated in a Council of Europe Recommendation, few European countries include such a study in religious education (RE). Guidance on implementing the Recommendation recognises that inclusion is problematic, raising issues for policymakers, teacher trainers and schools. In this article, findings from a qualitative study of the views and experiences of 25 RE teachers in England are used to identify and explore a range of issues, in relation to national and international debates and research. Examples of inclusion and the models that they suggest are considered and it is argued that major obstacles, such as limited time and lack of a framework for the integration of religious and nonreligious worldviews, can be of overcome. However, it is concluded that this will require further research and curriculum development work and that international collaboration should be pursued.

The Council of Europe's 2008 'Recommendation' advocates the study of 'non-religious convictions' in schools in addition to religions. In 2018, there is evidence of growing academic interest in the inclusion of non-religious worldviews in the school curriculum, but few European countries include such a study within religious education. The guidance document, Signposts, recognises that the integration of religions and non-religious worldviews is problematic for policy makers, teacher trainers and schools and that there is a need for further research. Norway and England are at significant but different stages in the process of integration. This article presents a comparative study which draws on the findings of research in both countries which has investigated the process at classroom and policy levels, and issues raised by this. Four issues are explored: practical challenges; differing understandings of the concept of worldviews; the inclusion of non-religious worldviews as a political issue and influences on the selection of worldviews. The article concludes with a discussion of issues and findings within a supranational context and makes recommendations which highlight the value of integration and the need for both contextual studies and further comparative research.

The article draws on experience of teaching, teacher education and qualitative research related to an impartial approach to inclusive religious education (including pupils from families who identify with or do not identify with religion or belief groups), in publicly funded schools in England. Such religious education is considered to be intrinsically worthwhile and instrumentally important in contributing to pupils' personal and social development. The approach considered is hermeneutical, bringing reliable information into relationship with knowledge and experience of pupils and teacher through active learning, including dialogue. Qualitative research on student and early career teachers suggests that appropriate skills and attitudes supporting an impartial approach can be developed, facilitating a relationship of trust between teacher and students. A condition is the development of teachers' knowledge and understanding of the stances of pupils in their classes. However, some student teachers or teachers with very firmly held views find it very difficult to adopt an impartial approach. On the basis of examples from qualitative research, it is argued that good quality teacher education can assist in developing appropriate skills and attitudes for those wishing to take an impartial approach. Further research, ideally involving partnership between researchers and practitioners, is recommended.

The article draws on a series of qualitative studies undertaken between 1997 and 2014 in order to contribute to knowledge of, and debate about, Religious Education(RE) and professionalism from the perspective of teachers of RE. The findings of research undertaken with successive cohorts of English trainee and newly qualified teachers is used to explore their understandings and experiences of, and concerns about "being professional". An international perspective is provided by research on experienced teachers of RE in six European countries, conducted during the REDCo Project of 2006-2009. Contextualisation of research findings in relation to education policies and debates provides a picture of the issues that teachers and teacher educators were responding between 1997 and 2014 and indicates how past and current understandings of RE and professionalism can come together in the practice and views of RE teachers. The article highlights the need for teachers to reflect on the relationship between their personal and professional lives and argues that trainee teachers require the kind of opportunities for reflection and specialist support that are provided in institutions of higher education.

This article takes as its starting point concerns about community separation that arose in 2001, following outbreaks of violence in English urban centres, and again in 2014, following the so-called "Trojan Horse" case. Despite a series of reports which have highlighted the need to address "separation", promote "meaningful contact" between those who differ in terms of ethnicity and worldview and identify teachers of religious education (RE) as key players, researchers have paid no attention to teachers of RE from minority ethnic and religious backgrounds. The article draws on a qualitative study of teachers from Hindu, Muslim and Sikh backgrounds to explore their concerns about pupils' perceptions of separation and the ways in which they attempted to address these in white majority and Muslim majority schools. Communication research and studies based on social capital theory are used to suggest that the teachers used "bonding" and "bridging" strategies as means of encouraging pupils to explore their perceptions of separation, engage in a mediated form of meaningful contact with "the Other" and expand their thinking. The conclusion calls for further research in to the strategies reported and for policy makers to support the recruitment, training and career development of minority ethnic teachers of RE.

The article reports the findings of a qualitative study of Hindu, Muslim and Sikh teachers of religious education and the relationship between their biographies, professional beliefs and use of personal life knowledge in English, secondary school classrooms. This relationship was explored through a study of five beginning teachers and provided evidence of the role that their personal knowledge played in enabling them to support the learning of pupils in white majority and Muslim majority state schools. It also indicated the need for teacher education courses to provide opportunities for teachers to explore the relationship between their personal and professional lives and the potential dilemmas and dangers of sharing their personal knowledge and experiences with pupils. In the context of international concern to identify criteria for selecting beginning teachers, the article highlights the importance of initiatives aimed at increasing the ethnic/religious diversity of the teaching force.

In the context of international debates about teachers' knowledge, this essay reports a study of how and why a cohort of English trainee teachers of Religious Education used their personal life knowledge in their teaching. Four possible reasons for their commitment to this practice are examined. A belief in the value of openness, a desire to motivate and engage their pupils, and a need to create "bridges" between the pupils' worlds and those of religions are considered. The possibility that trainees used their life knowledge to bridge a "gap" between their personal and professional lives is also discussed. The findings of Communication and Teacher Effectiveness research are used to indicate the potential benefits of the practice and the works by Aldenmyr and Furedi are drawn upon to highlight potential dangers. The author concludes that the sharing of teachers' life knowledge can benefit pupils, but that teachers need to reflect on the dangers and further research is needed to support this.

This paper focuses on teachers of secondary level religious education in England, Estonia, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Norway. It presents a study of the teachers' perceptions of and responses to the diversity within their classes, in relation to their professional role and their personal and professional biographies. The study employed biographical research methods and 36 teachers were interviewed. Key findings were that, in every country, there was a clear relationship between individual teachers' personal biographies and how they responded to religious and/or cultural diversity and common cross-national strategies for dealing with these aspects of diversity. However, socio-cultural factors within each country (including dominant views of the relationship between religion and education) affected the ways in which the teachers perceived the diversity within their classes and there were national differences in how teachers prioritised aspects of diversity. The study concludes that if teachers of religion are to extend the range of their responses to classroom diversity, they would benefit from opportunities to reflect on the relationship between their perceptions of and responses to religious and cultural diversity, their personal biographies, and national requirements and expectations related to their professional role.

In terms of the attention that they have attracted from researchers, and in comparison with teachers of other subjects, religious education specialists would seem to be a neglected and marginalized group. This paper looks at some of the reasons why this might be and also describes a study that is using a life history approach to explore what it is like to be a religious education teacher at the turn of the millennium.

The Council of Europe's 2008 'Recommendation' advocates the study of 'non-religious convictions' in schools in addition to religions. In 2018, there is evidence of growing academic interest in the inclusion of non-religious worldviews in the school curriculum, but few European countries include such a study within religious education. The guidance document, Signposts, recognises that the integration of religions and non-religious worldviews is problematic for policy makers, teacher trainers and schools and that there is a need for further research. Norway and England are at significant but different stages in the process of integration. This article presents a comparative study which draws on the findings of research in both countries which has investigated the process at classroom and policy levels, and issues raised by this. Four issues are explored: practical challenges; differing understandings of the concept of worldviews; the inclusion of non-religious worldviews as a political issue and influences on the selection of worldviews. The article concludes with a discussion of issues and findings within a supranational context and makes recommendations which highlight the value of integration and the need for both contextual studies and further comparative research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the teaching of nonreligious worldviews has been advocated in a Council of Europe Recommendation, few European countries include such a study in religious education (RE). Guidance on implementing the Recommendation recognises that inclusion is problematic, raising issues for policymakers, teacher trainers and schools. In this article, findings from a qualitative study of the views and experiences of 25 RE teachers in England are used to identify and explore a range of issues, in relation to national and international debates and research. Examples of inclusion and the models that they suggest are considered and it is argued that major obstacles, such as limited time and lack of a framework for the integration of religious and nonreligious worldviews, can be of overcome. However, it is concluded that this will require further research and curriculum development work and that international collaboration should be pursued. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article draws on experience of teaching, teacher education and qualitative research related to an impartial approach to inclusive religious education (including pupils from families who identify with or do not identify with religion or belief groups), in publicly funded schools in England. Such religious education is considered to be intrinsically worthwhile and instrumentally important in contributing to pupils’ personal and social development. The approach considered is hermeneutical, bringing reliable information into relationship with knowledge and experience of pupils and teacher through active learning, including dialogue. Qualitative research on student and early career teachers suggests that appropriate skills and attitudes supporting an impartial approach can be developed, facilitating a relationship of trust between teacher and students. A condition is the development of teachers’ knowledge and understanding of the stances of pupils in their classes. However, some student teachers or teachers with very firmly held views find it very difficult to adopt an impartial approach. On the basis of examples from qualitative research, it is argued that good quality teacher education can assist in developing appropriate skills and attitudes for those wishing to take an impartial approach. Further research, ideally involving partnership between researchers and practitioners, is recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article reports the findings of a qualitative study of Hindu, Muslim and Sikh teachers of religious education and the relationship between their biographies, professional beliefs and use of personal life knowledge in English, secondary school classrooms. This relationship was explored through a study of five beginning teachers and provided evidence of the role that their personal knowledge played in enabling them to support the learning of pupils in white majority and Muslim majority state schools. It also indicated the need for teacher education courses to provide opportunities for teachers to explore the relationship between their personal and professional lives and the potential dilemmas and dangers of sharing their personal knowledge and experiences with pupils. In the context of international concern to identify criteria for selecting beginning teachers, the article highlights the importance of initiatives aimed at increasing the ethnic/religious diversity of the teaching force. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Religion and sexuality tend not to make easy bedfellows. This article draws on a life history study which has followed a cohort of religious education (RE), secondary postgraduate certificate in education (PGCE) students through their training and into their first years of teaching. In addition to the adaptations, stresses and challenges commonly faced by people when they become teachers, it seems that RE specialists have to deal with unattractive (personal) identities and expectations associated with their subject. The article discusses the ways in which women RE teachers used clothes, hairstyles and make-up, together with explicit reference to their social lives, to challenge the ascribed identities which had negative implications both for their own sense of self and for their pedagogy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]