Religion and Worldviews in English schools, Study of Religions, and disciplinary knowledge

Since the publication of the Commission on RE report for England in 2018, there has been much discussion of the concept of ‘disciplinary knowledge’ and of which academic disciplines underpin the school subject commonly called Religious Education (RE) e.g. Kueh (2018, 2020); Georgiou and Wright (2020). Study of Religions was notable for its absence. Against these and other more outspoken critics such as Barnes, this article argues for the simple answer, which would seem obvious to members of BASR, the university discipline known as Study of Religions, or previously and more ambiguously, Religious Studies (cf Alberts, Jensen). This is not however to accept that Religion and Worldviews in schools is merely a watered-down version of SR at university level, or that other disciplines including philosophy or even theology cannot make useful contributions. Future RE needs to build upon the insights of the Commission, the Worldviews Project and other recent projects such ‘Big Ideas’ to construct a vibrant and memorable curriculum which is both academically rigorous and personally inspiring, providing students with the knowledge and skills they need not only for the few who choose Study of Religions at university, but transferable to the many situations in which they will find themselves in in later life, both professional and personal.