by Guy Hordern, Psephizo
For more than eighty years, the Church of England has had a formal place in determining what is taught in Religious Education in England. That may shortly change. The Government is proposing that Religious Education should become part of the National Curriculum. I am not writing to argue for or against that proposal.
I am writing because I participated in one of the Reference Groups established as part of the process of developing the proposed new arrangements, and my experience has left me with some questions about how the new curriculum has been produced, who has participated in producing it, and what is meant when we are told that a “consensus” has been achieved.
These questions matter particularly to the Church of England.
An eighty-year settlement
Religious Education has occupied an unusual position in English education since the Education Act 1944. Unlike most subjects, its curriculum has not simply been prescribed nationally. Locally Agreed Syllabuses are produced through an Agreed Syllabus Conference. The structure is deliberately representative. There are 4 committees representing
- The Church of England
- Other faiths including non-religious views and Christian denominations other than the Church of England
- Teachers
- The local authority
Each Committee has one vote. The syllabus must command the unanimous agreement required across these constituent groups before it can be adopted by the Local Authority. The system may sometimes appear cumbersome. Consensus usually is. But it has a considerable virtue: we know who is in the room, whom they represent, where authority lies and how agreement has been reached.