Three Perspectives on Religious Education and Education for Citizenship in English Schools, 1934-1944

Abstract

In recent years, in English schools, various linkages between Religious Education and Citizenship have been identified or proposed. Yet neither education for citizenship, nor its relationship with religious education, is new. Evidence for this is provided by an analysis of the public discourse pertaining to these areas, which took place between 1934 and 1944, with a focus on three influential participants: Cyril Norwood, Ernest Simon and William Temple. This paper highlights the extent to which (i) religious education was conceived as a form of education for citizenship and (ii) Christian educationists precluded secular and pedagogically progressive education for citizenship from developing in English schools. This helps to explain why Religious Instruction and worship became compulsory components of school provision in England and why education for citizenship took so long to gain a firm foothold in the curriculum.