ABSTRACT
The possibility of indoctrination in Religious Education, in the pejorative sense of the term, is considered by many to be one of the dangers in teaching religion in state schools. This chapter examines ways by which indoctrination may be characterized. These are in terms of: content, specifically doctrines; method, involving teaching by non-rational means; intention, as when a teacher intends to teach unshakeable religious or political belief; and the morally objectionable characteristic that would deny the development of autonomy in pupils. The chapter shows that no single interpretation is entirely satisfactory and that it will remain possible for a teacher always to deny that he is indoctrinating. It argues that a religiously committed teacher can and should distinguish between enthusiasm for his own beliefs on the one hand and, on the other, his natural desire to bring pupils to a religious commitment.
