ABSTRACT
This discussion questions how we can approach difference seriously in education when considering religious worldviews that present the possibility of division. It argues that an extrinsic purpose of RE, in England and Wales, has been to play down difference in order to accentuate a sense of moral homogeneity within religions that has given a proclaimed educational value to the subject and social benefit to its
subjects. In turn, this has given RE a modus operandi that has defended it from criticisms of pedagogical insufficiency and a lack of a body of knowledge with which to defend its curriculum credentials. My contention is that RE is pedagogically insufficient and that this is related to deficiencies in the way it represents its subject (religions). As a result, it does not exhibit the necessary academic rigour in relation to its body of knowledge. Also, RE has seriously weakened its credibility in claiming to promote children’s spiritual development through wedding that aim to promoting the inculcation of moral values (Keast, 2005).
