ABSTRACT

It is now accepted that schools are involved in the moral and spiritual development of their pupils, whether they like it or not. Since the Education Reform Act of 1988, the process has become much more explicit…more explicit but not more clear. The legislation and its confusion reflect a society undergoing massive changes. At one level there was an attempt to reinforce the dominant white, Anglo-Saxon faith and culture-a push towards ‘integration’. Intensive lobbying by those working for a pluralist society had, however, some effect. The result is that, to the chagrin of the traditionalists, there has been some scope for manoeuvre. Allwhite schools from Truro to Tynemouth have had to bring back assemblies with a ‘broadly’ Christian ethos. It is however our inner city multiethnic schools which have addressed the real challenge; they have had to fulfil the requirements of the Act in its integrationist aims and yet try to affirm the faith and culture of their own pupils.