ABSTRACT
The cultural and religious diversity and the secularization of public institutions in contemporary democratic societies have led to a reappraisal of religious education in public schools. In some countries, like France and the United States, RE has been removed from the curriculum, whereas in other countries, it has been maintained, but not without deep changes as to its traditional aims and objectives. In Great Britain, for instance, RE has been redefined in educational terms and is now part of civic and democratic education. This paper will attempt to see what it means to define RE as democratic education. Amy Gutmann’s theory of democratic education will be discussed in the context of the ongoing debate between conflicting views of democracy and civic education: democratic individualism versus liberal democracy; ‘comprehensive’ versus ‘political’ liberalism. In light of this discussion, some facets of the transformation of RE in the United Kingdom during the last two decades will be presented. It will be shown that the British experience is a concrete illustration of the significant contribution that RE can bring to civic education in a democratic society.
