ABSTRACT
From the early years of the century, syllabus makers were advising teachers to consider carefully whether various passages from the Bible were suitable for the age and development of the child. But it was not until the 1960s, with the increased emphasis upon experiential religious education, that the psychology of religion in childhood and youth, as it is affected by religious education in county schools, was placed on a secure research basis. With the formation in 1978 of the International Seminar for Religious Education and Values many British researchers are in regular contact with colleagues in several countries, and although the difficulties in this area of investigation must never be under-estimated, it does seem possible, as John Peatling remarks, that ‘the future may hold a “science” of religious education’.
