ABSTRACT
Since 1990, when the Children's Spirituality Project at Nottingham University produced the foundational New Methods in RE Teaching, there has been continuous debate over the practice of experiential religious education (RE). In 1996 a new journal, The International Journal of Children's Spirituality, was established to support the discourse. Although not always well received in the more conservative religious education circles, experiential RE is increasingly popular in schools and is having a clear influence on the developmental objectives of curriculum planning for primary RE (Musty 1992, pp. 84-5). Supported by current educational legislation, it is now widely recognised that RE is not solely or even primarily a cognitive project. While experiential RE is not a substitute for more cognitive approaches to religious education, many accept that RE is meaningful only when the meta-cognitive, affective element of religion and of children's learning about religion is taken seriously.
