ABSTRACT
The interpretive approach emerged from three related strands of work at the University of Warwick. The first was a series of studies of individuals from a range of religious groups in Britain, with a concentration on studies of children and processes of transmitting religious culture. The second was a concern with issues of method in relation to practice and theory, which related both to the research studies in the field and to religious education. Finally, an approach to religious education (RE) was developed partly through an experimental curriculum development project and partly through ongoing work in RE that draws on further field studies of various kinds and relevant theory. The Warwick RE Project was the curriculum branch of a research project entitled 'Ethnography and Religious Education' funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). The theoretical work developed during the ESRC study raises three key sets of issues: representation; interpretation; and reflexivity.
