ABSTRACT
This chapter has begun to sketch out how the application of Vygotskian pedagogical principles can shed light on aspects of how pupils learn about different religions. The chapter has presented a coherent model of conceptual learning, which recognises what pupils may bring to their learning, but also the potential epistemic distance between them and the religions studied. In countries with strong lines of demarcation between religious organisations and the state, and no recognised place for religious education, it falls in other subject areas. The contemporary need to study a variety of religions has epistemological implications about the nature and status of knowledge for states both with and without a tradition of confessional religious education. The separation of insiders and outsiders is important within many religions, which demarcate the boundary between those who have accepted its claims and those who have not, particularly in terms of judgement and the afterlife.
