RE Northern Ireland

The School of Education and School of Law at Queen's University Belfast have published the findings of research into the experience of children of minority belief who opt-out from religious education in schools in Northern Ireland. The core aim of the research was 'to examine the opt-out clause through the perspective of young people (13-18 years) of minority belief and to assess its suitablility as a mechanism to protect religious liberty in a diverse society.' The findings show that many young people, parents, teachers and principals have little awareness of the legal situation in relation to opting-out from RE. Although, the report also notes that while the opt-out clause offered some protection for the rights of those who exercised it, it did not in itself guarantee respect for the beliefs of young people. Those who do opt-out are treated in a wide variety of ways, from being expected to stay in religious education classes to being removed to an unsupervised room. The r

At the annual conferences of both the Presbyterian and Church of Ireland churches the respective Boards of Education expressed their concern over the current support for RE and RE teachers from the Education and Library Boards. This has been caused, they believe, by the uncertainty over the establishment of the Education and Skills Authority (ESA). As a result, they say, there is 'a deficit in the support of RE teachers and teaching.' For some time now, Education and Library Boards have chosen not to fill their vacant posts for RE Board Officers. This has resulted in a significant depletion of personnel and, consequently, the scaling back of support activity for RE in the boards. This comes at a time when the churches are also concerned about the impact the establishment of the ESA may have upon the status and ethos of Controlled schools. The Presbyterian Church notes that proposals currently under discussion have the potential to radically alter their ownership rights in edu

In the recent weeks students have sat the first papers of the new CCEA RE GCSE specification. In many ways nothing remarkable, yet when one considers the history of Religious Education in Northern Ireland, as well as the existing legislation, the formal teaching and assessment of world religions at Key Stage 4 as well as the study of denominational RE is nothing short of remarkable. The CCEA specification offers students the choice of nine modules including: The Christian Church (focusing on the Protestant and/or Catholic tradition); study of a Gospel (Matthew or Mark); Christian Ethics; Islam; Judaism; and the Philosophy of Religion. To complete a half GCSE students choose one module and two for a full GCSE. As it stands, the statutory syllabus for religious education in Northern Ireland does not include any world religions at Key Stage 4 and the legislation on teaching RE in in controlled schools in Northern Ireland forbids denominational teaching. The broadening of the curriculum is

An article exploring religious segregation and teacher education in Northern Ireland has been published by James Nelson. The abstract from the article states: This paper surveys the extent of religious segregation in teacher education in Northern Ireland and notes that there are elements of separation within a general context of (increasing) common teacher education. With reference to liberal and communitarian theories the case for separate teacher education is considered. It is acknowledged that a case can be made for forms of separate teacher education in a liberal society but that certain limits or expectations should apply. A common teacher education is found to be desirable but it is suggested that in order to justify its dominant status in a plural environment it must be accommodating of religion, encourage dialogical engagement around concepts of shared fate and cultivate a sense of community. Full details of the paper can be found at journal's website: Research Papers i