Religious education teachers' perspectives on character education. Issue 3 (3rd July 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Metcalfe, Jason; Moulin-Stożek, Daniel
• Is Part Of: British journal of religious education. Volume 43:Issue 3(2021)
• Page Start: 349
• Page End: 360
• Publication Date: 2021-07-03
• Subjects: Religious education -- character education -- virtue -- teachers; Religious education -- Periodicals; Christian education -- Periodicals; 207.5
• DOI: 10.1080/01416200.2020.1713049
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0141-6200

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This article presents the findings of a qualitative interview study undertaken with RE teachers (n = 30), working in English schools with secondary status. Despite recent policy interest in character education, there is a lacuna of information about the extent RE contributes to character education. The present study focuses on teachers' perspectives on virtue literacy, a theme identified across participants in response to open-ended prompts about RE, religion and character. The participants in the sample hold different worldviews and work across a range of schools, providing a variety of informative perspectives. There were clear differences between the responses of participants' from faith and non-faith schools regarding the contribution of RE to pupils' virtue literacy. These findings mark a distinctive contribution to our understanding of the differences between RE in faith and non-faith schools.