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Religions
Special Issues
Faith and Education: Contemporary and Global Issues in Historical Perspective
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Faith and Education: Contemporary and Global Issues in Historical Perspective

A special issue of Religions (ISSN 2077-1444).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2025) | Viewed by 4538

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Stephen G. Parker

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Education, Faculty of Education, Theology and the Arts, St. Mary’s University, London, UK
Interests: histories of religion and education; religious education on radio and television; religious education in schools, informal and alternative contexts; RE teacher education and professionalisation; history of Christianity in the nineteenth and twentieth century; churches, state and education; faith and supplementary schooling; childhood and religion; Sunday schools; prayer and collective worship; children’s spirituality; theories and theologies of education; religion, non-religion and secularisation; religion in the Second World War

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues:

The year 2024 marks the 80th anniversary of the 1944 Education Act, which, in England and Wales at least, has more-or-less defined the nature, character, and governance of faith-based education, religious education, and collective worship for the entirety of the post-war world to the present in these countries. Indeed, its iconic status in this regard has made it virtually impervious to any radical alteration. However, the role of the churches and faith communities in state-funded schools and higher education has an even longer history, the fundamental issues of the place of religion in education having resonance beyond the national and parochial concerns of one jurisdiction, indeed being of global significance. This Special Issue aims to bring together those at the forefront of the historical, philosophical, theological, and political debates surrounding the question of the continuous legitimacy of state-funded faith-based schools and universities—indeed, the existence of schools of a religious character at all. Amongst the issues invited for discussion are the following:

  • On what basis can faith-based education be justified?
  • What has been the historic contribution of faith communities to education, and what are its legacies?
  • What rights, freedoms, constraints, and responsibilities does this historic contribution command today?
  • What is the role and place of faith and belief in schools, in the school curriculum, and in any contemporary national education system?
  • Are the issues facing faith-based education in some way comparable across national jurisdictions?
  • What is the role and place of religion and belief in contemporary colleges and universities, whether in the curriculum or in chaplaincies?
  • Do schools of a religious character retain a legitimate place in plural and increasingly non-religious societies; if so, how have they, or might they, need to adapt?
  • What place does theology have in the continuing justification for the involvement of the church in education policy, curriculum, and practice?
  • To what extent should faith and belief education give consideration to the changing character of religious perspectives on life and the putative secularisation of society?
  • What is distinctive about faith-based education, other than as a state-legitimated form of indoctrination?
  • What new forms of theology of education are needed to meet contemporary challenges to the legitimacy of faith-based schools and universities?
  • What form of religious education is legitimate in faith-based schools, and how is this distinguishable from those in non-denominational ones?

The aims of this Special Issue include the following:

Promote debate concerning contemporary issues on matters of faith and education issues in a historical, global, theological, and political perspective.

  • Consider and evaluate the historic contribution made by faith communities to educational policies and practices, as well as their merit and weaknesses as ongoing arguments for the legitimacy of faith-based education.
  • Promote debate about the relationship between the historic contribution and the nature and future of religious education in all publicly funded schools.

We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors submit a proposed title and an abstract of 200–300 words summarizing their intended contribution. Abstracts will be reviewed by the Guest Editors for the purposes of ensuring proper fit within the scope of the Special Issue. Please send the manuscript to the Guest Editor or to the Assistant Editor of Religions. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer review. We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Stephen G. Parker
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • faith schools
  • religious education
  • theology of education
  • history of education
  • church and state
  • collective worship

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 261 KB  
Article
Women in Higher Religious Education in the Context of Religion, Education and Modernisation
by Meryem Karataş
Religions 2026, 17(2), 206; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17020206 - 9 Feb 2026
Viewed by 538
Abstract
In addition to the transformative impact of learning and instruction on individuals and society, there is also the possibility that cultural, social, and political structures may reshape the educational system. Religious education, as a component of this system, is one of the area’s [...] Read more.
In addition to the transformative impact of learning and instruction on individuals and society, there is also the possibility that cultural, social, and political structures may reshape the educational system. Religious education, as a component of this system, is one of the area’s most susceptible to such influence. Transformations in the field of religious instruction are clearly observable in the lands we inhabit. In the period following the establishment of the Republic of Turkey, religious instruction and women’s learning experiences were addressed as two separate topics. Given the fact that the history of women’s educational participation has followed a distinct developmental trajectory from that of men, this topic could benefit from further discussion and clarification, and its boundaries should be more clearly defined. Individuals who successfully complete higher religious studies are qualified to work as formal and informal religious educators. The fact that graduates of these institutions are employed in formal religious teaching contexts, together with the recent growth in the number of women opting for advanced religious studies, highlights the importance of this topic. Although various studies have addressed religious education and women’s education separately, the sources accessed for this study do not examine women’s learning experiences in the context of higher religious education as a distinct and chronological analytical framework; this constitutes the originality of the present research. In line with this gap, the aim of the study is to describe the learning processes of women in the context of higher religious studies. Accordingly, the fundamental problem of this research is to demonstrate how women’s learning experiences in higher religious education have developed within the historical context and how this change can be interpreted in terms of the relationship between religious education and modernisation. The description has been carried out in chronological order. Here, religious instruction refers to the Islamic faith. The research method employed was qualitative document analysis. This study examines the historical process and reveals how women’s learning experiences have transformed since the emergence of Islam. It is understood that women with similar religious beliefs experienced these educational processes in different ways in different regions. In this context, it is seen that the institutional changes that emerged in the Ottoman Empire during the Tanzimat period had a structure that transformed and differentiated educational institutions. Women’s adaptation to the education system and the qualitative developments in women’s education also took place during this period. With the establishment of the Republic of Turkey, the modernisation efforts that began during the Tanzimat period showed rapid development. The increased visibility of women in higher religious studies led to social and institutional shifts. The study addresses this transformation within the broader framework of religious instruction and modernisation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Faith and Education: Contemporary and Global Issues in Historical Perspective)
13 pages, 245 KB  
Article
Employment Rights of Teachers in Faith Schools: Maximising the Religious Rights of Schools and Staff
by Lucy Vickers
Religions 2024, 15(10), 1277; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15101277 - 17 Oct 2024
Viewed by 2369
Abstract
This paper considers the legacy of the historic contribution of faith communities to education for the employment rights of teachers in schools with a religious character. The contribution of faith communities to state education was originally reflected in a settlement by which staffing [...] Read more.
This paper considers the legacy of the historic contribution of faith communities to education for the employment rights of teachers in schools with a religious character. The contribution of faith communities to state education was originally reflected in a settlement by which staffing could reflect the religious foundations of the school. This paper traces the development of the legal framework covering employment by religious ethos employers, in particular the introduction of more generous protection for religious equality at work. As a result, the position of teachers in faith schools in England has diverged significantly from that of staff employed by other religious ethos organisations. The anomalous position of teachers in faith schools arises because the legal position is dependent on the historical foundations of the school rather than on the current religious practice of the school. This situation is at odds with the wider legal framework in which protection against religious discrimination and the protection for freedom of religion must be justified with reference to the genuine and current religious needs of the organisation. The paper concludes with proposals for reform that maximise the rights of both teachers and communities of faith, without unduly restricting the rights of either. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Faith and Education: Contemporary and Global Issues in Historical Perspective)
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