Bildung as educational purpose : reimagining the aims of Religious Education

Lewin, David (2024) Bildung as educational purpose : reimagining the aims of Religious Education. Ethics and Education. ISSN 1744-9650 (In Press)

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Abstract

This paper develops work undertaken by the After Religious Education project which seeks to reimagine Religious Education in schools for a context in which both religious and non-religious worldviews are taken seriously. One of the longstanding challenges for RE teachers in schools in England has been how to reconcile the broad range of aims and purposes it is supposed to support in a context in which RE is increasingly perceived as confused, inconsistent and irrelevant. Could a singular purpose be identified, one that unites these diverse aims and interests, and does the concept of Bildung fit the bill? Through a discussion of selected meanings and histories of the term, from Eckhart through Heidegger culminating in Biesta’s renunciation of the term, this paper considers whether Bildung could offer a way to rethink the educational purposes of RE. It explores how the varied and competing purposes of RE might be harmonized partly because this concept provides an educational direction without over-specifying the destination: it invites ‘unbidden’ aspects to enter educational processes.

ORCID iDs

Lewin, David ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5205-8165;
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)