The Future of Religious Education was a day conference at the University of Worcester in 2013, amidst considerable debate around the nature, purpose and effectiveness of the subject. Trust funding enabled delegate places to be offered at reduced cost.
At a perceived moment of ‘crisis’ in religious education (RE), delegates from a variety of perspectives gathered on the 19 June 2013 at the University of Worcester to discuss issues around the future of the subject. The day consisted of five keynote addresses, with break-out discussions in delegate groups, and a plenary debate and final remarks concluding the seminar. The keynotes were: Dr Stephen Parker and Dr Rob Freathy (How did we get to here in RE? Prospects and problems revisited); Dr Lynn Revell (The national situation); Professor Michael Hand (Philosophical perspectives); Professor Robert Jackson (Developments in European policy and practice) and Dr Mark Chater (Does RE have a future?). Funding from St Peter’s Saltley Trust enabled a wider range of delegates to participate at reduced fees.
You can read the conference report here https://eprints.worc.ac.uk/2532/1/Future%20of%20RE.pdf and watch videos of some of the keynote contributions here (external site) http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/cjbv20/36/1#.Vad_K_lVhHw, https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmXqO5g2FfqHlfSOiEx_FwzNPsM0gvIy0.
The Journal of Beliefs and Values 36:1 (2015) on ‘The Future of Religious Education’ contains papers from the conference. http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/cjbv20/36/1#.Vad_K_lVhHw.