The history of post-war religious education, with particular reference between religious and moral education : a study in pluralism.

The study opens with an examination of the theory and practice of
Religious and Moral Education in the forties. Special attention
is given to the view, reaching back into the nineteenth century,
that Religious Education and Moral Education were to be equated.
From this base in monism the subsequent course of RME into
increasing complexity, differentiation and plurality is analysed.
Particular attention is given to the emergence of ME as an
autonomous exercise, and to the relationship of RE both to a
secular rational educational philosophy and to a multi-faith
society. Advocacy of these positions began in the forties, and
reached a convincingly argued case in the seventies. The major
curriculum-development schemes in RE and ME in the seventies were
said to operate on 'complementarity' as the best way of viewing
the relationship between the two areas. But the teaching material
implied that complementarity meant parallel practice rather than
interaction. It will be argued in this thesis that such a
position may be an over-reaction against the former view of
equation between RE and ME. There may be a better way of seeing
the relationship so as to allow for mutually beneficial intersection.
This argument is not advanced primarily on empirical grounds, but
a research-scheme in 1983 among Sheffield, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire
teachers and headteachers gave encouragement to pursue
the notion of an intersecting RE/ME, with possible benefits
to Personal and Social Education.