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Religious education in the experience of young people from mixed‐faith families

2011; Routledge; Volume: 33; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/01416200.2011.523520

1740-7931

Elisabeth Arweck, Eleanor Nesbitt,

Contemporary Christian Leadership and Education

Abstract On the basis of a recent ethnographic study at the University of Warwick of the religious identity formation of young people in 'mixed‐faith' families, this article focuses on their (and their parents') experiences and perceptions of religious education (RE) and of religious nurture in the community. The young people's experience of RE differed between primary and secondary school and only a few were engaged in supplementary classes. We highlight the complementarity between school and home in young people's religious learning and draw out implications for RE. Keywords: mixed‐faith familiesreligious educationreligious identityUK Acknowledgements Elisabeth Arweck gratefully acknowledges a travel grant from the British Academy, which supported attendance at the XVII ISREV (International Seminar on Religious Education and Values) conference, held in Ottawa, Canada, 25–30 July 2010, where the material from this article was presented. Notes 1. For further details about the project's aims, rationale and design, see Arweck and Nesbitt (Citation2010a, Citation2010b, forthcoming) and Nesbitt and Arweck (forthcoming). 2. Religious education (RE) is the term used at school, while religious studies (RS) is used in higher education (and in a minority of schools at secondary level). 3. All the names used in this article are pseudonyms. 4. In order to help situate the young people in their respective family context, the faith combination of the parents is indicated by the mother's faith background being stated first. 5. Rikki most likely refers here to the Guru Granth Sahib, the central sacred text in Sikhism. 6. Rikki's words attempt to convey the observance of the five K's (kesh – uncut hair, kangha – comb, kirpan – sword, kachh – cotton breeches, kara – steel/iron bangle) by initiated Sikhs (see Nesbitt Citation2005, 51–4). It was beyond the project's remit to explore how Rikki's relatives viewed themselves. His maternal uncle was born and brought up in the UK. However, according to Rikki's mother, the grandfather had some involvement in the local gurdwara.