Is Religious Education Valuable and Important for Young People Today?

By

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

First of all, it would give me great pleasure to show my gratitude to my professor, for his propositions, remarks, understanding and patience. It would also be an honour to express gratitude to my parents, my mother, my father, my sister and my brother for their endless support in my life and allowing me to make all my decisions. I would also like to take the opportunity to show appreciation to my co-workers for their expert cooperation on every occasion. I would also like to be grateful to the Department, managers of the university, instructors and students who have supported me throughout this research.

DECLARATION

I declare that the content presented in this thesis/dissertation is, in my understanding and opinion, original and has not been presented for scholarly assessment in the past, either completely or partly, for an academic degree at this educational institution or elsewhere. I would also like to admit that I have studied and understood the principles, prerequisites, processes and guidelines of the University regarding the higher academic degree research award and to my dissertation. I would also like to declare that I have abided by the University's principles, prerequisites, processes and guidelines.

ABSTRACT

Like all areas in education, the religious education contributes to the formation of the human being and provides the necessary elements for a critical assimilation of culture. In particular, it strengthens their ability to analyze the religions within the culture. There are many reasons that motivate the presence of religious education at school. The religious education has ontological reason that makes it possible in the academy, as it pertains to the very nature and structure of human beings. The man is made to open to transcendence, to listen, to care, to give meaning to his life by acknowledging his transcendent dimension through the opening to the mystery. Since the nineteenth century, religious groups have mobilized in England, in partnership with the State, to support schools and to integrate religious education into the curriculum. The purpose of this study is to discuss that is religious education valuable and important for young people today or has religion become irrelevant for the youth in modern society.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTII

DECLARATIONIII

ABSTRACTIV

INTRODUCTION1

Background of the Research1

Research Purpose3

SECTION 14

Religious Education6

History of Religious Education in England7

Religious Education Legal Framework8

SECTION 214

Religious Education in Faith Schools14

Religious Education in Mainstream schools22

Religious Education in the community28

SECTION 332

Religious Education in the Modern Society32

Influence of Internet and Media34

Science and Nature35

CONCLUSION AND LIMITATIONS37

Conclusion37

Limitations39

REFERENCES40

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Research

The structures and educational provisions that define the religious education programs have evolved (Stark, Finke and Lannaconne,1995:P433). Schools in England are fully funded for religious education, which aims to promote responsiveness and awareness of Christian religion and other major religions present in British society. It also seeks to help students get a personal opinion on matters of religion. However, in certain categories of religious institutions with public subsidies, the education is mostly a type of spiritual education or religious training (Stark, Finke and Lannaconne,1995:P433).

We naturally turned to the school to raise ...