The Empirical Science of Religious Education
Leslie Francis editor Mandy Robbins editor
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Taylor & Francis Ltd
Published:28th Jan '16
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
The Empirical Science of Religious Education draws together a collection of innovative articles in the field of religious education which passed the editorial scrutiny of Professor Robert Jackson over the course of his impactful fourteen year career as editor of the British Journal of Religious Education. These articles have made an enormous contribution to the international literature establishing of the empirical science of religious education as a research field.
The volume draws together, organises and illustrates the contours of this emerging field and is an essential compendium which covers work in:
- teacher education and teacher experience;
- student understanding, attitudes and values;
- varieties of religious schooling, and;
- worldview and life interpretation
Organised into ten thematic sections the contributors cover the field comprehensively and bring with them an international and reflexive approach to their research.
It is an essential resource for those practitioners and researchers who wish to access original and innovative research undertaken by way of ethnographic fieldwork, practitioner research, life-history approaches to research, psychological scales and measures, and large surveys. Particularly interested readers will be studying PGCE and masters level programmes in religious education, as well as qualified religious educators undertaking continuing professional development.
Brian Gates:
‘The book is a well-focussed collation of some 20 articles selected from an available 100. This is sufficiently manageable in number not to be ‘swamping’ but sufficiently varied to be enticing of interest. The 10 organising themes are also well-chosen to be indicative of the ground represented. There is no comparable resource available, save for the journal itself. Any weaknesses are external to the proposal and relate to market predictability and affordability by individuals.
Leslie Francis is a senior authority in this field and recognised internationally as such. This is true with regard to his own research and publications, and also in regard to his direct association with both the BJRE and the Warwick RE Research Unit. Mandy Robbins has collaborated closely with him over the last decade and has gained recognition in related national and international associations. The choice of contributors is entirely apposite for the focus of the book – they cover the field under scrutiny and themselves come from a range of international backgrounds.
Gloria Durka, Ph.D, Professor at the Graduate School of Religion and Religious Education, Fordham University, USA:
‘I believe that this work will be a significant addition to the literature on research in religious education. It deserves to be on the reference shelf of each college and university library.
… I believe this work could be a required reading in graduate level courses. In addition to Research Methods courses, the book would be valuable for courses in Special Issues in Religious Education and courses in the Religious Education of Children and Youth.
… I like the title and think my students would appreciate it as well. It is focused and appropriate, in my view. I appreciate the clarity of designating that the articles have been published in the British Journal of Religious Education. The title is very specific and this makes the work more attractive to graduate students who are doing their own research.’
ISBN: 9781138929852
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: 612g
290 pages