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Inclusion And Diversity Essay

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2. Inclusion in Modern Britain
Much has been said about the responsibility of RE to promote the SMSC development of pupils and to prepare pupils for their experiences and roles later in their adult lives (Department for Education, 2013b: 5). Considering the 2011 Census data revealed that 25% of people in the UK define themselves as having no religion (as opposed to 59% Christian and 5% Muslim), it seems that modern life in Britain will involve experiences with individuals who do not align with a religious worldview. This equates to roughly 14.1 million individuals who do not align themselves with a religious worldview.
Hemming advises that regardless of the exact figures, it remains clear that the non-religious population of the UK is significant …show more content…

(2016) highlight the need for inclusion and call for religious education which is ‘…inclusive of religious diversity [and] promotes a pluralistic society that supports gaining a critical awareness and appreciation of our differences at a time when religion is being used as political and economic justification for segregation and exclusion’ (2016: 140). Although Aronson et al.. are writing in the context of an American viewpoint, the importance of inclusion and respect for diversity has never seemed more relevant to me as a teacher. Recent global events have drawn our attention to what appears to be widespread prejudice stemming from ignorance. They go on to say that, ‘schools serve as spaces where teachers have the potential to disrupt and recenter [sic] existing narratives related to religious diversity, religious (and ethnically connected) stereotypes’ (2016: 114). Which supports my view that primary education is key to stemming the flow of discrimination. We already teach a variety of religions which have faced high-profile discrimination over the years, but what I am suggesting is that it is the intent, not the content which may have the long term impact on pupils. Specifically, teaching and learning should come from a perspective of curiosity, positive religious pluralism, and celebration of all forms of diversity, religious and otherwise. Religious education is a unique subject with a responsibility to prepare pupils for the broad range of experiences they will encounter in the future in terms of social

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