Faith Schools: Consensus or Conflict? arose from a conference in Londonthat was considering the Government's September 2001 white paper,Schools Achieving Success.
It asks whether the Government's endorsement of the Church of England'scall for 100 additional secondary schools, and its support for a growthin state-funded schools for minority faith communities mark a steptowards prejudice and chaos?
The rise of similar media concern following the 7 July London bombingshas made the timing of this volume's publication particularlyapposite.
The 25 contributors include practitioners, and the range of the book iswide: a helpful historical introduction to the church as an educationpioneer and other religions' involvement in the area; performanceindicators; and philosophical explorations of indoctrination andautonomy.
This is a substantial volume and it seeks to avoid bias. But, whilethere is a contribution from an Orthodox Jewish educator, there is noMuslim representative voice. One other warning: the education storymoves on, but not all contributors have updated their pieces to takeaccount of changes since they were first written.
One piece, with several inaccuracies on education law, comes from anacademic who challenges faith schools on the grounds that they infringechildren's rights, saying children developing autonomy should only learnabout religion if they wish to. But this view is countered elsewhere inthe book: it is children who are not given deep insight into faithtraditions who cannot be fully autonomous, lacking the freedom to choosea religious way of life.
- Reviewed by Canon John Hall, chief education officer, the Church ofEngland
Faith Schools: Consensus or Conflict?By Roy Gardner, Jo Cairns and Denis LawtonRoutledge FalmerISBN 0415335264267pp24.99
