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Research Summary

We Need to Talk about RE (London: Jessica Kingsley, 2017) is a collection of essays by established and emerging RE leaders commenting on theory, practice and policy around RE. The book focuses mainly on the English system, with European and wider global contexts referred to. Each chapter is a grounded, research-informed provocation. The book is edited by Dr Mike Castelli (currently Executive Chair of the Association of University Lectuters in Religion and Education) and Dr Mark Chater (currently Director of a charitable trust supporting RE).

Researchers

Mike Castelli, Mark Chater & Linda Woodhead

Research Institution

Several

What is this about?

The book as a whole promotes public discussion on what is needed from a new model of RE. The book argues that we need to talk about RE for several reasons: because so much is changing in the culture of schools; because teachers of RE are ‘cultural and religious heroes caught up in a conflicted education system’; because the kind of RE practised UK is unique, but gravely in danger of dismemberment and neglect; because of the urgent need to find consensus about the purpose and place of RE; and because wider society needs better ways of dealing with religious and cultural ‘otherness’.

What was done?

Each of the fifteen authors uses a distinctive methodology based on their own professional experience as teachers, researchers, practitioners, policy makers or consultants.

Main findings and outputs

Each chapter, written by a different author, offers a manifesto for change. The postscript, written by a serving teacher of RE, argues passionately for change based on clarity of purpose.

Relevance to RE

Trainee and serving teachers will find the book a stimulating, provocative and hope-inspiring daily companion to their practice.

Generalisability and potential limitations

There is no programmatic set of findings or recommendations.

Find out more

Castelli, M. And Chater, M (2017) ed. We Need to Talk about Religious Education: Manifestos for the Future of RE.London: Jessica Kingsley Publishing.

Research Summary

This research is about the Char Dham, a pilgrimage circuit in Northern India. Usually, religion and leisure (or, pilgrimage and tourism) are viewed as different things, but the researcher finds that when pilgrimage is promoted as a tourist activity, its religiosity remains intact, though its form changes. The guidebooks mix up religious and tourist selling points, and the pilgrimage is portrayed as an experience of religious devotion and a holiday at the same time. In half a century or so, the Char Dham has changed from being a relatively small local and local event to being one of the most popular pilgrimage circuits in India, because of the efforts of tourist agencies to promote it. However, it has retained its religious profile, demonstrating that the tourist industry can increase religiosity. The researcher’s account of the Char Dam is very original and offers RE teachers an interesting perspective on Hinduism and also on the relationship between religion and the contemporary world. As well as sacred, the sites are now sold as picturesque and interesting. The researcher wonders whether this applies in other religious traditions. Pupils might consider: does visiting a sacred place because it is famous or beautiful miss the point?

Researcher

Knut Auckland

Research Institution

University of Bergen, Norway

What is this about?

• This research is about the Char Dham, a pilgrimage circuit in Northern India.
• The Char Dam has exploded in popularity since the 1950s. Some 100, 000 – 400, 000 people visit each year. Why? Because of the success of local government and tourist agencies in promoting it as a tourist activity as well as a religious pilgrimage, suggests the researcher.
• Char Dam means ‘Four Abodes’. The researcher describes the sites, their history and religious significance. He tells the story of the associated development of tourism and explores how religion and tourism have interacted in the case of the Char Dam.
• He compares and contrasts the descriptions of sacred sites in traditional religious Hindu texts to those in modern tourist literature.
• He finds that the sites can be marketed as both sacred and picturesque, or interesting, and wonders whether this might now also apply to pilgrimage sites in other religious traditions, such as Santiago de Compostela.

What was done?

Interviews were carried out with people involved in the development of the pilgrimage circuit as a tourist activity (e.g. politicians, guides, officials) and documents were analysed (government policy documents and guidebooks).

Main findings and outputs

• Religious pilgrimage and tourism are usually viewed as very different, but religious bodies and tourist agencies come together to create a ‘tourist-pilgrim’. The Char Dam is an example of this process.
• The original Char Dam was a pilgrimage to the four ‘corners’ of India itself. The Char Dam researched was originally a ‘little’ Char Dam including four Himalayan sites. Its ‘four abodes’ are Yamunotri (dedicated to the river and goddess Yamuna), Gangotri (dedicated to the river and goddess Ganga), Kedarnath (dedicated to Shiva), and Badrinath (dedicated to Vishnu).
• From 1971, government agencies began promoting the Char Dam as a package tour. The idea of a circuit or route was borrowed from the tourist industry (it brings tourists to more sites and increases their expenditure). The Char Dam has a commercial model (market research, a five-year development plan for growth, etc.).
• Texts originally promoting the Char Dam go back to the 4th century BCE and declare that visitors

Relevance to RE

• Firstly, regarding policy and curriculum, the research is a reminder that a broad and balanced study of religion should be offered to pupils through RE. It illustrates the interest and importance of pilgrimage.
• Secondly, regarding pedagogy, it offers teachers a good case study of how a religious tradition interacts with the contemporary world. It illustrates how the interaction can be surprising. It offers teachers a good story to tell pupils. Much more about the Char Dam can be found online, e.g. offers of a pilgrim-tourist experience by helicopter ( see http://www.chardhampackage.com/ ).
• Once pupils have found out more, they might discuss, debate and / or write about critical questions. Should religion be free of consumerism, or should consumerism be used to promote good values? Does visiting a sacred place because it is famous or beautiful miss the point? Should pilgrimage include hardship?

Generalisability and potential limitations

This researcher only suggests that the research may, perhaps, be more generalisable; it is a study of one particular religious circuit – however, it provides a very interesting perspective. It also suggests good ways for teachers to enable pupils to ask and suggest answers to critical questions about religion (see above, Relevance to RE).

Find out more

Pilgrimage expansion through tourism in contemporary India: the development and promotion of a Hindu pilgrimage circuit, Journal of Contemporary Religion, 32:2, 283-298 (published online 11 April 2017), 10.1080/13537903.2017.1298908

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13537903.2017.1298908