Worldviews Education and Worldview Literacy for Social Change

Notions of religious literacy have tended to focus on the acquisition of knowledge and skills vis-à-vis religious diversity thought necessary to engage in plural democracies. An alternative conception is that of worldview literacy as a process of reflexive engagement in plurality. This chapter presents worldview literacy as a theoretical framework that supports an emerging ‘worldviews approach’ within English Religious Education. This approach both expands the subject’s traditional subject matter and suggests a more critical, transformative educational experience. Discussion of a worldviews approach in the English context highlights its potential, within a ‘knowledge rich’, performance driven system, to act as a vehicle for the renewal of broader educational aims of active citizenship and the promotion of social justice.