On the meta-hermeneutics of integrative RWE – a principled argument

The article gives a holistic interpretation of the legitimacy, rationale and knowledge base of religion and worldview education (RWE) in countries with an integrative, non-confessional school subject. An important frame of reference is the long tradition in Norway for learning about both religious and secular worldview traditions in school. Another reference point is the recent discussion about a new and rebooted RE for English schools in the wake of the Commission on RE-report of 2018 and suggestions for moving towards a big ideas-approach. A coherent line of argument is presented for a meta-hermeneutics of integrative RWE in 18 steps. In discussing the central underpinnings of the argument, I wish to further reflection on how an integrative educational rationale sits with two kinds of external stakeholders in the school subject. The stakeholders I consider come in the form of belief communities and in the form of academic communities. A viewpoint held is that such stakeholders should play both an important and a limited role. Another claim is that objective, critical and pluralistic practice in the classroom necessitates a polyangular approach.