The Primary Curriculum for Religious Education in Northern Ireland: Making a Case for Epistemic Justice

Abstract

Religious education (RE) in Northern Ireland (NI) is taught according to the Core Syllabus produced by representatives of the region’s four main Christian churches and, at primary level, is exclusively Christian in content. In this chapter, the authors apply the lens of epistemic injustice to examine the implications of this given an increasingly diverse society and pupil population. Drawing on a recent study of educational experiences among minority ethnic and migrant groups, the authors suggest that the primary RE curriculum may perpetuate epistemic injustice in three ways: (1) by impeding children from minority faith traditions from sharing their experiences in a way meaningful to their peers; (2) by reducing the resources available to children to make sense of encounters with other religious traditions; and (3) through a lack of appropriate alternative arrangements for pupils whose parents withdraw their children from RE. The authors conclude with recommendations to increase epistemic justice within the primary RE curriculum.

Citation

Loader, R., Jiménez, E., Hughes, J. and O’Boyle, A. (2024), "The Primary Curriculum for Religious Education in Northern Ireland: Making a Case for Epistemic Justice", Moncrieffe, M.L., Fakunle, O., Kustatscher, M. and Rost, A.O. (Ed.) The BERA Guide to Decolonising the Curriculum: Equity and Inclusion in Educational Research and Practice (The BERA Guides), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 31-39. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-83549-144-720241003