denominational Christian worship. This means there is a lack of clarity in which beliefs should be espoused and makes an appeal to tradition more difficult as it does not make clear that it is the British Anglican beliefs which are being maintained. Children learn about the cultural history of Britain in both RE and history lessons, so it is unclear why they need to be exposed to worship to understand the country they are living in. It would appear more appropriate to educate pupils about the society they are living in now, with a promotion of both secular and multi-faith views, giving them a truer insight into what 21 st -century Britain is like. Changes within modern Britain are pertinent to the education of our children. These changes owe a considerable amount to contemporary liberalism, one dimension of which is the separation of public and private domains. According to Jeanette Gill,  This is absorbed by children while still in primary school, who then begin to assert their independence from adult authority in the matter of religion, which they regard private.Ê (Gill, 2004). The debate over religions place in public has been highlighted by cases regarding religious attire for work; in 2009 regarding the wearing of the burka David Cameron commented that  You can't wear the full garb and be an effective teacher. Ê (ToryDiary, 2009) This was followed by the Government taking a stand against the wearing of crucifixes in the workplace. (Barret, 2012) There is clearly a movement in British politics to remove religion from the public arena, yet this trend seems not to have reached education yet. It is interesting to note that in America, a country currently seen as more devout than the UK, there has been a separation of religion and schooling since the 18 th century. 2 In debates surrounding education it is often easy to forget the impact on students. ChildrenÊs voices are seldom heard on issues
representation of worship, as presented by teachers, may turn children away from religion. (Hamilton, 1996)It seems that moral education could be presented in a secular context and this would avoid the opportunities of insulting any faith group by misrepresentation of their beliefs, as well as preventing any accusations of bias towards one group. Studies of teacherÊs practice (Hull, 1995) (Webster, 1995) seem to suggest that spirituality is being used as the basis for conducting acts of collective worship. The idea is one of internal and external experience. TeacherÊs hope to encourage  a willingness to think Ê (Cheetam, 2000, p. 77), and he goes on to say that this approach allows for reflection on important existential questions without the trappings of religion. However the word ÂspiritualÊ makes this interpretation difficult as it contains religious connotations. It seems that we do not yet possess the vocabulary to meet with the demands of a universal experience. A Âschool religionÊ appears to have developed, with a celebration and reflection on the universality of our experiences rather than segregation by faith or lack thereof. This gives some insight into why so many schools appear to fail to meet Ofsted requirements for collective worship but also demonstrates how teachers have adapted policy to their practical needs. One significant piece of support used for the policy of collective worship is that the United Kingdom has an established church and pupils should be educated about BritainÊs cultural and religious history. This argument is often strengthened by pointing to the statistics which place a majority of Britons as Christian; however the national censusÊ 1 shows a decrease of 20% in those claiming to be Christian and other surveys suggesting that religious affiliation is often out of habit rather than belief (ICM, 2006). The argument that the beliefs of the Church of England should be defended as the established church is understandable; however the law as it stands promotes non-
2 See The First Amendment to the United States Constitution
1 71.7% in 2001 and 51.4% in 2011 (National Census)
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