Metaphorical awareness and the methodology of religious education

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Abstract
The authors argue that religious education, as practised in schools, has always lacked a sound theory of conceptual development and that this has resulted in both children and adults being alienated from its metaphysical concerns. Building on the work of Sallie McFague, Susan Sontag and Oliver Sacks, this article looks at the methodology of religious education and suggests that we need to provide a systematic approach that takes seriously the children's imagination and interpretations of their experience, as well as scrutinising how we present religious world views. It argues that the vehicles for this are models and metaphors with which children can identify. A contrast is presented between mechanistic and holistic conceptions of education, offering a critique of the former and developing a process‐orientated approach to the latter that will serve religious education. In doing so it acknowledges the influence of Richard Rorty's approach to social science and morality which emphasises the utility of narratives and vocabularies.

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