This article presents the findings of a qualitative interview study undertaken with RE teachers (n = 30), working in English schools with secondary status. Despite recent policy interest in character education, there is a lacuna of information about the extent RE contributes to character education. The present study focuses on teachers’ perspectives on virtue literacy, a theme identified across participants in response to open-ended prompts about RE, religion and character. The participants in the sample hold different worldviews and work across (...) a range of schools, providing a variety of informative perspectives. There were clear differences between the responses of participants’ from faith and non-faith schools regarding the contribution of RE to pupils’ virtue literacy. These findings mark a distinctive contribution to our understanding of the differences between RE in faith and non-faith schools. (shrink)

In the Nichomachean Ethics, Aristotle outlines his thoughts about eudaimonia, a notion most accurately translated in English as “flourishing” or the idea of fulfilling our potential. For Aristotle, eudaimonia is “the activity of the soul in accord with reason or requiring reason” and must accord with virtues, the qualities of our character. -/- In the final chapter of the Nichomachean Ethics, Aristotle links eudaimonia with sophia (theoretical wisdom). For Aristotle, phronesis (practical wisdom) and sophia are two central intellectual virtues, whilst (...) the former concerns itself with what is static or universal, the latter focuses on context-dependent human activity. -/- The Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues uses a neo-Aristotelian model, based on social scientific findings, to conduct empirical research on topics surrounding human flourishing. In an earlier project, Harrison et al. explored how school subjects can contribute to the development of pupils’ virtues; however, this omitted phronesis. This discussion paper seeks to help fill this gap through addressing how Religious Education (RE), part of the basic curriculum in England and Wales, can contribute to the building of pupils’ phronesis. The decision to focus on RE in this paper is because the subject has historically held a close association with the moral and social aims of education. ... (shrink)