This is a treasury of keenly observed signals of meanings that matter to children and young people, and which therefore need to matter and be understood by their teachers and wider community. It draws on a quarter of a century's field work by the author, well matched with the relevant scholarship of others. Its warning against misleading generalisation is made ... Read morein the best possible way: vivid illustration of deeper significance. This book is an invaluable resource for teacher education and community relations generally, as well as for those with a particular concern for RE and Citizenship.
Brian Gates, Professor of Religious and Moral Education, St Martin's College, Lancaster. Eleanor Nesbitt succeeds in vividly bringing to life the traditional plurality (ethnic, cultural and linguistic, etc.) of different communities of faith, and the modern plurality related to the intellectual climate of late modernity or post modernity. She also makes absolutely explicit the gap between the rhetoric and reality of religions, and the urgent need for a religious and cultural literacy that takes us beyond, on the one hand, multiculturalism and, on the other, antiracism. She offers a set of educational ideals which are inspiring. At a time when religion is often deeply politicised and the integrity of scholars challenged as never before this book on intercultural education is timely, accessible and immensely rewarding.
Journal of Punjab Studies. In this book Eleanor Nesbitt puts strong emphasis on diversity, syncretism, and the lived reality of religion. She stresses the need for these to be taken into account in RE teaching, alongside the presentation of orthodox religious ideals. It is an immensely enriching book and it is hard to think of anyone working in education who would not find reading it an enlightening and enjoyable experience.
Dr Sarah Smalley, Chair of AREIAC (Association of RE Inspectors, Advisers and Consultants). ...clearly written: challenging, yet very accessible. ...warns against those convenient, misleading generalisations we often make, as it explores the richness of religious and ethnic diversity.
Alan Brown, Church Times 11 February 2005. Show Less