Description of impact
The overriding aim of the research is to impact upon the important, fragmented and longstanding debate on the law and policy surrounding the provision of collective worship and religious observance in UK schools. The research has contributed to and impacted on this debate in a range of significant ways. For example, a number of its key recommendations have been accepted by the Northern Ireland Department of Education; it has triggered questions in the Scottish Parliament; been cited in key reports including that of the Equality and Human Rights Commission and it has also provoked wider public commentary in the national media through radio interviews and citation in print articles.Description of the underpinning research
The underlying research stems from an AHRC Research Network funded under the Research Councils Connected Communities Programme. The two year project (January 2014 –December 2015) established a Network composed of ten academics from a range of disciplines including educationalists, lawyers, philosophers and sociologists, drawn from England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Through a series of events over a 24 month period the Network evaluated the law and policy on collective worship in UK schools. Further details at: http://collectiveschoolworship.com/. As PI of the project, I was lead author and co-editor (with the CI) of the Network’s report published in November 2015: ‘Collective Worship and Religious Observance in Schools: An Evaluation of Law and Policy in the UK’. The papers from the Network’s two seminars are to be published in an edited book collection. As well as being a co-editor of the book, my chapter in it has been presented as a paper to a key conference in December 2016 and will lead to a blog on the influential website ‘Public Spirit’, a AHRC funded forum where researchers, policymakers, politicians and practitioners from the voluntary and community sectors debate recent developments in faith and public policy. This chapter will also form part of my contribution to a forthcoming Chatham House Rule meeting to be held in late January 2017 on the redrafting of the current statutory provisions.The research has achieved impact through engagement (conferences and in individual meetings) with a wide range of stakeholders, including policy makers and key stakeholders in each of the four countries.
• NI Department for Education (DENI) has stated it would consider and accept a number of the recommendations. Significantly it accepted (subject to the minister’s approval) the key recommendation of setting up a working group to consider the rationale for the current statutory duty and any proposed revised duty.
• At a public conference in November 2015 officials from UK education departments, a wide range of key stakeholders and academics (national and international) discussed the report. The UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief was an invited speaker and he expressed deep concerns surrounding the law and policy on collective worship, concerns that were then brought forward to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (see above).
• Invited to make presentation to Wales Association of Standing Advisory Groups on RE (WASACRE) key statutory stakeholder in RE debates in Wales), July 2016. This engagement has led to subsequent correspondence with the group who have sought advice on issues relating to freedom of religion in schools in drafting guidance documents.
• Meeting with two officials from the Department for Education and Skills (Wales) and correspondence with the Minister for Education where the research and its findings were highlighted and discussed, November 2016
• Question raised in Scottish Parliament based on report’s recommendations. This has contributed to the ongoing debate in Scotland and in November 2016 led the Scottish Government to announce a consultation on aspects of the practice of religious observance in schools.
• Submission to the Joint Committee on Human Rights inquiry into the UK obligations under the CRC,
https://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/joint-select/human-rights-committee/inquiries/parliament-2010/the-uks-compliance-with-the-un-convention-on-the-rights-of-the-child/, November 2016. The submission drew on the research to highlight concerns over the independent right of pupils to opt out of collective worship/religious observance in schools. The Committee has yet to publish its report based on this inquiry.
• Invited to participate in a Chatham House Rules meeting (Jan 2017) on the drafting of an alternative statutory provision. Meeting has potential to lead to significant impact on the current law on collective worship in England and Wales.
Beneficiaries and reach of impact
currently main beneficiaries described are in the policy arena - in the long run beneficiaries would be children and their families - as their right to practise/or not take part in religious worship during school time is developed in law and policy documents| Impact status | Potential |
|---|---|
| Category of impact | Policy and Public Services, Cultural |