Decolonising Religious and Moral Education in Scottish Non-Denominational Schools

In the Western academy, including Scotland, decolonisation of the curriculum has proven to be an ‘uncomfortable conversation’ because it deals with unsettling truths about colonialism (subjugation, silencing, slavery, and epistemic violence) many people would rather wish it was a topic left alone (Race et al., 2022). Decolonisation is a necessary process in redressing not only the colonial past but also challenging ‘coloniality of power’ that still scripts the epistemology of knowledge-making in contemporary curriculum-making, including Religious and Moral Education (RME) (Quijano, 2000).

The policy brief provides the impetus to decolonise RME in Scotland in ways that aligns with ideals of epistemic equity, humanness, and social justice ensuring also that its content and delivery is anti-racist and non-discriminatory (see Matemba, 2021a; Ball, 2022; Mohammed, 2023). In Scotland, RME is offered in the non-denominational school sector, historically affiliated with the Presbyterian church. A separate confessional subject called ‘Religious Education’ is offered in Catholic schools, which are also publicly funded (Stewart, 2011; Matemba, 2018).

As a statutory mandated subjected and one of the eight core areas of the Scottish curriculum (Stewart, 2011; Scholes, 2022), RME must continue to be supported. In addition, RME is uniquely placed to inculcate socio-cultural/religious values and shared concerns in an increasingly diverse and religiously fractured world.

Scotland’s connection with colonialism as part of the British empire and its own complicit with the slave trade, demands decolonial reflections and actions that must inform how RME as a legislated subject in schools is framed in the curriculum and actualised in the classroom (McCarthy, 2022).