Religious Tolerance, Education and the Curriculum

Education may be considered central to the development of a tolerant society.This volume of collected papers arose from a small, interdisciplinary conference on the theme of 'Toleration, Education and the Curriculum' held at the Australian National University's Research School of the Humanities. Four major themes arose in the discussion. The first was the ways in which different models of liberalism and the secular state may have very different outcomes in relation to the education system. The second and third themes that arose concerned whether the state education system had a role in teaching values, such as tolerance, and if so, how was this best achieved. The fourth theme challenged the manner in which liberalism constructs or frames religion, but also the manner in which the ideal of a 'value free' education masks the values that the secular state teaches.