Nature and justifiability of the act of collective worship in schools
type: CreativeWork
description: This thesis, which moves through three stages, asks whether the compulsory provision of a daily act of collective worship can be justified in the schools of a liberal society. It begins with an analysis of the public debate which has surrounded its presence since legislation in 1944 formalised existing practice, and notes that its arguments are based on differing perceptions of the value of religious practice, the needs of the child, the relationship between religion and morality, and the nature of society. Because this public debate is often distanced from actual practice, research was undertaken in primary and secondary schools in England and Wales and is described in the central section of the study. The methods used to gather data are first discussed and are then followed by reports on the information acquired by means of a national questionnaire, as well as observation and interviews which were carried out with teachers and pupils in the south west of England and a city in the Midlands. The findings show that the legal requirements are met in the majority of primary schools, but that pupils' transfer to the secondary school frequently marks a point of transition from daily worship to a weekly assembly, except in the voluntary sector. Adult respondents discuss their attitudes to collective worship, the obstacles they encounter in meeting the legal requirements and the approaches adopted in their schools. The most important features of collective worship are perceived by teachers and pupils to be the contribution it makes to the development of a sense of community, the celebration of achievement and the ethos of the school. Conversations with pupils reveal the changes in belief which occur as they mature, and shed further light on provision in schools, reflecting young people's declining willingness to participate in religious worship. The evidence of the data reveals that opposition to collective worship is expressed by young people and their teachers in the lan…
abstract: This thesis, which moves through three stages, asks whether the compulsory provision of a daily act of collective worship can be justified in the schools of a liberal society. It begins with an analysis of the public debate which has surrounded its presence since legislation in 1944 formalised existing practice, and notes that its arguments are based on differing perceptions of the value of religious practice, the needs of the child, the relationship between religion and morality, and the nature of society. Because this public debate is often distanced from actual practice, research was undertaken in primary and secondary schools in England and Wales and is described in the central section of the study. The methods used to gather data are first discussed and are then followed by reports on the information acquired by means of a national questionnaire, as well as observation and interviews which were carried out with teachers and pupils in the south west of England and a city in the Midlands. The findings show that the legal requirements are met in the majority of primary schools, but that pupils' transfer to the secondary school frequently marks a point of transition from daily worship to a weekly assembly, except in the voluntary sector. Adult respondents discuss their attitudes to collective worship, the obstacles they encounter in meeting the legal requirements and the approaches adopted in their schools. The most important features of collective worship are perceived by teachers and pupils to be the contribution it makes to the development of a sense of community, the celebration of achievement and the ethos of the school. Conversations with pupils reveal the changes in belief which occur as they mature, and shed further light on provision in schools, reflecting young people's declining willingness to participate in religious worship. The evidence of the data reveals that opposition to collective worship is expressed by young people and their teachers in the lan…
author: Gill, Jeanette
language: eng
keywords: Philosophy, Education, Religion, Collective Worship, Assemblies, School
date published: 2000-01-01T08:00:00Z
date modified: 2026-07-24T03:50:03Z
provider: University of Plymouth
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Plymouth