A Case for Expanding Multi-Faith Religious Education: Scotland

Abstract

In common with many other countries, Scotland’s present education system grew from the context of a system put in place by the church. In the early medieval period, two kinds of schooling existed; bardic schools and the schools founded in monasteries. The bardic schools were oral and, by their nature, little is known about their curriculum content although it is known that pupils were taught poetry and music. In contrast, the religious houses were seats of written learning and from them grew the model for education we are familiar with today.