Exploring the Landscape of Spiritual Geography: religious education,the environment and the child's sense of identity and place

Exploring the Landscape of Spiritual Geography is an attempt to review recent interest in environmental concern as a key spiritual value within religious education. Using geographical metaphors, the paper will briefly examine this theme on three interrelated levels: with regard to the contours of the curriculum (SCAA Model Syllabuses), the co‐ordinates of inspection (Ofsted), and maps of tradition and implementation (sacred texts and school texts). The paper will then present, as a basis for further discussion and curriculum development, an open conclusion about the value of the landscape of spiritual geography to a child's sense of identity and to a child's sense of place.