Robert Jackson

Robert Jackson is a leading international researcher, writer, editor and policy adviser in the field of religions and education. In November 2013, he became only the 12th recipient of the William Rainey Harper Award from the Religious Education Association (USA) in Boston, joining the ranks of Marshall McLuhan, Margaret Mead and Paulo Freire. He was Routledge Education Author of the month in November 2013.

Bob Jackson is well known for developing the interpretive approach to religious education, which examines the dynamic relationship between individuals, the various kinds of groups they relate to, and wider religious traditions. It is inspired by work in recent social anthropology, hermeneutics, religious studies, intercultural studies and social psychology, and deals with issues of representing and interpreting religions fairly and accurately; it also includes a reflexive dimension in which the learner or researcher reflects on the implications of new learning for their own personal development. The work was inspired by Bob's own ethnographic studies of minority religious communities in Britain, including Hindu communities, as well as by experience of teaching and educational broadcasting. Bob compares the eclectic nature and creative development of the interpretive approach to jazz music. He has been a jazz musician throughout his career, regarding the music as a complement to his academic pursuits.

The interpretive approach provided theoretical and pedagogical stimulus to the REDCo Project, a European research project on religious education involving scholars, teachers and students from 8 countries. To his pleasure, Jackson's ideas have been developed in various research contexts by others, including quantitative and qualitative studies, as well as action research studies undertaken by practitioners. Bob's ideas have also been discussed with a view to adapting them to other national contexts, such as the USA.

Bob founded the Warwick Religions and Education Research Unit (WRERU) in 1994 (becoming Professor of Religions and Education at the University of Warwick) and directed it until 2012. He now combines research at Warwick with development work for the Council of Europe and the European Wergeland Centre, a Council of Europe-related resource centre in Oslo. WRERU has been the base for many empirical research projects relating to religion and education, gaining funding from the UK research councils and international bodies such as the European Commission and various overseas governments. Recent studies include the REDCo Project mentioned above; Young People's Attitudes to Religious Diversity, a large UK project conducted as part of the Religion and Society Programme, and a study for the UK Government on resources used in English schools to teach about world religions. He was Editor of the British Journal of Religious Education for 15 years from 1996 to 2011.

Bob was invited to join the International Seminar on Religious Education and Values in 1980, and became part of European and international networks dealing with research in religion and education. He became increasingly involved with the religion and intercultural education scene in Norway, and was also involved with the establishment of a joint European and South African research group on religions and education. Working in these and other networks led to the establishment of various international research and publishing projects.

Bob serves on the editorial boards of a range of European and international journals, including Intercultural Education, Religion & Education (USA) the Journal of Religious Education (Australia), the British Journal of Religious Education, Fieldwork in Religion and the International Journal of Children's Spirituality. He is co-editor of 'Religious Diversity and Education in Europe' a book series published in Germany by Waxmann, which has recently published its 27th volume.

Bob was invited to become a member of the Steering Committee of Religion and Society (2006-12), the largest research programme on religion and society ever to be conducted in the UK, taking a particular interest in projects concerned with education and youth, co-organising a conference at the University of Warwick for all of these projects, leading to the publication of a special issue of the Journal of beliefs and values in 2012, and a Routledge book co-edited with Elisabeth Arweck in 2013.

A group of Bob's former doctoral students produced a special issue of the Routledge journal Religion & Education (vol 40, no. 1) and a Routledge book in his honour, both published in 2013: Miller, J., O'Grady, K. and McKenna, U. (eds) Religion in Education: Innovation in International Research (New York and London, Routledge, 2013).

Bob's 2014 book for the Council of Europe, Signposts: Policy and Practice for Teaching about Religions and Non-Religious Worldviews in Intercultural Education, has been translated into French, Russian, German, Spanish and Greek (with more translations to come) and is available in pdf format on the Council of Europe and European Wergeland Centre websites.

Robert Jackson and Dermot Killingley's 2015 book of poems, Narrowboat Music: Poems of Life ISBN 9780947722265, Newcastle upon Tyne, Grevatt & Grevatt, is available from books@grevatt.f9.co.uk

See WRERU, European Wergeland Centre and Routledge Education 'author of the month' websites for further information.