Dates: Monday 15th – Tuesday 16th June 2026
RE:Generation
Challenge and Evolution in the RE Curriculum
Association of University Lecturers in Religion and Education (AULRE) and Association of Religious Education Inspectors, Advisers and Consultants (AREIAC) is delighted to announce its 2026 joint conference, at Birmingham City University, South Campus 15th-16th June 2026.
Our conference brings together everyone with an interest in religious education from the 4 nations of the United Kingdom and beyond. We welcome researchers, teacher educators, advisers and classroom teachers. Those working in aligned fields such as Education Studies, Moral Education, Philosophy, Religious Studies, and Theology as well as from within Childhood and Youth studies may also be interested in attending and offering presentations.
We invite proposals from practitioners and researchers, for academic papers as well as practical classroom teaching and curriculum ideas that will be presented in chaired or facilitated parallel sessions. We will provide opportunities for the community to engage in discussions around consensus and diversity, with a focus on curriculum.
Proposals will address the conference theme and may focus on one or more of the following questions:
- What educational philosophies and theories can frame religious education for the next generation?
- What fruitful intersections are there between theory, policy and practice in RE?
- What examples of high quality religious education curriculum and teaching are emerging?
We particularly welcome collaborations between researchers and classroom practitioners to present together at the conference. Abstracts (250-300 words) for proposals for individual research papers, or symposia of 2-4 linked papers or facilitated practical teaching and curriculum ideas session of up to 20 minutes, should be submitted via this form https://forms.gle/prkL7LgSzekZZ2gLA by 17th April 2026.
This also includes requests for exhibition space. The result of the review process will be sent to contributors by 1st May 2026.
Questions about submissions should be made to AULRE Chair p.hannam@exeter.ac.uk or AREIAC Chair Jan McGuire chair@areiac.org.uk
Following the conference and a peer review process, there will be an opportunity for papers to be published in a special edition of the Journal of Religious Education.