This book concerns the ethics of faith schooling and asks whether faith schools are morally permissible institutions for liberal democratic societies. Ruth Wareham begins by examining common objections to faith schools paying particular attention to the criticism that such institutions are indoctrinatory. Via an examination of recent work in the philosophy of psychiatry, drawing from Lisa Bortolotti in particular, Wareham analyses the concept of indoctrination and proposes two reasons why it is morally unacceptable. First, it results in a mind-set where, like delusion, beliefs are held separate from reason and, second, it involves a violation of autonomy. She argues that the development of autonomy is a fundamental aim of education and we should therefore avoid both indoctrination and other autonomy-violating practices in schools. While traditional accounts of the legitimacy of faith schooling have correctly identified that confessional faith schools are indoctrinatory, much less has been said about religiously distinctive pedagogies which fall short of indoctrination. The final part of the book addresses these 'priming pedagogies' and suggests ways in which some may be adapted to provide a morally permissible form of liberal faith-based schooling.

Ruth Wareham is Lecturer in Philosophy of Education at the University of Birmingham, UK, and Education Policy Researcher at Humanists UK.