Researching a new interface between religions and publicly funded schools in the UK

The article reports initial findings from a values education programme that is currently being implemented, in various forms, in several primary schools in England. The programme is 'Living Values: an educational program' and it was developed in association with a Hindu-related religious organisation, the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University. The article situates the research within a social and theoretical context and reports from fieldwork conducted over a period of twelve months in schools and Brahma Kumaris centres. Issues for researchers arising from the research are highlighted and questions are addressed for religious educationists with regard to the phenomenon itself and the challenges it presents for the methodology of such an investigation and for the dissemination of the findings.