Andreassen & Lewis/Textbook Gods, 7. Visual Engagement

In her article, Mary Hayward argues that more attention has been paid to the analysis of the written text than visuals in textbooks, and suggests that image-based research has low status. She argues that scholars in religious education have paid too little attention to the materiality of religion and to images in textbooks. Hayward further argues that interpreting what is seen is a multi-layered task; different images require different kinds of questions and varied pathways of research, and therefore must receive attention in religious education. Her article thus opens with a reflection on religion and materiality in general, before turning to a discussion of images of Christianity and Hinduism in English textbooks for religious education.