Peter Woodward obituary

Peter Woodward, a key figure in UK religious education, especially through his involvement in the Shap Working Party, died recently, aged 86. This obituary is written by Professor Brian Gates. Throughout the 50 years since April 1969, the Shap Working Party strove to broaden the range and depth of education by reference to the world’s religious traditions (Jackson, R. 2019. “50 Years On: The Shap Working Party on World Religions in Education and Its Publications.” Journal of Beliefs and Values 40 (1): pp 45–54). It did so by tuning into the processes of teacher education, in both its initial and continuing forms, and providing help to overcome the related knowledge deficit. Peter Woodward, the last survivor of those present at that very first conference gathering (at Shap Wells Hotel in Cumbria), has died at the age of 86. Without hint of self-promotion, he had served as Treasurer (1969–71), Secretary (1972–73 and 2016–19), Chair (1978–80), Mailing and Journal Editor (1969–77), and Calendar Editor (1969–75, 1995–99 and 2009–19).