Category: Development

Etymology, Bias and Worldviews in the Classroom (Part 1)

Written by John Semmens @philosophyinKS2

 

Over the last couple of weeks, I attended some great StrictlyRE sessions that really changed the way I want to look at my curriculum. As I was running one morning, I was listening to a podcast[i] about Idealism, showing that some thinkers are delving back into concepts akin to Neo-Platonism. As the podcast concluded the speaker, Kastrup, says two interesting things:

“The mind is the bouncer of the heart”

And:

“The etymology of the word matter is mother.”

These things came back to me as I attended two NATRE Strictly RE sessions. The first was W2 PRIMARY Using Etymology in The Primary Classroom, with Saima Saleh. As a school we have been concentrating on vocabulary and the meaning of words recently. As a teacher I have always loved the use of etymology in the classroom. The idea that words have a story makes them more memorable and so we can teach meanings, spellings, word families, and history all by introducing etymology. But, where to start? I have dabbled, but I didn’t know how to make it central to my practise in a consistent and workable way. Exploring etymology with children and revealing the meaning of words can feel like revealing how a magic trick works, only the magic is somehow all the more wonderous for it. This is where Saima’s wonderful research comes in. I have decided to plan her approach into my next RE unit about the History of Christian and Islamic art. There is a lot of vocabulary in there and those words are the hooks that our thinking hangs on. But I decided to use one of her ideas the next day.

Saima’s use of Mind-Maps that slowly become knowledge organisers was a real spark of inspiration. I appreciate the theories behind organising knowledge on the page as a sort of paper extension of what is hopefully happening in our brains, but I have been wary of the sort of top-down approach that comes from teacher-made organisers. It doesn’t feel as useful in KS2. So, I’ve used Saima’s approach to help the children in my English class keep track of all the places, monsters, gods, and mortals that they encounter as we read The Adventures of Odysseus[ii]. The children have loved the freedom to use pictures as well as words to link the story together, including etymology as part of their understanding. Making links, using colour, and documenting the vocabulary in the story has proven to be a real gamechanger. We’ve used reading logs before but using cheeky screenshots of the examples from Saima’s class the children instantly understood what was expected.

In class we will began to explore the etymology of words like chaos and cosmos. Greeks had a way of seeing the beginning of the universe as order out of the void and there is a drive towards order in many Greek Myths, this is brilliantly shown in the rather gruesome The 12-Labors of Hercules in 8-Bit (sic)[iii]. In this animation Alex Gendler shows how Hercules’ mission was to wipe out the monsters of the chaotic Greek past to make way for a new age, the Golden Age of Greece which gave the world so many scientific, artistic and philosophical discoveries. This is how I plan to end my unit, in preparation for the history unit we will study in the summer term.

Bio:

John Semmens is the Chair of Norfolk SACRE, a Primary RE teacher in Norwich and trains teachers to use philosophy in the classroom. Follow him on Twitter @philosophyinKS2 or view his website

[i] ‘Is Reality All in Your Head?’ with Bernardo Kastrup https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUUCirhtdHI

[ii] https://www.barefootbooks.com/uk/odysseus

[iii] The myth of Hercules: 12 labors in 8-bits – Alex Gendler https://youtu.be/nIIjhAuC76g

Let’s start at the beginning…

NATRE presents…the Strictly RE Blog series

Written by Helen Jones @jonesh4711

Two great sessions from this years’ Strictly RE conference came together for me; Lat Blaylock talking about ‘Progress in RE from 4 to 7’ and Saima Saleh’s twilight session on ‘Etymology in the Primary Classroom’. As I reflected upon my own early years practice, I recalled how even my youngest children loved to play with words- laughing at their strange sound and repeating them over and over to their friends. I smiled at Lat’s photograph of the children standing at the tuff spot exploring artefacts and wondered what conversations were taking place as they explored, and I silently congratulated the teacher for collecting a rich array of resources. How I would have liked to have been a fly on the wall!

Although probably camera shy, I guess there was an adult nearby doing what I was unable to -listening in- which led me to reconsider the vital role of the adult in the early year’s classroom. What a skill it is to know when to stand back and when to join in, to observe without comment or to ask a pertinent question in order to move learning on, or to allow play for play’s sake.

The adult is such a valuable resource in their own right the communicator and modeller, the encourager and questioner, the storyteller and actor, care giver and nurturer AND provider of exciting, creative and challenging learning opportunities. I love early years RE and have found it to be a place where you receive as much as you give.

In early years you begin to sow the seeds of learning, you introduce some of the rich and varied vocabulary, you encourage empathy, respect and love of self and others. As the name suggests it is the foundation for learning and what a great place for RE to begin.

Tacit Knowledge When Thinking about RE in the Early Years and Key Stage 1 (Part 2)

NATRE presents the…Strictly RE Blog series

Written by Jennifer Jenkins @kairosbutterfly

In my previous blog post I was considering what role tacit knowledge played within teaching and learning in RE in the Early Years and Key Stage One. In this post I share three ways in which tacit knowledge in the youngest pupils can be reached.

Vocabulary: What about new words? How can we help make some of that hidden knowledge more expressible for young pupils? Many young children know the reems about animals and dinosaurs. They wouldn’t have an issue with rattling off all the carnivores- meat eaters-they know. The less-fussy amongst them might also know what chilli-con-carne is when a parent tells them they are having it for dinner. Is there anything to stop our youngest children engaging with simple etymology to unpick what the word ‘incarnation’ might mean in Christianity? Can we ask skilful questions that help pupils tap into knowledge they don’t necessarily know they have? Instead of just seeing a big new word important to other people, can they make personal connections with their own personal knowledge as a starting point if we help them to do that through our pedagogy? This was explored in detail in Saima Saleh’s Strictly RE session where she shared her impactful research on using etymology in the RE classroom.

Dual-Coding: Similar is true for dual coding. When we use images alongside new words and concepts for young pupils we create that hook. Through looking, they engage with something they might intuit to have meaning. By listening, they encounter something new; a new word used in religion and worldviews. By carefully explaining and the modelling of drawing by the teacher (What do you think this is? What does this part show? How would you draw this idea yourself?) they are given the chance to connect with pre-existing experience and are challenged to learn something new but in some way connected to what they already know. If we draw the cross as a bridge between people and God in a really simple way, can KS1 pupils begin to see the importance for Christians of Jesus and his death as bringing human beings back into relationship with God and undoing the separation that happened when Adam and Eve did something God asked them not to do? Does the salvation concept drawing from Understanding Christianity help them to better understand that for Christians there is something life-saving about that idea?

Reflectivity: Tacit knowledge is about thinking, insight, intuition. We won’t encounter it in young pupils unless there is something in place to access help us access those things in the minds of our pupils. Reflectivity is an important skill for developing pupils’ personal knowledge. How often do we build time into RE lessons where pupils just get to think? Can we invite them to draw/doodle as they think about what they have learned in the lesson? Can we pose a question and give them space for thinking, before inviting them to draw a simple mind map of what came to mind when they gave their brains space to ponder that idea? What is in our pedagogical toolkit for younger pupils that will move them into the ‘unknown knowns’ of the Johari window; things they do understand (or are beginning to understand) but are unaware of and perhaps do not have the words or vocabulary to convey? Those ‘I wonder questions…’ in the reflective storytelling method (such as that exemplified by Katherine Taylor in the Time to Wonder methodology) make space for those connections. Perhaps I do know something about this? Getting pupils to a stage where they feel happy to be vulnerable even at the early stages of their learning and share what they are thinking and the connections they are making, might tell us far more than just end-of-unit assessments.

I don’t know exactly what I am going to do with this thinking but I think it is exciting to see our youngest pupils as full of tacit knowledge, yet to be reached but so important for their developing understanding of religion and worldviews, both others’ and their own.

The Write Stuff

NATRE presents the…Strictly RE Blog series

Written by Matt Pitcher Secondary school teacher, @re_runner.

After 25 years of teaching it is often the case that we feel that we cannot get better or do something different as we have become entrenched into one way of working – certainly the adage “You can’t teach a dog new tricks” is often bandied around when you get the old style CPD referred to. The pandemic has certainly changed this for me and Strictly RE has been a shining light of developing good practice and getting to others.

One session that I felt could have immediate impact on my teaching is Joe Kinnaird’s “How can we improve student writing in RE?” As a GCSE examiner I often despair at how badly written many long answers are, and I often try to impress on my classes that planning and developing their writing will help them in the future.

On the back of this I was really looking forward to hearing Joe speak about how he has used The Writing Revolution in his teaching. I have been dropping into my lessons the “Because, But, So” activities, using subordinate conjunctions and I wanted to learn more. You could see through Joe’s presentation (and his previous blog posts) how he has wanted to develop his students writing and that the activity fitted into the learning brilliantly. You can see there is a clear rationale about how the work is developed: from building up from sentences to making paragraphs and then fitting them together.

I was even happier seeing how he took this on further to GCSE extended answers and the development of writing here. It shows there is a clear thread in Joe’s drive to improve writing and I am sure it will bear fruit both in the short term and in the long term. It certainly fits into much of what I am trying to incorporate into my teaching by scaffolding, modelling and showing how I write to the pupils. We are adding in the content with the delivery and this makes the job of creating the lessons and activities that much easier. Literacy is not just an add on but is an intrinsic part of the lesson and how the knowledge is delivered and how it is tested.

I think it takes a lot of effort setting up the technique but it is one that is clearly able to be replicated across other subjects and disciplines. A champion of literacy elsewhere in the curriculum would be seen by many as a boon and so get your allies on board and start to break the mould. I really wish this type of CPD was around when I started teaching as I think it could have such a big help in my teaching.

I owe a great debt to the wider RE community – certainly those who tweet, blog and share resources. Presentations like that of Joe’s and Zameer Hussain’s show that there is a lot to learn to improve our teaching but this should not show us as inadequate or get defensive but we should learn and try it out. You never know – it might just surprise you.

If you would like to read more about how Joe has developed his ideas and some practical examples here are some of his excellent blogs:

Writing beautiful sentences in RE

Writing a beautiful paragraph in RE

Writing an essay in Key Stage 3

Scaffolding extended writing a step by step process

What have Universities ever done for us?

What have Universities ever done for us? Why RE teachers might want to explore the support their local HE institution can offer

With news that the future of Theology and Religious Studies has yet again come under threat at an esteemed University [link], it has been so heartening to see the flood of support come in from schools and colleges across the country for the subject, department and staff. It is a reminder of the continuing strength and encouragement of the RE community, but also of the value teachers place on our subject in Higher Education. Well, I would like to tell you the feeling is mutual. Colleagues working in the University sector recognise the invaluable role teachers play in preparing students to study at this level, and often the passion they have instilled in students for religious education. I have lost count of the times students have attributed their love for the subject to their RE teacher at school (and they often say they want to be a teacher just like you!). So the links between schools and Universities are well established in the RE world, but I would like to encourage or remind you why you might want to engage further with your local HE institution. These are examples of what we at the University of Worcester can offer:

  • We have experts in RE across all phrases of education, from EYFS upwards. Teacher Training in Primary, Secondary and Further Education is our raison d’être so we are in a good place to provide support on matters of learning and teaching.
  • University staff are conducting the most up to date research and as research-driven pedagogies drive our teaching we are in a good place to see what new thinking, ideas and strategies are coming through literature – we are also not afraid to question these!
  • We have strong links with NATRE, local schools, places of worship and interfaith forums in the aim of strengthening the work of RE departments in our local schools. We run a NATRE/UW RE Hub which meets termly to discuss relevant topics (e.g. most recently faith and sexuality) and provide CPD (e.g. the launch of the Locally Agreed Syllabus). These are very well attended, and the generosity, kindness and collaboration of attendees is inspiring.

You will likely find a more than willing Religious Studies/Theology department at your local University, but you are also welcome to contact me, Rebecca Davidge at r.davidge@worc.ac.uk

 

10 suggestions to help you plan RE for home learning.

  1. Find out the main religious festivals happening this Spring term and plan learning around these. The focus for many festivals is welcoming spring and new life. Learning about these will help children and young people look to the future and anticipate the return of Spring which is a much-needed emphasis in the grey days of January. RE Online has a fantastic overview of the key religious festivals, provided by the Shap Working Party. It is available here: https://www.reonline.org.uk/festival-calendar/

  2. Plan learning about religious and non-religious responses to the pandemic and celebrate what diverse communities have done to help their community in this time. Suggestions include the work of Khalsa aid https://www.khalsaaid.org/about-us; Islamic relief https://www.islamic-relief.org.uk/news/page/3/; the Salvation army https://www.salvationarmy.org.uk/about-us; the Trussell Trust https://www.trusselltrust.org/.

  3. Keep your focus simple and have one clear aim for the learning so that is straightforward for parents to pick up and understand. Keep the topic simple too so that parents and children can investigate it together.

  4. Provide the websites that children and young people can use to find out about RE and don’t suggest an open research project which will allow them to search the internet at home without restriction. Reliable websites include BBC bitesize, BBC my life, My religion, CBeebies, RE Quest for Christianity, RE Online teaching Resources, Humanists UK and NATRE.

  5. Ensure that the work set uses the language of all, many, most, some, a few and avoids the language of all unless it is for something that you know all would accept in a community. Using this in the work that you set is important to show that while communities may have many things in common, they will not always believe and practice their beliefs in the same way.

  6. Look for opportunities for children and young people to use their walks or gardens for thinking about their RE – for example, going on a spring walk to look at nature and consider different responses to the concept of creation and the environment, looking for signs of new life in nature to begin learning about how many Christians use this symbol at Easter time and planting/painting young plants when learning about some of the spring festivals.

  7. Use painting or drawing opportunities in RE where possible so that children and young people can consolidate their learning. For example, drawing/painting a Shabbat meal, a scene from the story of the Passover, a scene from the Easter story, considering art from around the world and in history and using watercolours to paint about Holi.

  8. Use your RE focus to provide cross-curricular writing opportunities. For example, asking children to write a diary entry from a disciple’s point of view when studying Easter, writing the story of the Passover highlighting the role of Moses and his importance to his people and explaining how the Khalsa was formed when learning about the festival of Vaisakhi.

  9. Use the benefit of children and young people being at home to make and eat some of the foods traditionally eaten at this time of year – such as hot cross buns and Simnel cake at Easter and sweets for Chinese New Year.

  10. Encourage children and young people to take part in a competition, such as the one for writing advertised on RE Online here which has a deadline of 31 March: https://www.reonline.org.uk/news/pupil-blog-competition/ 

Justine Ball – Primary RE Inspector and Advisor and the South East Regional Ambassador. @justineballRE

Closing the Reading Gap in Religious Education

 Why should we promote reading?

  • Reading is an essential element in all stages of education
  • Reading should be prioritised to allow access to the full curriculum offer
  • 90% of vocabulary is encountered in reading, not day-to-day speech
  • Fiction does not give access to more academic vocabulary used for GCSE and beyond
  • Primary students learn to read, secondary students read to learn
  • Secondary children need to be reading books appropriate for their age (often not the case in secondary – particularly for boys)
  • In addition to teaching vocabulary explicitly, teachers need to model how expert readers read actively including monitoring their understanding, asking questions, making predictions and summarising (Rosenshine)

So how does a Religious Studies student read?

This is a vital question for teachers of religious studies/education yet it is rarely given any consideration in primary or secondary training.

Take the following example as given in ‘Closing the reading Gap’ by Alex Quigley.

“The third pillar of Islam is Zakah. This means giving alms (giving money to the poor). For Muslims who have enough savings it is compulsory to give 2.5 percent of those savings every year to help the poor.  Many Muslims will work out how much they owe and give the money at the end of Ramadan.

By giving Zakah, Muslims are acknowledging that everything they own comes from God and belongs to him and they should use their wealth to remember God and give to those in need. It frees people from desire and teaches self-discipline and honesty.

Zakah literally means to purify or to cleanse.  Muslims believe that giving Zakah helps to purify the soul, removing selfishness and greed.”

You will probably recognise that you are using your background knowledge about Islam (tier 3 vocabulary –subject-specific).  You will also be using your understanding of words that are so familiar to us that we often do not notice pupils will not know them for example ‘compulsory’, ‘acknowledging’, ‘self-discipline’ (tier 2 vocabulary –academic vocabulary)

To read this single passage demands knowledge of the world or reading of text structures and word knowledge.  If a teacher has not considered the teaching of reading, it can be hard to know whether pupils are understanding what has been read at all! To comprehend a text, you need to understand 95% of the words. An average text contains 300 words a page so that means 15 words may be unknown even if the gist of the text is understood.

We need to ask ourselves:

  • How ‘word conscious’ are we in our lessons?
  • Has tier 2 & 3 vocabulary been considered as part of a sequence in our schemes of learning and assessment?

So what practical strategies can we adopt?

1. Keyword vocabulary lists with quick quiz tests.
Key concept Definition
Trinity The Christian belief that there is One God, who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit
Nicene Creed A Christian statement of faith primarily about the nature of God. Accepted by the majority of Christians
Creation The Creation of the universe regarded as an act of God
Benevolent All-loving
Omnipotent All-powerful
Resurrection The belief that Jesus rose from the dead after three days. The belief that the body stays in the grave until the end of the world when it is raised and judged
Atonement The reconciliation of God and humanity accomplished through the life, suffering, and death of Christ
2. Consider strategies for teaching tier 2 vocabulary

Teach synonyms

Required – have to, Tend – look after, Fortunate – lucky, Benevolent – kind

The ‘golden triangle’ of recognition, pronunciation and definition

Recognition – how is the word spelt? The ability to use phonics to decode new vocabulary and then to be able to reproduce the spelling makes a big difference.

Pronunciation – how is the word said? Making pupils say it aloud and use it in a sentence increases the likelihood they will remember it.

Definition – what does the word mean? It might sound obvious, but if you know the meaning of a word, you are much more likely to remember it.

Here is an example on an RS exam paper with a lack of understanding of tier 2 vocabulary

3.Explicitly modelling what expert readers do: activating prior knowledge, predicting, questioning, clarifying, summarising
4. Setting reading homework

At The Queen Katherine School, we have attempted to make reading routine by carefully planning it home works that link with the Scheme of Learning.

3,2,1 Readers are questioning, evaluating and connecting what they read. For example, three essential points to consider, connect and remember, two key vocabulary items to know, use and remember and one big idea to understand, explain and remember.

The resource ‘The Day’ is invaluable at supporting this.

https://theday.co.uk

5. Include more planned reading in the lessons

In consultation with our fabulous librarian, we have chosen short stories that complement our Schemes of Learning at KS3. Students will read a short excerpt in the first 5 mins of the lesson and as a class, we will discuss 3 planned questions based on the reading.  These books are age-specific for our learners.

Conclusion

Alex Quigley makes the point, ‘it is important to view academic reading through a subject-specific lens in all phases of schooling.’

By paying attention to the disciplinary lenses used in RE we can best support our students to use subject-specific reading strategies alongside general reading strategies. However, does this open up another can of worms! What ‘different ways’ should religion and world views be studied?  The Commission talks about Theology, Human and Social Science and Philosophy (Mark Chater Reforming RE Chapter 9)  yet this does still remain contested. ‘See Disciplinary literacy in religious education: the role and relevance of reading https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01416200.2020.1754164

See also https://missdcoxblog.wordpress.com/2020/11/01/disciplinary-discourse-using-subject-vocabulary/

How does your school promote reading?

  • in the wider curriculum
  • in departments
  • in your classrooms

With thanks to Alex Quigley ‘Closing the Reading Gap’

Katherine France a Head of Faculty at The Queen Katherine School and North Regional Ambassador @KathFrance1975

 

New to leading RE

If you have been ‘lumbered with being the subject leader for RE’, you may now feel (even more) daunted about going back in September. The journey ahead isn’t going to be always easy, but you will have lots of joy along the way and will hopefully not feel lumbered.

Firstly, let me start by welcoming you to the best community of teachers and advisers. There are a host of passionate people and organisations cheering you on and available for support (I’ll share some key ones at the end of this blog).

Here are some things to get you things you started with leading:

Aim high: Vision and purpose

It is important to know what you are aiming for and this will be underpinned by the purpose of RE. There are many answers to the questions around purpose, so don’t be put off by the numerous names for RE! Having purpose and vision will ensure senior leaders understand its value, and this in turn can feed into the whole school vision too. RE can enhance the whole curriculum, but this should not mean that the quality of it is watered down by allowing it to be taught through other subjects like PSHE or through assemblies. Be firm about the importance of the subject and its necessity as a stand-alone subject of a balanced curriculum.

You may find it useful to read the recent Commission on RE report (CORE) Some of its main findings relate to purpose, including the need quality teaching with a rigorous and rich analysis of both religious and non-religious worldviews and their impact on communities and individuals.

Rich and rigorous: The curriculum

It’s good for you as the lead to understand about developments within the subject as well as things which will affect it. The National Entitlement proposal is in line with Ofsted’s expectations that RE teachers will be able to talk about the subject’s purpose and quality of the curriculum.

The Agreed Syllabus

All maintained schools have a statutory duty to teach RE, including academies and free schools. Without a national curriculum, the RE curriculum is determined by the local Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education (SACRE) and they are responsible for creating a Locally Agreed Syllabus which should reflect the local faiths and will be predominantly Christian. If you are in a faith school, you can prioritise one religion, but you should still recognise the diverse faiths and non-religious worldviews too. Your Agreed Syllabus will detail the amount of time given to RE (despite how many senior leaderships will try to merge it with PSHE or do drop-down days) so make sure your pupils are getting what they are entitled to.

In a C of E school, you will have a Diocesan syllabus to follow.

With the current Ofsted framework, it will be useful for you to think about your curriculum plans with the 3 Is in mind.

Intent– what’s the purpose of learning in the topics and why are they learning it?

Implementation– how does the planning and teaching meet the curriculum aims? How do you assess this?

Impact– how can you see that learning has taken place? A rich, systematic, and coherent curriculum will have a positive impact on the children in your care.

Not alone: Engaging with support

The best thing about leading RE is the wealth of support out there.

NATRE (National Association for Teachers of RE) is a great place to start. There are a range of packages to choose from in terms of membership with books and magazines delivered termly, and there are a whole load of downloadable resources to find there. There are some great ideas about assessment there too (I haven’t gone there in this blog as assessment is so varied from school to school. You need to find the way that works best for you, in line with the school’s system.)

NATRE also believes in the importance of networking and almost 300 local groups are meeting across the country. Check out this page to find a local group or connect with your regional ambassador.

Culham St Gabriel’s provide lots of excellent support in terms of developing your leadership and subject knowledge skills. You’ll also find super resources, blogs, and interactive support on their RE Online site.

RE Quality Mark There is a fabulous audit for your department on their site so you can think carefully about what you offer and how learning is effective in your school. I recommend going for the award once you’re settled into leading your department.

Ready for anything: A checklist

There will be plenty of time to gather all the things together in your subject leader file. I’ve been leading RE for 19 years now and still haven’t got everything complete! Don’t feel that you have to have everything ready for September, but there’s a great list here which you may find useful: https://www.reonline.org.uk/leading-re/a-practical-checklist/

There’s so much I could cover, but for now, I want to wish you all the best with your RE leadership journey. I am sure you’ll find many passionate people in the RE community who are cheering you on and want to support you.

Sarah Payne subject leader for RE and PSHCE at Woodland Middle School and the South Central Regional Ambassador. @SPayneRE

The Baby in the Bathwater… Rejuvenating a primary Religion and Worldviews curriculum

I have come to think of our RE curriculum as my “baby”, something our team has nurtured. But lately, maybe that baby has been splashing about in a bath cluttered with far too many pointless plastic toys. Bear with me with this metaphor…

First, a little bit of context. I am a HLTA and I’ve been leading RE at our three-form entry Primary for about 10 years. Our Head Teacher took RE seriously, she took our HLTA subject development seriously and, perhaps most empowering, she takes me seriously (many HLTAs will understand the importance of being taken seriously). Before we took over RE as a PPA cover subject, our team were lucky enough to have three days of training with Mary Myatt on how to use the Suffolk Agreed syllabus to plan our curriculum and what good RE should look like. (Three days with Mary Myatt, these are the things RE dreams are made of right?)

This stood our team in good stead to throw out the dull worksheets and start from scratch with our curriculum planning. Not for us, an off-the-peg scheme, it was important that this was something we developed and planned from the bedrock. We built a curriculum with strong foundations, with a focus on Mary’s message that a great curriculum can be difficult and beautiful. As an RI school things were tough, as a new subject team, things were tough. We made mistakes along the way, but, through CPD, network engagement and connecting with faith groups in development projects, we grew in subject knowledge and classroom confidence. Once established, we used the REQM criteria

http://www.reqm.org/achieving-the-award/how-to-apply to build a three year plan of improvement. In 2016 we earned the Gold REQM. We are a cracking team and we have worked hard to ensure what happens in our RE lessons is high quality.

Hard slog. So why, given how good we knew our curriculum to be, bother with a rewrite? Maybe because what was considered best practice 10 years ago, is not now visionary enough. Times change, maybe more so in a subject where we are reflecting on the people and society around us, a society whose worldviews are in a constant state of flux (just think how your worldview has been influenced by recent events). This is a problem I have seen in a number of schools, where effort may have been put in to initial curriculum development, but nothing has been looked at since, nothing updated, nothing developed and the plans have been passed on like Chinese Whispers, until the deliverer of a “scheme” has no background knowledge or investment in the learning.

The more I developed my subject knowledge, and witnessed the opportunities others were offering in their lessons (not just RE), the more I questioned the why of what I was teaching. Over the last few years I have been asking myself, and my team, a lot of questions about our RE curriculum. We began with moving away from the old “learning from” AT2 with a greater emphasis on philosophical questioning. We considered the recommendations of the CoRE report – the name change to Religion and Worldviews, appealed to our team and our learners. I know there is much debate on “what’s in a name?”, but for us, moving from the verb “religious” to the noun form “religion” is transformative. One thing I have always been sure of (but perhaps parents misconceive): we are NOT teaching children how to be religious.

I love edutwitter – in it I find nuggets of wisdom and debate that encapsulate my sometimes incoherent thoughts, I bookmark a lot of things, then go away and dig deeper until things crystalise in my mind. This tweet from Christine Counsell, last year, spoke to my perfect curriculum-seeking self. There is no goal – continuing renewal and ownership drives our development.

twitter post

Ben Arscott in Impact journal in 2018 https://impact.chartered.college/article/designing-a-secular-religious-studies-curriculum/

“The  review  process should  be constant, although  it is helpful to have periodical formal reviews  with the whole department and  outsiders. During these reviews,  it is crucial to remember that no  curriculum is perfect and time is severely  limited.”

While taking part in a Leading Active Learning research project 4 years ago, I developed an embarrassingly ham-fisted approach to disciplinary teaching in our RE curriculum. In an effort to improve our learners’ religious literacy, I introduced “Pupils as Theologians”. This was successful on a small scale, but the more I dug, the more I realised this wasn’t enough, perhaps I was still too inward looking at our own school, too bound to the curriculum “baby” our team had developed, I was only tweaking the edges without being truly informed, I suspected it was actually time for what Matthew Lane calls a “curriculum revolution” https://www.reonline.org.uk/blog/how-i-brought-about-a-curriculum-revolution-in-re-matthew-lane/.

I secretly knew, it was time to drain the bath and begin to dispose of the mouldy toys.

When I took on the NATRE East Anglia Regional Ambassador role just over a year ago, I had a telephone call with Kathryn Wright, and when she told me about the Multidisciplinary approach Norfolk were implementing in their Syllabus I knew this was what I’d been looking for. RE or RW has been craving discipline, I felt our learning was ill-disciplined and the clarity of this approach was inspiring. How might this approach provide learning parameters for our ill-disciplined “baby”?

I went on to read what I could about the approach, including  Gillian Georgiou’s Impact Article on Balance RE https://impact.chartered.college/article/balanced-re-thoughts-re-curriculum-design/

The approach was developed by RE advisers Jane Chipperton, Gillian Georgiou, Olivia Seymour and Kathryn Wright.

https://www.lincolndiocesaneducation.com/page/?title=RE+Resources+%26amp%3B+balancedRE&pid=32

At last year’s AREIAC conference, I heard Ben Wood and Richard Kueh speak about the approach. This was it, the knowledge-rich, disciplinary plurality of thinking I was looking for. You can read Richard’s take in RE Today (Autumn 2019). Adam Smith’s blog is an interesting reflection, https://mrsmithre.home.blog/2019/10/06/disciplinary-knowledge-and-re-an-attempt-at-professional-wrestling/

As the bathwater drained, I saw beyond the bubbles and steam. Even before the whole curriculum rewrite, our learners were ready this year to be introduced, right from year 2, to the disciplinary concepts of Theology, Philosophy, and Social sciences. We began with the etymology and built up our ideas of the skill sets involved along with categorising our growing knowledge. Finally, we felt clarity, the steam was beginning to clear.

I began plugging multidisciplinary while working with our Trust RE leads on a Trust-wide curriculum rationale, encouraging our RE leads to use the RE Online: Religion and Worldviews in a broad and balanced curriculum, A practical tool. https://www.reonline.org.uk/leading-re/re-in-a-broad-and-balanced-curriculum-a-practical-tool/ . when considering their curriculum choices.

All the while waiting, with bated breath, for the Norfolk Syllabus to be released. I’m an RE geek, what can I say?

When it finally arrived, I was excited to begin working with our team to tailor the approach of the new syllabus into a curriculum specific to our setting. We’re an academy, we can choose our curriculum – lucky us! But those of you bound by your Locally Agreed Syllabus can still consider a multidisciplinary approach in your planning, you may be bound legally by content, but not by pedagogy. The Norfolk Syllabus is great way to start thinking about this approach https://www.schools.norfolk.gov.uk/School-management/SACRE/index.htm .

Our new curriculum has been a year in the design, the last few weeks in lockdown have given our team unprecedented time to construct, plan and resource a challenging, disciplinary-focused primary Curriculum. We’re good to go from September. As always, we will be continually reviewing our curriculum, not just because it’s a process I can’t get enough of, but because ongoing rejuvenation of our practise is the only way we can ensure continuing quality. In truth, our curriculum possibly had well considered content, we just didn’t have a clear focus for the skill set. We were ill-disciplined. It was always our baby – a curriculum content with value – it needed to get out of the bath and get dressed, ambitiously, for the occasion.

 

Written by Katie Gooch, regional ambassador for East Anglia  Follow Katie on twitter at @goochkt

10 steps to increase the presence of RE in your school

With RE curriculum time being squeezed in many schools, coupled with financial restraints, we as RE teachers must be increasingly intentional towards raising the profile of RE in our schools! Here are some top tips on how to increase the presence and gravitas of RE in your school, getting the much deserved attention our beloved subject needs.

  1. Start with the pupils – Enable those who are passionate to support the subject by being ‘part’ of the RE department, e.g. pupil voice forums, contributing ideas to meetings, help with organising visitors, trips, displays or starting a Youth SACRE. Our colleagues over at RE Online have published a great blog on starting a youth SACRE which can hopefully give you some inspiration. You can also encourage ex-pupils who have taken RS related degrees at University to come back and speak to pupils about the merits of RE; sometimes its better coming from them, and enables open discussion encouraged by familiarity.
  2. Find support and partnerships – There are so many high-quality courses to support RE teacher, both paid and unpaid. Additionally, you can make contact with a local NATRE group, schools in your local area or region and Universities to develop links.  There are many different ways of developing your own subject knowledge through amazing websites such as Teach RE.
  3. All pupils have an entitlement to RE – Find out about the legal requirements for compulsory for all pupils in state funded schools, including academies. It is also worth making your SLT and governors aware that RE is being scrutinised more under the new Ofsted framework; there are over 101 comments on RE from recent inspections, available for you to read.
  4. Obtain funding – Do you have limited time or money to deliver the RE you want to? There are many different sources of funding for resources that RE teachers are unaware of. This is an exciting and detailed topic, which we have discussed on Teachers Talk before. Have another read if you’re looking to boost your RE budgets.
  5. Complete a 360 review of the dept – The RE Quality Mark is one way of completing a 360 review of your RE department. To obtain the mark, your schools’ pupils fill in questionnaires.  This could lead to changing schemes of work, developing pupils’ religious literacy skills, using more stories, encouraging deep learning and giving choice in homework/creative projects.
  6. Emphasise how RE is relevant to the job market and the life-skills it provides. Projects such as the “Case studies” from RE Online will assist you to emphasise the academic rigour of the course, especially the careers it relates too.
  7. Have a display of past success – Utilise public areas in your school to showcase pictures from RE trips, visits and quotes from current pupils and ex-pupils about the Universities they went to and the diversity of academic subjects they read. Case studies and success examples  help individuals understand and materialise their potential.
  8. Change hearts and minds. Explain to pupils what potential they have in the course and celebrate recent achievements. Speaking to parents, as well as sending emails and letters and a simple phone call can help challenge misconceptions of the subject. If you really want to open people’s hearts to RE, why not invite parents and governors on trips to see the fantastic knowledge and cultural capital that RE delivers?
  9. Develop cross curricular links with other subjects – RE makes a significant contribution to SMSC, PSD and other subjects “… we know that a rigorous religious education acts as a Rosetta Stone between different subjects: unlocking our ability to make links and understand the great advances in science, politics, commerce, the arts and history.” Nick Gibb (Minister of State -2012). For schools with limited resources, time or budget provisioned for RE, combining Religious Education with cross-curricular activities can open new doors.
  10. Use media to help promote the status of RE. Podcasts, websites and networking with other RE teachers will help to support one another as a community to help ‘Save RE’!  Twitter is a great source of CPD with many RE teachers sharing advice, resources and ideas online. You could enter competitions, for essays or Spirited Arts, or complete an activity in Interfaith Week and invite the local press in. Not only does this grow your school’s presence in the community, it paints the school in a good light and increases the reputation, which every head and School Business manager will appreciate!

Written by Chris Giles, Regional ambassador for West Midlands.  Follow Chris’ schools RE department on twitter at www.twitter.com/sbhsrs or his individual twitter at www.twitter.com/chris_giles_

No Time for Global Learning!

Two years ago, I was fortunate to be able to complete a Farmington’s Scholarship with this very title. It came from leading a Global Learning Expert Centre at my primary school where I was providing CPD for a network of 24 schools. Attendees loved the idea of Global Learning in principal but struggled to find a way to include it in their curriculum. My Farmington’s developed resources which created opportunities for Global Learning within RE provision. This blog is my thoughts for how you can assist with developing children to be more active and globally aware in RE.

Firstly, look at the Global Learning Skills. Oxfam list these as;

  • Critical and creative thinking
  • Empathy
  • Self-awareness and reflection
  • Communication
  • Co-operation and conflict resolution
  • Ability to manage complexity and uncertainty
  • Informed and reflective action

I then use these skills when designing schemes of work, aiming to include activities which develop these skills and explaining to the children which Global Learning Skill we are developing today. Taking one of these areas to give you some examples on “managing complexity and uncertainty” the sort of opportunities for learning I would facilitate may include;

  • P4C on Heaven and Hell or role of prayer, exploring own views, views of peers and compare with faith beliefs

 

  • Consider how throughout history people have maintained their faith through times of uncertainty, e.g. genocide, Holocaust, migration, if your life changed suddenly what would you want to keep

 

  • Respond to RE related news events including controversial issues, giving children space to reflect, find out what happened and compare views, answering questions honestly showing age appropriate awareness

 

  • Discuss Extremism, Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, what may have led people to have extreme views and what can we do about it if we encounter prejudice today

At the start of a session, when explaining the intent, I would explain which skill we are including today. Ask the children why it is an important Global Learning Skill and how I am going to be awarding team points for those who demonstrate empathy / communication / co-operation etc. There can then be time to feedback on how they have used those skills at the end of the lesson.

 

Some tips for thinking globally in RE

  • Develop sustained links with your faith visitors booking them on a regular basis so children can link aspects of faith with a believer they have met. Using questions link “How do you think …. would answer your query?” makes it more relevant and develops respect and empathy. Remember to promote diversity, “Some Christians may believe……but other Christians may say …….” Build in age appropriate technical terms.

 

  • Developing questioning techniques with progressive expectations, give children clues but ask them to develop the question and enquiry, make them the detectives, learn about different sorts of questions and how to design them. With younger children ask them to “I wonder……?” when looking at a religious photograph.

 

  • Look at the wider world not just RE in your own locality. Look at places of worship around the world, photographs of worshippers in a variety of communities, how is the same festival celebrated in different or similar ways.

 

  • Whole school approaches which promote Global Learning themes like One World Weeks to raise profile of Global Learning, don’t just teach about different countries, include recent issues and key themes.

 

  • Use Philosophy for Children as a regular method for enquiry-based learning, you are developing children as critical thinkers, listeners who value and learn from each other developing respect and an acknowledgement that you can change your opinions. Use a belief line as a warmup strategy and revisit at the end to see how opinions may have changed.

 

  • Use pictorial charts to remind children about Global Learning, refer to the Global Development Goals use a Global Dimension or Religious Calendar as a wall chart in the classroom for children to keep an eye on key religious events around the world. Purchase RE resources from around the world and look at the packages they arrive in with the class. Map where the artefact came from and its journey to the UK.

 

  • Push your international partnerships to more than just being pen pals with a display of smiling faces on the wall. Meet face to face, host pupil visits, ask meaningful questions and share RE projects with each other. If you don’t have an international school link, try Connecting Classrooms through the British Council.

 

  • Allow time for children to discuss topical events they may have seen on the news the evening before but don’t always respond to the issue straight away. It’s perfectly ok to say that you will come back to this in a day when you have found our more information. There may also be resources online by then from Newsround etc. Be controversial, take risks.

Other great resources to have a look at include UNICEF’s Rights Respecting Schools and Christian Aid’s Global Neighbours, Global Dimension, Think Global, Connecting Classrooms.

For me, Global Citizenship is all about engaging with the world and the belief that each of us can make a difference. RE lessons seem a great platform for this but a whole school approach is needed so get the rest of the staff on board as well. Share your passion about the world in which you live, if you want to make a difference, however great or small, your pupils will too.

Naomi Anstice National Ambassador for Religious Education Networks. @naomianstice

Deeply dippy about the ‘deep dive?’

How are you all ensuring your department is deep dive ready?  This question seems to be on everyone’s lips at the moment so hopefully this is a guide to the deep dive.

So what is a ‘deep dive?’

The purpose of the deep dive is to assess the quality of education. A deep dive ‘involves gathering evidence on the curriculum intent, implementation and impact over a sample of subjects, topics or aspects. This is done in collaboration with leaders, teachers and pupils. The intent of the deep dive is to seek to interrogate and establish a coherent evidence base on quality of education.’(Ofsted: Inspecting the Curriculum’ p4)

Intent

What is your curriculum rationale? 

What is taught and why. Why is the subject of value? 

We spent time in the summer term thinking about why we teach our subject.  A further opportunity to debate the purpose of RE! What do we want from our learners when they leave our school?  Doing this as a team helped all teachers understand the rationale behind what we teach.   It was also important that we thought about our learners in our school context.  As a Humanities faculty we also came up with something that would unite us all in our aims and purpose of our subject.

We then thought about what it is we want from our learners in RS when they leave our school.

To have the time and space to have this dialogue enabled us as a school to really consider the value and importance of what we teach and why.  “If you expect your students to retain what you’re conveying, you must also reveal to them why it matters.” Robert John Meehan

Implementation

So tell me about your curriculum?

What will I see in your lessons?

Many schools have spent time redesigning their KS3 curriculum, thinking very clearly about what fits where and why?  I have seen a number of ways in which subjects have shares their ‘curriculum journey’

See Michael Chiles’ Geography learning journey here…

We have produced simple, single sheet of A4 which mapped out the curriculum for 7, 8.9,10,11 so we can point out where knowledge was built upon across and between years and show links across subjects.  It can also show the increasing challenge of the assessment tasks.

For example year 9

Year 9 Topics Rationale Links
HT1 Science and the

Philosophy of religion

 To address misconceptions that an Empiricist worldview is the only view to take and that Science has all the answers to everything!  This unit gives students an opportunity to engage in classic arguments to the existence of God, which will form a basic understanding for the A level Philosophy element.  It will also develop their ability to construct a logical argument. How do we know what we know? Philosophy, Science, History,

Proud strands (Respect and Achieve)

SMSC

 

The most important thing is to know your curriculum really well and how you have sequenced the content, be able to discuss how you are ensuring students are retaining knowledge and making progress. Ensure all staff know this too!

As a school, we have adopted Rosenshine’s principles to support our learning and teaching.

Deep dive feedback has also shown that inspectors are keen on ensuring that the school’s provision is good enough. Please see NATRE statement on the New Ofsted Framework 

Impact

What will I see in your books?

How would you measure the impact of your curriculum? What is the tangible effect of your curriculum? 

The feedback suggests that there will be no comments made on frequency or quality of marking so the emphasis is on how you will show progress in books.  Teacher feedback and DIRT tasks could evidence where misconceptions have been identified and progress is made.  Read ‘Progress without data – How it can be ‘shown’ & benefit the teacher in the process’

In one case books were not even looked at but the impact the subject had on the well-being and behaviour of the students was questioned.

In short

Curriculum thinking should be a regular professional dialogue between teachers and colleagues in schools. Wherever you are on your journey, these questions could stir your thinking. 

Bear in mind, “If you’re doing something because you think we want to see it and it does not benefit your pupils, then please, do not do it. Continue doing what you’re doing to give children the best, broad-based education possible and inspection will take care of itself. (Ofsted) 

Finally, if you want to read more, NATRE has been monitoring references to RE in both primary and secondary school Ofsted reports under the new framework.

Are you a NATRE member? Click the link, login and download ‘Understanding the new Ofsted framework in the RE classroom’ a document written to support teachers of RE, subject leaders and coordinators in all schools.  Not member? Join today.

Katherine France, Head of Faculty (RS, Citizenship, History, Geography and MFL) The Queen Katherine School, Kendal, NATRE RE Ambassador for the North @KathFrance1975

Developing your subject knowledge

There is an old adage that you are never too old to learn. I am a passionate RE teacher at heart and love acquiring new information about people’s lives. Every week is a new opportunity in my 30-year career to learn more about my specialist subject ‘Religion and Worldviews’. This last week I had the pleasure of running a tour of five places of worship for faith leaders in Newham as it was Interfaith week. I knew that there would be lots of new learning for them, but I did wonder whether there would be any for me!

I shouldn’t have worried as there was. I found out that Buddhist monks and nuns are not allowed a mirror in their bedrooms. Now I have visited and spoken with many Buddhist monks and nuns over many years but didn’t know this fact. It makes sense if you are trying to not be attached to life here, looking in the mirror and concentrating on your outward appearance wouldn’t be helpful. I could see immediately using a covered mirror in a RE lesson, and asking pupils why a Buddhist might not look in a mirror? Great speculation task potentially, with the answer being able to be revealed.

On the tour we also visited St Mary’s Magdalene Church in East Ham which was built by the Cistercian Monks in the 12th century and I got to see original decorations painted on the walls of the church by the monks (simple and beautiful flowers) and again was awed at the fact that there has been a worshipping community on that site for over 900 years. Finally, I got to enjoy Langar at the Gurdwara we visited and a piece of Guru Nanak’s 550th birthday cake – which was along with the rest of the meal very yummy! Each visit built on my subject knowledge and got me to consider what was important to the lives of the people who come into these buildings to meditate or worship daily, and I beg you the experiences will have enhanced my knowledge and therefore my command of what I choose to teach.

It is essential for us as teachers that we continue to add to and develop our subject knowledge in RE – otherwise, I believe that we will short-change the pupils that we teach. Research tells us that when teachers are not confident in their RE subject knowledge they tend to keep to simple activities around retelling, right & wrong questions, and simple comprehension. These activities do not help pupils to really get the flavour of why people chose or choose to live in certain ways – we need to apply facts and information to 21st-century life, and ask pupils to analyse, compare and contrast their learning if RE is to be challenging and effective. Thankfully it seems Ofsted are starting to ask these types of questions in RE deep dives. I think as hard as this will be in the short term, in the long-term having conversations about education and having the expectation that teachers will do what our teaching standards say is positive.

‘Demonstrate good subject and curriculum knowledge, have a secure knowledge of the relevant subject(s) and curriculum areas, foster and maintain pupils’ interest in the subject, and address misunderstandings.’.

But where to start? Here are places I have found helpful:

I am reminded of the words of John F Kennedy “The greater our knowledge increases, the greater our ignorance unfolds.” Adding to our subject knowledge is a lifetime of work, but I hope you will agree with me that a passionate, knowledgeable teacher is always who I want to be taught by.

Written by Claire Clinton, RE advisor to Newham, Barking and Dagenham and NATRE RE ambassador for London @ClaireClinton67

 

“I just can’t help putting my hand up – REvitalising my career”

Hands up if you’re one of those people who just can’t help putting your hand up. I am one of those people, I never realised it was a leadership quality until I found myself leading. When opportunities come along, I just can’t help thinking – “oooh – I wonder how our school can get involved.” So much so, that my long-suffering team now audibly groan when I begin a sentence, “I‘ve been thinking…” or “I’ve been reading…” or “I’ve been talking to…”. In short, I can be deeply annoying – I refuse to apologise, things wouldn’t get done if people like me didn’t insist on putting our hands up.

A decade ago, having left a potentially lucrative (but dull), career in law to be a full-time mum, I accidentally became a Higher-Level Teaching Assistant in a three-form entry Primary school in Ipswich. I accidentally became RE lead; accidentally, I took on RE research projects; accidentally, I worked with local faith groups to develop multi-faith reflective story scripts; accidentally, I completed middle leadership courses; ran CPD; spoke at conferences; supported other RE leads. Before I knew it, I’d been leading RE for eight years, and we’d accidentally earned the Gold REQM. Of course, none of these things were accidents – it’s that ‘can’t help putting your hand up’ thing again!

However, even doers can get in a rut. About eighteen months ago, I was considering leaving education altogether. I’m sure this is something every educator has gone through from time to time. I’d been so busy doing things that I began to feel I had outgrown my space when I became a HLTA I’d thought maybe I’d do teacher training eventually. But I didn’t fall in love with teaching, I fell in love with teaching primary RE. If I joined a teacher training programme, I knew the chances were I’d eventually leave RE behind. It seemed that there was nowhere else for my career to grow. I began looking for a new (non-education) career.

At this opportune moment, I was extremely lucky to receive an email from Jan McGuire. Jan was a classroom teacher, curriculum lead for RE (for over 20 years), County Education Adviser and REQM Assessor. Jan is currently the Association of Religious Education Inspectors, Advisers and Consultants (AREIAC) Executive Secretary, REvitalise project Manager and works as a SACRE Local Authority RE Adviser and Independent Education Adviser for RE/ SMSC/ Controversial Issues/ EHWB. Jan invited me to take part in the AREIAC REvitalise pilot. Despite not being entirely clear about what the program was, I jumped at the opportunity to do something different. Finally, all that impulsive putting my hand up for things had put me on someone else’s radar. Early on in our sessions together, Jan told me of a person who had influenced her RE career in singling her out and supporting her development. I wonder how many of us have benefitted from the informal support of another professional? The education system is so special because of the generous people who give their time to develop other adults as well as children.

I soon learned that REvitalise is a personalised mentoring program specifically designed for emerging RE Leaders. ARIEAC realised how hard it was for RE leaders to traverse the gap between classroom practitioner and Adviser, what Richard Kueh calls, ‘professional hybrids’. Teacher agency beyond the classroom is vital in developing the RE visionaries of the future. Through the AREIAC and Culham St Gabriel’s funded project, Jan led a team of established RE Advisers and Consultants who mentored emerging RE leaders across the country. It wasn’t long before I realised just how lucky I was to be included.

Things began to change rapidly. Through Jan’s introduction, I became the Suffolk SACRE HLTA representative, immediately introducing me to another level of opportunities and contacts within the county. Through the mentoring sessions, Jan helped me to recognise my strengths and gave me the impetus and confidence to move forward, her project-writing support helped me structure my vision for multi-school development and express it in a way that caught the attention of our trust board. Jan’s encouragement led me to push our trust board to consider RE development as a priority, the board allocated funding for this development. The work we have been doing as a MAT of 21 primary and secondary schools over the last 18 months, is impacting thousands of children’s learning across Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. It is also vital in supporting and developing RE leads and Head Teachers who no longer have access to Local Authority RE Advisers, even if we weren’t an Academy, these employed Advisers no longer exist in our area- this leaves a huge gap in access to expertise.

My personal growth and opportunities broadened. Without REvitalise mentoring support, I would never have been ready to apply for the post of NATRE East Anglian Regional Ambassador. Another role that, alongside working in school, has opened up so many new contacts and opportunities. I am reaching out to and connecting, hundreds of RE colleagues across our region, many of whom are, like me, the ones who just can’t help raising their hands when the next opportunity comes along. I see part of my role is to support the growth and potential in others, I’ve had a truly inspirational mentor in Jan McGuire- it’s time to pay it forward.

AREIAC, remains committed to developing the next leaders, change-makers, and champions of RE, and act as the conduit between the wider RE world and the classroom. AREIAC are looking to support the next RE leaders on their journey of development; using their AREIAC members’ academic expertise and specialisms and immense experience gathered in the RE classroom and through teaching the teachers of RE.

Could you be the next RE leader to join the programme?

To find out more about ARIEAC please visit: www.areiac.org.uk/

Written by Katie Gooch, Suffolk SACRE HLTA representative and NATRE RE ambassador for East Anglia @goochkt

Teaching World Views in RE; Humanism

As an RE teacher and someone who would describe themselves as religious, I like the feeling of being part of a community where you share the same belief… God; and that treating others with love and respect is an important part of life and living amongst other people from all walks of life, just as a revered person of a religion teaches, namely for me Jesus.

The main reason I became a teacher of RE, wasn’t because I was religious in any way, nor was it to encourage others to be religious (as that would be going against my role as a teacher of young minds!). The real reason was that I wanted young people to acknowledge and understand the different religions, we come into contact within our daily lives and the cultures that underpin them, of which so many we have embraced today in our modern society.

The one area I would never have thought to be so in awe of though would have been the world view of Humanism.

As a secondary school teacher, Humanism has now become part of the RE curriculum in recent times due to the Commission on Religious Education (CoRE)  and also taught within GCSE specification, therefore I needed to teach myself about this world view and what exactly it all meant in order to relay this to my students.

Humanism, for those who are unfamiliar to it, describes itself as a world view with a focus on scientific explanations of how the world began. The focus is to ensure the happiness of all human beings and to treat others with empathy and respect.  Humanism sounds a lot like religions that we have come to know, doesn’t it? But the main idea is that Humanists don’t believe in an eternal omnipotent being, but that they are unable to agree with the existence of God due to the lack of evidence.

After completing an online course a few years back, knowing that I would eventually have to teach this to my students I learnt that Humanists are just decent human beings who don’t need ‘God’ to give life meaning and purpose to their lives, and found it quite heart-warming to learn about.

My students quickly warmed to the ideas of Humanism, as we know so many of society today now describe themselves as either ‘non-religious’; ‘atheist’ or ‘lapsed’. So, for my students, they found Humanism a refreshing change without attaching themselves to an organised religion or those that were religious respected their practices based on their world view to be so similar to their own.

When teaching Humanism in the classroom I found the national charity Humanists UK provide great resources with teaching materials and connects you to Humanist celebrants in your area that were willing to deliver sessions to students. Hannah McKerchar was fabulous at delivering the different sessions to my GCSE students on how humanists celebrate life at a naming ceremony and funerals and the celebration of love with how marriages work for humanists. From her own personal stories as a humanist celebrant to allowing the students to create their own humanist ceremony. They have become memorable experiences that my students still remember to this day. Which to finish on is the best way we can teach RE and world views through experiential learning and be the memorable moments that our students keep long after their education to help them on their way in a world where religion and world views will always remain.

Key resources to support your teaching of Humanism:

Humanism Website

What is Humanism? How do we live without a god? And other big questions for kids by Michael Rosen 

Written by Suzanne Tomlinson, RE Teacher, Head of Faculty, ITT Co-ordinator and NATRE RE ambassador for the North East. Find out more about Suzanne on her Ambassador profile page.