The GCSE Debate: The ‘problem’ of philosophy and ethics

This is Part 2 of my search to map the landscape of the debate around GCSE a little more and maybe help us come closer together in our thinking. (For Part 1, see: http://reonline.org.uk/blog/the-gcse-debate-the-inclusion-of-humanism/)

‘Problem’ is in italics – clearly there is nothing problematic about P&E. Indeed as Kate Christopher reminds us: ‘The only way is ethics!’

But we have a major problem with our traditional curriculum in England – it is defined by a set of subjects which have not really been refreshed or re-thought for decades. Up to the end of Key Stage 4 it doesn’t include any significant provision for philosophy, economic, politics, sociology etc. It is also resistant to cross-curricular working.

In recent years, as RE lost confidence in its traditional subject matter, it looked around for content that might prove popular and relevant. And as a result there has been a tendency to ‘dump’ issues-based and cross-curricular topics into RE. This process was accelerated by the Short Course (and for over a decade there have only been short courses!). It has also had an effect on the Key Stage 3 provision in many schools with a growth in GCSE-style issues-based courses in Years 7-9.

The effect has been two-fold. First, it has taken RE/RS away from the proper study of religion and belief and has contributed to the collapse in students’ religious literacy. Second, and equally importantly, it has often dumbed down the study of those issues-based and cross-curricular topics. We were seeing issues about rights and responsibilities, the environment or fair trade taught in RE without a proper engagement with the other key disciplines needed to make sense of the issues – geography, science, politics, economics, sociology. It all ends in sentimentality – it’s nice to be nice!!!

The current GCSE proposals for ‘Religious, philosophical and ethical’ themes have largely avoided the worst pitfalls of the ‘dumping game’. Some of the themes (religious views of the world, the existence of God(s) and religious dialogue) have a clear ‘religious’ focus and deserve to be studied in their own right as ‘stand-alone’ religious studies topics.

But others remain questionable. Topics on human rights and social justice, crime and punishment, peace and conflict, and relationships and families are really huge cross-curricular themes. To be done properly they need to draw deeply from the wells of economics, sociology and politics. I fear that in these cases the links to religion will continue to be tangential and clumsy.

So I think there is still a bit of ‘dumping’ going on – using religious studies as a context for dealing with topics which students find ‘relevant’ and that can’t find a place in the wider curriculum.

Does it matter? Possibly not. The approach probably offends the subject purist but, as so many teachers have said, it does engage the punter. But ideally I would probably look for a ‘new’ subject that provided the opportunity to study some of these topics as genuine cross-curricular themes drawing from a range of other disciplines. How can you study ‘wealth and poverty’ without some serious engagement with economics and sociology?

And I would look to include more themes directly related to the study of religion itself – sadly missing at the moment. Topics like:

• The changing pattern of religious life in the modern world/Britain
• New patterns of religious life and modern alternative forms of spirituality
• The relationship of religion and spirituality

It may be that examination boards will develop these more creative approaches – let’s encourage them. But perhaps we should ALSO respond to the consultation by suggesting that the criteria be changed to encourage this creativity.