Change in RE – it’s an emotional thing!

It’s been a long term but for those committed to the change agenda in RE it has been successful. Three major reports on religion in education that have done such a great job to raise the profile of RE and help define that crucial change agenda.

The impetus of the three reports is not being lost.

The RE Council of England and Wales has announced its own evidence and data gathering review of RE’s legal and wider policy framework with the full collaboration and participation of all its member organisations, and that the process could be completed by 2017-18.

At the same time Charles Clarke and Linda Woodhead are looking to build on their New Settlement for Religion and Belief in Schools report by undertaking further research and consultation to refine their thinking with a similar deadline to the REC.

It is to be hoped that these two exercises will talk to each other to see how far we can achieve some consistent, shared messages to support the drive for change.

Two final reflections before we pack up and set stuck into the celebrations!

First, we are all aware of real teachers facing real threats to their RE provision. My good friend Joy Schmack constantly reminds me that however intriguing the debates might be, we must not forget those who are anxious about the future of RE in their school and their future careers. There is a danger that endless ‘change debates’ will destabilise the subject at the very moment when teachers in the classroom need our support. This is not a reason to walk away from change – but it is a warning that we need to make sure we don’t drive the political opposition into even more intransigent positions.

Second, we need to recognise that the debate is political with both a large and small P. We are trying to influence the politicians, those that can effect legal/policy changes. This is proving very difficult and I suspect has got worse under Morgan. Gove was difficult but he was someone whose position was clear and who was keen on evidence-based policy debate. Morgan seems much more difficult to engage and her own conservative religious background could prove unhelpful in the end.

And then we have the internal politics of the RE community – more strained and troubled than I have known them for many years. There are some deeply held positions and vested interests which are already making dialogue difficult.

As we enter into a period of further consultations and evidence gathering it might be worth considering recent statements by two political commentators reflecting on the nature of politics.

First, Owen Jones, whose recent book The Establishment I thoroughly recommend. Writing in The Guardian last week he said: “To believe that politics is conducted solely at the level of reason is to lose. This is what the embattled opposition to the Tories has to learn. It needs to appeal to people’s emotions, their hopes as well as their insecurities; to have a coherent message that can be easily translated into a pub conversation as well as one conducted on the doorstep.” The Guardian 10 December 2015.

Second, Jonathan Freedland also in The Guardian: “The political brain is an emotional brain. It responds not to data but to instinct and feeling. A bombardment of statistics rarely wins any political argument….Instead the only way we can hope to fight a populist fire is with populist fire of our own. So what would such a populism .… look like? Its first move would not be to dismiss, but to understand whatever fear is drawing people to the flame in the first place – and to show that it understands it.” The Guardian 12 December 2015

So the key Christmas message. As we build momentum for the RE change agenda we need to remember:

Evidence, data and reasoned argument are invaluable – but we also need to address the emotional responses of those opposed to change. We also need a ‘populist’ narrative that will capture the imagination and appeal to the instinct of the opponents. What’s in it for them?

We need to understand the fears and insecurities of those opposed to change – both outside and inside our RE community. Why do they feel at risk? What is making them resistant to change?

So with that – a merry Christmas and a happy new year to all.