We should be teaching about non-religious worldviews in RE, but how?

This month’s blog looks over two recent conferences, a research report and a research idea. There’s been plenty of debate (and some controversy) about whether non-religious world views such as Humanism should be included in the RE curriculum. I think the debate is largely settled in favour, given RE’s democratic, inclusive credentials and the need for young people to investigate difference, and I sense that the discussion is moving from whether to how.

It isn’t just a recent issue. Through the 1970s and 1980s, Ninian Smart pressed gently and genially for a redefinition of Religious Studies as World-View Analysis. He saw Marxism, for example, as comparable to religious traditions, in some ways, and thought that it might be profitably studied in the same framework as them. In RE, Linda Rudge wrote about the ‘I am Nothing’ generation as a silent majority whose generalised spirituality should not be ignored by the subject. The article first appeared in 1998 but is even more relevant now.

I don’t think Linda’s convinced by the vogue for ‘Nones’. The term has some unfortunate effects, not least sounding as if people are actually discussing nuns. There’s a problem with identifying those of no particular religious or world-view abode, though: there isn’t a category that works. As Neil McKain pointed out at the July 10 Humanists UK conference, atheist, secularist and humanist are neither synonymous nor necessarily opposed.

Moreover, if you look at Ben Clements’ research on whether religious belief has declined in the UK, you’ll quickly see how mixed the situation is. He covers the decades since 1981 and uses survey data to show that although belief in God has declined, belief in life after death hasn’t. Another finding is that women are significantly more likely than men to believe in God, life after death and heaven. The big evidence base, attention to detail and problematising of some too-neat assumptions make this my research of the month and I would recommend it to all readers. The Research for RE link is given at the end. I must add that I don’t see non-religious world-views as simply the removal of religion. It’s more that Ben Clements’ research may blur the line between religion and non-religion and affect the way it’s drawn across society.

Some of my questions at the June LTLRE Bath conference seemed to result in a bit of tension. However, I’m not trying to create obstacles. I want to understand what good practice looks like. I wonder about how to handle the complications, and whether to present non-religious world-views in the same way as we present religions, given that we need to represent them with integrity. I wonder how the term world-view fits in, too, since there are people who don’t see Science as one amongst several world-views.

I thought that the Humanists UK conference carried promise. Sophie Colligan is someone very capable of communicating the lived experience of Humanism at the personal level, with the added advantage that she can do so to younger children. At the organisational level, Humanists UK is, well, an organisation, formed in 1896 and with a tradition to draw on and stories to tell. There’s a profound ritual dimension, with celebrants conducting naming ceremonies, weddings and funerals (I’m hoping to provoke a response on whether ritual or celebration is the right word). The ‘happy human’ logo offers symbolism, and at the level of Humanist belief, there’s a clear connection to experience – that is, several speakers spoke of how beliefs should be formed through reflection on human experience, including mortality. Humanists UK have provided a range of lesson plans and resources for all key stages on their website (again, the link’s at the end).

I hope it’s clear by now that I’m far from categorising all those with non-religious world-views as humanists. Rather, as far as I can see, Humanism offers the best starting-point for research on good RE practice on non-religious world-views. I’ve seen the lesson plans and resources; next, I’d like there to be a kind of forum on what are the features of good teaching and learning about Humanism. This would be followed by some visits to schools for observation and documentation of good practice, for sharing with the profession. My research idea is posted at https://researchforre.reonline.org.uk/research_idea/good-teaching-and-learning-about-humanism-in-re/?show_me=&about=&taxes=; if you’d like to help get the research going or take part, the link to express interest is in the same post.

See Ben Clements’ research at Has religious belief declined in the UK? Which kinds of people are more likely to hold religious beliefs?

The Humanists UK website is at https://understandinghumanism.org.uk/