British Religion in Numbers

British Religion in Numbers is an online source of data about religion and belief in Britain. It is gathered and presented by academics for the purposes of investigating both religious diversity in Britain, and of the extent and impact of religious commitment in Britain. The data can support an understanding of how far religious groups and beliefs have an impact on policy or other public decision-making.

I am a Year 6 Primary teacher and together with two other teachers, Primary and Secondary, we experimented with bringing this data to our classrooms. We wanted our children to have the opportunity to engage in a statistical analysis of numerical data about religion and belief as part of their richer understanding of the world.

We focused on two sets of findings from the overall data set, which is large. These were, firstly, the ways Jesus is depicted among Christians in Britain, and secondly, the representations of Muslims in the British media. We helped pupils to explore the data through pie charts and tables, as well as written reports. We thought carefully about scaffolding the questions children would engage with so they could make sense of and evaluate what the data is telling them.

My class were surprised to see so many images of Jesus existed, depicting him from all sorts of cultural backgrounds. However the data shows some interesting findings- that while Jesus, a Middle- Eastern man, is often represented as white, as well as black or Asian, most people in Britain viewed Jesus as a Middle Easterner. For myself I was surprised. My pupils had a mixed response, especially those for whom the image of Jesus is sacred. They were not sure if anything other than his actual ethnicity should be portrayed.

When it came to reading a report of how Muslims are portrayed in the British media, this was upsetting for the class. The data hows us clearly the discrimination against Muslims in the British press. As an adult I was surprised to find Islamophobia in broadsheet as well as tabloid newspapers. While this raised some difficult emotions, it is important for pupils to be able to explore and make sense of our complex society as it is in a safe space like school.

Pupils had the chance to reflect on the implications of their learning. Myself and the other teachers all teach in different regions, so we had geographical and demographic variations to compare. It was clear that life experiences and social exposure determined pupils’ interpretation of the data and the conclusions they arrived at.

As teachers we found that the use of statistical data in RE serves to contextualise religious diversity and provide pupils with tangible material for comparison and analysis. Pupils could evaluate the impact of past events on current trends. Across all three schools we felt that pupils were making connections and encountering ideas they hadn’t considered before – their world had expanded beyond what they knew to be true or thought to be true.

There is always the danger that a data-informed analysis of the world brings pupils into contact with how the world is, not just the ideal worlds described in religious traditions. While this can raise controversial questions, this is a chance to help our young people to make sense of the world as it is. As teachers we can model curiosity, as we show our pupils how to examine complex information, and confidence in an open attitude to knowledge and understanding of the world.
Visit the website at British Religion in Numbers