Mixing Lenses

I will talk about a new resource called ‘Mixing Lenses’, written for Primary teachers to explore the ways scientific language and religious language can overlap. For readers who are not Primary teachers, don’t be put off- there is lots here for Secondary- age students, and you may well be asking similar questions to myself. The aim of the resource is to support pupils in making sense of the world using language at the interface of science and Christianity.

I started with some significant questions; are there new ways to approach engagement with science and faith? Can the ways that we help children to explore both science and faith be mixed together? How can we show children a meaningful intertwining of the language of science and faith in the classroom? I have been concerned over the years when I see an ‘either/ or’ mentality applied to science and faith; as if pupils have to choose. Yet of course both modes of thinking offer meaning, and many people comfortably employ both.

This is nothing new – for many years we have tried to help young people understand that a believer of any faith can also be a scientist. This often involves myth- busting, for example, dispelling the myth that Genesis is read in the same way as a science book.

The Mixing Lenses resource for teachers has emerged from my work with Chester Cathedral Education Department. Workshops on science and faith were taken into schools, funded by a group called Scientists in Congregations.

Scientists in Congregations celebrates the scientists who are present in church congregations. The group seeks to understand and share ideas around science and faith, developing material for teaching and encouraging the creative and at times surprising thinking that arises from explorations in this area. Find out more on the ECLAS website.

You may have heard of God and the Big Bang, a project to provide space for school students to explore science and faith in creative ways. RE Today have produced a set of teaching resources following God and the Big Bang topics for Primary and Secondary.

As my own work was with Chester Cathedral I focused on Christian faith but the questions and information could be explored with any faith.

It occurred to me that both faith and science:

a.  have language in common.

b.  use both metaphor and analogy to aid understanding of concepts.

This got me thinking, and four questions emerged which have become the basis of my planning:

1. What are the concepts within the science and RE topics?
2. What is the vocabulary to be taught in Science and RE (in my case, Christianity)?
3. What activity can be planned to link the vocabulary between the subjects and so offer deeper understanding? What question could be asked to lead the activity?
4. What questions can be asked during the activity/discussion or on completion?

The resource established the parameters of this field of thinking for teachers using learning theories such as Piaget and Vygotsky. The resource then works through some practical examples. For example, the resource connects and explores the idea of circuits in science, and discipleship in Christianity. Circuits can break, and children can explore how to keep a circuit open and running. In a Christian life, sometimes events keep people from being disciples, their circuit has broken. Children can explore what might cause someone to stray away from their path, and the help and support they can receive the find it again. The resource makes many other connections in this way, such as the idea of a sound wave, and the idea of love travelling to reach people.

This resource is free for teachers. I hope it is useful. I am also interested to know if readers think there is mileage in developing this further, with other key stages and faiths. If anyone would like to pilot the material or offer suggestions, I would be delighted!

Contact: Canon Jane Brooke jane.brooke333@gmail.com