The Power of Story in RE: Windows, Mirrors and Glass Sliding Doors*

“Books are sometimes windows, offering views of worlds that may be real or imagined, familiar or strange. These windows are also sliding glass doors, and readers have only to walk through in imagination to become part of whatever world has been created or recreated by the author. When lighting conditions are just right, however, a window can also be a mirror.”*

Stories matter deeply in Religious Education because they shape how children understand themselves, others and the wider world. Books can act as windows, to see the world beyond their own lives and location, mirrors, allowing pupils to see their own lives, families, questions and beliefs reflected back at them. They can also act as doors or, in Dr Rudine Sims Bishop’s* phrase, glass sliding doors; offering children a way into experiences, worldviews and religious and non-religious lives that may be different from their own, but which they can step into safely, imaginatively and thoughtfully.

In RE/RME/RVE, this matters because religious and non-religious worldviews are not just a set of ideas to be learned about , but people’s lived experience. Carefully chosen stories allow pupils to stand alongside characters, to “walk through” moments of prayer, doubt, celebration or challenge, and to explore what it might feel like to belong to a religious or non-religious worldview. Children’s literature provides a safe space to explore empathy, identity and meaning; a place where big questions about life, death, purpose and the numinous can be encountered without risk, because the experience is mediated through story.

At the same time, books can affirm children’s own identities and experiences. When pupils see themselves represented, in family life, culture, belief, language or practice, they learn that their stories matter. Texts such as Planet Omar by Zanib Mian or Malala’s Magic Pencil by Malala Yousafzai are not just windows into Islam; they are mirrors for some children and powerful correctives to stereotypes for others. In RE/RME/RVE, this means paying close attention to authorial intent, representation and pupil response, and creating space to ask:

• Is this true to your experience?
• What feels familiar?
• What feels new?

Used well, stories help RE move beyond surface knowledge. They support critical literacy, deepen subject understanding and invite pupils into respectful, thoughtful dialogue about belief, belonging and what it means to be human. During the RE:Online Power of Story focus week and in this National Year of Reading, we are reminded that stories do not simply teach about religion; they help children encounter it, question it, and sometimes recognise themselves within it.

In classroom practice, thinking about books as windows, mirrors and glass sliding doors invites teachers to be intentional in how stories are chosen, read and discussed. This means creating opportunities for pupils to respond personally to texts, to ask questions, and to reflect on what a story shows and what it leaves out. It involves slowing down reading, returning to key moments, and using talk, drama, writing or enquiry strategies to explore belief, identity and meaning. Teachers can model critical literacy by drawing attention to authorial intent and encouraging pupils to compare stories with real lived experiences, including those within their own class or community. Used in this way, stories become more than illustrations of content; they become starting points for dialogue, empathy and deeper understanding, helping pupils learn not just about religious and non-religious worldviews, but also to consider their own personal worldview.

*From Rudine Sims Bishop, “Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors,” Perspectives: Choosing and Using Books from the Classroom 6, no. 3 (Summer 1990), available at Reading Is Fundamental (January 2015)