‘Once upon a time,’ four seemingly ordinary words, but, whenever spoken together have the power to transport the listener to far-away worlds, and on thrilling adventures. Yet, these words tend to stay in our childhood, belonging rather to the primary school, than a secondary Religious Studies classroom. So, it was with great surprise that my MA research led me to discover that teenagers are still inspired by, and want to learn through the power of a story.
My MA research took the form of a social action research project, which was conducted in collaboration with a group of Year 10 students. Together we explored the intent, implementation and impact of RS within our secondary school in York, specifically focusing on a Scheme of Work on Holocaust Education. Baumfield (2012:206) comments that pedagogy builds the bridge between the curriculum and the learner. So, together, through a group interview, the students and myself explored pedagogical strategies, and discussed how they wanted to be taught in RS; what would engage them in their studies and inspire them to want to learn.
These students consistently referred to wanting RS to be relevant to their lives. When asked how they thought they should be taught, all of the students preferred activities which were more creative and engaging, with one student stating that RS was about real people, so should be made about real life. Consistently, all the participating students leaned towards a more experiential learning style; they wanted RS to be something more than facts in a textbook which has no relevance to them, but rather something more tangible that they could relate to.
The perception of experiential learning is often that it needs to be something exciting and out of the ordinary. However, Brand (2013) suggests various experiential activities which can be completed within the classroom. Certainly, one of the findings discussed within my research, which has personally fascinated me and had the biggest impact on my own teaching, is the use of stories as part of experiential learning. Pelupessy-Wowor (2016:102) comments that human-beings are story tellers; we have a natural disposition to interpret our experience into a story, meaning that consequently the use of a story is a universal teaching aid (McNett 2016:185-186), which engages students (Yogan 2020:2). The use of storytelling is not a new concept, with McNett (2016:188) suggesting that when trying to teach a large topic or event, frame it around one key figure; teach it through their story. Student G commented that ‘listening to someone made it real.’ The students agreed that by listening to a real-life story about something, it makes it relatable and real. For example, hearing how someone felt whilst completed Hajj makes it more understandable, than just learning the stages of Hajj and being able to regurgitate it for an exam. As an RS teacher, I do not just want students to learn facts, I want them to be engaged, challenged and inspired.
Obviously, this does not come without its dangers, as Stern (2006:21-22) comments there is a danger that when using dialogue in teaching, it can turn into a monologue. A story is from one perspective, so whilst I may use a story to frame a topic, it is done critically through using other stories and factual evidence, to try to ensure fairmindedness. However, rather than this being a concern, I have found this generates more debate; exploring how one event can have different interpretations; how one religion leads to many individual faiths.
The educationalist Hywel Roberts (www.createlearninspire.co.uk) has coined the term ‘botheredness.’ Explaining that most students will be engaged with their studies because they are conscientious and want to do well. However, if teachers can get students to be bothered by their subject, to see a relevance beyond a GCSE grade, then their motivation increases and consequently their progress is enhanced. I have found that the use of a story to share experience and feelings, makes students bothered. Religion is not merely a fact to be learnt, but for millions of people around the world is a lived reality. For students to engage in its study, they must be inspired, they must have something tangible that they themselves can experience and relate to. So, whilst I may not use the words ‘Once upon a time’ I am finding myself asking ‘are you sat comfortably, the story is about to begin…’
Baumfield, V (2012) ‘Pedagogy’ in Barnes, p, (ed) Debates in Religious Education. Oxon:Routledge. Pp 205-212.
Brand, N (2013) ‘Learning from the Past, Building for the Future’ in Journal of Museum Education. 38:3. Pp 298-307.
McNett, G (2016) ‘Using Stories to Facilitate Learning’ in College Teaching. 64:4. Pp 184-193.
Pelupessy-Wowor, J (2016), ‘The Role of Religious Education in Promoting Religious Freedon: A Mutual Enrichment Between ”My Story,” ”Your Story,” and ”Our Stories,”’ in The Review of Faith & International Affairs. 14:4. Pp 98-106.
Stern, J (2006), Teaching Religious Education. London: Continuum International Publishing Group.
Yogan, L (2020) ‘Where are All the Happy Stories? The Role of Positive Stories in Teaching and Curriculum Design’ in Sociological Focus. 53:1 pp 1-9.
About
Charlotte is a Religious Studies Teacher and Senior Head of Year.