tracey.francis, Author at RE:ONLINE

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Maxwell, aged 14 talks about the importance of an education in Religion and Worldviews preparing young people for adult life and the workplace. Maxwell asks some important questions about the accuracy of media coverage of some worldviews. Maxwell concludes by saying the subject empowers people, we really agree with this!!

Why does RE matter?

I have always had a passion for learning about different religions, and so it was only natural for me to find studying RE important. I believe that it is beneficial to understand the diverse world in which we live, so that we can all respect one another’s cultures: correct education within society is something I consider to be vitally important.

By having access to good RE in schools, young people are equipped to handle issues in their lives, preparing them for the workplace and adult life. Furthermore, doing RE lessons in schools allows children to make up their own minds on what religion is and other peoples’ cultural values rather than having a biased media present them with a one-sided picture of a culture or belief. Religious education is more than just a safe space to ask questions about other cultures and religions: it is a subject that enables you to find your own voice and your own beliefs.

Religious education is vital for breaking typical stereotypes, such as systematic racism and / or negative views around certain religions from the actions of a minority of their members. The religion Islam is a perfect example of media bias; the media often represents terrorists as Muslims. However, after studying RE I have learnt that many people believe Islam stands for the complete opposite; they say the whole purpose of Islam is to encourage peace amongst people and help those most in need rather than brutal killing and attacks.

In schools it often spoke about how you can apply your academic learning to your life now and in the future. I believe that it is RE which is one of the few subjects that can be applied to your life every single day. Whether it is learning someone else’s beliefs and traditions and / or reasons to believe in a God or higher power, RE empowers people to be more respectful to everyone creating a thriving warm environment that values everyone.

However, RE is more than just religion and beliefs. It provides core skills that set you up for life, allowing you to work in diverse environments and interact with people no matter what their race, culture or belief. RE is a subject where everyone can get involved and have a say in a safe space without being judged; it is one of the few subjects that advocates the real troubles in the world rather than hiding them from children. I believe it is essential for RE to be taught in all schools. After all our world is not perfect and RE is a place where we can work on that.

In racially divided and diverse places, RE is one of few tools that we must use to help society bridge the gap between these communities. Finally, I find that RE is more than just a lesson: it is life advice that empowers you to strive further and make change in your community for the good.

All of the winning blogs will be published on RE:ONLINE during May. You will find all the ones published so far here

For a list of all winning and highly commended blogs see here

Arwen, aged 13, believes that an education in Religion and Worldviews gives young people confidence and social conscience in a complex world. We were also pleased to see the way in which Arwen referenced her learning about worldview responses to the Covid pandemic.

In a world that is increasingly divided, a strong and well- rounded education is more important than ever. However, all too frequently religious studies/ worldviews is overlooked within that spectrum of learning, leaving pupils without a full understanding of the world around them by the time they leave school. RS is imperative in many senses. It offers a broader knowledge of other cultures, aiding the fight for equality and helping people communicate better as adults. Without learning about perspectives other than your own, you not only miss out on a fuller life, but a respect for others that is key in modern society.

As stated above, our world is becoming more divided, thanks to things like fake news and social media. By studying other religions in school, you have access to a lifeline of information that is guaranteed to be unbiased and respectful: you can form opinions based on facts rather than stereotypes. In this way, RS prevents religious discrimination and general intolerance of other cultures. RS also helps to tackle extremism. Toxic ideas like white supremacy are challenged by taking RS and people are left with respect for others and empathy instilled within them. Bigotry and prejudice are exposed and confronted, so that they do not run riot in multi-cultural societies.

As well as RS teaching many important moral values, children who study it gain excellent social skills such as debating, public speaking and presentation. This can aid pupils who struggle to find their sense of self: they might see themselves reflected in the cultures they learn about, or find a sense of community with new people. Pupils learn to use critical-thinking when they evaluate open-ended statements, therefore expressing themselves better. Thanks to RS, children leave school with a strong sense of self and more confidence than they otherwise would have.

Religion itself has also had a positive effect during this pandemic. Religious charities all over the world, like United Sikhs, have been providing reliable information about COVID-19 and protecting human rights. Acts of selflessness have been widely appreciated recently, and qualities like this have been taught for thousands of years in religion. By reflecting upon their faith, people have found solace in these troubling times and discovered a source of strength to help their community.

In conclusion, religious studies can teach us many things and help to improve the lives of others, not just the lives of ourselves. We can learn to have a social conscience by learning from and about religion and use our voices to better express ourselves.

All of the winning blogs will be published on RE:ONLINE during May. You will find all the ones published so far here

For a list of all winning and highly commended blogs see here

Abby aged 14 explains how an education in Religion and Worldviews creates a safe space and opens doors. We loved the creative use of language in Abby’s blog and the idea that Religion and Worldviews/RE is beautiful.

Now that’s the beauty of R.E.

When I asked myself why R.E. was an important and good subject to learn at school, I was faced with many points whizzing in my head. However, the more I thought about these ideas, I realised -for me R.E. has a deeper impact on young people’s lives. When I’m in R.E. it is like we have sound proofed the classroom, creating a safe environment to discuss faith: your own faith, but also to grasp an understanding of your peer’s faith, or absence of faith. It is a non-judging lesson where you can simply talk. In the modern day, there are many opposing views when it comes down to religion. Occasionally, this can cause disruption, it shouldn’t, but it still does. R.E. lessons create a safe place where you can freely talk and ask questions that you may be hesitant to ask, as someone may disagree, or you don’t want to be seen as rude. You can question faith without the fear of showing disrespect, for example, ‘Why do some girls cover their hair?” or “Why do some men carry a ‘knife’” or even cover touchy subjects such as abortion- In R.E. you are safe- you can discuss these topics which burden you. You can ask questions which elsewhere you don’t want to ask; deepening your knowledge and therefore opening new doors for communication, as you can respect with your newly discovered knowledge. Some will say R.E. is great as you can learn new things; discover new festivals- yes agreed great! But in my opinion not as great as the freedom for honesty, an hour in your day or week where you can discover, expand and talk. No longer are you oppressed by burdensome questions as your enquiries have been addressed and your views safely heard. Now that’s the beauty of R.E.

All of the winning blogs will be published on RE:ONLINE during May. You will find all the ones published so far here

For a list of all winning and highly commended blogs see here

Matthew, a Key Stage 3 pupil, shows how an education in Religion and Worldviews helps young people become effective problem-solvers, self-aware and open-minded. We loved Matthew’s final sentence which says that the subject is broad and complex! We agree with that!

Why the Study of Religion, Philosophy and Ethics is important in the 21st Century.

We are the adults of the future and we are growing up in a world that, as this past year has shown, can change in an instant. There are also many outside influences that can sway our judgement and behaviour if we let them. This is why it’s important that we develop into grounded individuals who are confident problem-solvers, and are true to our beliefs while also being sensitive to others. It is important to be willing to learn from others and able to understand the world around us and the way we build relationships in order to improve standards of society.

This is what RPE teaches us and why it is such an important subject in modern education.

There are 7.8 billion people in the world and 4,300 different religions. In Britain, we live in a society with lots of different cultures, which means that communities are not necessarily as connected by religion as they used to be. Learning about and understanding different religious and non-religious viewpoints encourages us to be more open minded and helps us to explore the impact that our ideas and behaviours have on others. It helps us have respect and empathy so that we grow into people who recognise and stop prejudice and discrimination so that we can instead celebrate diversity and build tolerant communities in the future that can work together for everyone’s’ benefit.

RPE raises challenging questions and in the process of considering our answers to these questions about life we develop skills which future employers will value. Skills such as critical thinking, evaluating and debating skills and the ability to solve problems by confidently developing our own ideas and arguments. In a world where jobs are harder to find, it’s important that people who apply stand out and are memorable for the right reasons, and these skills will help us to do that.

Studying ethics, a subject based on rules, principles and values helps us evaluate our choices and decisions. Most religions have an ethical component, but morality does not rely on religion, so it is important that both are taught to encourage us to lead better lives.

Throughout life we will be faced with difficult decisions and circumstances. Studying RPE makes us self-aware and self-awareness is really important in helping us to make both big and small life choices. Without an understanding of our own beliefs and values we are left to look to others for ideas on how to act and possibly allow our thoughts and actions to be swayed by other people’s ethics.

Being self-aware also makes it easier to connect with similar people or groups and build friendships which are vital for all human beings and allows us to help each other through the highs and lows of life.

Overall, I think that the subject of RPE is as broad and as complex as we are as human beings, and that is why it is essential in education in the 21st Century.

All of the winning blogs will be published on RE:ONLINE during May. You will find all the ones published so far here

For a list of all winning and highly commended blogs see here

Emily, aged 10, demonstrates the importance of understanding the world in which we live and making sense of it. She draws on global and historical perspectives to support her arguments! Great stuff Emily!

RE to me is extremely important and should be taught in schools because there are many, many different types of religions and beliefs and to learn about not only how people carry out these beliefs but why they do, what made them follow a certain belief or if they were born into a family with religious beliefs and then decided to follow a particular religion or another. RE helps you understand the world where you live in. In Britain and across the world, billions of people follow a religion and have different practise to ensure this. RE helps us to understand these practices and identify differences in them. I think that teaching RE in schools helps to prevent racism and discrimination against different religions and ethnicities.

In schools RE is important because otherwise when children are older, they will not know what the respectful terms for religious items are and may offend people who follow a particular religion. A school RE education is important because you need to understand specific pieces or art with religious items and RE encourages children to think about their own beliefs and religion helps us to think about the world we live in today and how we treat people in it.

RE should be taught, it is important and beneficial to children to know about religious beliefs whilst they are young and can take in different perspectives and can perceive beliefs in different ways and can be open to different religions and different types of practices and values.

Religious leaders are also an exceptionally important subject to teach in RE because we should understand the importance of what the religious leaders did to affect their religion and to enlighten their people. Also that religious leaders changed and developed their religion and the world in ways that we all should try to achieve ourselves.

A more thorough understanding of RE is important for children and for older people in schools; secondary and primary as you will thoroughly understand what religions went through to be where they are now and to understand who in history made these changes and developments. I think that not nearly enough people know about their religion and its origins and that should be something that every child knows, even if they don’t have a religion and RE is where they can know this and ask about this freely.

Children being taught RE is important because at this stage of their lives and meeting different religions it is especially so, to learn about the reason for their religions is important too.

This is why I think that RE is important in the schools across the world to be taught and I also think that children should have a say in their own religion too.

All of the winning blogs will be published on RE:ONLINE during May. You will find all the ones published so far here

For a list of all winning and highly commended blogs see here

Nancy, aged 10, has given a wealth of reasons why an education in Religion and Worldviews matters including developing knowledge of different views, as well as understanding historical perspectives which impact on our world today.

Learning RE helps us respect other people’s beliefs and accept that they’re different, it also helps promote peace. As well as that, it helps us learn that there are lots of diverse religious beliefs all around the world.

Different religions have different gods and we learn that a lot of religions have more than one. God. Christians only have one God, and he covers all subjects, but Hindus have three gods Brahma who creates the universe, Vishnu who preserves the universe and Shiva who destroys the universe. Ancient Egyptians had over 2000 gods each of them covering different subjects, for example Cyrus is the god of the underworld, Sekhmet is the god of war and healing and Mart is the god of truth justice wisdom stars and Law. Even though there are lots of different gods, the subjects are all ones we know about.

If we didn’t understand each other’s beliefs then the world would be full of mayhem, chaos and there may even be a third World War with people of different religions and beliefs fighting each other. If we didn’t study religion and world views we might lose friends that have different ideas. That would be really sad because it is exciting meeting people from different places with different religions.

When we understand other people and their beliefs, then it helps us to be selfless and generous because we care more about them. This is also kind and you should always treat others how you want to be treated. Giving makes other people feel happy and loved. It helps us to feel good when we are considerate however we can feel mean when we judge someone by their beliefs. Learning about the world helps us to develop greater understanding that even though we are different we can still be loving and caring. Everyone should behave like this regardless of their beliefs.

Religion has shaped the course of history where people have invaded other countries and created wars to make other people have the same religion. After Jesus was born, the Romans became Christians and they had an empire that spread across lots of Europe. They wanted people to be Christians like the Romans. Lots of other religions have also tried to spread their beliefs by force. Today, people still try to spread their beliefs and as we’ll as going into other countries that can use the internet.

When we are at school, we are taught that even though we have different beliefs we can still be friends. We are all different in lots of ways and religion and beliefs can be some of them.

All of the winning blogs will be published on RE:ONLINE during May. You will find all the ones published so far here

For a list of all winning and highly commended blogs see here

Catherine, aged 11, explains that discussing different perspectives are key elements in an education in Religion and Worldviews. We liked the way in which Catherine shows a genuine understanding of others which has grown out of her learning.

Why does an education in Religion and Worldviews matter?

Why do you think learning RE is important?

Personally I think learning RE is important because you can learn about different people and what they believe in it is not all about God. For instance I am a Christian I believe in God but say if you were an Atheist you don’t believe in God or any gods. I also think learning RE is important because it is not all about religions and God it also teaches you to be kind and caring because religion teaches you those things to.

I love learning RE with Mrs Corner because she lets us express ourselves not just with a pen and piece of paper she lets us do posters or some sort of art to tell what we mean. We do writing as well obviously – but not all the time. There was this one time we were looking at Diwali I learnt so much. We got to make patterns using sand they were called Rangoli patterns.

Sometimes we get so caught up in a discussion that time flies away and we have to do task another day.

I don’t know how you would feel if we didn’t learn this subject but I would feel determined to learn about the people around us. We come in all different shapes and sizes. TALL, SHORT, Thin or round: but that doesn’t mean we can’t believe in the same thing. I remember this one discussion we had and it was ‘If you haven’t been baptised can you still be a Christian?’ and said yes you can, if you are a Christian and you believe God is watching over you then he will be.

How has RE and world views helped you personally?

RE has helped me understand that we are all different and we shouldn’t be ashamed by it. If you are identical twins you are still different, you could believe in God or you don’t believe in God, you could be a Christian or a Jew, it doesn’t matter.

All of the winning blogs will be published on RE:ONLINE during May. You will find all the ones published so far here

For a list of all winning and highly commended blogs see here

Soha, aged 10, tells us categorically that an education in Religion and Worldviews must not be ignored and expresses some personal insights about religious worldviews. We loved the passionate tone of Soha’s blog!

I think that R.E matters: not only is it religious education, it’s opportunity. What is meant by opportunity is that it offers you a chance to learn about others and understand their rules and way of life. Anything and everything has something related to religion. It helps rid of conflict (sometimes) and arguments because an understanding about someone else and their religion helps you on a personal level; you know why specific rules stand out and are important to them. Religion shows we need to have empathy for each other even if someone is different to us. Many people think that R.E is just a ‘path down to violence’ and it’s something that is pointless and shouldn’t be bothered with, but religion guides people to the light (knowledge) as it teaches more than you could ever imagine. R.E also helps more and more people understand the big questions of life like, “who am I?” or who or what created me. It’s the bridge to friendship and the pathway to love and kindness. I believe that religion will be taught and passed on for generations. R.E gives people a chance to reflect on their own religious background. It is falling off the edge of the curriculum and we need it back. It has been side-lined for so long and that’s enough of R.E being ignored. People need to understand faith issues and the different religious traditions: if they don’t the aftermath and consequences could be offensive to someone else. R.E is meaningful in any society where beliefs and values are important, and it’s about getting everyone to engage with the big questions of life. We must ensure that it is taught where it is possible, and it is understood as well. Religion is always going to be embedded within our questions and wonders. It promotes peace and kicks turmoil and war in the face when it comes to perspective and being there for someone, no matter their differences and opinions.

New research suggests that having a firmly held religious belief can provide a sense of increased purpose in life among those who are socially disconnected, and I would agree with this. People provide purpose, therefore, people who feel like they belong and are well supported by their friendships consistently have a higher sense of purpose and direction in life, and people lose purpose when they feel socially disconnected. I believe that having a belief system that ‘substitutes’ for some of the functions of human relationships, like feeling valued and supported by God, or for me, Allah, may allow people who feel disconnected to restore some of this purpose that social friend and relationships would normally provide.

Well, if you’ve been patient enough to read through this whole considered ‘novel’, I hope you would agree, that no matter what, there is important in RE. Many think it’s to spread kindness, and look after the world, while others believe there is no reason, it’s just a miracle.

All of the winning blogs will be published on RE:ONLINE during May. You will find all the ones published so far here

For a list of all winning and highly commended blogs see here

Ariella, aged 7, shows how an education in Religion and Worldviews helps us understand each other and bring us together! What a great message for everyone!

All of the winning blogs will be published on RE:ONLINE during May. You will find all the ones published so far here

For a list of all winning and highly commended blogs see here

Harnoor, aged 7, explains the importance of knowledge acquisition in Religion and Worldviews, citing its value in terms of respect. We loved the use of images and the personal reflections on Sikhi.

All of the winning blogs will be published on RE:ONLINE during May. You will find all the ones published so far here

For a list of all winning and highly commended blogs see here