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Research Summary

For increasing numbers of teachers, religion may seem alien. This may impact on their choice of teaching content: subconsciously, they may elect to teach aspects of religious and non-religious worldviews close to their own worldviews, ignoring aspects with which they disagree. Teachers’ lack of subject content knowledge is often held up as a major problem, but questions also need to be asked about how their own worldviews relate to their subject content knowledge. Teachers should be supported to become ‘worldview-conscious’.

Researcher

Ruth Flanagan

Research Institution

University of Exeter

What is this about?

• What influences teachers to choose subject content?
• Do their own worldviews prompt them to emphasise some religious and non-religious worldview content, and ignore other religious and non-religious worldview content?
• How can teachers be supported to become more conscious of their own worldviews and how these might influence their attitudes to lesson content? How might this process enrich teaching and learning?

What was done?

The researcher analysed a wide range of literature (RE policy, pedagogy and curriculum, research on teachers and RE teachers, philosophy, educational studies and philosophy). She applied insights from Ricoeur’s hermeneutics to the problem of teachers’ possible worldview biases in relation to subject content. She then made recommendations for teachers to develop worldview-consciousness – a form of self-awareness, in relation to one’s own background values and orientations – that will enrich RE / R&W teaching and learning. These follow below.

Main findings and outputs

• To examine worldviews, teachers need to wrestle with philosophical questions of life which can enhance their own teaching and learning; this is important for pupils, but it is equally important for teachers: to examine others’ worldviews includes reflecting on one’s own.
• Teaching about worldviews involves teaching about different valuations of rationality. To do so, a person must be aware of what he or she values as rational, and why (what background influences he or she has).
• One’s own worldview may be held unconsciously, and support needed to bring it to consciousness. Teachers could reflect on their own definition of a good life. Once it is conscious, they can guard against only emphasising those features of others’ worldviews that are similar to their own, when teaching.

Relevance to RE

The findings are relevant to existing discussions about neutrality and impartiality in RE (teachers can be impartial to the extent that they are self-aware). They are also relevant to the move from RE to R&W; if it is true that everyone has a worldview and that the examination of personal worldviews is a part of the subject, teachers cannot be immune from the process.

Generalisability and potential limitations

The research does not present a data set whose generalisability can be assessed – but the questions raised should, at least, give all teachers pause for thought and reflection.

Find out more

Ruth Flanagan (2019): Implementing a Ricoeurian lens to examine the impact of individuals’ worldviews on subject content knowledge in RE in England: a theoretical proposition, British Journal of Religious Education, DOI: 10.1080/01416200.2019.1674779

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01416200.2019.1674779?journalCode=cbre20

Research Summary

The notion of worldview is prominent in recent discussions of RE, following the publication of the CORE report. This research reflects on this development. It gives a nuanced understanding of the notion of worldview. It explores the pedagogical implications of the shift to worldview, drawing on the work of Robert Jackson, Michael Grimmitt and Anthony Thiselton.

Researchers

Professor Trevor Cooling

Research Institution

Canterbury Christ Church University

What is this about?

• Current discussions of RE, specifically, the shift to a focus on worldview, following the publication of the CORE report.
• The meaning of the concept of worldview.
• What a move to worldview means for teachers of RE / R&W, in practice.

What was done?

The researcher considered the impact of the concept of worldview on his own work, in an autobiographical manner. He then analysed the treatment of worldview in the CORE report and subsequent discussions, including points made by critics of CORE or of the worldview concept. He then identified the pedagogical implications of CORE, arguing that R&W teaching will need to take a hermeneutical approach (explained further below) if the proposed changes are to take effect.

Main findings and outputs

• R&W is not simply a matter of adding extra content to RE – when religions are viewed as fluid, complex, diverse worldviews, the subject changes.
• A key focus is on the lived experience of people and communities identifying with a particular institutional worldview: CORE, here, draws heavily on Robert Jackson’s interpretive approach to RE.
• A second key focus is on personal worldview – a concern to pick up positive elements of Michael Grimmitt’s ‘learning from religion’; pupils should understand the varied influences on them as they form their own worldviews.
• Anthony Thiselton’s ‘responsible hermeneutics’ provides the disciplinary knowledge needed in R&W. It gives teachers three responsibilities:

1. Promote rigorous knowledge of what is being taught.
2. Ensure rigorous reflection on the contemporary context and how it may influence both teacher’s and pupils’ perspectives.
3. Ensure rigorous reflection on the potential interaction between 1 and 2, so that teacher and pupils benefit in their own self-understanding.

Relevance to RE

The research is of high relevance to teachers who are concerned to understand the meaning of the CORE report and the shift to worldviews as far as their own professional practice is concerned. As the researcher concludes, it is not yet a workable curriculum or resources. This needs to come next, but the researcher has outlined a basis for it.

Generalisability and potential limitations

This research does not present a set of generalisable data from a survey or other instrument. Rather, it is a detailed, balanced discussion of the worldview concept, based on reading, analysis and reflection. It offers teachers and other professionals an account of what the CORE report and the move from RE to R&W mean in practice, though (as yet) without details of curriculum or resources.

Find out more

The original article is Trevor Cooling (2020) Worldview in religious education: autobiographical reflections on The Commission on Religious Education in England final report, British Journal of Religious Education, DOI: 10.1080/01416200.2020.1764497

The article is available open-access at 10.1080/01416200.2020.1764497

Research Summary

LAR-D provides participating schools with a link faith practitioner from a selected religion, and funds each of them to develop an ongoing dialogue over time, ideally using the RE-searchers pedagogic approach. The project is funded by the All Saints Educational Trust.

Researcher

Mark Plater, 6 participating schools, St Philip’s Centre, Leicester

Research Institution

Bishop Grosseteste University

What is this about?

Does linking a faith practitioner to a school for an extended period of time provide educational benefits above what is gained from single visit opportunities?
In what different ways do schools make use of the RE-searchers pedagogy when given training, but then left to choose or reject it?

What was done?

Schools selected and funded to participate in the programme.
Selected faith practitioners linked with schools (schools chose the religion to be studied).
RE-searchers pedagogy training provided by Rob Freathy as a possible method of engagement.
School-faith practitioner partnerships allowed to develop by mutual agreement over 12 months.

Main findings and outputs

Developing teacher confidence and subject knowledge.
School communities enabled to engage with living religion and alternative cultures.
Study ongoing, but significantly affected by corona-virus shut-down.

Relevance to RE

Note the concept and methodology: an ongoing link with a selected, trained and supported faith practitioner, enabling a friendship relationship to develop over time….
i.e. quality of link rather than quantity.

Generalisability and potential limitations

This is a funded project, with schools being reimbursed for participation.
At present only 6 schools are participating (3 primary/ 3 secondary).
Being partway through, full benefits have not yet been assessed.

Find out more

Update information sheets developed and available from mark.plater@bishopg.ac.uk

https://www.bishopg.ac.uk/bgu-team-win-15000-grant-to-support-new-re-learning-initiative/

Research Summary

Pew Research Center has conducted more than a decade’s worth of global research on religion, including surveys of Muslims in 39 countries, three comprehensive surveys of Muslim Americans, several demographic studies of the world’s major religions (including population growth projections), and a series of surveys that measure how people living in the U.S. and Europe view Muslims and Islam.

Researchers

Pew Research Center, Washington DC

Research Institution

Pew Research Center, Washington DC

What is this about?

Pew have distilled some key findings from their comprehensive research data into four email mini-lessons, to help interested people develop a better understanding of Muslims and Islam. How differently do Muslims around the globe practice their faith? What do they believe? How are they viewed in public opinion in various Western countries? How much discrimination do they face? Sign up, and you’ll receive an email every other day for about a week. If you want to dig deeper, the emails will offer links to work by the Center that supply more detailed information.

What was done?

Pew’s extensive research findings on Islam from the last decade have been distilled down into a four-email course for those wishing to improve their knowledge and understanding of the faith.

Main findings and outputs

See the course itself, but, for example and to give you a flavour:

With an estimated population of 1.8 billion, Muslims are the world’s second-largest religious group, after Christians. But our surveys have found that about half of Americans – as well as most Western Europeans – say they know little or nothing about Islam.

From lesson 2:

Our survey asked Muslims whether they want sharia, a set of ethical principles based on the Quran and Sunnah (sayings and actions of the prophet), to be the official law of the land in their country. Responses to this question vary widely. Nearly all Muslims in Afghanistan (99%) and most in Iraq (91%) and Pakistan (84%) supported sharia as official law. But in some other countries, especially in Eastern Europe and Central Asia – including Turkey (12%), Kazakhstan (10%) and Azerbaijan (8%) – relatively few favored the implementation of sharia.

Relevance to RE

This course is highly relevant to RE, offering a broadly-based, up-to-date, highly informative subject knowledge boost to teachers. You could also encourage A level students to take it.

Generalisability and potential limitations

Pew Research Center is a major international research generator, and the findings on which this course is based reflect more than a decade’s worth of global research on religion, including surveys of Muslims in 39 countries, three comprehensive surveys of Muslim Americans, several demographic studies of the world’s major religions (including population growth projections), and a series of surveys that measure how people living in the U.S. and Europe view Muslims and Islam.

Find out more

The link to the course, including where to sign up, is https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/02/19/want-to-know-more-about-muslims-and-islam-weve-got-an-email-course-for-you/

Research Summary

The open-access article begins by summarising the findings of 2018 report from the Commission on Religious Education (CoRE), which we use here as a case study to illustrate current issues in Religious Education more generally. The CoRE report suggested that the subject name be changed from ‘Religious Education’ (RE) to ‘Religion and Worldviews’ (RW), which leads us to explore the meaning(s) of the term ‘worldview’, outline the distinction between institutional/organised and personal worldviews, and give an overview of academic debates about the ‘worldviews’ issue. This is followed by a discussion of some of the challenges and implications of the proposed change from RE to RW, addressing concerns that have been raised about dilution of the subject and decreased academic rigour. The article then suggests ways of using a ‘Big Ideas’ approach to the study of religion(s) and worldview(s) to engage students in discussion of ‘worldview’ as a concept and worldviews as phenomena. It explains the ‘Big Ideas’ approach (Wiggins and McTighe 1998; Wintersgill 2017; Freathy and John 2019) before discussing how Big Ideas might be used to select curriculum content, also considering what the implications of this might be for teachers and teaching.

Researchers

Prof Rob Freathy & Dr Helen John

Research Institution

University of Exeter

What is this about?

The article focuses on the issue of worldviews in Religious Education, asking the following questions:

1. What does the 2018 report from the Commission on Religious Education (CoRE) suggest about worldviews in RE?
2. What is meant by the term ‘worldview’? Is a religion a worldview? Does everyone have a worldview?
3. What is the difference between an ‘institutional worldview’ and a ‘personal worldview’?
4. What are the benefits and challenges of incorporating worldviews into RE?
5. What are ‘Big Ideas about the study of religion(s) and worldview(s)’ (Freathy and John 2019)?
6. How might ‘Big Ideas about the study of religion(s) and worldview(s)’ help teachers to explore worldviews in the RE classroom? What are the implications for teachers’ professional development and for the classroom?

What was done?

This theoretical article is an academic response to the key findings of the final report of the Commission on Religion Education (CoRE 2018), which was sponsored by the Religious Education Council for England and Wales. It focuses particularly on the proposal to change the title of Religious Education (RE) to Religion and Worldviews (RW). It explores the meaning of the term ‘worldview’ how worldviews might be selected for inclusion in the curriculum. The article discusses the report’s recommendations for greater focus on multi-disciplinary, multi-methodological and reflexive, encounter-driven approaches. It suggests that teachers might use the ‘Big Ideas about the study of religion(s) and worldview(s)’ (Freathy and John 2019) to achieve closer alignment between RW in schools and the academic study of religion(s) and worldview(s) in universities.

Main findings and outputs

The authors argue that key to the successful delivery of ‘a new and richer version of the subject’ (CoRE, 3) is generating in school students a better understanding of the concept ‘worldview’. Although there is disagreement over precise definitions of the term (just as there is with the term ‘religion’), Freathy and John suggest that this imprecision is something to be embraced. Teachers should explore the complexity of the terms and concepts with their students – focusing explicitly on their contested and imprecise nature – in order to further the students’ understanding of the term and of worldviews themselves. They argue that the report’s distinction between institutional and personal worldviews is a helpful one, albeit with some limitations, and will assist students in appreciating the diverse sources upon which they draw in the ongoing development of their own dynamic ‘worldview web’. Investigation into the institutional/personal distinction could also help students to be sensitive to diversity within institutional worldviews, based on individual and contextual lived experience. A better understanding of the fluid concept of ‘worldview’ will enrich and add rigour to the curriculum, as the report suggests, not act to ‘dilute’ it or to decrease its rigour, as critics have suggested. Building upon earlier research (Freathy and John 2019), the authors suggest that focusing on features of the academic study of religion(s) and worldview(s) – studying how we study – will enable teachers to incorporate the new ‘worldviews’ approach into their teaching without diluting the curriculum. Using these ‘Big Ideas about’ would involve encouraging students to consider explicitly:

Relevance to RE

This article would make excellent background reading for teachers who (a) need a brief summary of the final report from the Commission on Religious Education; (b) would like to know more about the ‘worldview’ concept; (c) want to know more about the Big Ideas framework; and/or (d) wonder how they might incorporate into their classroom practice a greater focus on ‘worldviews’.
The open-access article is entitled ‘Worldviews and Big Ideas: A Way Forward for Religious Education?’ and appears in Nordidactica 2019, Volume 4.

It builds on a previous article by the same authors (search ‘Introducing ‘Big Ideas’ to UK Religious Education’ for equivalent RE:Online Research Report), in which they reflect on the application of the Big Ideas of Science Education project to the UK Religious Education curriculum: Rob Freathy and Helen C. John. 2019. ‘Religious Education, Big Ideas and the study of religion(s) and worldview(s).’ British Journal of Religious Education 41.1: 27-40. DOI: 10.1080/01416200.2018.1500351

Useful resources for a Big Ideas/Worldviews approach to RE/RW

A curriculum package for teachers to use to introduce ‘Big Ideas about the study of religion(s) and worldview(s)’ will follow in 2020.
A ‘Big Ideas about’ approach can be seen in the secondary textbook called ‘Who is Jesus’, which is available online at <https://socialsciences.exeter.ac.uk/education/research/networks/religionandspirituality/publications/ and in the ‘RE-searchers’ approach (primary), which can be found at RE-searchers approach
You might also find the original ‘Big Ideas for RE’ (Wintersgill, ed, 2017) report helpful:
https://tinyurl.com/y7ra365d

Please contact R.J.K.Freathy@exeter.ac.uk for further information about the ideas found in the article and the additional resources, or to get involved with the trialling the RE-searchers (Primary) or ‘Big Ideas about’ (Secondary) approach.

Generalisability and potential limitations

The article is primarily aimed at teachers and RE researchers and considers theoretical perspectives. However, it also gives an insight into practical resources available for ‘worldviews’ teaching at primary and secondary level (see details below).

Find out more

The open-access article is entitled ‘Worldviews and Big Ideas: A Way Forward for Religious Education?’ and appears in Nordidactica 2019, Volume 4.

https://www.kau.se/nordidactica/las-nordidactica/nordidactica-20194-kjerneelementer-og-store-ideercore-elements-and

Research Summary

This project, a collaboration between Professor Bob Bowie and Ms Katie Clemmey of the National Institute for Christian Education Research (NICER) and the Centre for Research Evaluation in Muslim Education with Dr. Farid Panjwani at University College London (now renamed the Centre for the Study of Education in Muslim Contexts (CEMC) ), sought to support teachers in seven contrasting secondary schools, teach RE more hermeneutically. It was informed by research that the use of texts in RE classrooms is and has been an ongoing problem for many years that continues with the revised GCSE. It was inspired by the thought that a more hermeneutical approach in the subject might help both the transition to Religion and Worldviews education and also the development of a stronger disciplinary knowledge base. It was grant funded by Culham St Gabriel’s Trust and supported by Bible Society. It was a qualitative study of 7 schools with 10 teachers working to apply hermeneutical techniques to their curricula.

Researchers

Dr Robert Bowie, Farid Panjwani & Katie Clemmey

Research Institution

Canterbury Christ Church University

What is this about?

Should schools help students become good interpreters of religion, worldviews, and sacred texts? Should they help students explore what it means to be a sacred text scholar? This report is for all those interested in teaching sacred texts, in particular, the Bible and texts sacred to Muslims including the Qur’an. This project was part of REsearch 7, a Culham St Gabriel’s initiative. Academic papers about the project will be forthcoming in research journals and monographs. It took place between October 2018 and July 2019.

What was done?

We recruited ten participant teachers from seven secondary schools with diverse pupil population profiles and socio-economic and cultural contexts. Initial telephone interviews were followed by drawing up some plans of the teachers’ ideas about what they might want to test in their classrooms. The teachers were given some CPD about hermeneutics and its application. A CPD day involved an introduction to hermeneutics, sacred text scholarship, and expert guidance on classroom hermeneutics. There was also time for planning discussions. The CPD also involved six online ‘bookclub’ sessions on a group video conferencing system following a set of readings. The participants then planned and taught lessons taking ideas from the CPD and readings and adapting their curricula At the end of the summer term there were in-depth individual interviews of all the participants, carried out by the principle investigators.

Main findings and outputs

1. The teachers described a sense of agency that hermeneutical tools gave students in activities around the interpretation of sacred text, e.g. asking about what texts meant to the original writers, or how different interpretations of them may be made today.
2. The teachers reported that pupils were positive about engaging with longer extracts of sacred text including students who they had thought would struggle or lack motivation in such activities.
3. Hermeneutical approaches in these cases led to a deeper quality of conversation in lessons about texts.
4. Hermeneutics was seen as a valuable dimension in curriculum design allowing for progression through multi religious study.
5. Almost all of the teachers developed competent hermeneutical lessons, some with excellent examples of student work.
6. From their key stage 3 changes, several teachers thought that hermeneutics would lead to better GCSE responses, particularly in explaining differences within religions. They also felt that a better space for hermeneutics could be included in exams.

Relevance to RE

There is a greater possibility for change and for reform of religious education if the idea of inhabiting the place of a sacred text scholar becomes part of Religion and Worldviews in schools. It offers one pathway to unlocking a disciplinary study of how people find significance and read meaning through worldviews. Students can progress between the study of different worldviews through the scholarly study of sacred texts.

Generalisability and potential limitations

It was a qualitative study focussed on teachers, and did not seek to measure the actual change in students. The participants were self-selecting so probably had an interest in sacred texts. Findings cannot be generalised from this study and further study is needed, though the teacher responses are promising.

Find out more

Teachers and Text: The Findings Report

https://www.canterbury.ac.uk/nicer/hermeneutics/

Research Summary

This post provides an overview of the Religious Education Teachers and Character: Personal Beliefs and Professional Approaches Research Report. The report details a study comprised of an initial phase of life-story interviews with 30 participants followed by a survey with 314 respondents.

Researchers

James Arthur, Daniel Moulin-Stozek, Jason Metcalfe & Francisco Moller

Research Institution

Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues, School of Education, University of Birmingham

What is this about?

The research goals of this report and study are:

1. How do RE teachers’ personal beliefs and worldviews relate to their professional motivations?
2. How do RE teachers negotiate religious diversity?
3. What do RE teachers think about RE and pupils’ character development?
4. What differences in beliefs about pupils’ character development are there between RE teachers holding different worldviews?

What was done?

This study explored the lives of RE teachers using a mixed-method design, comprising an interview phase followed by a survey. This approach allowed for inductive inferences to be made from the interviews, which could be then substantiated through the deductive testing of preliminary hypotheses with the construction of the survey instrument. For each phase, a separate non-probabilistic sample of practising RE teachers who taught RE as their main specialism was recruited through professional organisations and advertisements, including social media.

The first, qualitative phase of the study was inspired by the narrative identity paradigm (McAdams, 1996; 2013; McAdams and Guo, 2015). This uses semi-structured interviews to explore participants’ self-understandings of the development of the course of their lives. In addition to standard questions used in this paradigm, the interview schedule also included questions about teachers’ perspectives on RE and character development.

The second, quantitative phase, was designed drawing on initial analyses of the interviews and employed measures of religious practice and style, as well as individual items about RE teachers’ perceptions of character education. The data generated from these questions allowed for analyses of the relationships between RE teachers’ worldviews, their perspectives on character education and their professional motivations.

Main findings and outputs

1. Personal worldviews informed RE teachers’ approaches in the classroom: RE teachers working in faith and non-faith schools were found to have a diverse range of personal worldviews – from atheism to theism, and all positions in between – but each kind of worldview supports a particular vision of what RE should be, and therefore generates an individual’s motivation to be an RE teacher.
2. RE teachers were found to have fair and tolerant views of other religions and worldviews: RE teachers who did or did not have a religious faith, in faith and non-faith schools, were found to have a fair and tolerant approach to religious diversity. However, this study’s findings suggest that RE teachers that have a religious faith were more open to interreligious dialogue and learning from other religions.
3. There was strong agreement among teachers with a religious faith that RE contributes to character education, and RE teachers should act as role models for their pupils.
4. RE teachers that have a religious faith were more likely to think religions promote good character: There were significant differences in perspectives between RE teachers who reported belonging to a religion, and those who did not. The former were found to be more likely to think that religious traditions provide a source of good role models; they were also more likely to care about their impact on pupils’ religious beliefs and to believe pupils emulate their religious views.

Relevance to RE

The findings of this study confirm the importance of teachers’ personal beliefs and experiences to their professional lives. It is proposed that more opportunities be made available for RE teachers to further reflect on their own worldviews and consider the implications of their personal views for practice. Professional literature and guidelines about RE could be revised to sensitively advise teachers on the best ways to incorporate their own commitments and orientations in their approach to religions in the classroom; these should acknowledge the diversity of teachers’ personal worldviews. Given the widely held belief found among participants regarding the contribution of RE to pupils’ character development, this report provides evidence to suggest that schools and LEAs should develop coherent rationales and syllabi for RE lessons to create further opportunities for developing character. This would strengthen the provision that RE can make in schools, and also help cultivate the character growth of pupils of all faiths and those of none, through RE.

Generalisability and potential limitations

The sampling was, for both qualitative and quantitative phases, non-probabilistic and dependent on participants’ self-selection. There may be bias in both samples, which comprise RE teachers who volunteered in response to advertisements in particular venues. They therefore may be more committed, better networked and more enthusiastic than teachers who did not respond to advertisements to participate in the study.

Find out more

https://www.jubileecentre.ac.uk/userfiles/jubileecentre/pdf/Research%20Reports/RE_Teachers_and_Character.pdf

Research Summary

This is a critical scholarly essay, examining the following questions: What are controversial issues? Who decides whether something is controversial, and how does it affect how a subject is taught? These questions have been discussed often in relation to education, less so in relation to RE specifically. RE teachers need clarity and support, however. So, this research addresses the discussion to RE teaching, taking the example of ritual circumcision as a focus.

Researcher

Marie Von Der Lippe

Research Institution

University of Bergen

What is this about?

• What counts as a controversial issue?
• Who decides on whether an issue is controversial, and by what criteria?
• How does this discussion affect RE teaching, and by what principles should RE teachers be guided?

What was done?

The researcher summarises and criticises different perspectives on what counts as controversy, also drawing on some questions of law and policy and referring to the example of ritual circumcision. She closes with some practical suggestions for RE teachers.

Main findings and outputs

• Whether or not an issue is viewed as controversial often depends on the teacher’s background and the school and social context.
• Teachers need to weigh up whether the issue is a matter of fact, or of political debate, and can be presented as settled or open.
• So whilst ritual circumcision is a settled issue in some communities, it has been a matter of intense debate in Norway. Female circumcision is a settled issue (banned), male circumcision more open, though in Norwegian RE textbooks, female circumcision is presented as a violation whilst male circumcision is presented as a regular ritual practice.
• Should RE teachers teach about it directively (with one answer in mind) or non-directively (asking for debate)? We need to deliberate and decide, as with other possibly controversial issues, and make this conversation part of teacher training and development. Even if a particular issue appears settled, directive teaching may hinder students’ critical development, so important in democratic life.

Relevance to RE

The research poses real questions to RE teachers – again, ones which they will recognise. The suggestion that RE teachers develop a professional culture of deliberation over controversial issues and how to approach them in the classroom is very good. The research could provide a basis for a CPD session or departmental meeting discussion.

Generalisability and potential limitations

This is an interesting and useful scholarly discussion orientated towards guidelines for the classroom, The issue of data generalisability does not really arise, but the issues are certainly highly relevant to RE teaching and RE teachers may well find the guidance to be helpful.

Find out more

Marie Von Der Lippe (2019): Teaching controversial issues in RE: the case of ritual circumcision, British Journal of Religious Education.

https://doi.org/10.1080/01416200.2019.1638227

Research Summary

This research draws on findings from an religious education (RE) test done by 52 Swedish 12-year-old pupils in three different classes on two occasions at the beginning and end of the 2011/2012 academic year. The purpose is to examine whether RE knowledge development can be identified generally, whether there are differences between classes, and if so whether they can be related to communication patterns and describe directions of knowledge development within RE. The findings show that RE
developments over the course of the academic year can be identified in all three classes, and that there are differences among the classes in both achievement levels and developments. What counts is the degree to which the communication practices of the classes facilitate RE learning. Among the individual communicative factors, ‘asking questions’ when one is curious or does not understand is an important factor. The greatest developments seem to be among less complex and learning-about forms of RE knowledge.

Researcher

Christina Osbeck

Research Institution

Gothenburg University

What is this about?

This is about 12-year-old RE pupils and their levels of success in developing subject knowledge. Are there differences between classes? (In the three classes studied, general levels of progress in core subjects are roughly the same, at slightly above the national average.) If there are differences, do these correlate with any particular communication practices that are established within the classes? Do they also correlate with pupil experiences of school, such as stating that schoolwork and RE are enjoyable, or feeling that you are good at RE?

What was done?

A test was developed, in two parts, with four tasks altogether, spanning different elements of RE knowledge. The first part was taken in the Autumn of the school year, the second in the Spring. The test scores were analysed, closely, with attention to differential development rates in each class and in different test items.

Main findings and outputs

• When other variables are factored in, there remains a difference in development of knowledge between classes, one class showing a statistically significant higher rate.
• There is also a statistically significant higher rate of development of knowledge in relation to one type of test task, across the three classes: this test task focuses on knowledge of Judaism and the Bar Mitzvah; the lowest rate of development occurs where pupils are asked to interpret a picture of a square containing a church and a mosque, and whether the picture could have been taken a hundred years ago.
• Membership of a particular class, or kind of class, appears to impact positively on knowledge development in RE.
• The communication practice within this class, of pupils asking and answering questions about matters about which they are curious or unsure, appears to impact positively on knowledge development in RE.
• Other important positive factors in knowledge development in RE are existential discussions at home (for ethics), viewing yourself as good at RE and seeing schoolwork and RE as enjoyable.

Relevance to RE

The final paragraph of the article reporting the research (reference below) brings out the relevance to RE teaching very well. As a paraphrase: teachers need to learn effective questioning and to encourage pupils to formulate and ask questions; teachers need to focus hard on pupils’ knowledge development, and set up a classroom climate to promote it; teachers should aim to promote knowledge of aspects of RE which are harder to achieve than others, or are neglected, including learning from religion; and overall, teachers should work on the basis that classroom questions visualise learning, both teachers and pupils gaining information about what pupils know and do not know.

Generalisability and potential limitations

This is a fairly small-scale study, though carried out through a sophisticated methodology. The data are analysed carefully to bring out some clear and important messages for RE teachers.

Find out more

Christina Osbeck (2019) Knowledge development of tweens in RE – the importance of school class and communication, British Journal of Religious Education, 41:3, 247-260.

https://doi.org/10.1080/01416200.2017.1361379

Research Summary

The research was conducted during 2018 in a secondary school in South Yorkshire, England with a class of 11–12-year-old boys and girls and the class teacher of religious education (RE), in consultation with the head and deputy head of the RE faculty. The focus of the project was on the extent to which existing research findings can assist teachers to deal with issues of religious diversity, including how the classroom can be a ‘safe space’ for dialogue and discussion and how media influences can be managed; issues identified in the Council of Europe publication Signposts (written by Bob Jackson and available for free download at http://www.theewc.org/Content/Library/COE-Steering-documents/Recommendations/Signposts-Policy-and-practice-for-teaching-about-religions-and-non-religious-world-views-in-intercultural-education ). The findings highlight: the need for teachers to be given support in learning skills for managing classroom dialogue; the interest of young people in exploring difference; and the benefits to teachers of participation in classroom-based collaborative research.

Researchers

Dr Kevin O’Grady & Professor Robert Jackson

Research Institution

University of Warwick

What is this about?

• Making use of research findings to help teachers to strengthen and refine RE pedagogy.
• Assisting teachers to teach Y7 pupils to manage issues of religious and cultural diversity and difference.
• Ways in which Y7 pupils value RE, and how to build on these to secure progressively better engagement.
• Why and how teachers can benefit from contact with researchers and research findings.

What was done?

One of the researchers joined a school’s RE faculty for a series of discussions and planning meetings, during which a small number of research reports were used as the basis for a series of enhancements to a Y7 scheme of work on Christianity and the environment. The researcher then observed the research-enhanced lessons, keeping an observation log. A sample of pupils completed questionnaires about their experiences of the lessons, a further sample also participating in interviews that explored these in more depth. Members of the teaching team were also interviewed about the project’s contribution to their professional practice.

Main findings and outputs

• Discussion of controversial issues of religious and cultural difference is aided by clear classroom ground rules, especially when pupils contribute to the identification and setting of those rules.
• Contact with representatives of religious groups in the local area (e.g. by interviewing relatives or family friends as homework) helps build pupils’ motivation and their sense of RE’s relevance.
• Religious texts should be approached through a hermeneutical questioning framework: e.g., what would this have meant when originally written and read? What different interpretations are possible? What different meanings or interpretations might be given to it today, by people of different backgrounds or interests?
• Pupils experience RE as interesting when it investigates different views of the world and lifestyles, and differences between people. Pedagogy is successful when it genuinely enables such investigation.
• Contact with researchers and research findings can give teachers increased confidence and new angles on classroom practice. The non-judgmental, collaborative, subject-specific nature of this joint research contrasted positively, for the teachers, with being ‘monitored’ or receiving generic, data-driven CPD.

Relevance to RE

RE teachers could adopt the pedagogical strategies outlined in the research to their own situation and practice. They could make links to researchers and research and undertake similar projects of their own. Culham St Gabriel’s would be very interested to discuss and help shape such projects. Email Kevin@cstg.org.uk

Generalisability and potential limitations

The study was only of one school, but could prove to be a useful pilot to follow up in others. The action research methodology and published research sources used are broader and more established. The concept of research-enhanced teaching (where a research finding is used to model a small-scale ‘tweak’ to classroom practice, costing little time or effort relative to the significant positive effects) calls for further exemplification, which the researchers hope to generate in further studies.

Find out more

Kevin O’Grady & Robert Jackson (2019): ‘A touchy subject’: teaching and learning about difference in the religious education classroom, Journal of Beliefs & Values, DOI: 10.1080/13617672.2019.1614755