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I wasn’t surprised that last September’s REChat on research raised the issue of effective teaching, and how research can be used to strengthen RE’s position as an academic subject. Currently much attention is being given to how to teach effectively about religious texts and what academic research tells us about this. I’ll go back to a 2012 article to draw out some useful pointers. [i]

The research was carried out in a variety of English schools, finding that primary teachers used the Bible more positively than did secondary ones. In secondary schools, teachers and pupils often expressed negativity about the use of books! Primary teachers seemed better equipped and more determined to help pupils to develop a love of reading.

Here are some key findings of the research:

• Good primary teachers present Bible stories as representing realities that may be different from those of their pupils, and to ask them to think about what is strange or puzzling.
• Secondary teachers could build on this unsettling process. In teaching e.g. Shakespeare they do so. In RE, pupils should be open to possible different meanings or puzzles, expanding their horizons. Secondary RE teachers might try to build on the successes of good primary practice.
  • This would include presenting stories ‘whole’, with attention to their original context, and encouraging pupils to be patient and imaginative whilst reading and thinking about them.
  • Pupils should consider different possible interpretations of stories, the perspectives and roles of different characters in stories and the questions and issues raised, including why the stories may be unsettling.

How might a good lesson look? Those of you teaching AQA GCSE specification A (Theme H: St Mark’s Gospel as a source of religious, moral and spiritual truths) will be grappling with the Parable of the Sower, and others might do so as part of general work on Christianity. There is no problem in presenting the parable as a puzzle: it already is, as Jesus indicates when quoting Isaiah at Mark 4:12, suggesting that anyone who wants to understand the parable should have to transform himself or herself first. But you could introduce the parable to the class as a puzzle or series of puzzles to solve. First read it aloud to them, perhaps, inviting any questions or comments straight afterwards and taking time to discuss these. Then get them to form groups, tasked to analyse the parable, of which they should have printed copies (a good idea is to print in the centre of an A3 sheet, leaving plenty of room to annotate around). Stress that their analysis should involve repeated reading of the parable and discussion of different possible answers to questions displayed on the IWB, including:

• Why has the crowd gathered? What do they want? How do they feel? How would you describe the atmosphere? Are they satisfied at the end?
• Imagine yourself in the farmer’s role. What does he learn from the experience of sowing the seeds in the different conditions?
• Imagine yourself in the roles of those ‘outside’ (the crowd on the shore) and then ‘inside’ (the disciples): how does each understand the parable? What is the difference?
• What about Jesus’s perspective? What is he trying to communicate? Why does he reveal this to those ‘inside’, leaving those ‘outside’ to struggle with the parable?
• What is strange or puzzling about the story as a whole (situation and parable)?

They might not have time to deal meaningfully with all of this! One option is to divide the class into five groups, give one of the above questions or question sets to each group, and let each in turn present their views in a plenary after say 20 minutes of discussion and analysis time. Another is to let each group choose one or two questions on which to focus their analysis.

The enquiry-led approach doesn’t rule out the use of teacher explanation at a different stage, or in response to pupils’ questions. An account of the background and different interpretations of the Parable of the Sower can be found at https://www.bibleodyssey.org/en/passages/main-articles/parable-of-the-sower . In the end, it stresses how the fertility of the soil should be compared to the receptivity of those who respond to Jesus’s message.

[i] We have reported this at Using the Bible – what secondary teachers can learn from primary teachers

One member of the September 9 REChat on research raised the issue of ‘official’ versions of religions contrasting with how they are lived by individuals in Britain today. Research on religion gives up-to-date detail on the latter. I’ll look at one example of this and draw out some classroom applications.

The research looked at the importance of home shrines. [i] It was a survey of 417 Buddhist teenagers of different traditions. The main findings were:

• 70% of British Buddhist teenagers had a shrine in their homes.
• Having a home shrine corresponded with heightened religiosity.
• Those with a shrine at home were significantly more likely to have a daily religious practice (22%) than those without a shrine (7%). Those with a shrine were also significantly more likely to bow to their parents (66%) than those without shrines (36%). Those with a shrine were significantly less likely to attend a temple on a weekly basis (41%) than those without (74%).
• Home shrines were significantly linked with Buddhist religiosity in female, heritage Buddhists in their late teens.
• For female, heritage Buddhists in particular, the shrine helped remind them about the Buddha and Buddhist clergy as symbols of their religion. This included feeling that life has a sense of purpose, considering oneself a ‘proper’ Buddhist, and thinking that Buddhist monks do a good job.
• For male, convert, and early teen Buddhists particularly, the presence of the shrine had more to do with identity than religiosity.

How can these data be used in teaching? Within a topic on Buddhism, you could plan a lesson on home shrines, perhaps following a more traditional one on places of worship. In the first part of the lesson, pupils could use e.g. https://www.thedhammalife.com/how-to-set-up-buddhist-altar-or-shrine-at-home/ to research what is involved in setting up a home shrine and why the different objects (and their placings) are important to Buddhists. Next, as a bridge, different pupils could feed back their findings to the class. In the second part of the lesson, groups or pairs of pupils could be given sets of the research findings, cut into individual strips, and asked to arrange these in order of interest or significance. They may wish to ask about vocabulary such as ‘heritage’, ‘convert’, or ‘religiosity’, developing religious literacy. They should note their reasons and any further questions they want to raise. The plenary would involve different pupils giving their findings and questions to the class, with the teacher also contributing questions for discussion: e.g. why might female and heritage Buddhists relate to home shrines more ‘religiously’? Why might male and convert Buddhists relate to home shrines more in terms of personal identity? Future lessons on gender in different religions might interleave back to this lesson.

[i] We have reported it at Does it matter whether Buddhists have home shrines?

The September 9 REChat on research saw teachers asking for research on various aspects of RE practice. In this blog I’ll focus on three of those: research on how religion is lived in practice, statistics on religion and research on how to be effective as a classroom teacher.

Researchers at the University of Warwick studied British Muslim female 13-15-year-olds. [i] They found them to have distinctive values and attitudes to religion. Here are the findings:

• Religious identity is important to young Muslim women in Britain: 84% agreed that this is so, and 88% said that being Muslim was the most important factor in their identity.
• Further, they tend to be surrounded by family and friends who think religion to be important.
• Nearly three quarters regarded themselves as a religious person (71%) but only one quarter regarded themselves as a spiritual person (26%).
• At least three in every five often talked about religion with their mother (66%) and slightly less frequently with their father (49%).
• Studying religion at school had helped 90% to understand people from other religions and 81% to understand people from different racial backgrounds. 78% found learning about different religions in school interesting, and 68% found studying religion at school had shaped their views about religion.
• 89% believed in God, 94% believed in heaven, and 89% believed in hell.
• The majority supported the views that we must respect all religions (94%) and that all religious groups in Britain should have equal rights (90%).
• 82% agreed that having people from different religious backgrounds made their school an interesting place.

One REChat participant talked about how statistical snapshots sum up lessons well and provoke discussion on religion. Pupils could be asked whether they find the statistics surprising, or how to interpret them.

You could use the statistics to help pupils to think in detail about Islam in contemporary Britain and develop a nuanced, evidence-informed perspective. Let’s say you gave the second half of a 60-minute lesson to this. The first half might be on any aspect of Islam. The second could be a group discussion activity followed by a plenary. In the group discussion activity, pupils would be given the statistical summary with all percentages and figures left out, and asked to estimate them, noting reasons (15 minutes). In the plenary, some pupils would state their estimates and reasons, others being invited to counter-suggest and comment; the complete set would then be displayed, for pupil reaction and teacher questions, e.g. how would you explain the fact that Muslim young women are slightly more likely to discuss religion with their mothers than fathers, or that 11% do not believe in God? And: what, overall, have you learned from this activity? What further questions would you ask (do you think that the statistics leave anything out)?

Research on classroom interaction tells us that pupils gain more knowledge of religion when they are able to ask and answer questions about which they are curious or unsure.[ii] Making use of pupils’ natural curiosity is certainly one way to teach effectively and enjoyably.

[i] We have reported the research more fully at What does it mean to be a Muslim young woman in Britain today?

[ii] You can find this research at Knowledge development of tweens in RE – the importance of school class and communication

When thinking about how to revitalise the curriculum, there was one thing that came to mind, trips! In my NQT year, I became a KS3 lead for RS in a large community school in Reading. I shook up the curriculum and found a Year 7 and Year 8 trip to fit in with the schemes of work. Over the years we have been to St Paul’s cathedral, Neasden Temple, Wat Buddhapadipa, Westminster Abbey, the Victoria and Albert Museum and the British Museum.

As our KS4 team went to the local mosque, I wanted to take students out of their comfort zones. Some of them had never been to London, let alone to a place of worship. As teachers, we sometimes think that our normal is their normal, and we couldn’t be further from the truth.

I have never had a behaviour issue on a trip. I’m not a guru, I don’t have a magic wand, students just know how to play the game. They knew they were released into public; they can see that they are being trusted. Even when a Buddhist monk asked them to chant ‘I love my teachers’ at the top of their voices, they obliged.

The knowledge that students can take from the first-hand experience of visiting a place of worship is invaluable. Seeing the imagery, sacred texts and even first-hand experience of people worshipping can support an exam answer better than any other format can.

In an age where we are trying to get students a 9, in an un-tiered exam, we need to include experiences in our teaching that they wouldn’t normally have. What can we do to set them apart from the rest?

‘I don’t have time’; I hear you cry. ‘My school will never cover me’; I hear you say. There are usually ways around it. In January, I am taking my students to a Catholic Church, Church of England Church and a Mosque for £3.50. Insurance, minibus and donation all included. I am taking students out of their lesson with me, they don’t miss any other lesson. The cover is me and the token member of SLT who happens to be free at that time. The offsite coordinator sat with me, and within 20 minutes the forms, letter, budget and risk assessments were completed.

There is always a way to get students that personal experience. Do you really need a coach? Can you walk there or get there another way?

My thought for this year is, London isn’t the only place that has places of worship. I want to show them where their peers and neighbours worship, again making those real life links.

If we really want to bring religion to life, sometimes, we need to bring them to the religion.

I have taught RE since 2003, as an SLE for RE and RE consultant for SACRE. As such I support colleagues across Milton Keynes in projects that involve increasing student engagement in the humanities subjects and interfaith dialogue. I have been teaching Sociology, Religious Studies and Health and Social Care for the past 5 years. Currently outside my teaching timetable, I work one day a week with secondary schools across the town to improve community cohesion.

When RE was not included in the EBacc I became frustrated by the declining status of RE and non-rigorous approaches to teaching RE. So, in 2015 I contemplated giving up teaching altogether but then applied to teach Sociology and Health and Social Care in another local school. I threw myself from a lovely part-time job into a challenging full-time role teaching two new A level subjects and other Humanities subjects at KS3. Yes, you must think I was mad. I felt like an NQT again, reading in the early hours of the morning to build on my subject knowledge before my two small children would wake up. Little did I know what this journey would start…

As part of this new adventure, I was also given permission to take the lead in RE and it was made clear that the school wanted to raise the profile of the subject. The Humanities team placed a high value on RE and believed that RE underpins the concepts and emotions that help young people understand and appreciate belief and practice and understanding of our own culture and society. This appreciation of RE as an intellectual discipline enabled me to gain the full support I needed to make changes to RE across the school.  I decided to set up an interfaith group in the school and use the ideas of our students to redesign the RE into a curriculum that met their needs. Every week I would meet with a range of students who represented atheist, agnostic and theistic beliefs.

Before the Commission of RE report (2018) was released, we started taking a multidisciplinary approach to RE and decided to teach the subject, so it reflects the diversity of the beliefs of our students. As a result, we now have over 50 students studying A Level Religious Studies and 6 GCSE option groups. Without receiving the incredible level of support and trust from all my colleagues, the foundations for setting up Youth SACRE MK and a growing interest in RE would never have been possible.

One of our school improvement officers had heard about the growing success of RE in our school and invited me to attend a SACRE meeting. I shared my concerns about the general decline of RE both nationally and locally. I then started working with the Milton Keynes SACRE to form a ‘Youth SACRE’. I approached senior leaders in my school and received both advice and practical support concerning advertising and booking events. A lot of support given by the head of the teaching school meant that all the systems were in place to email all schools in the town. I personally wrote to individual RE leads and local feeder schools and advertised events through Educate, SACRE contacts, and through word of mouth. We hold 5/6 meetings a year for Year 5 to Year 13 students. All meetings are held between 1-3pm so that it is less disruptive for schools and easier for primary schools to attend. Each school brings up to 6 pupils and sometimes more if we have the capacity.

The aim of Youth SACRE was originally to bring pupils together and share ideas and resources in a bid to update local RE to meet the needs of the diverse community of children. Our first Youth SACRE meeting was attended by over 14 schools. Out of this, the Youth SACRE has provided many opportunities for students and teachers all over Milton Keynes to build a bridge of cooperation between young people of all faith and non-faith backgrounds.  Members of the Youth SACRE presented their thoughts on RE at one of the primary head teachers meetings and have worked together to improve and update the locally agreed syllabus. RE in our local feeder schools has improved. Our young people have been asked to present at the annual Holocaust Memorial and other Interfaith events. The group continues to support a new vision for RE that promotes freedom of thought, increased tolerance and respect of others. The pupils reflect the community of interfaith cooperation and older pupils get to demonstrate true leadership in helping the younger pupils.

The Youth SACRE meetings are also designed to inspire RE teachers (and non-specialists) with ideas and literature to support their own planning in RE.  It is not easy balancing a full-time teaching role and promoting RE through Youth SACRE, it requires a lot of sacrifice of ‘free’ time. Sometimes the dates for the meetings have not worked out so now we know which times of the year to avoid and all the dates are set for the year in advance. It is not always easy to pitch the activities to ensure we are engaging both primary and secondary pupils and we have had to refine our activities to meet the needs of the schools who attend. It has been particularly difficult to get all the secondary schools on board and another challenge is reaching out to primaries who are not teaching RE at all.

In classrooms when RE is taught well by subject specialists or most importantly, by non-specialists who care about RE, students love the subject. I would encourage all RE specialist teachers to collaborate and work together to set up a Youth SACRE in your local area. Our non-specialist colleagues need guidance and inspiration and they are willing to receive support if it is made easier for them. Young people love discussing faith and they love meeting other students in their local town. Teachers gain inspiration from these meetings and our young people empower us to do more in supporting RE to meet the needs of 21^st century Britain.

I love my job, but boy can it can be a lonely place as a teacher of Religious Studies. Often in a one-person department, the smallest budget in the school, parents who are anti-RE, lack of understanding from the SLT, and the constant “Why are we learning this? I’m not religious!” comments from many students.

When I heard that NATRE were looking for Regional Ambassadors, I immediately thought of my colleagues who may feel exhausted or despondent for the reasons I’ve just mentioned, and felt that I wanted to support them if I could. I wanted to be a part of helping those teachers find like-minded RE teachers and be part of a local network of support, resource- sharing and friendship. I was absolutely thrilled when I got the job.

I began my journey as a Regional Ambassador in February ’19 and I’ve enjoyed my role so far. I’ve been to some amazing local groups, where teachers have given up their time because they know there is power and safety in numbers. These RE teachers and advisers have a passion for RE teaching and learning and have a desire to share their experience and wisdom with others. I’ve loved seeing the joy on a teacher’s face as they’ve heard from others that their own experience is not isolated, or when they’ve learned something new that they’ll be able to impart in their own schools. I’ve met with leaders and potential leaders who are willing to take a risk and lead a group because they know there is a need in their local area.

I’ve also attended SACRE meetings to talk about RE, and also a wonderful Youth SACRE. It’s amazing to know that young people have a desire to learn about other faiths and worldviews, despite what the media and SLTs might tell you is the value of RE.

One of the ways I’ve been able to reach RE teachers is through Social Media. I’ve set up a group for my region, South Central, on Facebook. It’s called ‘RE Teachers in South Central’ if you’d like to join! I post encouraging documents, websites for CPD and resource links to help my colleagues in the region. Other teachers and RE professionals can also post ideas and resources, or share their experiences. I use it as a platform to point people to local RE groups as the main reason for my role is to encourage teachers to be part of a network. It is important to me that no one is mocked or left out because of their subject knowledge or experience, no matter their question or concern. I also use Twitter to signpost people to the local groups in their area, relevant research and to share resources and links to help them on their teaching journey. You can follow me on @SPayneRE.

There are lots of ways that Social Media can help teachers, from being able to share their problems and issues, to sharing resources, tips and experiences which can support others’ lessons. Collaboration is so vital in our subject. You can find that you are not alone or isolated at all.

To see who your Regional Ambassador is visit https://www.natre.org.uk/about-natre/re-in-your-region/re-ambassadors/

Leaving University and applying for PGCE provided me with a conundrum. Finish my RE and Theology degree and begin Primary training, where my instincts told me I would best fit, or hold tight to RE –  the subject that I loved and train as a secondary teacher? Much to the disappointment of some of my secondary school and University tutors I opted for the former, promptly volunteered myself as RE subject leader within my small North Somerset primary school, and set about enjoying the challenge of enthusing my colleagues, updating school practices, and engaging my pupils in Key Stage 2.  After a few years though, I found myself really missing any major engagement with RE, and frustrated by the issues clearly facing the subject in my area and in general, I decided to investigate how I might get involved with the subject a little more at a local level. I volunteered myself for my local SACRE where a position was luckily available for me.  It was invigorating to spend time amongst others for whom RE was so important and I began to enquire how else I may be able to support the subject.

Along came Learn Teach Lead RE!  After several years of success in Area 1 – Devon and Cornwall, the LTLRE team were to develop ‘Area 2’ in my region and were seeking enthusiastic teachers and potential leaders of RE to work in this area. I was excited and optimistic on successfully receiving the role of ‘hub leader’ for North Somerset and set about developing local group meetings three times a year. This sadly coincided with a huge reduction in funding in my local authority and I have found myself filling a gap for local teachers of RE who now only have LTLRE to offer them any forum for networking in our subject. My group affiliated to NATRE and I was hugely grateful for inspiration from the termly newsletter I received from the local groups team, as well as ideas and information from my termly issues of RE Today received through my school membership. Through this I heard of the new Ambassadors programme in 2018 and was thrilled to be appointed as Regional Ambassador for the South West region in January last year.

I found myself sat on a train to Birmingham on a snowy day in February, and once again spent a day hugely inspired by being in the company of a passionate and motivated team who had been appointed by NATRE to represent ten regions across the country. We are united in our hope of improving teacher access to local support in RE and are all working hard to try and join some dots locally and nationally to provide greater consistency in the CPD opportunities both Primary and Secondary teachers are able to access in RE. Amongst many project aims is the key goal of making Religion and Worldviews teacher groups accessible to all teachers of the subject across the country, and at a reasonable distance from where they work. So far through my role I have embraced the somewhat scary world of RE social media (see my Facebook group ‘RE in the Southwest’ or follow me on Twitter @mrsharrisRE), sought and supported new local group leaders of RE just like myself, attended numerous meetings and events where I am now able to hear about important developments in our subject and pass vital information on to teachers across the region.

I would urge anyone with a passion for RE to take the plunge; see what opportunities might be out there for you, approach your local SACRE or LTLRE hub, contact us at NATRE local groups, or visit your nearest hub or group and offer your support and enthusiasm. You never know where you may end up!

To see who your Regional Ambassador is visit https://www.natre.org.uk/about-natre/re-in-your-region/re-ambassadors/

I took over the RE provision at Foxdell Infants School about 5 years ago. We already had our Bronze Award. I wanted to take RE to another level and create memories that the children would cherish. I felt that we had speakers who attended our school but it was difficult for our students to fully engage. I wanted to create a more interactive approach whereby the children could be more involved.

I organised Art workshops in conjunction with the church to enable parents to work with their children using a common theme. The subject was ‘light’, we organised art and craft activities which included all the religions. The workshop was very well received with excellent feedback.

During Diwali I organised stick dancing; this enabled the children to join in with the festivities. We also have our very own Holi festival which the children look forward to every year. It’s one time in the year that they can really run loose and enjoy the freedom of paint throwing. Every year lessons are learnt on how we can improve. The children particularly like to join in with the Bollywood dancing.

We also try to work alongside charities, our school recently worked with Ummah Trust and made charity boxes for the less privileged.  We raised £1000! The children all received prizes which further motivated them.

We have worked with Crisis Aid and invited back our visitors who shared a video of where the aid went and showed the children receiving the gifts. The parents were also invited for this and were happy to see where their kind donations had gone.

We try to set competition and home-work projects for parents and children to work on together. We have set faith card competitions, Easter Bonnet competitions and ‘paint and decorate your own Diva’ competitions.

Children at Foxdell have also painted a canvas showing a Mosque for the Discover Islam Centre. This is displayed at their centre.

We also invite speakers to host assemblies, quizzes, and religious talks where children are given the opportunity to ask questions.

We have organised trips into the community where children have visited Luton Foodbank and a residential home for the elderly. Children were able to demonstrate their values and help make a food box and delivery hampers to the elderly as well as listen to their childhood stories.

Our Christingle service is also a very big event which the children love to participate in. The service is lovely and brings the school together. We also have a nativity for the reception children who look beautiful in their shiny costumes.

We had decided to renew our Bronze Award but as we were getting assessed we qualified for Silver with elements of Gold!

The children were the reason we achieved this, as they were very passionate about the RE in our school. It has been embedded in them so they could talk about what we do and what they learn. In our school RE is reflected in the classrooms, in the corridor, through pupil’s voice and through our planning. We try to plan creatively ensuring all pupils are motivated by this fascinating subject. I am hoping to continue this work and continue supporting staff to deliver exciting lessons!

My advice to anyone thinking of going for the REQM is make it exciting, create a buzz and capture the pupils voice, do not give away the RE lessons to staff covering your lessons, teach them yourself! RE lessons can be perfect in enabling you to truly understand the children you work with as this is the time they can share their personal experiences. This is the time you can hear their voice, this is the time you are one step closer to achieving your Quality Mark!

I’d anticipate several answers to the above question. Some people might ask why that’s important, others might reply ‘not enough’, others (such as me) might say plenty, potentially. I’ll reflect back over two very recent conference sessions then look at each view in turn.

Firstly, the national ResearchED conference on September 7, held at Chobham Academy, London, included an interesting talk by Michael Eggleton on creating a mentally healthy school. Michael is a deputy head at Charles Dickens school, leading there and in other schools on the use of the RULER system developed at Yale University to foster children’s emotional intelligence.  [i] I have no doubts about the sincerity and positive effects of the approach, but it does seem to beg wider questions about twenty-first century schools. Research shows that their dominant accountability culture causes or exacerbates mental health problems in children and young people. [ii] Michael Eggleton spoke of some difficulty in persuading his colleagues in school that lessons on emotional intelligence were worth interrupting the ‘normal’ processes or aims. I understand this but wonder where we have arrived when schools seem not to be driven by basic purposes of promoting pupils’ well-being.

This misidentification of pupil well-being as an insertion into or interruption of normality also came up at the conference of the British Educational Research Association held from September 10 – 12 at the University of Manchester. Josie Maitland is a researcher at the University of Brighton and presented on her work on a school which was attempting to develop a whole-school approach to mental health. Shared community values, a sense of belonging and of school as a kind of family were all important, as was pupil voice, but what was good often happened in spite of the agenda that the school was a business and needed to generate outcomes. Government policy initiatives don’t seem to address these factors. [iii]

Why are these issues important for RE and research? The reasons are legal and educational, based on the purposes of the curriculum in England, which include promoting the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils and society, preparing pupils for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life and providing pupils with an introduction to the essential knowledge they need to be educated citizens.[iv] Note that these provisions apply to all schools and all subjects and that subject knowledge isn’t an end in itself. RE, like all subjects, should be justified by its contribution to these purposes and, I’d argue, research should support us to develop the subject appropriately. The CORE report echoes the same mandate.[v] It might be replied that mental health and well-being aren’t quite the same as personal development and citizenship, but impaired mental health and well-being would put at risk pupils’ personal development and citizenship chances (and vice versa).

On the argument that RE research doesn’t offer any perspectives on young people’s mental health or well-being, it would probably be made on the basis that no or few published articles or books exist on this. In fact, the field’s only just emerging, as a clearly defined one. [vi] Researchers in Japan and the Philippines have just provided a useful overall review of where the material is, internationally, concluding that whilst internalisation of religious attitudes can have positive or negative effects, where that is an aim for RE, exploring issues within and across faiths can improve adolescents’ healthy sense of connectedness. [vii]

The article from Japan and the Philippines doesn’t go deeply into relations between RE, mental health and well-being, but plenty of RE research does, if re-interpreted with those concepts in mind. Let me just give one example, referring back to my August and September blog. [viii] I wrote there about classroom-based research I’d done in collaboration with Bob Jackson, a group of RE teachers and a group of year 7 pupils. The pupils referred to RE as a ‘touchy subject’. They valued the changes their teacher had made, influenced by the research to which we’d introduced her: establishing a discussion framework sufficiently safe to discuss religion, asking them to make use of family or community contacts to research religion and teaching them to look at a religious text from different angles. They said that they now felt more able to benefit from the subject, especially in relation to what they saw as its main advantage, their understanding of difference in society. Something I didn’t mention in the blog was that at an early stage in the project, the teachers had told me that their pupils lived in a climate of fear. They were worried by many aspects of life (crime, war, Brexit, their own uncertain futures) and looked to teachers for help. This isn’t easy, for either young people or teachers, so it was good to record the gains in comprehension of religious difference and confidence in speaking about it which accrued through the research process. It only takes adjustment of language to see these as promoting pupils’ mental health and well-being.

Young people’s mental health and well-being are not an initiative, or a bolt-on, or an extra purpose for RE or any other subject. The point is rather that RE’s rich subject content can be taught and learned about in ways that promote them, based on the legal and educational reality that that’s what it’s for. In the right affective context, as our research showed, teachers get to teach more of it and better. [ix]

[i] See https://www.londonsouthtsa.org.uk/school-to-school-support/sles/michael-eggleton.php and http://ei.yale.edu/ruler/

[ii] See Merryn Hutchings, “Exam Factories? The Impact of Accountability Measures on Children and

Young People,” available open access  at https://www.teachers.org.uk/files/exam-factories.pdf, p.55 ff.

[iii] See https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/transforming-children-and-young-peoples-mental-health-provision-a-green-paper

[iv] UK government Department for Education, “Statutory Guidance: National Curriculum in

England: framework for key stages 1 to 4,” available at

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-curriculum-in-england-framework-for-key-

stages-1-to-4/the-national-curriculum-in-england-framework-for-key-stages-1-to-4

[v] See CORE, p.3: “Young people today are growing up in a world where there is increasing awareness of the diversity of religious and non-religious worldviews, and they will need to live and work well with people with very different worldviews from themselves.”

[vi] https://ijmhs.biomedcentral.com/track/pdf/10.1186/s13033-019-0286-7

[vii] Crystal Amiel M. Estrada, Marian Fe Theresa C. Lomboy , Ernesto R. Gregorio Jr. , Emmy Amalia , Cynthia R. Leynes , Romeo R. Quizon and Jun Kobayashi, “Religious education can contribute to adolescent mental health in school settings, ” International Journal of Mental Health Systems 13:28 (2019): available open access at https://ijmhs.biomedcentral.com/track/pdf/10.1186/s13033-019-0286-7

[viii] Kevin O’Grady, “What do Year 7 pupils think of RE? That it’s a ‘Touchy Subject’.” Blog available at

https://www.reonline.org.uk/blog/what-do-year-7-pupils-think-of-re/

[ix] As we illustrate in the original article, the improved learning atmosphere meant that the teacher could use her very good subject knowledge more fully, to pupils’ advantage. See 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

As a Primary teacher and then Headteacher I have taught pretty much everything over the years. However I love RE because of the variety of areas within the subject. I have always been fascinated by students’ responses to what they learn in RE, especially if they have a ‘lightbulb moment’.

I retired from Headship and took up a post as a local RE adviser. I did this so I could continue to be involved in policy and debate about RE, as well as the development of teaching and learning. As a local adviser I try to share and support the areas of the subject that I believe are essential for education in the 21^st Century. I try to kindle the excitement I feel about the subject when working with the council, local faith bodies and other stakeholders.

I have run a Primary and Secondary network for years now. The network is small but we have members from a variety of settings. This is particularly important to me; to be able to support all phases and types of school. RE matters in all of them. Some members attend regularly, others can only make it once a year. All are keen to attend and keep in touch. When members can’t attend it is always due to their busy lives, the demands of childcare, work and family.

My overall aim for the network is simple; to support teachers so they can do their best for their students. Teachers need to be kept abreast of current and future changes. I hope to empower teachers to work positively with their senior team and colleagues so they can be the best subject leader they can (without dying in the attempt).

I keep the network going by publishing dates and agendas early, and sticking to them. I need to be well-planned and forward thinking as well as responsive to needs and requests when setting agendas. I also keep in touch between meetings, especially if help is sought. Teachers don’t always need help on the date of the scheduled meeting, an adviser doesn’t stop being an adviser between network sessions. As an adviser I see it as my job to ensure important policy, national and local directives are explored and time is given to teachers to discuss and make sense of them.  I like to share examples of good practice, teaching resources or CPD. Teachers are inspired by all sorts of new ideas, and it is my job to bring a wide selection for consideration.

At sessions I am welcoming and friendly, and when possible enable teachers to lead meetings themselves so the network belongs to them. I always involve teachers in local policy development such as our revised Locally Agreed Syllabus. I respect their views, welcome their input and take their concerns seriously.  Issues I have had recently are teachers’ worries about preparing for Ofsted, especially in situations where the senior team are not fully supportive of RE’s place in the curriculum or it’s status in law, as in some local academies. My teachers are dedicated and passionate but they are also overworked. They struggle to keeping RE fresh and new, lively and interesting in their schools, as they don’t always have the time to plan new material.  I have also had to support teachers who are dealing with withdrawals from RE. in all instances I need to be prepared and briefed, in order to give the best advice.

Ongoing issues for teachers are when staff meetings, parents’ evenings  or Inset days are diarised by headteachers to take priority over attendance at Network Meetings. We have a local system which should avoid this, but so often RE is not seen as important enough to protect. I am sure many other advisers around the country find that it is not teachers who are the problem, it is the lack of support, status and interest paid to teachers of RE that is so often the problem.

Despite the battles we sometimes have to fight, local networks are truly excellent value. They allow teachers to help other teachers, sharing ideas, successes and news about special events. My teachers as a group offer each other so much.  They support each other to achieve excellence in subject leadership, especially those new to the role, as well as sharing news about good venues for visits, good local speakers and resources they have used and found helpful. However the moral support and friendship is what really makes the network special, and why teachers come back.

I hope that RE will be embraced as the fantastically rich, varied and engaging subject it undoubtedly is. I see RE as the route to understanding what it is to be essentially human, socially connected, aware, positive and responsive to the local and national community. I see deep value in RE’s capacity to foster, between different groups, understanding, respect, empathy, mutual trust and liking so people can live together in harmony and with mutual support.