Global terms: Other Evidence Informed Practice & Research

Research Summary: Learning outside the classroom in RE / Religion and Worldviews

A practitioner action research community of practice of teachers and mid-level policy enactors was formed, to engage with the question of how to enhance RE /R&W in primary schools serving socially disadvantaged children. The members’ professional values and assumptions were explored, and the needs of primary teachers in contexts of social disadvantage were assessed. The advantages of effective school-community partnerships were highlighted, leading to a recognition of the importance of learning outside the classroom in RE / R&W. A model was developed, centring on the importance of spaces for encountering the lived experience of religion, asking challenging questions, and sharing learning objectives.

Researchers

David Lundie, Waqaus Ali, Michael Ashton, Sue Billingsley, Hinnah Heydari, Karamat Iqbal, Kate McDowell & Matthew Thompson

Research Institution

School of Interdisciplinary Studies, University of Glasgow, Glasgow; Knowledge to Action, Blackburn; School of Education, Liverpool Hope University, Liverpool; Outwoods Primary School, Warwickshire; Liverpool Community Spirit; Forward Partnership; St Cleopas Primary School, Liverpool

What is this about?

This is about improving RE/R&W provision for primary age children in areas of social disadvantage. It is about the importance in this respect of learning outside the classroom, especially encounters with lived religion, pursuing challenging questions, and sharing learning objectives.

What was done?

There were three cycles of action research. In each cycle, problems were identified and success criteria envisioned. Data was collected to support deliberation in each cycle. For the first and second cycles, there was an online training needs analysis of 26 teachers. For the second and third cycles, interviews and surveys with primary age pupils were undertaken, as well as surveys of places of worship and discussions with NASACRE.

Main findings and outputs

Two-way authenticity: there is a need for authentic encounter between the voices of marginalised young people and authentic representation of lived faith. What gets in the way of this: turning field sites into museums or illustrations of textbook accounts of faith, or silencing ‘difficult’ questions from pupils.
Importance of sharing learning outcomes: schools and field sites should understand one another’s purpose in the relationship. A respectful and safe atmosphere is needed, with understanding the lived experience of faith; an openness to questions, as well as opportunities for reflection, resisting the tendency to treat places of worship as either a museum or an extension of the classroom.
Children ’emphasised the importance of hearing the visitor speak about their beliefs in their own words, how they live and worship, beliefs about God or gods, services they attend, how their religion is different to others, traditional stories, charity work and the relevance of religious buildings they are visiting’ (page 8).
‘A majority of the children said they would welcome the opportunity to ask questions about another person’s religion and how they lived, and that they would feel comfortable expressing their own views, though they did not feel that it would be appropriate to challenge a person’s religious beliefs. 79% agreed that visiting places of worship and welcoming religious visitors was useful in helping them understand a particular faith’ (page 8).
Many places of worship said they welcomed when teachers shared their learning aims ahead of a visit to enable them to understand pupils’ levels of prior learning.
Making the most of the opportunities from learning outside the classroom requires careful partnerships, effective preparation, the sharing of learning objectives and a willingness from pupils and field visitors alike to encounter challenging perspectives. The authors recommend the setting-up of an online portal to allow teachers and places of worship to link to one another, access self-evaluations, exemplification materials, and share aims and lesson plans.

Relevance to RE

The research illustrates the potential benefits of learning outside the classroom in RE / R&W, but also the work and care needed to maximise these. Teachers and others should be guided by it to develop genuine partnerships, based on the needs of schools and partner faith communities; and to prepare visits thoroughly, with close attention to the purposes brought by all participants and the kinds of questions children might pose and the experiences they might have.

Generalisability and potential limitations

Whilst action research studies are not generalisable as such, relying on contextual validity, the mixed-methods approach and professional rigour of this study mean that it is more than worthy of the attention of those seeking to address related concerns. Moreover, the findings regarding best practice in RE/R&W through school-community relationships are (at the very least) useful starting points for colleagues wishing to develop such relationships; and a reminder of the importance of these.

Find out more

David Lundie, Waqaus Ali, Michael Ashton, Sue Billingsley, Hinnah Heydari, Karamat Iqbal, Kate McDowell & Matthew Thompson (2021): A practitioner action research approach to learning outside the classroom in religious education: developing a dialogical model through reflection by teachers and faith field visitors, British Journal of Religious Education, DOI:10.1080/01416200.2021.1969896
The article is available open-access.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01416200.2021.1969896

Research Summary: Learning About Religion through Dialogue (LAR-D) final update report November 2021

Schools were linked to a selected and trained faith practitioner for an extended period of time, enabling an ongoing relationship to develop. The extended connection allowed for greater depth of dialogue, and thus, improved learning about the religion and culture of the faith in question. Schools reported that the project had reinvigorated their Religious Education and provided valuable professional development for staff.

Researchers

Mark Plater
Funding by All Saints Educational Foundation

Research Institution

Bishop Grosseteste University, Lincoln

What is this about?

Usually when schools have faith visitors (or make visits to places of worship) this is for a one-off, brief experience, and does not provide time for pupils and faith practitioners to get to know each other and to feel fully relaxed in discussing the complexity of issues that might be explored. Creating opportunity for longer term connections, it was hoped that genuine friendships might develop, enabling a much deeper level of connection and understanding.

What was done?

Funding was obtained to support six schools in a pilot programme, providing funds to release classroom practitioners for training events, and other project expenses. Faith practitioners from the selected religions were then identified, police checked, and trained by the Leicester based St Philip’s interfaith centre before being introduced to the relevant schools. Schools were then free to develop activities with their selected faith practitioner as appropriate to their needs.

Main findings and outputs

Two participating schools were unable to proceed with the programme for various reasons, but all of the others benefitted enormously from the programme, claiming that it had, strengthened teacher confidence in teaching about that religion, broken down stereotypes and assumptions, and given RE teaching an increased profile in the school.
Ongoing reports were provided on progress at three points during the programme, and a final report summarises the main outputs and overall impact.

Relevance to RE

First hand experience of dialogue with people from faith traditions is vital in order to make RE come alive and feel relevant and meaningful. However, there are benefits in developing long term dialogue relationships with a person of faith, rather than in brief encounters such as are usually organised (one-off speakers, or short visits to places of worship), helpful though these are.

Generalisability and potential limitations

This was a small-scale pilot study, and hoped-for further funding to expand the project is still being sought. Also, the project was interrupted by Covid and lockdowns, and some schools giving greater emphasis to Core subjects during the time that the study was in flow.

Find out more

https://bgro.repository.guildhe.ac.uk/id/eprint/884

Research Summary: Learning to Listen: Inquiry into Religious Literacy in Print and Broadcast Media

Interestingly, though focused on the media, the Inquiry’s report is not only for the media, but for everyone. From the Introduction: ‘Today, the UK is characterised by an incredible variety of beliefs, histories and perspectives. Complete agreement and uniformity is neither possible nor desirable. To live together well, it is beholden upon all of us to learn to listen to our fellow citizens and to do so with respect and curiosity before we move to judgement. Learning not just what people think, but why they think it, is essential in bridging gaps and crossing social and cultural divides. This is the broadest suggestion we would like to make – that our society can be richer, more harmonious and more confident in itself if we all learn to listen and empathise with that which we do not believe or support. A media that is diverse, curious and sensitive to the enormous variety of beliefs in the UK today can play a key role in fostering that society and we hope that our recommendations are useful tools to achieve that end.’ (p.4)

Researchers

The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Religion in the Media

Research Institution

The APPG on Religion in the Media report might best be described as a cross-institution output:

‘All-Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs) are informal cross-party groups that have no official status within Parliament. They are run by and for Members of the Commons and Lords, though many choose to involve individuals and organisations from outside Parliament in their administration and activities.’ https://www.parliament.uk/about/mps-and-lords/members/apg/

What is this about?

The inquiry set out ‘to explore how to encourage a media environment which is conducive to a rounded, informed public understanding of religion and the role religious literacy can play in achieving this end.’ (p.4)

What was done?

As well as ‘desk research’ (consulting existing publications), the inquiry had three methods:

Analysis of 55 written submissions, from different organisations and individuals (in academia, journalism, think tanks, faith groups, etc.).
Analysis of responses to ‘bespoke’ questions sent to media organisations including broadcasters and regulators.
Seven ‘oral evidence’ discussion sessions, engaging with 58 panellists in total: again, academics, faith group representatives, education and media specialists.

Main findings and outputs

The meaning of religious literacy is contested, but having considered the evidence, the APPG arrived at its own definition: ‘It incorporates knowledge, competency in engaging with religious ideas and people and the respect which derives from viewing religion to be a valid source of beliefs and values.’ (p.9) There is concern that religion is often reduced to its visual or liturgical facets, and that coverage can sensationalise, stereotype, contain basic errors, or fail to represent diversity. However, by avoiding these mistakes, the media can significantly increase public understanding of religion and broadcasters can inform while they entertain.
Seven ‘central recommendations’ are brought out:

Journalists and programme-makers should aim to explore the ‘lived experience’ of religion as well as its doctrinal, ritual, and ceremonial elements.
Newspapers and broadcasters should audit and publish full accounts of their religion and belief workforce statistics to provide a better sense of who is working in the industry so that disparities can be addressed.
Religious literacy training should be formally incorporated into professional media qualifications and journalists’ continuing professional development.
Newspapers should take greater care with the pictures and headlines they choose, recognising that this is all most viewers will see.
Independent regulation should be looked at again by policymakers because there remain significant issues around access to regulatory redress. In particular, groups should be able to make complaints on the grounds of discrimination.
The current religious programming hours required of the BBC should be protected in future reviews.
The remit of public service broadcasters should be redrafted to include the purpose of promoting religious literacy and all public service broadcasters should explore how they can use the full width of their output to increase religious literacy.

Relevance to RE

There are, perhaps, two main types of relevance to RE:

Teachers could use some of the seven recommendations as test criteria, for selecting media-based teaching resources and / or helping pupils to analyse and evaluate these. How far does this text / clip / image reflect lived experience of religion? Is this headline fair, balanced and appropriate? Would any groups or individuals have cause for complaint about it?
Curriculum developers and teachers could translate some of the recommendations into their own practice. How can we reflect the ‘lived experience’ of religion, as well as its doctrinal, ritual, and ceremonial elements, in curriculum plans and lessons? How can we ensure that curriculum plans, and lessons, cover religions and non-religious worldviews in fair, balanced and appropriate ways? Would any groups or individuals have cause for complaint about our curriculum plans or lessons?

In general, there are good points in the report to raise with pupils about the importance of accurate media reporting, and about how important RE / R&W is if you want to work in journalism or the media.

Generalisability and potential limitations

The report is the result of a very wide-ranging, thorough, multi-levelled inquiry and the findings are presented in some considerable detail. The findings are up-to-date (the report was published in April 2021).

Find out more

The report is available for free download from https://www.appgreligioninmedia.uk/publications-reports

Research Summary: LGBT Muslims – a different view of Islam?

The research builds on the idea that religions can be a cultural resource from which people can draw rather than a controlling background framework. In relation to Islam, different Muslim groups are seen to present different expressions of their own, that bypass traditional authorities. Anti-LGBT violence and pro-LGBT activism can both be viewed in this way. The research focuses on LGBT Muslims and their improvements on traditional Islamic scholarship, aimed at presenting Islam as a religion which embraces sexual and other forms of diversity. Teachers should take note of their challenges to notions of Islam as homophobic or authoritarian; their ‘different view’ of Islam points to diversity within the religion and how it can act as a vehicle for social justice.

Researcher

Shanon Shah

Research Institution

King’s College, University of London; William Temple foundation; Information network on religious movements; the Muslim Institute.

What is this about?

Can people use religions ‘independently’, without referrring to official authorities?
What are the experiences snd beliefs of LGBT Muslims?
Can Islam be presented as a religion of equality and diversity?
How can stereotypical views of Islam as homophobic or authoritarian be challenged?
How might RE teachers consider these issues in their teaching?

What was done?

The researcher conducted in-depth interviews with 29 individuals – 17 in Malaysia and 12 in Britain, also observing and participating in their various social activities, including recreational sports, nightclubbing and activism, and in public events related to Islam and/or LGBT issues; and attended and made notes on congregational Friday prayers and sermons in both countries to assess if or how gender and sexuality were discussed. Media analysis was also carried out.

Main findings and outputs

Traditionally, homosexuality is often viewed as ‘forbidden’ in Islam.
However, some LGBT Muslims are taking charge and reinterpreting Islam to expand its notions of equality, diversity and social justice. The research looks at how they have created educational projects to spread their beliefs.
For example, educational workshops are held during which Qur’anic passages often held to condemn homosexuality are re-interpreted: are these passages, which refer to Lut (the Biblical figure Lot), about loving, consensual same-sex relationships or sexualised forms of assault, exploitation and violence? How can these passages be squared with others that emphasise equality and diversity?
A small number of UK Muslims are developing their religious literacy to form new Islamic groups that embrace gender and sexual diversity. They do this to reconcile their own personal identities with their faith, but also to re-shape Islam’s public profile.

Relevance to RE

RE policy should reflect that religions need to be represented fairly and recognised as internally diverse. This research is a compelling example of these needs.
Curriculum also should be planned to ensure that a range of views and practices within each religion is covered.
In terms of pedagogy, the research offers rich resources. When teaching about Islam, family life and sexuality, teachers can ask pupils to consider: what are the different beliefs about these issues, within Islam? How might the different texts be intepreted, in different ways?
Important reflective questions for pedagogy are also posed by the research. Having learned about LGBT Muslims and their understanding of their faith, pupils could be asked to reflect on how their own view of Islam has been affected by what they have learned.

Generalisability and potential limitations

By its nature, the research focuses on a minority group, but this is its appeal. It seems clear that the experiences reported are generalised, e.g. the author is right to suggest that several Islamic authorities state that homosexuality is forbidden and that gay Muslims have to work out how to react.

Find out more

Constructing an alternative pedagogy of Islam: the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Muslims, Journal of Beliefs & Values 37:3, 308-319 (published online 1 August 2016), 10.1080/13617672.2016.1212179

http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13617672.2016.1212179

Research Summary: Pupil-to-pupil contact and knowledge of religious and worldview difference

The research is a case study of the Faith and Belief Forum’s School Linking programme, in the light of the proposed move towards a religion and worldviews curriculum in England. Through analysis of a large quantitative and qualitative data set, it emerged that though pupils report knowledge increases from participation in the programme, the type of knowledge gained does not accurately capture the religious and worldview plurality of the programme’s participants. The author finds that the weakness is due to the intergroup contact theory of the programme, and that a different type of contact theory, decategorisation, would offer improved pupil learning in future and be more compatible with a worldviews approach.

Researchers

Lucy Peacock

Research Institution

Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations, Coventry University

What is this about?

What are the implications of a move to a Religion and Worldviews curriculum for contact-based interfaith programmes in schools? What type of knowledge do pupils get from these programmes, and is it sufficient to convey the complexity of religious and non-religious worldviews?

What was done?

Quantitative and qualitative data were collected through 1,488 teacher and student surveys, teacher focus groups and participant observation in schools. 52 classes from 45 English schools were involved, of different religious characters. There were baseline and endpoint surveys (before and after participation in School Linking), pupil reflection forms; and participant observation and focus groups to assess how School Linking promotes peaceful relations.

Main findings and outputs

Pupils reported learning more and more about the faiths and beliefs of their linked school, and feeling more and more confident to work with their peers there.
But when they were asked to provide examples, these tended to be based on oversimplified or inaccurate ‘facts’.
The language that the teachers used contributed to the problem, because it often homogenised groups. It appeared to draw from the perceived demands of RE teaching, reflecting current curriculum frameworks and examination demands.
So exchanging individualised information (‘decategorisation’) would be better than assuming that individuals simply represent groups such as Muslims or Jews (‘secondary transfer’). Perceptions of group homogeneity should be actively questioned in the process. Interfaith programmes need to interact with the changing RE / R&W landscape.

Relevance to RE

The research probably has more relevance to RE / R&W than the article itself suggests. The article concludes that a different model is needed for interfaith programmes in schools, and that this model is in step with RE / R&W. However, the decategorisation model proposed might inform not only interfaith programmes but, in turn, all RE / R&W practice based on direct dialogue and encounter; so could be considered by teachers in relation to discussions taking place within their own classes, or during visits to faith or non-religious worldview communities. The findings of the research are useful to consider whilst planning curriculum around point 9 of the CORE national entitlement, specifically the part on direct encounter and discussion with individuals and communities.

Generalisability and potential limitations

The samples are fairly large. The research combines quantitative with qualitative approaches carefully. The data are analysed thoroughly and the analysis coheres with general themes of religion and worldview plurality and other sources on religion and worldview complexity.

Find out more

The original article is:
Lucy Peacock (2021) Contact-based interfaith programmes in schools and the changing religious education landscape: negotiating a worldviews curriculum, Journal of Beliefs & Values, DOI: 10.1080/13617672.2021.2004708

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13617672.2021.2004708

Research Summary: Making a difference in the Religious Education classroom: integrating theory and practice in teachers’ professional learning

In this article, Baumfield discusses how RE teachers’ professional practice can be transformed through engagement with theory, showing how educationalists from John Dewey to Lawrence Stenhouse have seen the classroom as a laboratory and the teacher as an investigator. She gives accounts of different UK RE projects that have aimed, in different ways, to develop teachers as enquirers or set up collaborations between teachers and academic researchers. She finds that despite problems, RE teachers are well placed to promote their own professional learning by forming communities of inquiry, offering a useful synopsis of what has already been done.

Researchers

Vivienne Baumfield

Research Institution

University of Exeter, UK

What is this about?

The article addresses several closely related issues. What does it mean to be professional? For teachers this question has always been complex, for one reason because we work in two sets of knowledge (subject knowledge, to develop learners’ knowledge of the world, and pedagogical knowledge, to work with other practitioners). Further, there are knowledge for practice, provided by research, knowledge in practice, gained through teaching experience, and knowledge of practice. Knowledge of practice integrates subject knowledge and pedagogical knowledge and is what makes teaching a profession. How can it best be developed? Through professional learning, the most fruitful form of which is participation in practitioner enquiry stimulated by participation in curriculum development. RE teachers are already very good at developing teaching ideas and sharing these via networks, but we also need to be prepared to criticise the practices that we develop and share.

What was done?

This is not a primary report of original research, but a synopsis of previous, well-established theory on teacher professionalism and teacher enquiry, coupled with detailed commentary on how various UK projects have sought to develop teachers as researchers or enquirers along those lines. The article includes balanced critical discussion of these initiatives. The writer gives useful, provocative indications of how such work might be developed so as to lead to increased RE teacher professionalism in the future.

Main findings and outputs

Background Theory: In the American educationalist John Dewey’s ‘laboratory’ approach, the teacher works with the interest of the learners, connecting their experiences and the curriculum: ‘psychologising the subject’. The UK educationalist Lawrence Stenhouse saw the curriculum as a process rather than a set of pre-planned outcomes: it needs to be tested in the classroom and teachers must then articulate what they have learned about teaching it , practice thus helping to develop theory.

Examples of UK RE Projects: The North East School-Based Research Consortium promoted knowledge of practice with RE teachers. Research into thinking skills was tested in the RE classroom. Teachers in each of six secondary schools in the project selected a strategy, integrated it into a topic and evaluated its impact. Students’ thinking skills and teacher professional learning were found to improve.

The Warwick REDCo community of practice used action research to develop the interpretive approach to RE in various school and teacher education settings, finding that teachers’ ability to add to the theory of RE was improved, especially in the group setting, not working in isolation.

Recently, in ‘RE-searchers’, primary school children became members of a community of inquiry into different forms of RE pedagogy. It was found that asking learners to become investigators creates a virtuous circle: the skills of their teachers also grow.

Summary Finding: RE teachers are well placed to form communities of enquiry and add to professional knowledge of practice, but must be prepared to interrogate findings rigorously to contribute to RE’s theory.

Relevance to RE

The article has very high relevance to RE. In relation to policy, it places emphasis on teachers to make judgements and take responsibility for their classrooms, increases our autonomy and charges us to collaborate with students. It suggests that curricula ought not to be overly prescriptive, space being left for teachers and learners to jointly investigate areas of interest related to RE (e.g. learners’ own questions). There are challenging indications for pedagogy; we need to investigate the content of RE jointly with learners, depending less on pre-set outcomes. Many teachers would need to develop new and different skills and approaches to do this and one of the strengths of the article is to indicate what has been done already. The writer insists that teachers sustain a critical stance in relation to the pedagogy developed and its implications for RE theory. If successful, this would mean a considerable increase in RE teacher professionalism. Many complain of excessive management and rapidly changing outside policy pressures, yet probably fewer are familiar with the more responsible model of professionalism documented here. RE teachers might use the research as a basis for establishing their own communities of inquiry, ideally in conjunction with academic researchers.

Generalisability and potential limitations

This article has high credibility, written by a very well-established expert and leader. It draws on a good range of influential sources, integrating these into a useful, considered, challenging discussion. The findings are true to the original sources. It is in the nature of the form of research covered that the findings have to be generalised through classroom practice (it might be better to say investigated through classroom practice), but that is the offering of the article to RE teachers. The writer is very clear about the possible limitations of the form of research that is advocated, pointing out, for example, that non-specialist RE teachers might find it too demanding, that a geographically dispersed group of teacher-researchers might struggle to maintain momentum and that a community of practice might struggle to constantly reach out to a wider body of RE theory. However, these are useful provisos to bear in mind.

Find out more

British Journal of Religious Education 38.2 pages 141-151

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01416200.2016.1139889

Research Summary: Innovative Teaching and Learning of Religion & Worldviews in schools

This project presents 5 case studies exploring how RE is being re-imagined in schools. It is a showcase of classroom practice which goes some way towards meeting the learning proposed in the new National Entitlement for Religion & Worldviews.
The project builds on the recommendations of the Faiths Unit’s 2015 report RE for Real – The Future of Teaching and Learning about Religion & Belief by providing examples of an emerging shift in RE towards understanding religion and worldviews as dynamic, lived, and interpretable phenomena and concepts.

Researchers

Dr Martha Shaw & Prof Adam Dinham

Research Institution

London South Bank University & Goldsmiths, University of London

What is this about?

This project is based on the premise that there is much brilliant, innovative RE going on all around the country but that it is patchy and could be extended. This project highlights some key examples of innovative practice, which speaks to the new direction proposed for Religion & Worldviews. It is intended to complement debates about change in policy and practice, with evidence of existing new practices from which others can learn.

What was done?

The project has worked with 5 schools to explore examples in practice of aspects of the new National Entitlement. We invited submissions of interest to participate then undertook a series of visits to the schools, in close collaboration with teachers:

Visit 1: Summer Term 2019 (May-June), to discuss the national plan and how the school is already or might respond to it. We worked together during and following this visit to consolidate the potential connections to at least one element of the national entitlement, then to devise a piece of concrete classroom practice in advance of our return visit.

Visit 2: Autumn Term 2019 and Spring term 2020 (September-February), to observe and reflect on the example of teaching and learning which has been identified and developed. The example was developed into a ‘case study’ including a short video and PDF providing a narrative.

Main findings and outputs

The five case studies explore ways of teaching and learning about religion and worldviews as fluid, lived and interpretable phenomena. The focus of each case study is different and relate to:
– Dealing with Controversy
– Multiple interpretations of lived religion
– Whole school lived religion as meaning making
– Encountering worldviews as lived and fluid
– RE Trail as discovery for children and their parents
The case studies can be found here.

Relevance to RE

The case studies are offered as resource for teachers to explore new ways of approaching the study of religion and worldviews in the classroom. Teachers might use these as inspiration to try something new. Teacher educators might also use these as examples of ways to embrace the teaching of religion and worldviews as dynamic, lived and interpretable phenomena and concepts. These examples showcase ways of promoting religion & worldview literacy in the classroom.

Generalisability and potential limitations

These examples are not representative of all the creative and innovative practice that goes on. Neither do they embody the totality of the vision outlined by CORE. Rather, they are intended as examples of some of the exciting ways in which teachers are interpreting innovation in the Religion & Worldviews classroom.

Find out more

Shaw, M (2019) Towards a Religiously Literate curriculum – Religion and Worldview Literacy as an Educational Model, Journal of Beliefs & Values, Journal of Beliefs & Values. Online: Sept. 2019.

https://www.gold.ac.uk/faithsunit/current-projects/reforreal/case-studies

Research Summary: Key Findings From the Global Religious Futures Project

The Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures project, on contemporary global trends in religion, investigates religious change and its impact on societies around the world. Since 2006, it has included:

Surveys in more than 95 countries asking nearly 200,000 people about their religious identities, beliefs and practices.
Demographic studies using censuses and other data sources to estimate the size of religious groups, project how fast they are growing or shrinking, and analyse mechanisms of religious change.
Annual tracking of restrictions on religion in 198 countries and territories.

This is a report of its December 2022 bulletin.

Researchers

Pew Research Center, Washington DC

Research Institution

Pew Research Center, Washington DC

What is this about?

This is about large-scale trends across the world in religious identities, beliefs and practices; the size of religious groups, their rates of growth or shrinkage, and the drivers of changes in the global religious picture; and also figures concerned with restrictions on religion in different countries and territories.

What was done?

Global Religious Futures generates and uses a very large quantitative data set in order to establish its findings: surveys, analysis of censuses and tracking of policy across different countries. The December 2022 bulletin presents a set of headline findings and also incorporates links to related outputs where themes are covered in more detail.

Main findings and outputs

People are becoming less religious in the US and many other countries (in 2021, 29% of US citizens were religiously unaffiliated, compared to 16% in 2007). At the same time, Western Europeans are generally less religious than Americans.
Population growth is faster in highly religious countries. In Africa and the Middle East, for example, the average woman has more children than in Europe, North America or East Asia – and much larger shares of the population, both young and old, in these parts of the world say religion is very important to them (e.g. 98% in Ethiopia compared to 10% in the UK).
The vast majority of the world’s population is projected to have a religion, including about six-in-ten who will be either Christian (31%) or Muslim (30%) in 2050. 13% are projected to have no religion. Sub-Saharan Africa is the region with the fastest population growth. Its high birth rates are a major contributor to the increasing size of the world’s Christian and Muslim populations.
Is religion gaining or losing influence? It depends: in most countries surveyed, more people said the role of religion had decreased than said it had increased. But there were plenty of exceptions, including such countries as Indonesia, Kenya, Brazil and Israel, where the balance of public opinion was that religion’s role had increased.
Overall, government restrictions on religion have been rising globally. As of 2020, 57 countries now have “very high” levels of government restrictions on religion, up from 40 in 2007.

These are some examples of significant key findings, and readers are encouraged to access and use the full bulletin, freely accessible from the link below.

Relevance to RE

The bulletin provides excellent background material for policy and curriculum. Its report of increased global restriction on religion whilst the religious population of the world continues to grow, for example, underlines the importance of freedom of religion and belief, an education in religion and worldviews and the alignment of such education with democratic social values in the UK. The individual data offer valuable resources for classroom teaching, when a social science approach to religion and worldviews is being used.

Generalisability and potential limitations

The generalisability of the data is high; reliable, broad and produced by expert researchers. The key focus is on the US, but the international comparisons mean that this is not done in an isolated way. There is also a series of links embedded in the bulletin through which headline findings can be explored in more detail.

Find out more

The full text of the bulletin can be accessed at https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2022/12/21/key-findings-from-the-global-religious-futures-project/

Research Summary: How does disciplinary literacy help pupils to thrive in RE?

Religion has played a key role in reading instruction in many education systems, but this has been challenged by increasing religious diversity and the spread of non-religious worldviews. There is growing interest in the role of disciplinary literacy in education (i.e. the ways in which a discipline’s knowledge is created, shared and evaluated), and the role of the reader.

This research focuses on how adolescents experience reading in religious education (RE). It shows that they relate meaning-making in RE to developing respect and tolerance; that whilst teachers focus on conceptual understanding, students request a focus
on lived religion; and that student meaning-making in RE thrives in a learner-active setting.

Researchers

Lars Unstad & Henning Fjørtoft

Research Institution

Department of Teacher Education, NTNU Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway

What is this about?

Disciplinary learning in RE.
What adolescent students value in RE.
How adolescent students experience learning in RE.
Differences between teachers’ and students’ perspectives on students’ learning in RE.

What was done?

A series of RE lessons was observed, across three Norwegian secondary schools. The observations were followed up by group interviews with pupils and individual interviews with teachers.

Main findings and outputs

The study resulted in three main findings.

Firstly, for the students, meaning-making in reading in RE is closely related to the purpose of developing respect and tolerance.
Secondly, there was a discrepancy in the view of reading to learn in RE. While the teachers understood learning in RE as developing conceptual understanding based on representations of religion in textbooks, the students underlined the role of lived experience, and encounters with sites of worship and representatives from various religions, to build background knowledge.
Thirdly, students reported that meaning-making in RE was negatively influenced by a transmission-style pedagogy and suggested that exploratory and inquiry-oriented styles of teaching would be more productive.

In general, students are able to value knowledge in RE as useful in developing respect and tolerance. Greater awareness of the many academic traditions that inform RE could provide the students with disciplinary relevant strategies. They need to attend to differences between insider and outsider perspectives, using contextual and interpretive approaches to learning.

Relevance to RE

The research is useful at policy and pedagogical levels. In policy terms, it echoes other findings that students will value the subject when it has a focus on lived religion and social cohesion. Pedagogically, it suggests that teachers should aim to balance approaches grounded in academic disciplines with those based on direct dialogue and encounter; and that it will help students to find meaning in RE if teachers avoid an overly transmissive style, and encourage exploration and enquiry.

Generalisability and potential limitations

The authors recognise that this is an exploratory study. However, it builds on sixty years’ research on pupils’ motivation, confirming findings that they engage when the subject relates to their own perceived needs and identities.

Find out more

The original article is Lars Unstad & Henning Fjørtoft (2020): Disciplinary literacy in religious education: the role and relevance of reading, British Journal of Religious Education, DOI: 10.1080/01416200.2020.1754164

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01416200.2020.1754164

Research Summary: Islam without stereotypes

This article explores the ways in which Islam is presented in an essentialist way in RE in England and Wales, leading to stereotypes that are embedded in resources and agreed syllabi. It provides a critique of essentialism, and makes a case for the role of hermeneutics in teaching and learning about Islam. A hermeneutical approach is argued to be a sound way to conceptualise Islam and a pedagogical opening to make sense of it, that may help overcome some of the weaknesses of the current ways of teaching about Islam.

Research Title

Religious education and hermeneutics: the case of teaching about Islam

Researchers

Dr Farid Panjwani & Dr Lynn Revell

Research Institution

Institute of Education, University College London / Canterbury Christ Church University

What is this about?

In what ways do stereotypes enter presentations of Islam in RE?
How can these be overcome?
What contribution can hermeneutics make to the improvement of teaching and learning about Islam?

What was done?

This is a scholarly, analytical discussion of Islam and educational practice, focussed on the dangers of essentialism – defined as follows on page 268 of the article:

“Essentialism is the belief that a thing has a set of characteristics which make it what it is. Often this is accompanied with an assumption that how an idea or a phenomenon was in its original state, determines its essence.”

This limits engagement with the varieties of Islam and may set up Islam as the antithesis of ‘Western values’.

Main findings and outputs

Academics often criticise essentialist views of Islam, but the tendency persists in RE resources and curricula.
From p.270: “In endless textbooks we can see the playing out of this narrative as adherence to the same markers (dress, beliefs, festivals, rituals) are identified as the defining characteristics of belonging to religious communities. Approaches to the teaching of Islam that define Muslims through a focus on essential, ahistorical features are in effect creating and legitimising a stereotype.”
Ibid.: “Even where diversity within Islam is recognised it is represented within cultural silos so that ‘different types’ of Muslims appear as a series of stereotypes, the liberal Muslim, the extremist Muslim, the Pakistani Muslim etc.”
A second problem is to describe Islam as a ‘world religion’ by the use of common themes, beliefs, practices and concepts rooted in Christian traditions.
Rather than just presenting diversity we need to explore why there is diversity in the first place. It is because of a hermeneutical process; when people first heard the Qur’an, different kinds of responses were made depending on the situations of the hearers. This process continues. There is no single teaching on attitudes to other religions, for example. Different communities place different boundaries and “Muslims make Islam as much as Islam makes Muslims”. (p.274)

Relevance to RE

Readers are strongly encouraged to read the original article in full, as lack of space here prevents sufficiently detailed summary. However, two clear pedagogical recommendations are made in its conclusion. First, rather than posing questions such as ‘what is Islam’s view on Christianity?’, it is better to ask ‘how have Muslims understood Islam’s relationship with Christianity?’. Second, the role of pupils should change – they should be enabled to enquire into different meanings; this is how religions continue to remain relevant and pupils can participate in this process for themselves.

Generalisability and potential limitations

As it is not a presentation of empirical data, the factor of generalisability does not really apply in this case. Rather, teachers are invited to weigh up the article’s arguments and try out and evaluate its pedagogical recommendations in practice.

Find out more

Farid Panjwani & Lynn Revell (2018) Religious education and hermeneutics: the case of teaching about Islam, British Journal of Religious Education, 40:3, 268-276.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01416200.2018.1493269?journalCode=cbre20