Research Summary: What is professionalism in RE teaching?

This article draws on research carried out in 24 UK schools over a three year period. It looks over problems with defining how teachers in general can be seen as professionals, then it considers the theme of teacher professionalism in RE specifically. It shows how RE teachers are often confused about what being a professional RE teacher means. Is it about passing on faith? Is it about making sure that pupils meet examination targets? Why have many RE teachers reached for philosophy as a way to boost their professional esteem? The article argues that a genuine focus on religious literacy and the ability to help pupils gain in religious literacy are the true characteristics of RE teacher professionalism, but failure to grasp this has meant that RE teacher professionalism is in decline.

Researcher

James C. Conroy

Research Institution

University of Glasgow

What is this about?

• What is professionalism in RE teaching?
• What does it mean for a teacher to be professional?
• What does it mean for a teacher of RE to be professional?
• How does professionalism in RE relate to religious faith?
• How does professionalism in RE relate to the preparation of pupils for examinations?
• Why have many RE teachers turned to philosophy as a way to boost their professional esteem?
• How can a focus on religious literacy restore professionalism to RE teaching?

What was done?

The researcher went through the data of a large research project on RE in the UK, bringing out examples that relate to the issue of RE teacher professionalism. The original project used a combination of different research methods. They included observation in schools, focus groups, interviews, questionnaires, expert seminars, reconstruction of classroom events through theatre, conference feedback, teacher-led research, textbook and teaching materials analysis and examination papers analysis.

Main findings and outputs

• Teacher professionalism is harder to define than e.g. professionalism in law or medicine, because it is less clear what teachers need to know and be able to do.
• Teachers seem less able to have control over their conditions of work and practices. They work in a command and control culture.
• RE teachers struggle with further complications, e.g. the interest of religious groups in their work and general lack of clarity over what RE is for. Pupils expect them to have an identity in relation to religion, so it can be hard to separate their personal and professional identities.
• Some RE teachers try to shape a professional identity by embracing ‘accountability’ and concentrating on pupil ‘performance’. Examinations represent an unhealthy obsession and much time and energy are spent in rehearsing students to give model answers according to set formulae.
• This means that RE’s knowledge base shrinks, and with it teachers’ professionalism.
• It can also mean that issues of truth are not debated and RE becomes in effect a matter of different ‘opinions’.
• The use of non-specialist teachers can add to these problems.
• Where there is a professional approach, it is based on religious literacy – viewing knowledge of religion as professional knowledge, and equipping learners with it as professional practice. Such teachers ask students to consider religious interpretation, symbolism and ritual, but rarely seem to focus on theology.

Relevance to RE

• On policy, the nature and scope of RE’s content should be identified. It needs to be stressed that RE’s content has educational value and is not intended to form lists of key points for examinations.
• On curriculum, the RE curriculum should aim to provide learners with knowledge and understanding of religion, including opportunities to debate issues of truth in the light of their studies. This is not the same as a philosophy and ethics approach, though it may overlap.
• On pedagogy, shrinkage of RE’s knowledge base for purposes of examination rehearsal should be avoided.
• On teacher development, RE teachers should have or gain broad knowledge of religious traditions. They should develop the ability to teach this content to learners in an engaging way, relating it to learners’ likely or actual questions including questions over truth.

Generalisability and potential limitations

The findings are presented through a fairly small number of examples from the project, but the author reports that such examples were numerous. They are consistent with other research and with a great deal of educational opinion. The article does not go into how the main recommendation could be put into practice (that is, how religious literacy could be put at the centre of RE teacher’s professional work, or how the obsession with examination training could be overcome).

Find out more

Religious Education and religious literacy – a professional aspiration?, British Journal of Religious Education 38.2 pages 163-176 (published online 6 April 2016).

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01416200.2016.1139891

Research Summary: Teachers using Facebook groups: a study and a suggested code of use

Social media are now an important aspect of the professional lives of school teachers. This research explores the growing use of mass ‘teacher groups’ and ‘teacher communities’ on social media platforms such as Facebook. While these online communities are often welcomed as a means of professional learning and support, Facebook groups may also expose teachers to some of the less beneficial aspects of social media, such as various forms of ‘digital labour’, commercialisation and reputation‐driven behaviour. Drawing on a detailed examination of a Swedish teacher Facebook group of over 13,000 members, the research addresses aspects that could be seen as professionally valuable: information exchange and communication. Yet while perceived by participants as an uncontroversial aspect of their working lives, the research also points to characteristics of the Facebook group that could be viewed as disadvantageous.

Researchers

Annika Bergviken Rensfeldt, Thomas Hillman & Neil Selwyn

Research Institution

Monash University, Australia

What is this about?

This research is about teachers’ use of Facebook, specifically, Facebook teacher groups, with reference to one particular Swedish example, a 13, 000 plus member group dedicated to flipped learning. It explores whether membership of the group is straightforwardly beneficial – making contacts, sharing ideas, developing practice – or whether less desirable elements intrude, such as unpaid labour, use of private or personal time for work, unequal power relations or a lack of professional dialogue or debate.

What was done?

All interactions (posts, likes, comments, etc.) in the group over a three-year period (2012-15) were requested, obtained and analysed: over 3,000 postings, over 13,000 comments and nearly 700,000 likes. An additional survey was posted to the group inviting teachers to answer. This survey received 44 respondents who answered both demographic items and items that addressed such topics as why they had joined the group and their view of the group theme. From this group was then formed a focus group of 10 for further interviews and, finally, a series of longer interviews was also conducted with the group moderator.

Main findings and outputs

• The Flip‐it Facebook group was set up by a Swedish middle‐school teacher who continued to act as the group moderator throughout the period of research.
• As with all Facebook groups, the main content was a series of posts and comments. Members wrote short messages, included links to websites, images, videos and other resources, and occasionally notifications of events. Anyone accessing the page would on occasion see about 20% of their screen featuring targeted advertisements chosen algorithmically by the platform.
• Over the 3 years there were 2,970 original posts with an average of 36 words per post.
• 13,193 comments were posted in reply with an average of 25 words per comment.
• Nearly half the members made no active contribution.
• Many of the threads involved some form of redistribution and ‘sharing’ of content.
• The moderator and the 20 most prolific contributors accounted for well over a third of all posts and comments.
• The page brought users into various forms of advertising and was often used for self-promotion or reputation-building.
• Often, members’ responses were emotional rather than academic or professional.
• Only 32% of responses were made in normal working hours; 11.5% were made in summer holidays.
• The group appeared valued as a community, but the researchers make some suggestions –
  teachers might be encouraged to reflect upon and develop professional modes of collegial, constructive social media engagement, e.g.;
  not necessarily replicating standard social media traits and norms (continuous ‘liking’, superficial posting, non‐critical engagement);
  expected values might include openness, mutuality, constructive criticism and debate;
  there could also be expectations of the group only being active for certain periods of designated ‘work’ time.
• Teachers’ work is changing and teachers ought to keep a critical eye on the changes; digitalisation is inevitable, but the problems as well as the advantages should be explored.

Relevance to RE

The research should be of interest to members of groups such as Save RE (over 7,000 members at the time of writing). Would the researchers’ ideas about professional norms and values on teacher Facebook groups be useful in improving the service provided by RE Facebook groups, or members’ ways of engaging with them?

Generalisability and potential limitations

This is a study of one Facebook group, but the group is a large one and the methodology very detailed and thorough. Whether the group resembles others is for members of others to reflect on and consider, but in that case the researchers have already succeeded in their aim of getting teachers to be more critical about their use of Facebook. The structure of the Facebook group studied mirrors the structure of any Facebook group.

Find out more

The full article is: Annika Bergviken Rensfeldt, Thomas Hillman and Neil Selwyn, Teachers ‘liking’ their work? Exploring the realities of teacher Facebook groups, British Educational Research Journal (2018) 44:2, 230-250.

https://bera-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/berj.3325

Research Summary: The First Years of Teaching RE

In general, most early career RE teachers are positive about the subject and their professional role. Most are content with the type of RE taught in their school. NATRE (National Association of Teachers of Religious Education) and social media network groups are their most widely used sources of professional support. Unease over pay, workload, curriculum or initial teacher education are the most cited reasons for leaving, and there is some strong negativity about the school system. Most respondents identify understanding of others’ beliefs and practices as RE’s purpose. At the same time, more specialist RE subject input is needed into early career RE teachers’ experience.

Researchers

Mark Plater

Research Institution

Bishop Grosseteste University, Lincoln

What is this about?

The research explores the experience of a cohort of early career RE teachers in England, as they enter the profession. Key questions include: How do they feel about the profession and their role? Are they content with the type of RE being taught? What are the reasons why some leave the profession? What are their sources of support, how do they feel about their initial teacher education, and what do they consider to be the main aims of RE?

What was done?

An online survey was completed by 31 early career RE teachers, at the end of their two-year induction programme. The data were analysed and a detailed report produced (the link to the full report is given below).

Main findings and outputs

There are detailed, varied main findings:

1. A higher percentage of RE trainees (87%) secured teaching jobs in schools compared with trainees from many other school subjects (average=73%).
2. Nearly half of this cohort (41%) had changed schools (or was planning to do so=16%) during, or at the end of their early career teacher induction period.
3. Most early career (EC) RE teachers (78%) are positive about their role and about the profession, although some (22%) have mixed feelings; only one of those presently in teaching jobs planned to leave teaching in the near future.
4. Most respondents (82%) have jobs in the type of school that they had hoped to teach in.
5. Those leaving the profession cite pay (75%), workload (75%) and the constraints of curriculum (50%) or a poor ITE experience (50%) as reasons for their decision.
6. Most EC RE teachers (85%) are content with the type of RE being taught in their school.
7. Most EC RE teachers (85%) claim to devote eight or more hours to schoolwork per day, with some working 10-12 hours (15%) and even 13+ hours (7%).
8. NATRE (National Association of Teachers of Religious Education) and social media RE support networks (e.g. Facebook, Twitter) continue to be the most used support structures (67% and 79% respectively) for these EC RE teachers.
9. 41% EC RE teachers were content with their salary. A similar number (52%) would like a better work-life balance.
10.  64% consider their initial teacher education course to be an excellent preparation (19%) or containing lots of useful preparation (45%) for their job as teachers. A further 10% consider it to be not much help, or a complete waste of time (3%), although it should be noted that these were all trainees who subsequently chose not to enter the profession.
11.  In terms of the academic study element of their initial teacher education, 22% of respondents report this as very helpful, 52% as quite helpful, and 22% as unhelpful or even “wasted time and energy”. Again, most negative responses were provided by respondents who subsequently chose not to enter the profession.
12.  Most respondents (82%) report being adequately supported in their early career induction period, although this drops to 74% who state satisfaction with the induction and training provided by their particular employing institution.
13.  Although generally content with the overall support provided by their EC induction programme, 52% indicate that this was not tailored to their individual needs, and only 26% had received any subject specific training.
14.  Only 12% indicate presently continuing studies for an M level qualification, although 35% plan to complete an M level qualification in the next five years.
15.  Asked to identify what they considered to be the main aims of RE, the largest number (78%) identify “To enable pupils to appreciate other people’s beliefs and practices”.
16.  33% report that their view on what RE is for, and what they hope to achieve through the subject, has changed since beginning teaching, with a further one third (33%) unsure if views have changed.

Relevance to RE

Four issues are highlighted for further reflection, some with direct relevance to RE:

1. Those leaving the profession express very strong condemnation of the school system and of their experience of it. How should the RE subject community stand in relation to this?
2. Early career induction is generally appreciated by new entrants to the profession, but they indicate that it lacks personalisation and subject-focus. How can more specialist RE input be ensured?
3. Initial teacher education is generally appreciated as a preparation for entering the profession. However, what more can we learn from the feedback provided by the respondents?
4. RE teaching attracts a wide range of people of different types and backgrounds. What can we learn from this data to attract the right kind of teachers for the future?

Generalisability and potential limitations

The survey was completed by 31 respondents. As the researcher states in the report, this means only a snap-shot of the experience of a select group; but the findings are of interest and might provide stimulus for further research.

Find out more

The full report is titled: The First Years of Teaching: Final Report on a study of Early Career secondary Religious Education teachers, 2020-2023. It can be accessed at: https://bgro.repository.guildhe.ac.uk/id/eprint/1063/

Research Summary: Religious Education Teachers and Character: Personal Beliefs and Professional Approaches

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: Research review series: religious education

From the Conclusion section of the report (on page 39):

‘RE is vital in preparing pupils to engage in a diverse and complex multi-religious and multi-secular society. However, this review has also identified that there are significant challenges that limit high quality in RE, including:

• insufficient time to teach an ambitious RE curriculum
• school decisions that are not taken in the best interests of all pupils, such as decisions concerning the statutory teaching of RE, the opportunity to take a qualification in religious studies, or early examination entry
• a lack of consideration about what it means to ‘be scholarly’ in objective, critical and pluralistic RE
• a lack of clarity on what constitutes reliable knowledge about religion/non-religion, leading to teachers embedding unhelpful misconceptions
• teaching approaches that do not support pupils to remember the RE curriculum in the long term
• approaches to assessment that are poorly calibrated to the RE curriculum
• insufficient development of RE practitioners to address gaps in professional subject knowledge

That said, this review shows that there are well-warranted and constructive ways forward that could support improvements in RE. The literature suggests that many of these are already taking place in the sector in subject communities and in some schools. The significant interest that RE attracts from a range of organisations and associations may also indicate that there is sufficient capacity to support improvements in RE in primary and secondary schools for the benefit of pupils.’

Researchers

Ofsted

Research Institution

Ofsted

What is this about?

This is a research review, which ‘explores literature relating to the field of RE’. Its stated purpose is ‘to identify factors that contribute to high-quality school RE curriculums, the teaching of the curriculum, assessment and systems.’ It states that ‘there are a variety of ways that schools can construct and teach a high-quality RE curriculum and ‘there is no single way of achieving high-quality RE’. It:

• outlines ‘the national context in relation to RE’
• summarises a ‘review of research into factors that can affect the quality of education in RE’
• considers ‘curriculum progression in RE, pedagogy, assessment and the impact of school leaders’ decisions on provision’

(Quotations are from page 3 of the report.)

What was done?

The review drew on a range of sources, including specialist RE research outputs and Ofsted’s own Education Inspection Framework. These sources are summarised, and a range of factors are identified that can affect the quality of education in RE.

Main findings and outputs

The report’s general conclusions were presented in the Research summary section, above. There are other findings specific to particular issues, and some examples of these follow.
(In relation to knowledge, high-quality RE may have these features – ):

• ‘consideration of the knowledge that pupils build through the RE curriculum, because accurate knowledge about religion and non-religion can be beneficial for achieving different purposes and aims for RE.
• High expectations about scholarship in the curriculum to guard against pupils’ misconceptions.
• What is taught and learned in RE is grounded in what is known about religion/non-religion from academic study (scholarship).
• Carefully selected and well-sequenced substantive content and concepts.
• ‘Ways of knowing’ are appropriately taught alongside the substantive content and are not isolated from the content and concepts that pupils learn.
• A consideration of when pupils should relate the content to their own personal knowledge (for example, prior assumptions)’.
  (From page 9.)

(In relation to assessment, high-quality RE may have these features – ):
‘Different types of assessments are used appropriately:

• Formative assessments can help teachers identify which pupils have misconceptions or gaps in their knowledge, and what those specific misconceptions or gaps are. This can inform teachers about common issues, so they can review or adapt the curriculum as necessary. Formative assessments are less useful in making judgements about how much of the whole curriculum has been learned and remembered.
• Where summative assessments are used for accountability purposes, leaders can ensure that they are sufficiently spaced apart to enable pupils to learn the expanding domain of the curriculum.
• The purpose of the test should guide the type of assessment, the format of the task and when the assessment is needed.
• RE assessment needs to relate to the curriculum, which sets out what it means to ‘get better’ at RE.
• Leaders and teachers can consider whether existing assessment models in RE do in practice treat the curriculum as the progression model.
• Leaders and teachers can design RE assessments that are fit for purpose, in that they are precisely attuned to the knowledge in the RE curriculum that they intend for pupils to learn.
• Leaders who ensure that assessments are not excessively onerous for teachers.
• Professional development opportunities for leaders and teachers to reflect on how different assessment questions and tasks in RE can frame teachers’ and pupils’ expectations about engaging with religious and non-religious traditions.
  (From page 35.)

Other areas considered, with their own identification of factors that may support high quality, include systems, culture and policies; teacher education and professional development; and teaching the curriculum.

Relevance to RE

This report is of high relevance to RE and has, understandably, received much attention and discussion. Possibly its key strength in relation to relevance is its summary of a very wide range of sources into identification of characteristics that high-quality RE may have. This research report has contained its own necessarily brief summary of the original report, but readers are strongly encouraged to access the original report itself from the link provided at the end.

Generalisability and potential limitations

This is a very wide-ranging and comprehensive report, whose list of references would itself be valuable to researchers, master’s students or other interested professionals (there are 246 notes to published sources, and some individual notes are to multiple sources).

Find out more

The full report can be accessed at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/research-review-series-religious-education

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