Does Religious Education Work? An analysis of the aims, practices and models of effectiveness in RE in the UK

Conroy, J C, Lundie, D et al.

Research Summary

The project sought to trace the practice of Religious Education from official policy pronouncements, through professional interpretation, into classroom practice. Spanning secondary schools in Scotland, Northern Ireland and England, faith schools and non-faith schools, the researchers drew on perspectives from theology, philosophy and anthropology to understand the purpose and practice of RE for students and teachers. The researchers carried out focus groups with policymakers and experts, ethnographic observation in classrooms in 24 schools across the UK, textbook and policy document analysis, and a survey of Year 11/S4 pupils in order to understand the definitions teachers and students gave of good RE, and the reasons for studying it.

The project uncovered confusion as to the aims of RE, with the subject often being over-burdened with expectations beyond the substantive study of religions. These included contribution to faith nurture, collective worship, multi-cultural understanding, anti-racist education, discussion of contemporary ethical issues, critical thinking skills, social, civic, sex and relationships education. In addition, RE was often expected to deliver good results in high status tests (GCSE and Standard Grade) in significantly less classroom time than was given to similar subjects such as History. Teachers were often keen to present RE as a rigorous subject in the academic humanities, alongside History and Geography, while a majority of pupils saw the subject as more akin to Citizenship and PSHE.

Researchers

Professor James Conroy, Dr David Lundie, Professor Robert Davis, Dr Philip Barnes, Professor Tony Gallagher, Professor Vivienne Baumfield, Dr Nicole Bourque & Dr Kevin Lowden

Research Institution

University of Glasgow

What is this about?

The project was structured around three fundamental questions:

1. what are the stated policy intentions for RE in schools?
2. how are these intentions enacted through the pedagogical practices of teachers in classrooms?
3. what is the impact of RE on students and how is this evaluated?

What was done?

An ‘hourglass’ model was used to understand RE from policy into practice. At the top of the hourglass, at its widest point, are the ‘blizzard’ of policies, aims, interests and pedagogical models proposed by various stakeholders in the RE field – government, faith groups, academic and practitioner bodies. The hourglass narrows toward classroom enactment, and widens again when considering the diverse impacts of RE practice among pupils, faith communities and wider society.

Textual analysis was used to trace the influence of national policies on the textbooks, exam syllabuses, Agreed Syllabuses and other resources used in the classroom.

Ethnographic observations were carried out in 24 schools across Scotland, England (including several in Greater London) and Northern Ireland. Ethnographers spent a minimum of 10 days in each school, with a focus on students in the 14-16 age group (Year 10/11 in England, S3/4 in Scotland). In addition to observing lessons, researchers carried out student focus groups, teacher focus groups, analysis of student workbooks and visual displays, and the shadowing of a student through their school day, to understand RE’s similarities and distinctiveness relative to the wider curriculum.

Analysis of ethnographic fieldnotes focused on 9 key themes:

1. The role of examinations in setting the aims and content of RE
2. The fit between teacher, pupil and school values in the RE classroom
3. The level of resource and support given to RE
4. The language and treatment of immanence and transcendence, touching on pupils’ levels of religious experience and religious literacy
5. The level of intellectual challenge offered by RE
6. The frequency and practices of engagement with texts, including pedagogical and sacred texts, in the RE classroom
7. The impact of teachers’ pedagogical style on the experience and perceived aims of RE
8. The role and approach to multi-cultural awareness in the RE classroom
9. The implicit and explicit truth claims made about religions in the RE classroom.

A practitioner enquiry strand encouraged teachers in participating schools to carry out their own small-scale action research projects linked to the aims of the overall project.

A survey of students in participating schools was carried out in 2011, and students from some participating schools were invited to a forum theatre performance in which we elicited feedback on our interpretation of the findings by playing out fictionalised vignettes from the research data.

Main findings and outputs

Despite the confusion that exists about the meaning and purpose of the subject, the researchers concluded that it is meaningful to talk about RE as a single subject across faith and non-faith schools.

The examination syllabus has enormous power to drive, and also to distort, the meaning and purpose of the subject.

Religious education often stands in a counter-cultural position within schools, requiring a pedagogical openness which is uncommon in other academic subjects at qualification level.

Relevance to RE

The research points to a need for a shared sense of meaning in the RE classroom, an understanding not just of particular doctrines, practices or concepts in a religion, but of what it would be for the believer to find meaning in such concepts.

Teachers who demonstrated a ‘committed openness’, steering a course between dogmatic commitment and undifferentiated relativism, were best able to introduce students to these concepts in a way that did not distort students’ own beliefs and world views.

Headteacher support was acknowledged as vital to the provision of good RE, including adequate resourcing, specialist teachers and curriculum time.

Generalisability and potential limitations

The research project deliberately sought out schools which were confident of their RE provision, so cannot make any claim to be representative of RE across the UK. Nonetheless, even in schools which identified themselves as examples of good practice, there were significant challenges faced by RE.

Some elements of the research fieldwork, carried out in 2008-2010, may be dated, coming before widespread academisation, the 2013 REC Curriculum Framework and the revised GCSE and A-Level standards.

Find out more

Conroy, J C, Lundie, D et al. (2013) Does Religious Education Work? A multi-dimensional investigation. London: Bloomsbury Academic.

http://www.secularism.org.uk/uploads/does-religious-education-work-by-prof-c-conroy.pdf