Research Poster
Lizzie Yeomans, OU Masters in Education 2024.
For my final year research project (MAEd), I wanted to explore the teacher- pupil relationship in the RE primary classroom. My role as an Initial Teacher Education lecturer at a university meant that I could work with a group of student teachers in a participatory action research (PAR) group. We explored the concept of ‘learning’ in RE, and the problem of the primary RE teacher viewing themselves as an ‘expert’. This term is used over 100 times in the core content framework (CCF), which is the curriculum for ITE providers. We used liberatory theory (Freire, 1970) as a conceptual framework.
I was interested to explore whether my interpretation of figure 1, which came from a draft of the Developing a Religion and Worldviews Approach in Religious Education in England from the Religious Education Council (REC), as a monologic, colonial approach to teaching RE was shared by student teachers. The result of the PAR group was a new image (Figure 2), and a rich data set which revealed a process of conscientisation. The image challenged the concept of the teacher as impartial expert, and promoted a dialogic approach to teaching primary RE.
Questions for discussion:
- What is knowledge in RE?
- What is the role of the teacher in the primary RE classroom?
- Are opportunities for pupils to engage in dialogue planned into the RE curriculum?