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Research

Religious understanding. What is it? How do you help pupils to get it?

Karen Walshe & Geoff Teece

Research Summary

Understanding religions is normally spoken of as a central aim for RE, but without discussion of what is meant by ‘understanding’. Furthermore, there could be said to be different ways in which religions can be understood. There can be understanding as a believer, based on faith; or understanding as an outsider, perhaps based on an appreciation of the history of the religion or its sociological significance. But what about understanding a religion religiously, that is, in its own terms, whether as an insider or outsider? The authors argue that a focus on its soteriological content can help with such religious understanding; that religions are essentially about human salvation, and while insiders have an understanding of what this means in practice, outsiders can still gain understanding of these religious dimensions of religion. The research should focus RE teachers’ thinking on the aims of the subject and how to fulfil them, especially because practical ideas for teaching about Sikhism are also offered.

Researchers

Karen Walshe & Geoff Teece

Research Institution

University of Exeter

What is this about?

  • A central aim of RE is that pupils should understand religions, but what does this mean?There appear to be different ways in which religions might be understood – e.g. as a believer, as an ‘outside’ observer, from a sociological point of view, a historical point of view, and so on.
  • What might religious understanding of religions mean? How can religions be understood in religious terms? Are only ‘inside’ believers able to have this kind of understanding?
  • Or are having religious consciousness and being conscious of religion more like points on the same spectrum?
  • The article uses John Hick’s point that religions are essentially soteriological (concerned with salvation) to argue that if RE focuses on the soteriology of religions, pupils will be better equipped to gain understanding of what religions mean in religious terms.
  • How this translates into teaching about Sikhism is described.

What was done?

This is a research essay, reviewing educational ideas about understanding, religious understanding and understanding of religion together with theology and subsequently presenting recommendations for RE pedagogy.

Main findings and outputs

  • ‘Understanding’ is a term open to different interpretations. Within RE, it has been approached in various ways. Is understanding in RE different to understanding in other subjects? Can a scholarly, objective understanding of a religion count as understanding, given that religion entails emotional commitment? Will understanding of the ‘grammar’ of a religion, i.e. of its theological content, be enough? Or is some degree of faith needed?
  • The authors find the following suggestion useful as a way forward: that religious understanding is not an all-or-nothing affair but a spectrum. The difference between insider and outsider understanding of what is involved in the religion may be one of degree, and in some respects the outsider’s understanding could even be greater (an insider can always be trapped in assumptions).
  • Coupled to the above point is the idea, from John Hick’s theology of religions, that soteriology is essential to religions. This means that all religions (post c. 600 BCE) are essentially focused on salvation – how people can fulfil the ultimate purposes of human life. In order to understand religions in essentially religious terms, therefore, pupils should focus on their soteriologies.
  • When studying Sikhism, for instance, there are key beliefs and practices to understand. Haumai (self-centredness) is the root of earthly life’s unsatisfactoriness, but a life of sewa (selfless service) leads to gurmukh (God-centredness) and a state of mukhti (spiritual liberation). Serving in the gurdwara expresses these beliefs (during a visit, pupils could ask Sikhs about how it does so).

Relevance to RE

The research is of very direct relevance to RE, as it focuses on teaching about religions so as to promote understanding of them in their own terms, rather than in terms of history, for example, or sociology. For the authors, concentrating on the soteriological dimension of religions is a way to do this – the beliefs and practices concerned with the ultimate fulfilment of human life represent the core religious dimension of religions. Teachers could bring these emphases to their teaching in order to bring out what is distinctive in RE’s subject content, sharpen pupils’ understanding and present religions more faithfully. What seems needed, as so often, is for teachers and / or groups of teachers to try out the recommended pedagogy and make their findings available.

Generalisability and potential limitations

The ideas offered through the research are applicable to teaching about religious traditions in general and would make excellent starting points for action research.

Find out more

Understanding ‘religious understanding’ in religious education, British Journal of Religious Education 35.3 pages 313-325 (published online 14 May 2013), 10.1080/01416200.2013.794913

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01416200.2013.794913

 

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