Baha'i
Buddhist worldview traditions
Christian worldview traditions
Contextualising the diversity of worldviews
Hindu worldview traditions
Humanist worldview traditions
Jain
Jehovah's Witnesses
Jewish worldview traditions
Muslim worldview traditions
Pagan
Rastafari
Sikhi worldview traditions
Soka Gakkai
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Zoroastrian
Research

Research review series: religious education

Ofsted

Research Summary

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

 

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