A Level Digest July 2022
A good book: Veena R Howard (ed.) (2017) Dharma; the Hindu, Jain, Buddhist and Sikh Traditions of India, IB Tauris
I was going to write about another good read in this digest but a few days ago someone on Twitter recommended this book. As I could access this on the on line library I subscribe to, I started to read it straight away. It is excellent and I found it hard to put down! It begins with an analysis of the term Dharma using different spellings of this concept to reflect the diverse ways it is understood in the various Indian traditions. This is followed by an in-depth analysis of each of these understandings from the Hindu, Buddhist, Jain and Sikhi worldviews with an additional section on Sufism as is appears in the Indian subcontinent. This book could be benefit teachers in different ways:
- To develop subject knowledge for those teaching these traditions at A level.
- For a students’ personal statement if they are interested in studying RS or related disciplines at university.
- To extend and support subject knowledge for Key Stage 3 or Key stage 4 planning.
Interesting research: Patrick Todd (forthcoming) ‘Foreknowledge Requires Determinism’, University of Edinburgh
If you are teaching arguments for the existence of God or the attributes of God as part of your A level course, I would highly recommend this article. In this piece, Dr Patrick Todd discusses how if God has foreknowledge, then determinism will be the result. In so doing he refutes the claim that God’s foreknowledge will not take away our freedom as this his knowledge is non-causal. It is a little tricky to read but it is well worth the effort. I would also say this is more suited to the teacher than an A level student.
The link to the summary of this article is: https://philarchive.org/archive/TODFRD
A good website: Harvard online courses: ‘Christianity through its Scriptures’
This is a free online course that will take around 4 weeks. This course will hugely enhance your subject knowledge not only of the main texts within Christianity but also of the religion in general. In my view this is an extremely useful CPD resource for teachers.
If you do not require subject knowledge on Christianity there are other courses on this website which are also very helpful for A Level teachers. The recommended study time each week is between 5-10 hours. It is possible to complete the course in less time if you do not undertake the additional reading but I would recommend that you do not do this as the optional resources are well worth studying.
Christianity Through Its Scriptures
A good listen: In our Time, BBC Radio 4: ‘Kant’s Categorical Imperative’
I know I have recommended In our Time podcasts to you before, but I want to highlight this again as there are so many excellent episodes to listen to that are linked to the A level.
A real favourite of mine that I have listened to many times explores Kant’s Categorical Imperative. I know many people struggle to fully understand Kant’s ethical work, but I think this podcast will really help.
Many of the themes covered in the A level are discussed in this episode and there is also useful background information which will help you to teach this topic more effectively.
The link to the episode can be found here.
Rachael Jackson-Royal is head of department of RE and is the exams and higher education officer on the NATRE executive.