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
Resources // What’s New? An A Level Digest

A Level Digest May 2023

A good book: Plato and a Platypus walk into a bar…understanding philosophy through jokes by Daniel Klein and Thomas Cathcart

This is a lovely book that is such a light hearted way of exploring different philosophical ideas connected to the A level. It is excellent for both teachers and pupils. Daniel Klein and Thomas Cathcart have a really easy style of writing that is suitable for all. I love the jokes, the pictures and the way they discuss the various philosophical topics. A definite one to add to your library.

Engaging with research: Season 4: Theology, Religious Studies, University of Chester Webinars for A level students and teachers of RS

The next round of A level talks for students and teachers is currently underway. This year includes another excellent line up of informative discussions every Tuesday from 4:00-4:35 given by various lecturers who specialise in the area they are focusing upon. For example, upcoming talks include: Can we talk about God by Deborah Casewell, Do Christians read the bible literally by Ben Fullord and What does census 2021 tell us about religion by Dr Dawn Llewllyn. These are normally recorded and placed on their website for you to watch and learn from again. On their website you can still see the last few years’ contributions so do have a look at these if you have not seen them before. For further details contact outreach@chester.ac.uk or scan their QR code which can be accessed via their twitter handle: @TRSChester

A good online course: The Qur’an between Judaism and Christianity

This is a course on Future Learn offered by the University of Nottingham. It is a really fascinating course where the history of the Qur’an is explored along with how this links to Christianity and Judaism. Through completing this, I learnt a lot about the emergence of the Qur’an as well as more about how the historical context is reflected in this religious text. Seeing the links between the Christian Bible and Jewish scriptures is also truly fascinating and it has really enhanced my subject knowledge in this area. It is completely free and does not take many hours a week to undertake. I think it is useful additional knowledge not only for the A level but also GCSE and Key Stage Three. Sign up through this following link: Religious Studies: The Qur’an, Judaism and Christianity – FutureLearn

A good listen: Losing my Religion

This is an episode of the Radio 4 programme, Beyond Belief. I found this programme to be really useful to consider when approaching the teaching of secularism as part of the A level specification. The episode looks at how the former Blue Peter presenter, Janet Ellis, left her faith and how she became a Humanist. It also explores the nature of Humanism in more detail and I really found it useful to hear the different views that were discussed. Do have a listen as it will be very beneficial not only for A level but also for other syllabi that you teach in the school if you have units of work in this area. The link for the episode is: BBC Radio 4 – Beyond Belief, Losing My Religion

 

Rachael Jackson-Royal is head of department of RE and is the exams and higher education officer on the NATRE executive.