A Level Digest October 2022
A good book: Perfect and Flawed by Cecila Ahern
I am always on the lookout for easy to read novels that I can recommend to students to borrow over the summer or at any other time where they have the opportunity to explore ideas that link to the course. These two books were both recommended to me and I think they fit this bill perfectly. Although they do not ‘match’ a specification exactly, what I like about them is how they explore questions surrounding ethics and what kind of world there might be if society were segregated based on whether people conformed to a very strict and particular code of morality. For example, they help pupils to consider what moral code should govern society, who should decide this and how this group should be monitored to ensure this is not being abused as well as whether society should be split according to those who uphold this and those who do not (where the latter are marked to show they have broken the ‘rules’). I have loaned these to students and they have always enjoyed both books and this has led to some very interesting discussions afterwards which we draw upon in our lessons. They do need to be read in conjunction, but they are very accessible as they are aimed at a teenage audience.
Interesting research: Why Opt for A level Religious Studies
For most of us working in schools or Sixth Form colleges, this term is often the time of year when there are open evenings and other events advertising the A level. This is why I have chosen to advertise this particular piece of research by Ian Jones as you may find this useful to consider for these events. It discusses a project involving students who decided to take A level Religious Studies. It explored the reasons why they made this choice initially and their reflections after they had finished the course. Thus, you could pull out some of the main findings of this to showcase at your open events or to help support any literature that you may produce. The link to the summary of this article is: Why opt for A level Religious Studies? – RE:ONLINE (reonline.org.uk)
A good website: Ethics online
This is not a free resource but it is not overly expensive and I think it is well worth the price. It is a website which houses a series of videos covering many ethical topics found both on the A level and GCSE specification. There are also downloadable materials including detailed scripts for each of the films and suggested discussion activities. The films are of a very high quality and link well to the material that needs to be covered in the various A level specifications. Examples of films include: Kantian ethics, Utilitarianism, Situation Ethics and Virtue ethics as well as life after death and environmentalism. I have used the films already this term when we were discussing the theory of Aquinas. To access all of the material you need to pay a yearly subscription, but as I have indicated, this is not too costly and there are some free resources to pursue to help you decide if this is the resource for your department. The link to their website is: Home – Ethics Online
A good listen: In Conversation with Professor Denise Cush: Hindu worldview traditions, Culham St Gabriel’s’
If you are teaching Hinduism either at A level or GCSE, this is a very good listen. Indeed, I have also found it very useful in helping to shape my teaching of Hinduism at Key Stage Three. It is part of a series of talks, organised by Culham St Gabriel’s, where various academics are interviewed to discuss different topics that are useful for RE teachers. This conversation explores ways in which you could teach greater diversity within the Hindu worldview and it goes well with the accompanying article on the site. Although the conversation is with Professor Denise Cush, it also draws on the work of her colleague, Catherine Robinson, who also co-wrote the aforementioned piece. The link to the talk can be found here: In Conversation – RE:ONLINE (reonline.org.uk)
Rachael Jackson-Royal is head of department of RE and is the exams and higher education officer on the NATRE executive.