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Research Summary

The research project was a qualitative study exploring the experience and inclusion of Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) pupils within RE, which can be a difficult subject for these pupils. Two pupils were chosen as case studies and data obtained through observations, field notes and a questionnaire. It is important that ASD-diagnosed pupils feel supported in their communication. Different pedagogies were explored over a short series of lessons, focussing on the use of ‘slow pedagogy’, and specifically, Philosophy for Children (P4C). The purpose of this project was to determine if RE teachers can help support autistic students to thrive in RE using the P4C pedagogy, and the answer a qualified yes, as it appears best supplemented by other approaches.

Researchers

Michael Tanner

Research Institution

This is a report of a University of Birmingham MA Teaching Studies dissertation.

What is this about?

• Can P4C, as a pedagogical approach, help ASD-diagnosed pupils to succeed in RE?
• What happens when a form of ‘slow pedagogy’, namely P4C, is used as a possible way to address these pupils’ needs in relation to thought and behaviour; social interaction; and language and communication?
• Might wider messages for RE teachers and teaching emerge from this relatively small-scale enquiry?

What was done?

Over a period of four P4C in RE lessons, in Y7, mixed methods were used to document and evaluate the use of P4C pedagogy in addressing the needs of ASD-diagnosed pupils (in relation to thought and behaviour; social interaction; and language and communication). Two individual case studies were combined with researcher and observer (SENCO) observation and field notes, together with a pupil questionnaire.

Main findings and outputs

• P4C is not a panacea when addressing the needs of ASD-diagnosed pupils; but it has worth in assisting their development.
• It will be better combined with phases of ‘faster pace’ pedagogy. A fully P4C-based RE curriculum for ASD-diagnosed pupils would not be ideal.
• Even though the flow of ideas in P4C lessons can lead to overload for ASD-diagnosed pupils, it can also help their imaginative engagement with the ideas of others.
• However, education in general needs to be more holistic and put pupils’ own development at the forefront, rather than narrower cognitive aims.

Relevance to RE

The dissertation contains a useful survey of relevant legislation and policy, for teachers in general. In terms of RE specifically, it gives a detailed report of how P4C assisted the progress of two ASD-diagnosed pupils, together with an assessment of the limitations of this approach and the finding that P4C should ideally be combined with other pedagogies towards this end.

Generalisability and potential limitations

As a case study of two pupils, this research offers depth rather than generalisability. As the researcher acknowledges, there were also time constraints. However, the research suggests some useful principles and routes for adaptation or re-contextualisation: others investigating the issues might find valuable starting points here.

Find out more

We are grateful to Michael Tanner for permission to report on and share his master’s dissertation. Contact Kevin@cstg.org.uk for further details.

Research Summary

Religious Education in British schools seeks to help students learn critically about, and from, a wide range of religious phenomena. Yet, how do we ensure that these religious traditions, in all their rich diversity, are authentically represented within the Religious Education classroom? Many will do so without ever interacting with these faith communities personally. Building on the work of Robert Jackson, this research thus explores the extent to which ethnographic material can be used to invite diverse religious perspectives into the classroom, to ensure that generalised understandings of religious communities are debunked and not perpetuated.

Researchers

Zoë Grainger

Research Institution

University of Cambridge

What is this about?

• How do Y12 students develop understanding of the diversity within Christianity?
• To what extent can an ethnographic approach help them to do this?

What was done?

There was a review of relevant literature, followed by action research on two questions: What prior knowledge did the class have of Christianity’s internal diversity? What insights did students gain through engaging with the ethnographic material? Jackson’s interpretive approach was adapted in a Y12 scheme of work, using various materials and methods to bring diverse Christian insider voices into the classroom. The students completed questionnaires, the teacher-researcher and her mentor made observation notes, the students’ classwork was analysed and visitors from the different Christian communities were interviewed.

Main findings and outputs

1. Ethnographic content does clarify and consolidate subject knowledge.
2. It also aids deconstruction of stereotypes.
3. Further, it also enables critical engagement with subject matter.
4. Attention is also needed to how students’ understanding of religion is shaped by social media.
5. The interpretive approach is best used alongside complementary pedagogical models, e.g. hermeneutical examination of sacred texts.

Relevance to RE

The research has various forms of relevance to RE. The original article gives a useful introduction to the interpretive approach, including practical applications and criticisms, and takes the approach into KS5 for the first documented time. It shows the value to KS5 students of interactions with religious insiders. The main findings suggest potentially useful classroom teaching strategies.

Generalisability and potential limitations

As an action research study, the research does not aim for generalisibility, but the findings certainly suggest promising avenues for other teachers to explore in their own classrooms; and the background and context of the study are very well accounted.

Find out more

The original article is: Zoë Grainger. 2023. Seeing the kaleidoscope: Investigating whether Year 12 understandings of Christianity’s internal diversity can be enhanced through an ethnographic approach. Journal of Trainee Teacher Education Research.

It can be freely downloaded from https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.96937

Research Summary

This is a study of the lived religious identity and practice of Hindu teenagers in the UK. Utilising an ethnographic approach, it investigates how Hindu teenagers in the UK experience their religion at home and at school. There is found a contrast between these teenagers’ home life and school experience. Hindu teenagers experience a strong sense of cognitive dissonance pertaining to their religious identity: their home life being a healthy relationship with their religion but their school experience being a sense of anger and shame. There is an outline of what the teenagers themselves believe is lacking in the RE classroom and what they regard as the key features of their Hindu faith.

Researchers

Joseph Chadwin

Research Institution

University of Vienna

What is this about?

• How do Hindu teenagers in England experience their religion, at home and at school?
• Are there contrasts between these two arenas?
• What do Hindu teenagers in England see as the key features of Hindu faith?
• What do they believe is lacking, or would like to see more of, in the RE classroom regarding Hindu tradition?

What was done?

There was a prior survey of existing relevant literature, and an ethnographic study of 30 London secondary pupils who self-identified as Hindu. The ethnographic study consisted of a series of semi-structured interviews.

Main findings and outputs

• There is immense variety within the category of Hinduism; researchers should accept the multiplicity and fluidity of lived religious identities and experiences.
• Such acceptance characterises much recent RE literature but Hinduism is still a ‘blind spot’ sometimes significantly mishandled in school RE.
• 12 of the pupils were apathetic to their Hindu identity, 18 highly engaged with Hindu beliefs and practices. 25 stressed how Hinduism is highly internally diverse. 28 were unhappy about absence from or superficial treatment of Hinduism within the school curriculum. Only 1 was happy; the school in question received visits from Hindu community members. The unhappiness is a source of anger for them and means that Hinduism, in their view, is really for the home.
• A ‘secularised’ ‘yoga-for-relaxation’ type of activity offered in school added to the Hindu teenagers’ sense of anger.

Relevance to RE

The findings include the Hindu teenagers’ views on what is lacking (or needed) in school RE:

• 26 referred to the importance of Hindu values, and the need to reflect these in curriculum coverage: equality, honesty, non-violence and love.
• These can be, but should not be, obscured by attention to Hinduism’s ‘strangeness’ or exotic appearance.
• Informed teaching about the meaning of yoga is lacking, but should be included; the same also applies to puja.

Generalisability and potential limitations

The author acknowledges that his is a small and localised sample. However, he argues that the ‘small window’ of the ethnographic data is much needed, providing an in-depth examination.

Find out more

The original article is available on an open-access basis: Joseph Chadwin (2023) The lived religious beliefs and experiences of
English Hindu teenagers at home and at school, British Journal of Religious Education, 45:3, 251-262, DOI: 10.1080/01416200.2023.2184326

Research Summary

The Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures project, on contemporary global trends in religion, investigates religious change and its impact on societies around the world. Since 2006, it has included:

• Surveys in more than 95 countries asking nearly 200,000 people about their religious identities, beliefs and practices.
• Demographic studies using censuses and other data sources to estimate the size of religious groups, project how fast they are growing or shrinking, and analyze mechanisms of religious change.
• Annual tracking of restrictions on religion in 198 countries and territories.

This is a report of its December 2022 bulletin.

Researchers

Pew Research Center, Washington DC

Research Institution

Pew Research Center, Washington DC

What is this about?

This is about large-scale trends across the world in religious identities, beliefs and practices; the size of religious groups, their rates of growth or shrinkage, and the drivers of changes in the global religious picture; and also figures concerned with restrictions on religion in different countries and territories.

What was done?

Global Religious Futures generates and uses a very large quantitative data set in order to establish its findings: surveys, analysis of censuses and tracking of policy across different countries. The December 2022 bulletin presents a set of headline findings and also incorporates links to related outputs where themes are covered in more detail.

Main findings and outputs

• People are becoming less religious in the US and many other countries (in 2021, 29% of US citizens were religiously unaffiliated, compared to 16% in 2007). At the same time, Western Europeans are generally less religious than Americans.
• Population growth is faster in highly religious countries. In Africa and the Middle East, for example, the average woman has more children than in Europe, North America or East Asia – and much larger shares of the population, both young and old, in these parts of the world say religion is very important to them (e.g. 98% in Ethiopia compared to 10% in the UK).
• The vast majority of the world’s population is projected to have a religion, including about six-in-ten who will be either Christian (31%) or Muslim (30%) in 2050. 13% are projected to have no religion. Sub-Saharan Africa is the region with the fastest population growth. Its high birth rates are a major contributor to the increasing size of the world’s Christian and Muslim populations.
• Is religion gaining or losing influence? It depends: in most countries surveyed, more people said the role of religion had decreased than said it had increased. But there were plenty of exceptions, including such countries as Indonesia, Kenya, Brazil and Israel, where the balance of public opinion was that religion’s role had increased.
• Overall, government restrictions on religion have been rising globally. As of 2020, 57 countries now have “very high” levels of government restrictions on religion, up from 40 in 2007.

These are some examples of significant key findings, and readers are encouraged to access and use the full bulletin, freely accessible from the link below.

Relevance to RE

The bulletin provides excellent background material for policy and curriculum.  Its report of increased global restriction on religion whilst the religious population of the world continues to grow, for example, underlines the importance of freedom of religion and belief, an education in religion and worldviews and the alignment of such education with democratic social values in the UK. The individual data offer valuable resources for classroom teaching, when a social science approach to religion and worldviews is being used.

Generalisability and potential limitations

The generalisability of the data is high; reliable, broad and produced by expert researchers. The key focus is on the US, but the international comparisons mean that this is not done in an isolated way. There is also a series of links embedded in the bulletin through which headline findings can be explored in more detail.

Find out more

The full text of the bulletin can be accessed at https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2022/12/21/key-findings-from-the-global-religious-futures-project/

Research Summary

Jacomijn van der Kooij and colleagues provide a clear and concise definition of worldview, for use in RE curriculum development and pedagogy.

Researchers

Jacomijn van der Kooij, Doret de Ruyter and Siebren Miedema

Research Institution

VU University, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

What is this about?

Whilst the original article is about what worldview means in relation to RE, and is a very interesting and detailed read, the summary below under Main findings and outputs should give curriculum developers and teachers at least a start and a framework for getting to grips with the issue – and you can follow up the link to the original article if you have library access and want the wider context.

What was done?

The researchers looked over literature on worldview and distilled some principles for curriculum and pedagogy in RE, as summarised in the Main findings and outputs section.

Main findings and outputs

1. Every religion’s a worldview, but not all worldviews are religious, because they don’t all recognise the existence of the transcendent.
2. There are organised and personal worldviews; organised are systemic, whereas personal can be developed through a bricoleur approach, taking elements from different sources.
3. Worldviews aren’t just views on life, the world and humanity. More is needed. Membership of a political party, for instance, isn’t a worldview.
4. There are four conditions – having views on matters of ultimate concern, including ontological, cosmological, theological, teleological, eschatological, and ethical notions; these views must influence thinking and acting; a worldview has moral values related to understanding of the good life and the well-being of other people; a worldview gives meaning in a person’s life, and on the meaning of life, or an understanding of the purpose of human beings in general.
5. So, an organised worldview is one that has developed over time as a coherent and established system. It has sources, traditions, values, rituals, ideals, or dogmas, and a group of believers.
6. But a personal worldview can be held without being articulated. Somebody’s answers to existential questions may not be clear-cut, the person may be continuing to reflect. If somebody’s moral values are what give meaning to him or her, these can constitute a personal worldview, though people can have personal worldviews in the absence of moral values: aesthetic or other ones may be central. A personal worldview can be based on a meaning in life or can be one where a belief in pointlessness replaces this; it must affect thoughts and actions to qualify as a worldview, though other practical factors may also affect the person’s decisions.
7. RE shouldn’t only focus on religions as organised systems, but also on differences between people who identify with the systems, and how the personal worldviews of pupil or their parents are developing. Depending on the school, pupils’ worldviews might be expected to be developing in relation to one organised worldview (‘learning in religion’) or several (‘learning from religion’).

Relevance to RE

Curriculum developers and teachers need a clear concept of worldview, as applied to RE, in order to consider what to include in the curriculum and how to approach it in the classroom.

Generalisability and potential limitations

This isn’t the only way in which the concept of worldview has been understood, but it was developed with RE in mind, is widely cited, and may well be of good use.

Find out more

Jacomijn C. van der Kooij , Doret J. de Ruyter and Siebren Miedema, “‘Worldview’: the Meaning of the Concept and the Impact on Religious Education,” Religious Education, 108 (2) (2013): 210-228.

Research Summary

This academic paper presents an analysis of a small-scale research project, investigating how best School X can promote the religious tolerance of the students attending. The paper explores current literature and adopts a reflexive approach, in which the paradigm of the research is explored and new knowledge is presented. Data was collected through questionnaires and interviews and the findings suggest that by teaching more KS3 RE, and making use of speakers and classroom religious adherents, student religious tolerance can be improved. The paper argues that a change in curriculum is necessary to improve student religious tolerance and that a model of distributed leadership and continuous change is best in implementing new policy at the school. Other findings are discussed but, at present, remain the subject of later research.

Researchers

Milo Bellamy

Research Institution

N/A

What is this about?

Defining best practice to best improve the religious tolerance of students at school.

What was done?

Student attitudes were evaluated with what they best think promotes tolerance and what hinders the promotion of tolerance in the school. This was achieved through questionnaires, gathering both quantitative and qualitative data from students and follow up interviews with multiple students.

In addition, a test group was given a short course on Islam, whilst a control group were not. Associations with Islam were investigated in both groups through questionnaires that allowed students to discuss word associations following teaching, or not teaching, a small module on Islam. Interviews were also utilised to triangulate the data.

Main findings and outputs

Religious tolerance can be improved by

1. teaching more KS3 RE
2. making use of speakers and classroom religious adherents.

Relevance to RE

A discussion concerning the aims of RE in schools and how best to facilitate and promote tolerance of diverse faiths.

Generalisability and potential limitations

By virtue of the nature of research that takes place in one school it should be recognised that context of other schools may be different from that of school x. The context of School X is an outer London state school, facing challenges to gain adequate teaching time, starting the GCSE course a year early, and not given the same number of hours other humanities are given. The school does, however, commit all students, unless withdrawn, to the Religious Education GCSE. The limitations of the GCSE may also hinder the aim of generalised religious tolerance, especially in the case of rising islamophobia.

The research is generalisable as all schools in the UK should give some provision to Religious Education. Further, it is an aim of the government to improve religious tolerance in schools. As such, most schools would benefit from implementing the findings of this paper in order to improve religious tolerance.

Find out more

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1aZY7hScNnk6zmA4K92V-TIVrg5ogYkMKZVFE6UgTca4/edit?usp=sharing

Research Summary

A practitioner action research community of practice of teachers and mid-level policy enactors was formed, to engage with the question of how to enhance RE /R&W in primary schools serving socially disadvantaged children. The members’ professional values and assumptions were explored, and the needs of primary teachers in contexts of social disadvantage were assessed. The advantages of effective school-community partnerships were highlighted, leading to a recognition of the importance of learning outside the classroom in RE / R&W. A model was developed, centring on the importance of spaces for encountering the lived experience of religion, asking challenging questions, and sharing learning objectives.

Researchers

David Lundie, Waqaus Ali, Michael Ashton, Sue Billingsley, Hinnah Heydari, Karamat Iqbal, Kate McDowell & Matthew Thompson

Research Institution

School of Interdisciplinary Studies, University of Glasgow, Glasgow; Knowledge to Action, Blackburn; School of Education, Liverpool Hope University, Liverpool; Outwoods Primary School, Warwickshire; Liverpool Community Spirit; Forward Partnership; St Cleopas Primary School, Liverpool

What is this about?

This is about improving RE/R&W provision for primary age children in areas of social disadvantage. It is about the importance in this respect of learning outside the classroom, especially encounters with lived religion, pursuing challenging questions, and sharing learning objectives.

What was done?

There were three cycles of action research. In each cycle, problems were identified and success criteria envisioned. Data was collected to support deliberation in each cycle. For the first and second cycles, there was an online training needs analysis of 26 teachers. For the second and third cycles, interviews and surveys with primary age pupils were undertaken, as well as surveys of places of worship and discussions with NASACRE.

Main findings and outputs

1. Two-way authenticity: there is a need for authentic encounter between the voices of marginalised young people and authentic representation of lived faith. What gets in the way of this: turning field sites into museums or illustrations of textbook accounts of faith, or silencing ‘difficult’ questions from pupils.
2. Importance of sharing learning outcomes: schools and field sites should understand one another’s purpose in the relationship. A respectful and safe atmosphere is needed, with understanding the lived experience of faith; an openness to questions, as well as opportunities for reflection, resisting the tendency to treat places of worship as either a museum or an extension of the classroom.
3. Children ’emphasised the importance of hearing the visitor speak about their beliefs in their own words, how they live and worship, beliefs about God or gods, services they attend, how their religion is different to others, traditional stories, charity work and the relevance of religious buildings they are visiting’ (page 8).
4. ‘A majority of the children said they would welcome the opportunity to ask questions about another person’s religion and how they lived, and that they would feel comfortable expressing their own views, though they did not feel that it would be appropriate to challenge a person’s religious beliefs. 79% agreed that visiting places of worship and welcoming religious visitors was useful in helping them understand a particular faith’ (page 8).
5. Many places of worship said they welcomed when teachers shared their learning aims ahead of a visit to enable them to understand pupils’ levels of prior learning.
6. Making the most of the opportunities from learning outside the classroom requires careful partnerships, effective preparation, the sharing of learning objectives and a willingness from pupils and field visitors alike to encounter challenging perspectives. The authors recommend the setting-up of an online portal to allow teachers and places of worship to link to one another, access self-evaluations, exemplification materials, and share aims and lesson plans.

Relevance to RE

The research illustrates the potential benefits of learning outside the classroom in RE / R&W, but also the work and care needed to maximise these. Teachers and others should be guided by it to develop genuine partnerships, based on the needs of schools and partner faith communities; and to prepare visits thoroughly, with close attention to the purposes brought by all participants and the kinds of questions children might pose and the experiences they might have.

Generalisability and potential limitations

Whilst action research studies are not generalisable as such, relying on contextual validity, the mixed-methods approach and professional rigour of this study mean that it is more than worthy of the attention of those seeking to address related concerns. Moreover, the findings regarding best practice in RE/R&W through school-community relationships are (at the very least) useful starting points for colleagues wishing to develop such relationships; and a reminder of the importance of these.

Find out more

David Lundie, Waqaus Ali, Michael Ashton, Sue Billingsley, Hinnah Heydari, Karamat Iqbal, Kate McDowell & Matthew Thompson (2021): A practitioner action research approach to learning outside the classroom in religious education: developing a dialogical model through reflection by teachers and faith field visitors, British Journal of Religious Education, DOI:10.1080/01416200.2021.1969896
The article is available open-access.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01416200.2021.1969896

Research Summary

The research is a case study of the Faith and Belief Forum’s School Linking programme, in the light of the proposed move towards a religion and worldviews curriculum in England. Through analysis of a large quantitative and qualitative data set, it emerged that though pupils report knowledge increases from participation in the programme, the type of knowledge gained does not accurately capture the religious and worldview plurality of the programme’s participants. The author finds that the weakness is due to the intergroup contact theory of the programme, and that a different type of contact theory, decategorisation, would offer improved pupil learning in future and be more compatible with a worldviews approach.

Researchers

Lucy Peacock

Research Institution

Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations, Coventry University

What is this about?

What are the implications of a move to a Religion and Worldviews curriculum for contact-based interfaith programmes in schools? What type of knowledge do pupils get from these programmes, and is it sufficient to convey the complexity of religious and non-religious worldviews?

What was done?

Quantitative and qualitative data were collected through 1,488 teacher and student surveys, teacher focus groups and participant observation in schools. 52 classes from 45 English schools were involved, of different religious characters. There were baseline and endpoint surveys (before and after participation in School Linking), pupil reflection forms; and participant observation and focus groups to assess how School Linking promotes peaceful relations.

Main findings and outputs

• Pupils reported learning more and more about the faiths and beliefs of their linked school, and feeling more and more confident to work with their peers there.
• But when they were asked to provide examples, these tended to be based on oversimplified or inaccurate ‘facts’.
• The language that the teachers used contributed to the problem, because it often homogenised groups. It appeared to draw from the perceived demands of RE teaching, reflecting current curriculum frameworks and examination demands.
• So exchanging individualised information (‘decategorisation’) would be better than assuming that individuals simply represent groups such as Muslims or Jews (‘secondary transfer’). Perceptions of group homogeneity should be actively questioned in the process. Interfaith programmes need to interact with the changing RE / R&W landscape.

Relevance to RE

The research probably has more relevance to RE / R&W than the article itself suggests. The article concludes that a different model is needed for interfaith programmes in schools, and that this model is in step with RE / R&W. However, the decategorisation model proposed might inform not only interfaith programmes but, in turn, all RE / R&W practice based on direct dialogue and encounter; so could be considered by teachers in relation to discussions taking place within their own classes, or during visits to faith or non-religious worldview communities. The findings of the research are useful to consider whilst planning curriculum around point 9 of the CORE national entitlement, specifically the part on direct encounter and discussion with individuals and communities.

Generalisability and potential limitations

The samples are fairly large. The research combines quantitative with qualitative approaches carefully. The data are analysed thoroughly and the analysis coheres with general themes of religion and worldview plurality and other sources on religion and worldview complexity.

Find out more

The original article is:
Lucy Peacock (2021) Contact-based interfaith programmes in schools and the changing religious education landscape: negotiating a worldviews curriculum, Journal of Beliefs & Values, DOI: 10.1080/13617672.2021.2004708

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13617672.2021.2004708

Research Summary

Schools were linked to a selected and trained faith practitioner for an extended period of time, enabling an ongoing relationship to develop. The extended connection allowed for greater depth of dialogue, and thus, improved learning about the religion and culture of the faith in question. Schools reported that the project had reinvigorated their Religious Education and provided valuable professional development for staff.

Researchers

Mark Plater
Funding by All Saints Educational Foundation

Research Institution

Bishop Grosseteste University, Lincoln

What is this about?

Usually when schools have faith visitors (or make visits to places of worship) this is for a one-off, brief experience, and does not provide time for pupils and faith practitioners to get to know each other and to feel fully relaxed in discussing the complexity of issues that might be explored. Creating opportunity for longer term connections, it was hoped that genuine friendships might develop, enabling a much deeper level of connection and understanding.

What was done?

Funding was obtained to support six schools in a pilot programme, providing funds to release classroom practitioners for training events, and other project expenses. Faith practitioners from the selected religions were then identified, police checked, and trained by the Leicester based St Philip’s interfaith centre before being introduced to the relevant schools. Schools were then free to develop activities with their selected faith practitioner as appropriate to their needs.

Main findings and outputs

Two participating schools were unable to proceed with the programme for various reasons, but all of the others benefitted enormously from the programme, claiming that it had, strengthened teacher confidence in teaching about that religion, broken down stereotypes and assumptions, and given RE teaching an increased profile in the school.
Ongoing reports were provided on progress at three points during the programme, and a final report summarises the main outputs and overall impact.

Relevance to RE

First hand experience of dialogue with people from faith traditions is vital in order to make RE come alive and feel relevant and meaningful. However, there are benefits in developing long term dialogue relationships with a person of faith, rather than in brief encounters such as are usually organised (one-off speakers, or short visits to places of worship), helpful though these are.

Generalisability and potential limitations

This was a small-scale pilot study, and hoped-for further funding to expand the project is still being sought. Also, the project was interrupted by Covid and lockdowns, and some schools giving greater emphasis to Core subjects during the time that the study was in flow.

Find out more

https://bgro.repository.guildhe.ac.uk/id/eprint/884/

Research Summary

The pandemic has shown how important religious ritual is for communities; for the social, psychological and cultural health of individuals. Some loss has not yet been adequately mourned, and addressing this will need to be a priority. The phenomenon of online worship has been significant, and thought will need to be given to serving the extended or invisible community that religious rituals actually engage. ‘In many ways, the digitisation of religious life has shifted patterns of religious authority and power.’ (page 114) Still, not all religious rituals can be moved online. These are some of the research’s closing reflections: its four main findings are given below, under Main findings and outputs.

Researchers

Dr Joshua Edelman, Prof Alana Vincent, Dr Eleanor O’Keeffe, Dr Paulina Kolata, Dr Mark A. Minott, Dr Katja Steurzenhofecker, Dr Jennie Bailey, Dr Charles Roding Pemberton, Dr David Lowe

Research Institution

Manchester Metropolitan University, University of Chester

What is this about?

The report’s Executive Summary provides a clear introduction to the aims and context of the research undertaken. The focus was on how religious practice in Britain adapted to the lockdown situation. From page 7:
‘The project ran from August 2020 to September 2021, with the aim of documenting and analysing changes to British communal religious life during the Covid-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns, and of providing best practice recommendations for religious communities adapting their practice to address similar crisis situations in the future. Particular effort has been made to include data that reflects, to the extent possible, the geographic and religious diversity of Britain, by focussing on questions of religious practice rather than on theological questions or issues of belief which are specific to faith traditions.’

What was done?

There were three research methods.

1. A large-scale survey of religious leaders and congregants about their experiences of rituals both before and during the pandemic.
2. Fifteen case studies—based on interviews, digital ethnography, social and broadcast media analysis, and other methods.
3. Action research carried out by clergy and other professionals with practical experience of conducting ritual during the pandemic, who
   respond to and comment on the data, and reflect personally on their experiences.

Main findings and outputs

1. During the pandemic, the experience of ritual worsened. They were perceived as less meaningful, less communal, less spiritual, and less effective.
2. Human connection means more to people than other factors. They prefer forms of online worship that are interactive over those that deliver a ‘better’ audio and visual quality.
3. While online practice could make some rituals feel distant, the ability of worshippers to join communities far from their homes has nevertheless been a positive development likely to continue. However, the overall dissatisfaction with online worship suggests a limit. Some form of online-offline hybrid seems likely to be the way forward.
4. Participants in larger communities found their experience of rituals during the pandemic to be less positive than was the case for smaller communities. This suggests that smaller communities were better able to maintain a sense of togetherness and mutual support through their rituals during this crisis, and that their convivial, small nature was a source of resilience rather than a weakness.

Relevance to RE

Neither the researchers nor the report have school RE or R&W as a specific focus, but the data are of potential use to teachers in developing courses or lessons about contemporary British lived religion. For example, pupils could be asked to ‘predict’ how communal life in particular traditions could be affected by lockdown; their predictions could then be compared and contrasted with real-life data and accounts; the pupils could reflect on their own prior assumptions and what they have learned about their own positions as well as lived religion, and further questions could then be explored about the meaning and significance of religion in different communities, and how it adapts to different conditions.

Generalisability and potential limitations

The survey is broad, and whilst the case studies might not cover every religious or worldview community represented in the UK, they offer valid accounts of a range of communities.

Find out more

The full report, together with further information about the BRIC-19 research project, can be accessed freely at https://bric19.mmu.ac.uk