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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

Research Summary

Interestingly, though focused on the media, the Inquiry’s report is not only for the media, but for everyone. From the Introduction: ‘Today, the UK is characterised by an incredible variety of beliefs, histories and perspectives. Complete agreement and uniformity is neither possible nor desirable. To live together well, it is beholden upon all of us to learn to listen to our fellow citizens and to do so with respect and curiosity before we move to judgement. Learning not just what people think, but why they think it, is essential in bridging gaps and crossing social and cultural divides. This is the broadest suggestion we would like to make – that our society can be richer, more harmonious and more confident in itself if we all learn to listen and empathise with that which we do not believe or support. A media that is diverse, curious and sensitive to the enormous variety of beliefs in the UK today can play a key role in fostering that society and we hope that our recommendations are useful tools to achieve that end.’ (p.4)

Researchers

The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Religion in the Media

Research Institution

The APPG on Religion in the Media report might best be described as a cross-institution output:

‘All-Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs) are informal cross-party groups that have no official status within Parliament. They are run by and for Members of the Commons and Lords, though many choose to involve individuals and organisations from outside Parliament in their administration and activities.’ https://www.parliament.uk/about/mps-and-lords/members/apg/

What is this about?

The inquiry set out ‘to explore how to encourage a media environment which is conducive to a rounded, informed public understanding of religion and the role religious literacy can play in achieving this end.’ (p.4)

What was done?

As well as ‘desk research’ (consulting existing publications), the inquiry had three methods:

• Analysis of 55 written submissions, from different organisations and individuals (in academia, journalism, think tanks, faith groups, etc.).
• Analysis of responses to ‘bespoke’ questions sent to media organisations including broadcasters and regulators.
• Seven ‘oral evidence’ discussion sessions, engaging with 58 panellists in total: again, academics, faith group representatives, education and media specialists.

Main findings and outputs

The meaning of religious literacy is contested, but having considered the evidence, the APPG arrived at its own definition: ‘It incorporates knowledge, competency in engaging with religious ideas and people and the respect which derives from viewing religion to be a valid source of beliefs and values.’ (p.9) There is concern that religion is often reduced to its visual or liturgical facets, and that coverage can sensationalise, stereotype, contain basic errors, or fail to represent diversity. However, by avoiding these mistakes, the media can significantly increase public understanding of religion and broadcasters can inform while they entertain.
Seven ‘central recommendations’ are brought out:

• Journalists and programme-makers should aim to explore the ‘lived experience’ of religion as well as its doctrinal, ritual, and ceremonial elements.
• Newspapers and broadcasters should audit and publish full accounts of their religion and belief workforce statistics to provide a better sense of who is working in the industry so that disparities can be addressed.
• Religious literacy training should be formally incorporated into professional media qualifications and journalists’ continuing professional development.
• Newspapers should take greater care with the pictures and headlines they choose, recognising that this is all most viewers will see.
• Independent regulation should be looked at again by policymakers because there remain significant issues around access to regulatory redress. In particular, groups should be able to make complaints on the grounds of discrimination.
• The current religious programming hours required of the BBC should be protected in future reviews.
• The remit of public service broadcasters should be redrafted to include the purpose of promoting religious literacy and all public service broadcasters should explore how they can use the full width of their output to increase religious literacy.

Relevance to RE

There are, perhaps, two main types of relevance to RE:

1. Teachers could use some of the seven recommendations as test criteria, for selecting media-based teaching resources and / or helping pupils to analyse and evaluate these. How far does this text / clip / image reflect lived experience of religion? Is this headline fair, balanced and appropriate? Would any groups or individuals have cause for complaint about it?
2. Curriculum developers and teachers could translate some of the recommendations into their own practice. How can we reflect the ‘lived experience’ of religion, as well as its doctrinal, ritual, and ceremonial elements, in curriculum plans and lessons? How can we ensure that curriculum plans, and lessons, cover religions and non-religious worldviews in fair, balanced and appropriate ways? Would any groups or individuals have cause for complaint about our curriculum plans or lessons?

In general, there are good points in the report to raise with pupils about the importance of accurate media reporting, and about how important RE / R&W is if you want to work in journalism or the media.

Generalisability and potential limitations

The report is the result of a very wide-ranging, thorough, multi-levelled inquiry and the findings are presented in some considerable detail. The findings are up-to-date (the report was published in April 2021).

Find out more

The report is available for free download from https://www.appgreligioninmedia.uk/publications-reports

Research Summary

This project presents 5 case studies exploring how RE is being re-imagined in schools. It is a showcase of classroom practice which goes some way towards meeting the learning proposed in the new National Entitlement for Religion & Worldviews.
The project builds on the recommendations of the Faiths Unit’s 2015 report RE for Real – The Future of Teaching and Learning about Religion & Belief by providing examples of an emerging shift in RE towards understanding religion and worldviews as dynamic, lived, and interpretable phenomena and concepts.

Researchers

Dr Martha Shaw & Prof Adam Dinham

Research Institution

London South Bank University & Goldsmiths, University of London

What is this about?

This project is based on the premise that there is much brilliant, innovative RE going on all around the country but that it is patchy and could be extended. This project highlights some key examples of innovative practice, which speaks to the new direction proposed for Religion & Worldviews. It is intended to complement debates about change in policy and practice, with evidence of existing new practices from which others can learn.

What was done?

The project has worked with 5 schools to explore examples in practice of aspects of the new National Entitlement. We invited submissions of interest to participate then undertook a series of visits to the schools, in close collaboration with teachers:

Visit 1: Summer Term 2019 (May-June), to discuss the national plan and how the school is already or might respond to it. We worked together during and following this visit to consolidate the potential connections to at least one element of the national entitlement, then to devise a piece of concrete classroom practice in advance of our return visit.

Visit 2: Autumn Term 2019 and Spring term 2020 (September-February), to observe and reflect on the example of teaching and learning which has been identified and developed. The example was developed into a ‘case study’ including a short video and PDF providing a narrative.

Main findings and outputs

The five case studies explore ways of teaching and learning about religion and worldviews as fluid, lived and interpretable phenomena. The focus of each case study is different and relate to:
– Dealing with Controversy
– Multiple interpretations of lived religion
– Whole school lived religion as meaning making
– Encountering worldviews as lived and fluid
– RE Trail as discovery for children and their parents
The case studies can be found here.

Relevance to RE

The case studies are offered as resource for teachers to explore new ways of approaching the study of religion and worldviews in the classroom. Teachers might use these as inspiration to try something new. Teacher educators might also use these as examples of ways to embrace the teaching of religion and worldviews as dynamic, lived and interpretable phenomena and concepts. These examples showcase ways of promoting religion & worldview literacy in the classroom.

Generalisability and potential limitations

These examples are not representative of all the creative and innovative practice that goes on. Neither do they embody the totality of the vision outlined by CORE. Rather, they are intended as examples of some of the exciting ways in which teachers are interpreting innovation in the Religion & Worldviews classroom.

Find out more

Shaw, M (2019) Towards a Religiously Literate curriculum – Religion and Worldview Literacy as an Educational Model, Journal of Beliefs & Values, Journal of Beliefs & Values. Online: Sept. 2019.

https://www.gold.ac.uk/faithsunit/current-projects/reforreal/case-studies/

Research Summary

Often, faith has been seen as belonging to those outside the mainstream, as a security concern and a barrier to cohesion in UK society. There is an evidence gap on different ways in which it contributes to cohesion, hence this research. The research finds that faith groups can indeed support cohesion, in complex ways. Their networks can be a powerful force for the social good in the future.

Researcher

Madeleine Pennington

Research Institution

Theos, for the British Academy and the Faith & Belief Forum

What is this about?

• How has religious faith been understood within UK social or community cohesion policy?
• How could UK social or community cohesion policy take better account of the realities of religion in the contemporary UK?
• What are some different ways in which religious groups contribute positively to social or community cohesion?

What was done?

From October 2019, Theos researchers visited local communities to find out about the positive ways in which religious groups fostered or undermined social cohesion. About 400 people were interviewed, and a number of in-depth case studies were written.

Main findings and outputs

The research findings are wide-ranging (reading the full report, linked below, is strongly recommended). Here are some that have particular RE / R&W relevance:

• Cohesion policy has been shaped by security concerns, that frame faith as a risk factor and as the preserve of ethnic minorities.
• But in the wake of Brexit, this is changing, and there are opportunities for re-assessment.
• Religious membership can provide ‘spiritual capital’, or hope, to people – and it can be a platform for more inclusive public discussion.
• Religious identity needs to be seen as intersecting with other identity factors; feelings of belonging can be present across religious identities.
• The contribution of faith groups to social provision increased greatly during the years of ‘The Big Society’ and ‘Austerity’. A quarter of all UK charity is now faith-based. In the past 10 years, 34% of organisations registering as charities have been faith-based. This trend will increase post-COVID.

Relevance to RE

These findings are relevant in different ways, for example, the ‘intersecting’ nature of religious identity is very relevant to the RE-R&W transition. However, the main focus might be religion’s increased social function as a voluntary services provider. Given this change, subject teaching might focus more on examples of such projects. Case studies are given in the report and teachers could make contact with local groups to organise pupil fieldwork and dialogue.

Generalisability and potential limitations

The research provides broad evidence of religion’s current contribution to UK social cohesion. It is mainly focused on England.

Find out more

Madeleine Pennington, “Cohesive Societies: Faith and Belief. Examining the role of faith and belief in cohesive societies”. July 2020.

The report is available open access at https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/publications/cohesive-societies-faith-and-belief/

Research Summary

For increasing numbers of teachers, religion may seem alien. This may impact on their choice of teaching content: subconsciously, they may elect to teach aspects of religious and non-religious worldviews close to their own worldviews, ignoring aspects with which they disagree. Teachers’ lack of subject content knowledge is often held up as a major problem, but questions also need to be asked about how their own worldviews relate to their subject content knowledge. Teachers should be supported to become ‘worldview-conscious’.

Researcher

Ruth Flanagan

Research Institution

University of Exeter

What is this about?

• What influences teachers to choose subject content?
• Do their own worldviews prompt them to emphasise some religious and non-religious worldview content, and ignore other religious and non-religious worldview content?
• How can teachers be supported to become more conscious of their own worldviews and how these might influence their attitudes to lesson content? How might this process enrich teaching and learning?

What was done?

The researcher analysed a wide range of literature (RE policy, pedagogy and curriculum, research on teachers and RE teachers, philosophy, educational studies and philosophy). She applied insights from Ricoeur’s hermeneutics to the problem of teachers’ possible worldview biases in relation to subject content. She then made recommendations for teachers to develop worldview-consciousness – a form of self-awareness, in relation to one’s own background values and orientations – that will enrich RE / R&W teaching and learning. These follow below.

Main findings and outputs

• To examine worldviews, teachers need to wrestle with philosophical questions of life which can enhance their own teaching and learning; this is important for pupils, but it is equally important for teachers: to examine others’ worldviews includes reflecting on one’s own.
• Teaching about worldviews involves teaching about different valuations of rationality. To do so, a person must be aware of what he or she values as rational, and why (what background influences he or she has).
• One’s own worldview may be held unconsciously, and support needed to bring it to consciousness. Teachers could reflect on their own definition of a good life. Once it is conscious, they can guard against only emphasising those features of others’ worldviews that are similar to their own, when teaching.

Relevance to RE

The findings are relevant to existing discussions about neutrality and impartiality in RE (teachers can be impartial to the extent that they are self-aware). They are also relevant to the move from RE to R&W; if it is true that everyone has a worldview and that the examination of personal worldviews is a part of the subject, teachers cannot be immune from the process.

Generalisability and potential limitations

The research does not present a data set whose generalisability can be assessed – but the questions raised should, at least, give all teachers pause for thought and reflection.

Find out more

Ruth Flanagan (2019): Implementing a Ricoeurian lens to examine the impact of individuals’ worldviews on subject content knowledge in RE in England: a theoretical proposition, British Journal of Religious Education, DOI: 10.1080/01416200.2019.1674779

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01416200.2019.1674779?journalCode=cbre20

Research Summary

The notion of worldview is prominent in recent discussions of RE, following the publication of the CORE report. This research reflects on this development. It gives a nuanced understanding of the notion of worldview. It explores the pedagogical implications of the shift to worldview, drawing on the work of Robert Jackson, Michael Grimmitt and Anthony Thiselton.

Researchers

Professor Trevor Cooling

Research Institution

Canterbury Christ Church University

What is this about?

• Current discussions of RE, specifically, the shift to a focus on worldview, following the publication of the CORE report.
• The meaning of the concept of worldview.
• What a move to worldview means for teachers of RE / R&W, in practice.

What was done?

The researcher considered the impact of the concept of worldview on his own work, in an autobiographical manner. He then analysed the treatment of worldview in the CORE report and subsequent discussions, including points made by critics of CORE or of the worldview concept. He then identified the pedagogical implications of CORE, arguing that R&W teaching will need to take a hermeneutical approach (explained further below) if the proposed changes are to take effect.

Main findings and outputs

• R&W is not simply a matter of adding extra content to RE – when religions are viewed as fluid, complex, diverse worldviews, the subject changes.
• A key focus is on the lived experience of people and communities identifying with a particular institutional worldview: CORE, here, draws heavily on Robert Jackson’s interpretive approach to RE.
• A second key focus is on personal worldview – a concern to pick up positive elements of Michael Grimmitt’s ‘learning from religion’; pupils should understand the varied influences on them as they form their own worldviews.
• Anthony Thiselton’s ‘responsible hermeneutics’ provides the disciplinary knowledge needed in R&W. It gives teachers three responsibilities:

1. Promote rigorous knowledge of what is being taught.
2. Ensure rigorous reflection on the contemporary context and how it may influence both teacher’s and pupils’ perspectives.
3. Ensure rigorous reflection on the potential interaction between 1 and 2, so that teacher and pupils benefit in their own self-understanding.

Relevance to RE

The research is of high relevance to teachers who are concerned to understand the meaning of the CORE report and the shift to worldviews as far as their own professional practice is concerned. As the researcher concludes, it is not yet a workable curriculum or resources. This needs to come next, but the researcher has outlined a basis for it.

Generalisability and potential limitations

This research does not present a set of generalisable data from a survey or other instrument. Rather, it is a detailed, balanced discussion of the worldview concept, based on reading, analysis and reflection. It offers teachers and other professionals an account of what the CORE report and the move from RE to R&W mean in practice, though (as yet) without details of curriculum or resources.

Find out more

The original article is Trevor Cooling (2020) Worldview in religious education: autobiographical reflections on The Commission on Religious Education in England final report, British Journal of Religious Education, DOI: 10.1080/01416200.2020.1764497

The article is available open-access at 10.1080/01416200.2020.1764497

Research Summary

Religion has played a key role in reading instruction in many education systems, but this has been challenged by increasing religious diversity and the spread of non-religious worldviews. There is growing interest in the role of disciplinary literacy in education (i.e. the ways in which a discipline’s knowledge is created, shared and evaluated), and the role of the reader.

This research focuses on how adolescents experience reading in religious education (RE). It shows that they relate meaning-making in RE to developing respect and tolerance; that whilst teachers focus on conceptual understanding, students request a focus
on lived religion; and that student meaning-making in RE thrives in a learner-active setting.

Researchers

Lars Unstad & Henning Fjørtoft

Research Institution

Department of Teacher Education, NTNU Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway

What is this about?

• Disciplinary learning in RE.
• What adolescent students value in RE.
• How adolescent students experience learning in RE.
• Differences between teachers’ and students’ perspectives on students’ learning in RE.

What was done?

A series of RE lessons was observed, across three Norwegian secondary schools. The observations were followed up by group interviews with pupils and individual interviews with teachers.

Main findings and outputs

The study resulted in three main findings.

• Firstly, for the students, meaning-making in reading in RE is closely related to the purpose of developing respect and tolerance.
• Secondly, there was a discrepancy in the view of reading to learn in RE. While the teachers understood learning in RE as developing conceptual understanding based on representations of religion in textbooks, the students underlined the role of lived experience, and encounters with sites of worship and representatives from various religions, to build background knowledge.
• Thirdly, students reported that meaning-making in RE was negatively influenced by a transmission-style pedagogy and suggested that exploratory and inquiry-oriented styles of teaching would be more productive.

In general, students are able to value knowledge in RE as useful in developing respect and tolerance. Greater awareness of the many academic traditions that inform RE could provide the students with disciplinary relevant strategies. They need to attend to differences between insider and outsider perspectives, using contextual and interpretive approaches to learning.

Relevance to RE

The research is useful at policy and pedagogical levels. In policy terms, it echoes other findings that students will value the subject when it has a focus on lived religion and social cohesion. Pedagogically, it suggests that teachers should aim to balance approaches grounded in academic disciplines with those based on direct dialogue and encounter; and that it will help students to find meaning in RE if teachers avoid an overly transmissive style, and encourage exploration and enquiry.

Generalisability and potential limitations

The authors recognise that this is an exploratory study. However, it builds on sixty years’ research on pupils’ motivation, confirming findings that they engage when the subject relates to their own perceived needs and identities.

Find out more

The original article is Lars Unstad & Henning Fjørtoft (2020): Disciplinary literacy in religious education: the role and relevance of reading, British Journal of Religious Education, DOI: 10.1080/01416200.2020.1754164

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01416200.2020.1754164

Research Summary

Giving to monks is the main religious act within the Buddhist world, particularly in the Theravāda communities of Southeast Asia. Lay followers give food and other dāna (merit-making gifts), providing monastics with what they need to survive. Yet there is relatively little discussion within Buddhist or scholarly communities about what should be given. Sometimes, the gifts given are not always appropriate, even bad. What to do in those cases is not always clear. This research explores the ways in which monks in Thailand and Southwest China think about gifts that are not good. It shows that despite the vinaya (disciplinary code of Buddhism), monks have different views about what constitutes a ‘bad gift’ and what to do about it. Lay communities have significant voice about what constitutes proper monastic behaviour. Context often defines appropriateness.

Researcher

Thomas Borchert

Research Institution

University of Vermont

What is this about?

• Buddhist lifestyles and ethics.
• The relations between Buddhist monks and laity.
• The Buddhist practice of dāna.
• How formal religious rules are often adapted to context; the fluidity of religious traditions.
• How decisions are made about whether or not gifts to Buddhist monks are appropriate ones.

What was done?

The research was done through the author’s own fieldwork in Thailand and China. He also draws on a range of other published sources, ethnographic and textual.

Main findings and outputs

• Generally, offering alcohol to monks is highly inappropriate, but a monk might take a very small amount to show sociability and restraint at a gathering.
• The practice of dāna classically involves generating good karma by providing monks with necessary items (clothing, food, housing and medicine), though as a ‘perfect gift’ – i.e. without return or reward of any kind.
• It does create social networks, monks taking regular itineraries and getting to know those who give to them, who sometimes in turn ask them what they need (resulting, for instance, in the gift of a set of Stanley tools to help build a new monastery).
• In Thai society this relates to the concept of kalatesa, or appropriateness, which governs social relations. What is given and how it is given should be appropriate to need and recipient.
• Could a gun be an appropriate gift? Under appropriate circumstances, perhaps, though monks differed. Some said yes if needed to defend a monastery, other yes if only there as a deterrent, etc.
• Another guiding concept is intention: if the gift is given with good intention, this, not the object given, can be what counts.
• So, there are the religious rules, and then the need to negotiate their application in the lived world of local custom.

Relevance to RE

This research is useful to RE teachers on different levels –

1. It provides excellent subject knowledge on Buddhism. The original article, summarised above, gives very helpful background explanation on the relevant beliefs, practices and traditions, as well as further examples of how these work out in lived religion.
2. It provides very good extension content when teaching about Buddhism or specifically the Sangha (monastic community) – teachers could use it to teach directly about why unusual gifts are sometimes accepted or even sought.
3. Alternatively, the questions raised by the research could be posed to pupils during discussions or enquiries related to Buddhism and the Sangha: ‘what do you think would happen if . . . ?’ ‘Could a gun be an appropriate gift . . . ?’ Their responses could be compared by the teacher to the cases presented in the research, to which the pupils could then respond: ‘Are you surprised to hear that . . .?’

Generalisability and potential limitations

The generalisability of the research is good. As well as drawing on the author’s own specific fieldwork, there is plenty of reference to other studies; and the research is clearly also based on extensive sources of the Buddhist tradition.

Find out more

The original article is Thomas Borchert (2020) Bad gifts, community standards, and the disciplining of Theravāda monks, Journal of Contemporary Religion, 35:1, 53-70, DOI: 10.1080/13537903.2020.1695805

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13537903.2020.1695805?journalCode=cjcr20

Research Summary

LAR-D provides participating schools with a link faith practitioner from a selected religion, and funds each of them to develop an ongoing dialogue over time, ideally using the RE-searchers pedagogic approach. The project is funded by the All Saints Educational Trust.

Researcher

Mark Plater, 6 participating schools, St Philip’s Centre, Leicester

Research Institution

Bishop Grosseteste University

What is this about?

Does linking a faith practitioner to a school for an extended period of time provide educational benefits above what is gained from single visit opportunities?
In what different ways do schools make use of the RE-searchers pedagogy when given training, but then left to choose or reject it?

What was done?

Schools selected and funded to participate in the programme.
Selected faith practitioners linked with schools (schools chose the religion to be studied).
RE-searchers pedagogy training provided by Rob Freathy as a possible method of engagement.
School-faith practitioner partnerships allowed to develop by mutual agreement over 12 months.

Main findings and outputs

Developing teacher confidence and subject knowledge.
School communities enabled to engage with living religion and alternative cultures.
Study ongoing, but significantly affected by corona-virus shut-down.

Relevance to RE

Note the concept and methodology: an ongoing link with a selected, trained and supported faith practitioner, enabling a friendship relationship to develop over time….
i.e. quality of link rather than quantity.

Generalisability and potential limitations

This is a funded project, with schools being reimbursed for participation.
At present only 6 schools are participating (3 primary/ 3 secondary).
Being partway through, full benefits have not yet been assessed.

Find out more

Update information sheets developed and available from mark.plater@bishopg.ac.uk

https://www.bishopg.ac.uk/bgu-team-win-15000-grant-to-support-new-re-learning-initiative/

Research Summary

The open-access article begins by summarising the findings of 2018 report from the Commission on Religious Education (CoRE), which we use here as a case study to illustrate current issues in Religious Education more generally. The CoRE report suggested that the subject name be changed from ‘Religious Education’ (RE) to ‘Religion and Worldviews’ (RW), which leads us to explore the meaning(s) of the term ‘worldview’, outline the distinction between institutional/organised and personal worldviews, and give an overview of academic debates about the ‘worldviews’ issue. This is followed by a discussion of some of the challenges and implications of the proposed change from RE to RW, addressing concerns that have been raised about dilution of the subject and decreased academic rigour. The article then suggests ways of using a ‘Big Ideas’ approach to the study of religion(s) and worldview(s) to engage students in discussion of ‘worldview’ as a concept and worldviews as phenomena. It explains the ‘Big Ideas’ approach (Wiggins and McTighe 1998; Wintersgill 2017; Freathy and John 2019) before discussing how Big Ideas might be used to select curriculum content, also considering what the implications of this might be for teachers and teaching.

Researchers

Prof Rob Freathy & Dr Helen John

Research Institution

University of Exeter

What is this about?

The article focuses on the issue of worldviews in Religious Education, asking the following questions:

1. What does the 2018 report from the Commission on Religious Education (CoRE) suggest about worldviews in RE?
2. What is meant by the term ‘worldview’? Is a religion a worldview? Does everyone have a worldview?
3. What is the difference between an ‘institutional worldview’ and a ‘personal worldview’?
4. What are the benefits and challenges of incorporating worldviews into RE?
5. What are ‘Big Ideas about the study of religion(s) and worldview(s)’ (Freathy and John 2019)?
6. How might ‘Big Ideas about the study of religion(s) and worldview(s)’ help teachers to explore worldviews in the RE classroom? What are the implications for teachers’ professional development and for the classroom?

What was done?

This theoretical article is an academic response to the key findings of the final report of the Commission on Religion Education (CoRE 2018), which was sponsored by the Religious Education Council for England and Wales. It focuses particularly on the proposal to change the title of Religious Education (RE) to Religion and Worldviews (RW). It explores the meaning of the term ‘worldview’ how worldviews might be selected for inclusion in the curriculum. The article discusses the report’s recommendations for greater focus on multi-disciplinary, multi-methodological and reflexive, encounter-driven approaches. It suggests that teachers might use the ‘Big Ideas about the study of religion(s) and worldview(s)’ (Freathy and John 2019) to achieve closer alignment between RW in schools and the academic study of religion(s) and worldview(s) in universities.

Main findings and outputs

The authors argue that key to the successful delivery of ‘a new and richer version of the subject’ (CoRE, 3) is generating in school students a better understanding of the concept ‘worldview’. Although there is disagreement over precise definitions of the term (just as there is with the term ‘religion’), Freathy and John suggest that this imprecision is something to be embraced. Teachers should explore the complexity of the terms and concepts with their students – focusing explicitly on their contested and imprecise nature – in order to further the students’ understanding of the term and of worldviews themselves. They argue that the report’s distinction between institutional and personal worldviews is a helpful one, albeit with some limitations, and will assist students in appreciating the diverse sources upon which they draw in the ongoing development of their own dynamic ‘worldview web’. Investigation into the institutional/personal distinction could also help students to be sensitive to diversity within institutional worldviews, based on individual and contextual lived experience. A better understanding of the fluid concept of ‘worldview’ will enrich and add rigour to the curriculum, as the report suggests, not act to ‘dilute’ it or to decrease its rigour, as critics have suggested. Building upon earlier research (Freathy and John 2019), the authors suggest that focusing on features of the academic study of religion(s) and worldview(s) – studying how we study – will enable teachers to incorporate the new ‘worldviews’ approach into their teaching without diluting the curriculum. Using these ‘Big Ideas about’ would involve encouraging students to consider explicitly:

Relevance to RE

This article would make excellent background reading for teachers who (a) need a brief summary of the final report from the Commission on Religious Education; (b) would like to know more about the ‘worldview’ concept; (c) want to know more about the Big Ideas framework; and/or (d) wonder how they might incorporate into their classroom practice a greater focus on ‘worldviews’.
The open-access article is entitled ‘Worldviews and Big Ideas: A Way Forward for Religious Education?’ and appears in Nordidactica 2019, Volume 4.

It builds on a previous article by the same authors (search ‘Introducing ‘Big Ideas’ to UK Religious Education’ for equivalent RE:Online Research Report), in which they reflect on the application of the Big Ideas of Science Education project to the UK Religious Education curriculum: Rob Freathy and Helen C. John. 2019. ‘Religious Education, Big Ideas and the study of religion(s) and worldview(s).’ British Journal of Religious Education 41.1: 27-40. DOI: 10.1080/01416200.2018.1500351

Useful resources for a Big Ideas/Worldviews approach to RE/RW

A curriculum package for teachers to use to introduce ‘Big Ideas about the study of religion(s) and worldview(s)’ will follow in 2020.
A ‘Big Ideas about’ approach can be seen in the secondary textbook called ‘Who is Jesus’, which is available online at <https://socialsciences.exeter.ac.uk/education/research/networks/religionandspirituality/publications/ and in the ‘RE-searchers’ approach (primary), which can be found at RE-searchers approach
You might also find the original ‘Big Ideas for RE’ (Wintersgill, ed, 2017) report helpful:
https://tinyurl.com/y7ra365d

Please contact R.J.K.Freathy@exeter.ac.uk for further information about the ideas found in the article and the additional resources, or to get involved with the trialling the RE-searchers (Primary) or ‘Big Ideas about’ (Secondary) approach.

Generalisability and potential limitations

The article is primarily aimed at teachers and RE researchers and considers theoretical perspectives. However, it also gives an insight into practical resources available for ‘worldviews’ teaching at primary and secondary level (see details below).

Find out more

The open-access article is entitled ‘Worldviews and Big Ideas: A Way Forward for Religious Education?’ and appears in Nordidactica 2019, Volume 4.

https://www.kau.se/nordidactica/las-nordidactica/nordidactica-20194-kjerneelementer-og-store-ideercore-elements-and