 A short history of religious education

 Religious traditions and beliefs

 The religious education curriculum
 Approaches to teaching, learning and assessment in religious education
 Leading and managing/ resourcing and planning religious education
 National policy organisations for religious education
 Researching education
 Researching religious education, religious studies and theology
 Schools of a religious charac

1. Religious traditions that are likely to be encountered by all teachers:

Buddhism
Christianity
Hinduism
Judaism
Islam
Sikhism

Each includes a short, basic, though authoritative introduction. Because some of the demands upon teachers
here will be quite considerable, each of these major world religions has a supplementary section covering in
outline a sketch of scholarship and research on the particular religion.

2. Other faith traditions which teachers may encounter, including systems of belief that
are overtly secular or not of an explicitly religious nature but which nevertheless present a
coherent worldview.

Bahá’í (under development)

Humanism Jainism
Zoroastrianism (under development)

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES AND REFLECTION

Questions to consider:

What would you say is the most important thing you have learnt as a result of reading this section?

How will this learning impact on your classroom practice?

Where do you need to go from here in the development of your subject knowledge per se?
Why might it be important for RE teachers to have an understanding of scholarship and research in relation to
each of the faith traditions referred to in this section?
BuddhismBuddhism scholarship and researchChristianityChristianity
scholarship and researchHinduismHinduism scholarship and
researchIslamJudaismJudaism scholarship and researchSikhismSikhism
scholarship and researchHumanismJainism

The religious education

curriculum
Introduction and key policy documents in religious education
This section provides an outline of a number of practical, but theoretically informed
approaches to the subject.

There are three main subdivisions in this section:

● The Agreed Syllabus for RE

● Spiritual, moral and related aspects of RE

● RE across the curriculum

Key policy documents

 Religious education non statutory guidance

 Non-Statutory_National_Framework_for_RE_0410.pdf
 Religious education: guidance in English schools 2010
 Religious education key stage 3 – programme of study
 QCA Religious education programme of study Key stage 4
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES AND REFLECTION

Think about: Which of the following curriculum areas do you think is RE’s closest cousin and why? a)
Citizenship b) PSHE c) Humanities d) Science e) Philosophy and Ethics

Which do you think represents the greatest challenge to RE and why? a) Citizenship b) PSHE c) Humanities d)
Science e) Philosophy and Ethics

Find out: What cross curricular links are currently being made between RE and other subject areas in your
school? What key aims and intended learning outcomes underpin those initiatives?
 Imagine: How might you wish to improve RE’s relationship with other curriculum areas in your school and
why?

Questions to consider: To what extent do you think RE should make links with other curriculum subjects and
why? What might be the advantages and disadvantages of such links?

According to recent Ofsted reports, RE does not seem to be sufficiently fulfilling its potential to contribute to
community cohesion. To what extent would you agree with this assessment and why? What factors do you
think might be affecting RE’s ability to contribute to community cohesion? What would you suggest we need
to do in RE to address this situation?

The Agreed Syllabus for Religious EducationSpiritual, Moral, and

Related Aspects of Religious EducationReligious education and spiritual
developmentReligious education and moral developmentReligious
education and cultural developmentReligious education and social and
emotional aspects of learning (SEAL)Religious education across the
curriculumCitizenship and religious educationCommunity cohesion and
religious educationCreativity and religious educationEthics and religious
educationHumanities and religious educationScience and religious
educationTeaching about the Holocaust in religious educationTeaching
biblical narrative in religious education
Section quick nav

 The Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education

 Spiritual, Moral, and Related Aspects of Religious Education
o Religious education and spiritual development
o Religious education and moral development
o Religious education and cultural development
o Religious education and social and emotional aspects of learning (SEAL)
 Religious education across the curriculum
o Citizenship and religious education
o Community cohesion and religious education
o Creativity and religious education
o Ethics and religious education
o Humanities and religious education
o Science and religious education
o Teaching about the Holocaust in religious education
o Teaching biblical narrative in religious education
Approaches to teaching,
learning and assessment
in religious education
This section provides invaluable summary guidance for teachers in all key stages and in
all varieties of schools.

1. Approaches to religious education provides an outline of a number of practical but

theoretically informed approaches to the subject as practised in the classroom, but drawing
out the implications of these approaches

2. Religious education and spiritual, moral, social and cultural development

3. Written by lead examiners in the subject, the section also contains information for those
within the secondary and further education sector guidance on assessment in GCSE and
advanced level qualifications in religious studies, and related fields.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES AND REFLECTION

Questions to consider:

 What key issues concerning teaching, learning and assessment in RE are raised in this section?
 How would you facilitate a departmental or school review of RE in the light of some of the issues
raised?
 Which of the approaches to teaching, learning and assessment in RE outlined in this section has
struck you as the most interesting/creative/challenging?
 How might you adapt or adopt this approach in your own practice?
Approaches to teaching and learning in religious education1 Dialogue2
The Real Lives of Teachers and Pupils in RE3 Understanding Pedagogy
in RE4 Inclusions and RE5 RE and Society6 Working with Sacred
Texts7 Ethnography in RE8 Philosophy, Truth and RE9 Creativity and
REAssessment at GCSEAssessment of religious studies / education
 AS/2Experiential REICT and religious educationLearning outside the
classroom (LOtC)Teaching controversial issues in religious
educationUsing artefacts in religious education
Section quick nav

 Approaches to teaching and learning in religious education

o 1 Dialogue
o 2 The Real Lives of Teachers and Pupils in RE
o 3 Understanding Pedagogy in RE
o 4 Inclusions and RE
o 5 RE and Society
o 6 Working with Sacred Texts
o 7 Ethnography in RE
o 8 Philosophy, Truth and RE
o 9 Creativity and RE
 Assessment at GCSE
 Assessment of religious studies / education AS/2
 Experiential RE
 ICT and religious education
 Learning outside the classroom (LOtC)
 Teaching controversial issues in religious education
 Using artefacts in religious educatio

Leading and managing/

resourcing and planning
religious education
This section contains some practical advice on how to manage and resource a department
of religious education, whether in primary, secondary or special needs school.

It also contains narratives or case studies from classroom practitioners from one primary,
one secondary and one special needs school to give a flavour of how some of these
principle are managed in practice.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES AND REFLECTION

 Questions to consider:

 Effective leaders of RE are those with a vision. There are as many ‘visions’ of what RE is, should or
could be as there are teachers of RE. What is your ‘vision’ for RE?
 How has that vision changed over the years?
 What experiences have helped to shape it?
 How would you impart that vision to other members of your department or school?
 How might your understanding of the nature and purpose of RE impact on the RE curriculum in your
school and consequently on students’ experiences of and attitudes towards RE?
Managing and leadingLeading RE in your schoolWhat sort of leader are
you?Key areas of subject leadershipOfSTED and subject
leadershipImproving as a subject leaderRaising the profile of
REDeveloping an RE handbookPlanning a scheme of
workReviewingLong term planningMedium term PlanningShort term
planningLearning objectives and learning outcomesSelf Evaluation in
REPupil outcomesEffectiveness of provisionEffectiveness of leadership
and managementImprovement planningSACREsAgreed
syllabusesLeading and managing RE in the primary schoolLeading and
managing a secondary RE departmentLeading and managing religious
education in the special educational needs school
Section quick nav

 Managing and leading

o Leading RE in your school
o What sort of leader are you?
o Key areas of subject leadership
o OfSTED and subject leadership
o Improving as a subject leader
o Raising the profile of RE
o Developing an RE handbook
 Planning a scheme of work
o Reviewing
o Long term planning
o Medium term Planning
o Short term planning
o Learning objectives and learning outcomes
 Self Evaluation in RE
o Pupil outcomes
o Effectiveness of provision
o Effectiveness of leadership and management
o Improvement planning
 SACREs
 Agreed syllabuses
 Leading and managing RE in the primary school
 Leading and managing a secondary RE department
 Leading and managing religious education in the special educational needs school

National policy
organisations for religious
education
This section of the Handbook contains two main subdivisions:

1. Professsional RE associations with summary reference, and links

2. Government agencies and contains reference to leading Government agencies that

affect, influence or indeed legislate for religious education

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES AND REFLECTION

Questions to consider:
How do the various organisations referred to in this section relate to each other?
What tensions might exist between some of these organisations and why?

Professional religious education associationsGovernment agencies

Section quick nav

 Professional religious education associations

 Government agencies
Researching education
Liam Gearon
This section is particularly aimed at those interested in taking professional development to
master's or doctoral levels. Its purpose is to provide a critical outline introduction of the
nature, scope and limitations of educational research, providing some exemplars of
research in religious education.

It makes no claims to being exhaustive but it should provide some useful pointers, especially for those
unfamiliar with educational research.

As such, Researching Religious Education is presented in the form of brief interrogative snapshots which aim
to get thinking going around some of the main issues, supported by a short review of the immense literature in
the field.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES AND REFLECTION

For a good overview of some initial steps in research specific to religious education, visit:

Using Research in Religious Education to Develop Reflective Practice. A pack to support tutors new to. RE
initial teacher training by Linda RudgeUsing_research_in_religious_education.pdf
Questions to consider:

 Why is research in education important?

 What appear to be the key questions that dominate much of research in education at the moment?
 If you were to undertake a small scale study in your own school context, what aspect of teaching,
learning and assessing in RE would you wish to investigate or explore?
 What would be your central research question?
 How would you find out the answer to your question?
 What ethical issues might you need to consider before embarking on this research?
 Reflect on what research questions or broad fields of enquiry that interest you?
 How might you take your interest in educational research and researching religious education
further? For a start you might browse the wide range of research in religious education, religious
studies and theology covered the 'Intute' database in Section 8 of the Handbook.
Researching religious
education, religious
studies and theology
Liam Gearon
Using the Intute search database this section contains references to an extensive list of
mainly academic, and principally university organisations and resource which extend
religious education into the world of academic religious studies and theological
research, providing teachers with many rich opportunities for advancing subject and
professional knowledge, whether through practical classroom interest or through
motivation to further masters or doctoral study within a university context.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES AND REFLECTION

For a good overview of some initial steps in research specific to religious education, visit:

Using Research in Religious Education to Develop Reflective Practice. A pack to support tutors new to. RE
initial teacher training by Linda Rudge re-net.ac.uk/attachments/cd9df337-5510-4e99-9611-5c2706b3190b.pdf

Questions to consider:

 Why is research in education important?

 What appear to be the key questions that dominate much of research in education at the moment?
 If you were to undertake a small scale study in your own school context, what aspect of teaching,
learning and assessing in RE would you wish to investigate or explore?
 What would be your central research question?
 How would you find out the answer to your question?
 What ethical issues might you need to consider before embarking on this research?
 Reflect on what research questions or broad fields of enquiry that interest you?
 How might you take your interest in educational research and researching religious education
further? For a start you might browse the wide range of research in religious education, religious
studies and theology covered the 'Intute' database in this section of the Handbook.
Further questions to consider:
What do you consider to be the relationship between religious education, religious studies, theology and
philosophy?

How might the way in which you understand that relationship impact on the way you teach RE in the
classroom?

Schools of a religious
character
This section of the Handbook has drawn together short introductory outlines to the major,
historic and contemporary providers of education through schools of a religious character
including the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church.

Faith schools or schools of a religious character have had an important, indeed critical historic role in the
history not only of religious education in England but education itself. Historically such schools have bee
entirely Christian in character. In a moral, plural and religious diverse context, there are more and more
schools of a religious character emerging in the educational landscape.

The section also includes reference, to Hindu, Jewish and Muslim schools.
The religious education curriculum in these schools may differ significantly from religious education in
maintained, community schools, though increasingly practitioners often engage in dialogue and discussion,
especially through bodies like the Religious Education Council of England and Wales.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES AND REFLECTION

Find out:

 What current debates surround schools of a religious character in the UK?

 Where would you situate yourself within those debates?
 What are the similarities and differences between RE in a state school and RE in a school of a
religious character?
 What distinctive features would you find in RE in a Muslim school, a Jewish School, a Hindu school, a
Church of England school, and a Catholic school?
Questions to consider:

 To what extent do you think it is possible (or desirable) to nurture a student in his or her own faith
whilst at the same time educating him/her about the faiths of others?
 How would you promote dialogue between students from different faith backgrounds?
 To what extent is it possible to learn from (AT2) the religious beliefs and practices of another if that
person’s faith is completely different to and at times even conflicts with one’s own?