SECTION THREE Teaching and Learning in Religious Education

1 SECTIONTHREET eachingandLearninginReligiousEducation GrowingTogether SECTIONTHREET eachingandLearninginReligiousEducationSE CTION THREE39 Learning Processes and Pedagogies in REThis SECTION of the syllabus is designed to help people torecognise what they need to do to help all pupils to make thebest progress possible in Religious SECTION encourages teachers to adopt a wide variety ofprofessional pedagogy and use a varied range of Teaching andlearning strategies in order to make RE dynamic andchallenging for all pupils. It focuses teachers attention on thekey attitudes, concepts and skills that need to be developed tohelp pupils to learn about and learn from religion and beliefthroughout all key and Learning inReligious EducationEnquiry: the processes for learningThe Northamptonshire Agreed Syllabus, Growing Together , recognises that REteaching needs to use enquiry processes ifpupils are to learn for processes, at work in the wholecurriculum, are suited to Learning needs acrossthe age range.

2 The units of study in this syllabusare all question-based and the exemplified unitsin the Support Materials that accompany thesyllabus focus on key questions improves where teachers don t just transmitknowledge but enable pupils to be active,thoughtful, reflective and expressive in theirhandling of questions about beliefs, religion,spirituality and diagram on the following page shows howany unit of work could be approached andtaught through enquiry methods. This meansthat pupils are actively engaged in exploration,reflection and expression, making learningpersonalised and Processes and Pedagogies inReligious EducationSECTION THREE40 Learning Processes and Pedagogies in REENQUIRY 1: What?Identify questions, findout facts, learn concepts,build understanding, usethe skill of investigation,use a range of methods,media and 2: How?Plan lines of enquiry,gather andcompare informationand ideas, lookfor links 3:Present and ExplainPresent sources, ideas,similarity and difference,communicate andexpress, 4:Empathise and ReflectReflect on people,influences, inspiration,using empathic skills tofurther analysis 5: EvaluateWhat did we learn?

3 Why?Examples, explanations,reflections, reasons,arguments, interpretationswhich are evaluated fortheir impact and religion,topic or unit of workmay be taught through enquirymethods: active engagementfrom pupils in exploration,reflection and expressionmakes Learning personalisedand for Learning in ReligiousEducationThe human brain has a phenomenal capacity tolearn and over the last twenty years there hasbeen a wealth of neuro-scientific research intohow the brain functions. This has led toextensive research into how children learn, aswell as the exploration of new approaches toteaching and know that we all learn in a variety ofdifferent ways. This Agreed Syllabus forReligious Education therefore requires a widerange of Teaching and Learning methods to beemployed by teachers so that all pupils canmake progress at a good pace and achieve thehighest standards of which they are should use active processes of learningas well as factual or THREE41 Learning Processes and Pedagogies in REIn particular, this means that RE will make useof the widest possible range of key strategies wide literature exists on pedagogy in RE butthe following starting points will help anyteacher to see how Learning strategies can betranslated into examples of different pedagogies (learningstrategies) are given here and are elaboratedupon in the guidance paper on pedagogy in RE,which can be found in the Support Materials onthe accompanying CD is important for teachers to consider theseapproaches and ensure that they use this broadrange of strategies with pupils.

4 This will enableall pupils to encounter approaches thatparticularly help them to learn and widen theirexperience of a range of styles of teacher plans to introduce a class tothe Muslim religion for the first time anduses a selection of artefacts from themosque. Children are asked todevelop their understanding of whatMuslims do, what they say and thinkabout their actions. Pupils make aselection of 10 artefacts, images andtexts to sum up all they have learned sofar about the Muslim phenomenological approach:Focuses on studying religions (in thiscase, Islam) through stories, moralbehaviour, rituals, beliefs, experiencesand community life and the art andarchitecture of the Phenomena of Religion:developing understanding1A teacher wants to enable spiritualdevelopment through RE so uses stilling,guided story and creative imagination toexplore increasingly deeply religiousand spiritual experiences, questions andbeliefs.

5 After a guided story on Pesachwhich focuses on Jewish concepts offreedom, tradition and community, thepupils express their own spiritual ideasabout concepts like these and conceptsof love, sacrifice, submission orthankfulness in sculptures and experiential approach:Uses the idea that children have somespiritual capacities of their own anddevelops this through RE by use ofcreative RE:educating the spirit2 SECTION THREE42 Learning Processes and Pedagogies in REStarting work on Hindu dharma, ateacher begins with four rathercontradictory accounts of how Divali ispractised in Northamptonshire and inIndia today. Emphasising religion as it islived (not merely history, texts orbeliefs), pupils become enquirersthemselves into the varieties of religionand belief. The key skill of making senseor interpreting gradually extends pupils awareness of living communities approaches :Takes authentic accounts of the waysmembers of religions today practisetheir faith.

6 These Learning methods aimto enable pupils to draw meaning fromthe encounter with religion forthemselves, becoming researchers andenquirers in their RE:the skills of sense-making3In the unit about Christian beliefs aboutGod, pupils learn THREE concepts:Incarnation, Trinity and enquire into the ways theseconcepts make sense of the Christmasand Easter narratives and how thesefestivals are celebrated. They developunderstanding of beliefs and think abouthow beliefs can be tested byargument or experience, movingtowards analysing for themselves truthclaims from Learning for religiousliteracy:Takes key concepts from religions andworld views and from Religious studiesas a discipline and enables pupils toincrease their understanding aboutreligions and for Learning in RE:educating the spirit4 SECTION THREE43 Learning Processes and Pedagogies in REPupils begin a unit of work by raising allthe questions they would like to ask ofGod / the creator / the Supreme Being /the ultimate brain.

7 With stimulus fromreligious texts and practices, the classuse a Philosophy for Children (P4C)method. A community of enquiry activity explores the pupils ownquestions. Afterwards, the class developpieces of personal work using their ownand Religious ideas about the ultimatequestions humanising approach:Uses big questions of meaning,purpose and truth to explore the impactof religion on life, to construct meaningand to challenge the learners to deepentheir own questions as a focusin RE5 During Teaching about commitment andvalues, pupils begin with their owncommitments and generalise from the ways in which theireveryday commitments can bestructured into a view of what matters,a view of the world, is more importantthan gathering understanding ofreligion, as the aim of RE is to clarify thelearner s vision of world views approach:Develops answers to human questions,using Religious ideas and teachings as aresource for pupils own world views in RE6 I think religion is the essenceof a person s life so it s good toknow about everyone s believe in my religion a lot andrely on it as a backbone to mylife and problems and dependon answers from it.

8 So it interestsme on how other religions helpto answer everyday problemsfor others and what views andreasons they have for theirbeliefs. ThomasAge 15 SECTION THREE44 Attitudes in Religious EducationAttitudes in Religious EducationAttitudes such as respect for others and respectfor the truth, care for all people and adetermination to achieve, should be promotedthrough all areas of school life. There are someattitudes, however, that are fundamental toReligious Education . These attitudes enablelearners to enter fully into the study of religionsand beliefs and are in turn fostered anddeepened by the study of following six attitudes are central in theNorthamptonshire Agreed Syllabus, GrowingTogether , and are essential for good Learning inReligious Education . They should be developedat each stage or phase of Religious Education : Self-awareness; Respect for all; Open-minded questioning; Critical awareness; Commitment; Curiosity, appreciation and may be able to show self-awarenessthrough: talking about their own way of life anddifferent ways of life seen in some religionsor world views; exploring in increasing depth what makesthem special or unique; being able to value their own way of life aswell as that of others; expressing and exploring their own senseof what matters most in human life,including reference to values andspirituality; using concepts such as identity, faith andculture to explain who they are and wherethey belong; analysing their own beliefs and valuescarefully and with reference to somereligious alternatives.

9 Developing increasing self-confidence intandem with empathic appreciation ReligiousEducation includes pupils: feeling confident about their ownbeliefs and identity and sharingthem without fear ofembarrassment or ridicule; developing a realistic and positivesense of their own Religious , moraland spiritual ideas; recognising their own uniquenessas human beings and affirmingtheir self-worth; becoming increasingly sensitive tothe impact of their ideas andbehaviour on other KEY ATTITUDES INRELIGIOUS EDUCATIONEXAMPLES OF THE WAYS RE CANBUILD AND DEVELOP THESE ATTITUDESSECTION THREE45 Attitudes in Religious EducationPupils may be able to show respect for allthrough: talking about what is fair and unfair, justand unjust, for themselves and for others; the avoidance of ridicule; the development of tolerance and themove from tolerance to respect; applying ideas about fairness and respectfrom Religious teachings to a range ofdifferent situations; the widening and deepening of willingnessto learn from others and to respect therights and views of all; considering questions about prejudice,including issues around racism, ethnicity,sexuality, gender or religion and belief,with reference to teachings about equality; analysing the causes and consequences ofunfairness and suggesting how a more fairsociety can be FOR ALLin ReligiousEducation includes pupils: developing skills of listening and awillingness to learn from others,even when others views aredifferent from their own; being ready to value differenceand diversity for the commongood; appreciating that some beliefs arenot inclusive and considering theissues that this raises forindividuals and society; recognising the rights of others tohold their own views; avoiding ridicule.

10 Being prepared to recognise andacknowledge their own bias; discerning between what isworthy of respect and what is not; appreciating that religiousconvictions are often deeply felt; being sensitive to the feelings andideas of KEY ATTITUDES INRELIGIOUS EDUCATIONEXAMPLES OF THE WAYS RE CANBUILD AND DEVELOP THESE ATTITUDESH ollie - Wollaston Community Primary SchoolCompetition Runner-UpThe SACRE would like to thank all the schoolswho submitted entries to the competition Illustrations for the New Agreed Syllabus. The runner-up entries can be seen here andon following THREE46 Attitudes in Religious EducationPupils may be able to show an attitude ofopen-mindedness through: beginning to use information and ideasfrom other people to answer big questionsfor themselves; talking about the reasons people give fortheir beliefs; describing how people react to the beliefsof others and beginning to see differentsides to arguments about religiousquestions; showing that they can hold and justifyopinions about Religious and spiritualquestions, referring to Religious sources,arguments and experiences; using evidence, reason and experience toexpress insights into Religious or spiritualcontroversies; considering what makes some peoplenarrow-minded or closed to new ideasand what makes others open-minded; considering and explaining the differencesbetween superstition, prejudice, opinion,belief, conviction and knowledge.