Learning and undertaking activities in religious education contribute to
achievement of the curriculum aims for all young people to become:
- successful learners who enjoy learning, make progress and achieve
- confident individuals who are able to live safe, healthy and fulfilling
lives
- responsible citizens who make a positive contribution to society.
The
importance of religious education
The importance of religious education
Religious education is a statutory subject in the curriculum. However,
there are no statutory programmes of study at national level. In 2004,
the Department for Education and Skills and the Qualifications and Curriculum
Authority published a non-statutory national framework for RE, to be used
by local agreed syllabus conferences for the development of agreed syllabuses
for RE, and by faith communities for the development of RE programmes.
Schools are legally required to teach RE according to their local agreed
syllabus or, in schools with a religious character, according to their
governors' policy. For voluntary aided schools, RE should be determined
by the governors in accordance with the trust deed. The content of this
non-statutory RE programme of study is the same as the key stage 3 element
of the non-statutory national framework. The presentation and headings
follow the format of the programmes of study for other subjects at key
stage 3, to enable cross-curricular planning to take place.
RE provokes challenging questions about the ultimate meaning and purpose
of life, beliefs about God, the self and the nature of reality, issues of
right and wrong and what it means to be human. It develops pupils' knowledge
and understanding of Christianity, other principal religions, other religious
traditions, and other world views that offer answers to questions such as
these. It offers opportunities for personal reflection and spiritual development.
It enhances pupils' awareness and understanding of religions and beliefs,
teachings, practices and forms of expression, as well as pupils' awareness
of the influence of religion on individuals, families, communities and cultures.
RE encourages pupils to learn from different religions, beliefs, values
and traditions while exploring their own beliefs and questions of meaning.
It challenges pupils to reflect on, consider, analyse, interpret and evaluate
issues of truth, belief, faith and ethics and to communicate their responses.
RE encourages pupils to develop their sense of identity and belonging.
It enables them to flourish individually within their communities and as
citizens in a pluralistic society and global community. RE has an important
role in preparing pupils for adult life, employment and lifelong learning.
It enables pupils to develop respect for and sensitivity to others, in particular
those whose faiths and beliefs are different from their own. It promotes
discernment and enables pupils to combat prejudice.
Key concepts
There are a number of key concepts that underpin the study of RE. Pupils
need to understand these concepts in order to deepen and broaden their knowledge,
skills and understanding.
Beliefs, teachings and sources
- Interpreting teachings, sources, authorities and ways of life in order
to understand religions
and beliefs.
- Understanding
and responding critically to beliefs, values and attitudes.
Religions and beliefs
This includes systems of thought that are religious and non-religious,
theistic and non-theistic, western/Abrahamic and eastern/dharmic.
Understanding and responding critically
This contributes to pupils' spiritual and moral development and to their
growing confidence, sense of freedom and responsibility.
Spiritual development is part of the overall aims of education. It is
open to everyone, not confined to the development of religious beliefs
or conversion to a particular faith. Although difficult to define, spiritual
development may be said to have the following aspects: beliefs, sense
of awe, wonder and mystery, experiencing feelings of transcendence, search
for meaning and purpose, self-knowledge, relationships, creativity, feelings
and emotions. Moral development may be said to include the will to behave
morally as a point of principle, knowledge of codes of conduct, criteria
for responsible moral judgements, and ability to make judgements.
As pupils aged 11 to 14 grow towards cognitive, social and emotional maturity,
opportunities to discuss and reflect on issues of difference, similarity
and meaning can strengthen their independence and deepen their sense of
identity.
Practices and ways of life
- Exploring
the impact of religions and beliefs on how people live their
lives.
- Understanding that religious
practices are diverse, change over time and are influenced by
cultures.
Exploring the impact of religions and beliefs
The influence of belief can change the world for better or worse. This
could include unexamined assumptions, such as those about race, religion
or money and possessions, that underpin decisions and lifestyles. They
can be critically explored through discussions of news events, religious
stories or school events and the possible motives of the people in them.
Religious practices
Perceptions of religious practices can vary according to individuals'
assumptions or cultures.
Expressing meaning
- Appreciating that individuals and cultures express their beliefs and
values through many
different forms.
Many different forms
This includes writing, speaking, silence, art, music, dress, dance, food,
ritual, artefacts, relationships, behaviour codes and social action.
Identity
and belonging
- Understanding how individuals develop a sense of identity and belonging
through faith or belief.
- Exploring
the variety, difference and relationships that exist within
and between religions, values and beliefs.
Identity
People can have multiple identities that may be determined by a combination
of faith, culture, environment and choice.
Exploring the variety, difference and relationships
This can promote understanding and dialogue, underpin a commitment to
respect and inclusion and help pupils engage creatively and confidently
with a diverse world.
This could include taking part in visits, speaker events, web-based investigations,
dialogues or community projects that involve understanding differences
and seeing similarities.
Meaning, purpose and truth
- Exploring some of the ultimate
questions that confront humanity, and responding to them.
Ultimate questions
Ultimate questions have no single answer agreed by all religions and beliefs.
These questions face everyone, in the form of ethical, spiritual or philosophical
challenges. They can be about the significance and value of human life,
the existence of God, the nature of being human, the causes of suffering
or the qualities of a good life. There are many other such questions,
considered by most religious and philosophical traditions to be profound
questions confronting humanity. Ultimate questions could include pupils'
own questions.
Values and commitments
- Understanding how moral values and a sense of obligation can come from
beliefs and experience.
- Evaluating their own and others' values in order to make informed, rational
and imaginative choices.
Choices
As young people aged 11 to 14 develop their sense of identity, they learn
to internalise definitions of right and wrong, and to use them with increasing
independence in relation to a range of issues in their family, neighbourhood
and world, for example in discussions about material possessions, stereotyping
or climate change.
Key processes
These are the essential skills and processes in RE that pupils need to
learn to make progress.
Learning about religion
Pupils should be able to:
- investigate
the impact of religious beliefs and teachings on individuals, communities
and societies, the reasons for commitment
and the causes of diversity
- apply a wide range of religious and philosophical vocabulary consistently
and accurately, recognising both the power and limitations of language
in expressing religious ideas and beliefs
- explain religious beliefs, practices and commitments, including their
transmission by people, texts and traditions
- evaluate
how religious beliefs and teachings inform answers to ultimate questions
and ethical issues
- interpret
a range of sources, texts, authorities, and forms of religious and spiritual
expression from a variety of contexts
- analyse
religious beliefs, arguments and ideas.
Investigate
The investigation could address, for example, the reasons for prayer,
and involve collecting and sorting information on worship rituals.
Commitment
This should include reasons why people might belong to a faith community
or other belief system.
Evaluate
The evaluation could address, for example, the range of religious and
moral responses to the question of whether a person should fight in a
war.
Interpret
This could include exploring competing interpretations of doctrines and
sacred texts, or communicating reasons why a text was written.
Analyse
This could include comparison of arguments about, for example, truth,
the transmission of ideas and validity of evidence.
Learning from religion
Pupils should be able to:
- reflect on the relationship between beliefs, teachings, world
issues and ultimate
questions
- evaluate
beliefs, commitments and the impact of religion in the contemporary
world
- express insights into the significance and value of religion and other
world views on human relationships personally, locally and globally
- express
their own beliefs and ideas, using a variety of forms of expression, including
reasoned arguments.
World issues
This should include world issues such as peace and conflict, wealth and
poverty and the importance of the environment.
Ultimate questions
An example of an ultimate question related to a world issue might be 'How
might the beliefs and attitudes of a community be changed by suffering
or by prosperity?'
Evaluate beliefs, commitments and the impact
of religion
This should include evaluating their own and others' beliefs about why
people belong to faith communities, what challenges and tensions might
be caused by belonging to a faith, and about world issues.
Express
This could include responding to moral and religious problems, for example
conflict, as well as sharing and questioning assumptions, for example
about good and evil, and developing responses to problems, for example
about inter-religious or communal relations.
Range and content
This section outlines the breadth of the subject on which teachers should
draw when teaching the key concepts and key processes.
The study of RE should include:
- Christianity
- at
least two other principal religions
- a
religious community of local significance, where appropriate
- a
secular world view, where appropriate.
Christianity
This should include Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Anglican, Non-conformist
and Pentecostal branches of Christianity, both in Britain and globally.
At least two other principal religions
These include, as listed in the non-statutory national framework, Buddhism,
Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Sikhism. By the end of key stage 3 all these
principal religions should have been studied in sufficient depth.
A religious community of local significance
These include, as exemplified in the non-statutory national framework,
the Baha'i faith, Jainism and Zoroastrianism.
A secular world view
This includes, as the example given in the non-statutory national framework,
secular philosophies such as Humanism.
All of the above can be taught through the following themes:
- beliefs and concepts: the key ideas and questions of meaning in religions
and beliefs, including issues related to God, truth, the world, human
life, and life after death
- authority: different sources of authority and how they inform believers'
lives
- religion
and science: issues of truth, explanation, meaning and purpose
- expressing
spirituality: how and why understanding of the self and human
experiences are expressed in a variety of forms
- ethics and relationships: questions and influences that inform ethical
and moral choices, including forgiveness and issues of good and evil
- rights and responsibilities: what religions and beliefs say about human
rights and responsibilities, social justice and citizenship
- global issues: what religions and beliefs say about health,
wealth, war, animal rights and the environment
- interfaith dialogue: a study of relationships,
conflicts and collaboration within and between religions and beliefs.
Religion and science
This could include opportunities to look at where religion and science
diverge and come together in their interpretation of the world.
Expressing spirituality
This could include exploration of human experiences such as suffering.
For example, experiences of the Holocaust or genocide could raise questions
about people's abiding sense of meaning in the face of pain and fear.
Health
This could include examples of physical, emotional and sexual health,
and could be linked to work on, for example, drugs, HIV/AIDS or specific
moral teachings on relationships or on the value of human life.
Relationships, conflicts and collaboration within
and between religions and beliefs
This could include exploring differences, understanding reasons for them
and identifying compatible strands. Pupils could address differences between
branches of a religious tradition, for example differences in worship,
doctrine or practice; or differences between secular and traditional religious
views on, for example, family life, sexuality, economics or religious
pluralism. Collaborative projects, such as local faith forums, could be
explored and used to form evaluative views on issues.
Curriculum opportunities
During the key stage pupils should be offered the following opportunities
that are integral to their learning and enhance their engagement with the
concepts, processes and content of the subject.
The curriculum should provide opportunities for pupils to:
- encounter people from different religious, cultural and philosophical
groups, who can express a range of convictions on religious and moral
issues, where possible
- visit places of major religious significance, where possible
- use ICT to enhance understanding of religion
- discuss, question
and evaluate important issues in religion and philosophy, including
ultimate questions and ethical
issues
- reflect upon and carefully evaluate their own and others' beliefs and
values using reasoned, balanced arguments
- use a range of forms of expression to communicate their ideas and
responses
- explore the connections between RE and other subject areas.
Use ICT to enhance understanding of religion
This could include using the internet to research places of worship and
using email to communicate with people of different faiths in different
countries.
Discuss, question and evaluate
This could include opportunities for pupils to develop and express their
own questions, share each other's responses and study the answers offered
by religions and beliefs. It could include being involved in a local community
cohesion project, and identifying and commenting on how beliefs have an
impact on life at local community and global levels.
Ethical issues
This could include a wide variety of topics, for example the difference
between right and wrong, the application of principles to issues in crime/punishment,
war/peace, family life, relationships, use of money and property, entertainment,
employment, technology, and religious and cultural toleration.
Forms of expression
This could include creative and thoughtful use of art, dance, drama, writing
and ICT.
Other subject areas
This could include arts, humanities, language, literature, technology
and science.
