teaching religious education

Teaching Religious Education

Related Titles

eDUCATION FOR smsc dEVELOPMENT-rON bEST

Education, Spirituality and the Whole Child_Ron Best

Meditation in Schools _Clive Erricker and Jane Erricker

Researchers in the Classroom

Julian Stern

Acontinuum

Teaching ReligiousEducation

Thanks to Westhill Endowment, a Charitable Trust, sponsors of sixresearch and classroom seminars, which stimulated each chapter ofthis book.

Continuum International Publishing GroupThe Tower Building 80 Maiden Lane11 York Road Suite 704London SE1 7NX New York

NY 10038

© L. J. Stern 2006

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced ortransmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, includ-ing photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrievalsystem, without prior permission in writing from the publishers.

Reprinted 2007

Julian Stern has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs andPatents Act, 1988, to be identified as Author of this work.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication DataA catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication DataA catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.

ISBN: 978-0-8264-8767-4 (paperback)

Typeset by Sends Filmsetting Ltd, ManchesterPrinted and bound in Great Britain by Biddies Ltd., King’s Lynn, Norfolk

Contents

Acknowledgements viiiPreface ix

Introduction: Inclusive RE:search 1Westhill is alive with the sound of RE 1What is research? 2What is RE? 3Teaching RE: researchers in the classroom 5

Investigating text and context 7Introduction 7Exploring the Bible: the Biblos project 9

Exercise 2.1: What to do with the Bible? 12Approaching the Qur’an 13

Exercise 2.2: Using Muslim sacred texts 15The Bhagavad Gita and young children 16

Exercise 2.3: Story-telling from the Bhagavad Gita 17Conclusion 18

Dialogue within and between 21Introduction 21Dialogue in RE across Europe 23

Exercise 3.1: What more can we do? 26Exercise 3.2: Dialogue now 27Exercise 3.3: Inside out 30

Dialogue and children's voices 31Exercise 3.4: Friendship, membership and thought 38

Conclusion 39Inclusions and RE 40Introduction: The church of inclusion'? 40

Exercise 4.1: How inclusive is the RE curriculum? 44

1

2

3

4

VI CONTENTS

Exercise 4.2: How inclusive is RE pedagogy? 47RE and the range of pupil needs 49

Exercise 4.3: Salmon Line 55RE, inclusion and exclusion, and new religious

movements 56Exercise 4.4: When do you feel more included? 57

Conclusion 60Exercise 4.6: Moksha Chitram 61

5 Teachers and pupils: teaching and learning 63Introduction 63Research on RE 64

Exercise 5.1: What does religiousness mean? 66Research on pedagogy 67

Exercise 5.2: What is typically said? 71The varieties of RE pedagogy 73Six ways around Easter: a pedagogical fantasy 74

Exercise 5.3: Evidence for perspectives 78Conclusion 79

6 RE and human rights, values and citizenships 80Introduction 80Values and citizenship 81

Exercise 6.1: Worldwide debate on religion 84Research into the impact of RE and citizenship

education 85Exercise 6.2: The value of RE 89

Religion within citizenship and human rightseducation 90Exercise 6.3: The religion police 93

Conclusion 93

7 Ethnographic research in communities 95Introduction 95Ethnography, pluralism and RE 96

Exercise 7.1: Respect map 98Ethnography, Muslim diversity and RE 98

Exercise 7.2: Reverse ethnography: drawing withpeople 101

CONTENTS vii

Conclusion 102Exercise 7.3: Blogging for RE 102

The future of RErsearch 104Introduction 104Research and sincerity 105Sincerity in phenomenological research 106Sincerity in positivistic research 109Sincerity in RE research 110

Participants in the Westhill Trust Seminars 113

Bibliography 117Glossary of acronyms 130Index 132

8

Acknowledgements

The Westhill Trust sponsored the series of seminars on which thisbook is based. Many thanks should go to all the trustees, especiallyColin Johnson who attended most of the seminars, both for spon-soring and for helping organize the series. Lat Blaylock of RE TodayServices was the chief organizer of the seminars (helped by MidhatRiaz) and of the arrangements for the publication of this book: hiswisdom and knowledge of the world of RE is invaluable. Lat is alsoa member of the CE Research Committee, which proposed theseminar series, and the whole of that group, including its chair IanBirnie, should be thanked. All the presenters and participants inthe seminars will, I hope, find themselves in the book. I hope I havenot misrepresented or ignored too many of their views, and thankthem anyway for their ideas and good company. Pupils in a numberof schools contributed to this book, especially those quoted inChapter 3 (largely from Ipgrave's research), Chapter 4 (largely frommy own research), and in the various chapter headings (largely fromthe PCfRE RE festival database, www.pcfre.org.uk/db/). Theresearchers in those schools agreed not to name pupils, but I hopethey recognize themselves: readers will recognize their insight andauthority, and thank them for that. As the 8 year-old is quoted inChapter 3 as saying, 'we're sort of teaching the grown ups'. Indeed.Those who helped in the later stages of the writing include Lat,once more, and Mike Bottery, Pam Rauchwerger and Marie Stern.Alexandra Webster and Continuum Books have been imaginativelysupportive of this whole project. All the faults in the book remainmy own.

Julian Stem, October [email protected]

www.pcfre.org.uk/db/

Preface

As a member of the Westhill Trustees, I was privileged to attend fourof the six seminars on which this book is based. The Westhill Trustwas set up to administer funds from the sale of Westhill College tothe University of Birmingham in such a way that the purposes of thecollege's founders would continue to be fulfilled. Those purposesincluded the initial training and continuing professional developmentof teachers, with a particular emphasis on religious education. TheWesthill Seminars have made a very significant contribution to thefulfilment of that aim.

No one who attended the seminars could doubt the intellectualstimulation they provided for those present in significant areas ofcurrent debate about religious education, or the enthusiasm andmotivation generated to pursue these issues further in both researchand classroom practice. Three of those who attended have sinceembarked upon research for PhDs and although it would be unrea-sonable to claim that the seminars were the sole reason for theirdecisions, they may well have been influential in turning dreamsinto realities. One participant has been elected to the Executive ofthe Professional Council for Religious Education and another hasjoined the planning group which plots the themes for RE Today, themajor national publication for classroom RE teachers. Thus theseminars have forged links between classroom practice and research,and between classroom practice and national RE initiatives.

In terms of the wider dissemination of the thinking of the sem-inars, four of them have already resulted in articles in REsource, thejournal of the Professional Council for Religious Education, andarticles on the other two are planned. This book is the first of twomore substantial publications by Julian Stern who attended all theseminars. The funding provided by the Westhill Trust will enable

X PREFACE

all new entrants to RE teaching in 2006 and 2007 to be presentedwith a copy.

These are only the most obvious quantifiable outcomes of the sem-inars to date. We do not know, and perhaps never will know, what allthe classroom teachers who participated have done differently in theirclassrooms as a result of the mental stimulation of a seminar. Nor canwe predict what effect the seminars will have on the thinking ofChristian Educations Research Committee which proposed theseminar series in the first place. What is beyond doubt is that the sem-inars have had a significant impact on a large number of people whoare concerned for the future health of religious education.

For those entering the profession of RE teaching these are excit-ing times. By almost any measure, quantitative or qualitative, thesubject is stronger and more vibrant than it has been for many years.We hope that those who receive this book over the next two yearswill catch from it some of that sense of vibrancy. The Westhill Trustis proud to have played a part in contributing so significantly to thenational debate about what RE is and how it can contribute to thesearch for meaning of every pupil.

Colin Johnson,October 2005

1 Introduction: InclusiveRE: search

/ have enjoyed all my RE lessons, religion is not as boring as you may think, itcan be as interesting as you make it to be. I have learnt and understood otherpeople's religions, which have helped me understand things in life. I have learntabout the world, and how we are not all equal Plus lots more.

(13 year-old)

Westhill is alive with the sound of RE

The idea for this book started back in 2001, with a seminar fundedby the St Gabriel's Trust on research in RE. Following that, theGEM (Christian Education Movement, now Christian Educationor CE) Research Committee thought it would be a good idea tobring together RE professionals and researchers in a series of meet-ings to exchange ideas on what was going on in RE classrooms andRE research. Over a year was spent working out what areas ofresearch were going on in RE, and how to divide up the meetings,geographically and by topic. Thanks to the generosity of theWesthill Trust, a series of six meeting subsequently took placeduring 2004 and 2005, the Westhill Trust Seminars, starting inCheltenham, and moving like a mid-ranking football team throughCoventry, Darlington, Manchester, Leeds, and ending in Luton.A total of 73 people attended one or more of those meetings, over30 of whom were practising classroom teachers. The topics were REand sacred text, dialogue, inclusion, pedagogy, human rights and cit-izenship, and ethnography Presenters included Fatma Amer, LatBlaylock, Terence Copley, Liam Gearon, James Holt, Julia Ipgrave,Bob Jackson, Eleanor Nesbitt, Linda Rudge, Sarah Srnalley, JulianStern and Geoff Teece.

All the meetings included presentations by key researchers andcontributions by, and discussions with, all the participants. Every

2 TEACHING RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

presentation and discussion was noted by Julian Stern, a participantin all the meetings, and the notes were later sent around all the par-ticipants, so that they were happy with what was described of themeetings. A number of articles have, as stated in the Preface, above,already appeared in REsource, and it was decided that, in addition tothose articles, two books would be published. One book, the oneyou are reading, would be a guide for all RE teachers about howresearch and practice in RE come together. A second book will alsobe written, called Religion and Schools (Stern 2007), and that bookwill provide more scholarly work on all the themes of the WesthillSeminars, and a number of additional themes, connecting school-ing and religion, with RE at its core. It is to the enormous credit ofthe Westhill Trust, that this, the first of these two books, will be dis-tributed free to all newly qualified RE teachers in the two years afterit is published. It is now the responsibility of this book to provide aguide to the relationship between research and RE, starting with thetwo obvious questions, 'What is research?' and 'What is RE?'

What is research?

Research is connected to the search for truth (a good tradition of thatin religions, of course), and is identified as searching for truth in par-ticular ways. One definition of research from the Higher EducationFunding Council for England, the largest funders of research, soworth listening to, says that 'research [in terms of their ResearchAssessment Exercise] is original investigation undertaken in order togain knowledge and understanding ... It excludes routine testing andanalysis [and] the development of teaching materials that do notembody original research.' So research involves originality; it alsoinvolves a particular way of using theories:

Consider, for example, the striking differences in the way in which theo-ries are used. Laypeople base them on haphazard events and use them ina loose and uncritical manner ... Scientists, by contrast, construct theirtheories carefully and systematically. (Cohen et al. 2000, p. 2)

If you have 'finding out' that is original, careful and systematic, andthat is placed in a systematically constructed 'theory', you probablyhave research. However, despite all these grand-sounding phrases, it

INCLUSIVE RE:search 3

is worth saying that research is something quite ordinary. It is some-thing we expect of pupils in our schools, for example, as it is difficultfor pupils to learn without their being researchers. The only learn-ing that could not be covered by the definitions of research givenhere, would be learning that is wholly unoriginal or routine, or thatdoes not fit in any 'theory' or systematic understanding of how thingsor ideas fit together. Would teachers be happy with education thatdid not involve their pupils in research? Would teachers themselvesbe happy with a life in teaching that did not involve research?

Good examples of activities that are very close to research, andare, understandably, considered rather problematic by teachers, arethe preparations for Ofsted inspections or the achievement of various'charter marks' and other forms of school accreditation, such asthe Healthy Schools Standard, the Index for Inclusion, Investors inPeople status or the Primary Charter Mark. These are very close toresearch, because information is systematically collected, originaland carefully described with evidence provided to back up eachpiece of information. Sometimes, what is missing is an overall crit-ical evaluation that puts the information into a theoretical context.This book therefore includes more theory and critical evaluationthan some of those preparations might encourage. As for most edu-cational issues, the theory can be described as being related to oneof four academic disciplines: psychology, sociology, philosophy andhistory. If such theory is present, then those rather burdensomeprocesses can indeed become entirely legitimate research.

What is RE?

The RE described in this book is a subject in a particular place andtime. It is the RE that is taken as 'normal' in most contemporaryeducation debates in England and Wales, broadly as described inthe National Framework for RE in England (QCA 2004) and asdescribed in most of the locally agreed syllabuses for RE (availablefrom www.REOnline.org.uk). It is a subject that is non-confessional(i.e. it should not try to convert pupils to any particular religion),multi-faith (i.e. it should involve learning about a number of reli-gions) and respectful of non-religious ways of life (i.e. it is not justabout religions). Those who have studied the history of RE inEngland and Wales, or who have worked with RE specialists in other

www.REOnline.org.uk


countries around the world, will know how distinctive and in thatsense 'abnormal' that version of the subject is. Indeed, there are thosecurrently working in England and Wales who would prefer a moreconfessional RE (Thompson 2004a, 2004b), a single-religion RE oran RE that rejects non-religious ways of life, just as there are thosewho would ban RE or replace it with moral, personal or citizenshipeducation. Recognizing the existence of these debates is important;engaging in all of them, in this short book, would be impossible. Itis hoped, nevertheless, that the accounts of RE and research through-out the book do speak to all those interested in every kind of RE.

RE by its very nature is inclusive. It includes pupils and theircommunities, it includes cultures and belief systems from around theworld and from all of human history, it includes the non-religiousand the anti-religious, as well as those passionate about their reli-gion. This book shows how RE includes research. As this involves'search' in RE, it can be called RE:search. Pupils can be researchers,teachers can be researchers and all can be in conversation with thepeople who have 'research' in their official job tides. Amongst thekey writers about research in RE are Michael Grimmitt, whosePedagogies of Religious Education (2000) brings together research onthe teaching of RE from a wide range of writers in the field, Jackson(for example in Jackson 2004) who writes about the developmentof both empirical and non-empirical research in RE, and Francisand Kay (for example Francis et al. 1996, or Kay and Francis 2000)who write books to support distance learning research in RE. Thebringing together of RE and research is therefore well established,and exciting for RE teachers and researchers and, most of all, pupils.For RE to thrive, pupils and teachers must be involved and active.The thirteenth-century Sufi Muslim poet, Rumi, was rather criti-cal of 'school learning', but provided the cure to some of its limita-tions in the poem Two Kinds of Intelligence (Rumi 1995, p. 178, and atwww.sufism.org/books/barks and www.sufism.org/books/jewels/rhearthtml). There he contrasts 'acquired' intelligence that flowsinto a schoolchild from books and teachers, with the intelligencethat comes from within, from the heart or soul, and flows out-wards: a fountain continually flowing. The latter intelligence isdescribed by Rumi as God-given. Whatever view people take onthe source of the intelligence, it helps promote the idea of RE beingresearch-based and involving pupils as they are and can be, rather

www.sufism.org/books/barks

www.sufism.org/books/jewels/rheart.html


INCLUSIVE RE:search D

than passive and merely fact-driven. Of course, Rurni was notdenying the importance of the first kind of intelligence either. Theflow must be in both directions. That is what this book is attempt-ing to achieve.

Teaching RE: researchers in the classroom

The tide of the book attempts to answer two questions:

• First, how can RE improve further, and bridge the gapbetween its own self-image as a vital and vibrant subject, andthe image of it portrayed by some inspectors and even somepupils, parents and teachers as something of a backwater? Ananswer may be for RE as a school subject to engage more inresearch, both research undertaken by professional academicsand research undertaken by RE teachers and pupils. Alongwith the accounts of RE and research in each chapter, thereare 21 exercises spread through the book: 21 ways in whichteachers can use research in their classrooms.* Second, how can researchers hope to understand the complexand relatively impenetrable world of school RE? Schools area challenge to researchers (as described in McDonald 1989),just as religion is a challenge to researchers (as described inMcCutcheon 1999), so RE presents even more problems. Ananswer may be for professional academic researchers to seepupils, their families and schools as co-researchers rather thanas subjects, and to build in to their research a commitment tothe improvement of people's lives, and to the improvement ofRE and schooling more generally. This is the basis forresearch, such as that of MacBeath 1999, Rudduck et al. 1996and Flutter and Rudduck 2004, that attempts to give voice topupils and teachers.

This book therefore uses some of the common themes in contem-porary RE and sits them alongside some of the common themes incontemporary research. It is not a comprehensive survey of researchin RE, it is a selection of some important topics; it is not an attemptto say that ICE teaching and research are one and the same thing, itis a description of complementarity. Bringing together RE and


research leads to an argument, in Chapter 8, for the value of sin-cerity in RE research. Sincerity is a quality that should help RE andresearch develop further in the future. It is not the answer to all theproblems of RE and of research, but it is a valuable principle rarelyaddressed in the literature.

2 Investigating text and context

My Grandmother read to me, when I was young, a piece from the Bible andtaught me those things.

(13 year-old, responding to the question 'Religions sometimesteach their followers about freedom, truth, justice, love and

forgiveness. Who has taught you about these things?')

Introduction

Teachers of RE have always been exploring texts, and the best useof sacred texts in RE should be enlightening, imaginative, literate,provocative and sensitive to context. However, this is inevitablynot always the case, and the ways in which texts are studied inRE differ from the ways they are studied in history or Englishlessons. Research on the use of sacred texts in RE can help teach-

on the use of sacred texts can also connect contemporary RE toits past, as the detailed study of sacred texts is one of the few activ-ities that teachers from centuries past might recognize in today'sclassrooms.

Texts themselves — in contrast to oral communication — areattempts to communicate at a distance. Space and time are not bar-riers to textual communication, even if the texts themselves andtheir significance may seem to change as they are reread over theyears, and as they are passed around the world. That is why thischapter refers to investigating context, as well as text. Amongst theresearch on sacred text in RE is a small-scale study by AREIAC,the RE advisers' organization (www.areiac.org.uk). That study is agood starting point, as it simply compared the typical use of textsin history and RE:

ers understand what is happening and what is possible . Research

www.areiac.org.uk


History RE

Tasks tend to require pupils to: Tasks tend to require pupils to:

read multiple source materials rarely use multiple textsmake decisions and choices about simply recycle their readingthe material they are reading use second-hand rather thanwork with original texts original textshandle challenging text material engage with over-processedprocess reading so that their writing simplified languageoutput is significantly different from paraphrase reading doing littlethe material they have read. with the original; too much

emphasis on low-levelcomprehension and recall,

It is surprising that there is such a gap between the approaches tothe use of texts in these subjects, given the way the subjects bothdepend on old and original texts, and given that many teachers teachboth subjects. It is hoped the situation will improve. The availabil-ity of texts may help, as multiple, original, sacred texts are becom-ing much more easily and cheaply available, especially in electronicformats. On the Internet, general sites include www.religioustoler-ance.org or www.sacred-texts.com/ and sites with access to key textsinclude www.buddhanet.net/ or bible.gospelcom.net/ or www.krishna.com/ or www.quran.org.uk/ or wwwjewishvirtuallibrary.org/ or www.Sikhs.org/granth.htm. However, the availability ofsacred texts does not necessarily mean they will be used mosteffectively in RE classrooms. What about the 'challenge' of thematerial, and the ways of reading texts? Five overarching issues canbe identified, when dealing with sacred texts in RE:

• The format in which sacred texts are presented, for examplein snippets on dog-eared worksheets, in the form of the fulltext or somewhere in between. It is worth noting the import-ance of oral traditions in most religions: the telling of stories,not just the reading of stories, for example, as in the 'tellingplace' project of the Bible Society (see www.thetellingplace.org/ and www.biblesociety.org.uk/),

• The quantity of sacred text that can be put in front of a pupil,whether in snippets, longer extracts or full texts. If Englishlessons comfortably handle complete novels and plays, RE

www.religioustolerance.org


www.buddhanet.net/

www.krishna.com/

www.krishna.com/

www.quran.org.uk/

www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/

wwwjewishvirtuallibrary.org/

www.thetellingplace.org/


www.biblesociety.org.uk/

www.sacred-texts.com/

www.Sikhs.org/granth.htm

INVESTIGATING TEXT AND CONTEXT 9

lessons should be able to handle complete sacred texts, evenwhen only a short piece is studied in detail.

* The degree and format of translation, paraphrasing andretelling, taking account of different traditions in different faithcommunities. There can be a tension between authenticity andaccessibility, although this can be tackled directly in the lessons,as it is, for example, in many history and English lessons.

* The assumptions we bring to sacred texts, how we convey theassumptions a believer may bring to the text and what happenswhen someone comes to the text who is not a believer.Assumptions include ideas on the truth: within religious tra-ditions, for example, a single text may be treated as more lit-erally true or more symbolically true. Again, teachers shouldtackle this head on, exploring possible assumptions.

* Issues of pedagogy, including appropriate ways of dealingwith texts from the perspective of the RE teacher and fromthe perspective of the member of the faith community Pupilsshould feel comfortable handling sacred texts, and using alltheir skills and creativity to come to understand the texts.

All these issues have been raised with respect to the Bible by theBiblos project based in Exeter.

Exploring the Bible: the Biblos projectOne of the biggest RE projects of recent years has been the Biblosproject, exploring the uses of the Bible in RE, and this is thereforea good place to start in understanding research on sacred text. It is asuperb example of the search for empirical evidence to contribute todebates on the proper uses of the text. It also draws on that researchto support the training and professional development of teachers,and, notably, bases what it says on evidence provided by pupils andteachers as well as a clear understanding of theology. The respectthereby shown to the sacred text itself, in its religious context, andto pupils as well as to teachers, is a model for research in RE.

The project has been led by Copley, and there are several researchreports on the project already published (including Copley 1998a,Copley et al. 2001, 2004), with classroom materials already comingfrom the project, and Copley and Walshe 2002, from a related project,


involving trialling classroom materials. For Copley, the Bible as asacred text has a particular 'problem' in England, because it is regardedas a 'heritage text' as well as a 'sacred text'. Heritage is a big problemin this country, as people are more likely, for example, to visit cath-edrals as tourists than as pilgrims. Biblos tackles some stereotypes ofthe Bible in English RE: that the Bible has disappeared from RE; theBible is only relevant to Christians; that teachers are reluctant to usebiblical material; and that biblical material should be secularized.

An example of the loss of the Bible, even from nominal 'Biblestories', is the Joseph narrative as tackled with 7-11 year-olds. Josephbecoming an oppressor is not included in the narratives used inschools, and the central role of God in the Bible is suppressed, just asthe central role of Allah in the Qur'an is at times suppressed. Forexample, in the musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat,'any dream will do'. God appears not at all: Joseph is a 'nice guy, whosucceeds against the odds'. This, says Copley, is anti-RE. A properconsideration of biblical texts is vital, as they are relevant to threereligions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, they have a place in thehistory of Western civilization and they are a proper subject fordebate. The relevant cultural and historical contexts must be sup-plied, and for this academic scholarship is important: the apparent'divorce' of theology from RE, since the 1960s, may not have helped.

The criteria for the Biblos project's choice of stories, or narrativethemes, were that they had to be relevant, a bridge between secularand religious, easily comprehensible, easy to remember, theologicalnot secular, not exclusive, and progressive. The team, after abandon-ing hope (as a theme), and giving up taking 'God' seriously (as atopic), settled on 'destiny', 'encounter'and 'vulnerability'as the threethemes. These themes are also themes of importance to children:what they want to grow up as, encounters with friends, enemies andteachers, and vulnerability in all those things. The Biblos projectwent on to study what young people know and think about theBible, and what has shaped these attitudes and perceptions. The workis being replicated in New Zealand to see how 'British' are theresponses.

There were 1,066 pupils, aged 10-11, 13-14 and 16-17, whowere asked similar questions in questionnaires, and some of whomwere interviewed. 70% of respondents were Christian, 15.1% hadno religious identity, 6.2% were Sikh, 3.4% Hindu, 2.4% Islam,


1.5% 'other', 0.8% Buddhist, 0.2% Jewish. Most could identity pas-sages from the Bible, but when asked about meaning, 36.3% foundsecular ethical meanings, compared to 22.9% theological, 9.1%literal and 5.8% irrelevant. Examples of the 'secular' meanings givento Bible passages were: David and Goliath as hope for the underdog,the birth of Jesus meaning Christmas presents, feeding the 5,000meaning not taking things for granted and sharing things. Therewere many responses to questions on why the Bible is important,especially from respondents who themselves were members of reli-gious groups other than Christianity. The 'heritage' importance ofthe Bible was certainly recognized. 'The Bible should be respected'(74.1%), it 'can show people how to live' (63.1%), but surprisingly58.8% disagreed or strongly disagreed with 'I look to the Bible forpersonal guidance'. Most positive were Christian church-attendingfemales aged 10-11, with hobbies such as reading fiction/novels andwatching soap operas, rather than films and music and playing com-puter games. What matters most to children? Family, education andreligion, for those more positively inclined towards the Bible; activ-ities and hobbies, for those less positively inclined towards the Bible.

The project's overall conclusion is that, by presenting bible narra-tive in its cultural context, and by encouraging pupils to providetheir own theological interpretations, we can open the Bible forchildren. It is the research of teachers, to support the presentation ofthe appropriate context, and the research of pupils, as interpreters ofthe text, that can change passive lessons in comprehension into livelyand scholarly RE. There are different ways of researching and teach-ing the Bible, such as those of Cupitt (e.g. Cupitt 1991), Erricker(e.g. Erricker and Erricker 2000) or Hull (e.g. Hull 1998), all ofwhom are described by Copley as looking for meaning in the reader,at times, more than in the text. The Biblos project is clearly 'partial'in this way, in looking first for meaning in the text itself, and yet thecontrast between those looking at the text and those looking at thereader may be something of a false dichotomy, as the Biblos project,in common with the other approaches, looks at engagement betweentext and reader: nobody looks to the text or the reader alone.

• The intellectual culture of the classroom supports the idea ofengagement with the text of the Bible, allowing for distinctapproaches, yet held together by a commitment to engage.


• Although the responses were slightly different from churchschools than non-church schools, there is more work to bedone on this issue. An interesting finding is that manyChristian children, whether in church or non-church schools,are apparently encountering more religion in school than theydo at home.

Exercise 2.1: What to do with the Bible?

There are at least three conclusions from the Biblos research:

• Good RE teaching must not ignore the theological andGod-centred dimensions of Bible narratives.• Good RE teaching must recognize that the Bible is ofparticular importance to Christians, Jews and Muslims.• Good RE teaching must facilitate pupil engagement withthe Bible and seek to raise their valuations of it, as the REteacher is often the most important gatekeeper to, andcartographer of, the Bible for children.

RE teachers can investigate how each of these can be achieved.The process should involve three stages:

• A teacher or group of teachers should review the RE cur-riculum plan, and highlight examples of the use of theBible narratives.

• For each use of Bible narrative, the teacher can assesswhether theological issues are to be raised, how importantthe narrative might be to Christians, Jews and Muslims andhow the lessons will help pupils to value the text.

• Where any of the answers are negative, the teacher couldwork out how to improve the plan so that, at least for someof the uses of Bible narratives, there are opportunities fortheological engagement, consideration of the importanceto religious believers and pupils valuing the text.

Other sacred texts can of course be studied appropriately in thesame way.


Approaching the Qur'an

The Qur'an has been widely used in the teaching of Islam, both asan artefact, in lessons about how sacred objects may be treated, andas text. However, relatively little research has been completed on itsuse in classrooms, although some initial surveys are being com-pleted. From the Muslim Council of Britain, for example, Amerhas considered approaches to using the Qur'an as a sacred text inthe classroom. She starts with the question, what kind of sensitiv-ities should teachers observe when using the Qur'an in teachingBJE? On a school visit, Amer noticed one teacher, who wanted todisplay a copy of the Qur'an, apparently trembling, worrying aboutwhat the pupils, many of whom were Muslim, would say about herhandling of the Qur'an. Such fear seems out of place: genuinerespect is the appropriate attitude to this sacred text, as with allsacred texts. The Arabic text of the Qur'an is considered byMuslims to be the directly revealed Word of God, whilst a trans-lated Qur'an is by definition part human interpretation of themeanings and is therefore no longer considered divine. However,both should be treated with respect.

Muslim pupils may memorize the Qur'an, but teachers shouldavoid using pupils who memorize the Qur'an as a novelty. Rather,teachers could develop a knowledge of how and when this examplemay appropriately be incorporated into a lesson: it should be a vol-untary activity. The time and background of the arrival of the firstsubstantial Muslim community in the UK has influenced approachesto the Qur'an, as that group had a particular religious approach,reflecting particular cultural traditions rather than universal religioustraditions. Whilst remaining sensitive to the specific cultural trad-itions, according to Amer, becoming completely tied to a set of'taboos' deriving from a single tradition can restrict the possibility ofstudying the Qur'an in classrooms.

The Qur'an can be used in many ways, as a study text, as inspi-ration for daily life, as a catalyst for academically sound historicalenquiry, as a linguistic framework, as a framework for modernethical dilemmas or as a way of facilitating acquisition of vocabu-lary for pupils with English as an additional language. Such uses cantie in with, but are not entirely addressed by, the national literacystrategies: these strategies tend to focus on literacy alone, and not


on exploring the deeper meaning or the underlying messages. Aswith Copley's work on the Christian Bible, work on the Qur'anrelates to Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

Three issues are commonly raised by RE teachers on the use ofthe Qur'an:

• What are the best ways in which school RE can use the sacretexts of Islam? Amer suggests the use of narrative to inspire,the use of enjoyable games, such as hopscotch to learn thestages of Hajj or snakes and ladders for steps to paradise, theuse of role-playing to assist in the exploration of the sense ofawe and wonder in relation to the divine, and the use ofpoetry and creative writing (e.g. on birds, animals, insects orwater in the Qur'an) for pupils of all ages.

What potential for good learning in RE in general is there inthe development of good uses of the Qur'an in RE? Exploringthe transfer of concepts using the vehicle of translation,enhancing opportunities for social and emotional literacy,highlighting commonalities between three Abrahamic faithswhilst treating differences with integrity (as it is important todo both, especially with an increased prominence of mterfaithissues), and the diversity and enrichment of religious literacy.How can teachers be helped to do more and better work withQur'anic text in RE at the various different age groups? Thisis an issue of teacher training, increasing teachers' personalfamiliarity with the sacred text, and having good-qualityinexpensive inservice training. Amer talked about some of theresources that can be used, including the patterns of textsthemselves as calligraphy (for which, see the 'art' section ofwww.islaml01.com/), patterning used in texts, materialsproduced by the IQRA Trust (with information at www.iqratrust.org), story books that manage to avoid portrayingprophets, computer games, a CD-rom (Living Mam, fromwww.microbooks.org/) and songs (including translations ofmeanings of Qur'an verses). With the involvement of theMuslim community in producing such resources, there is anincreasing choice of those available. Publications of theIslamic Foundation (www.islamic-foundation.org.uk) havebeen very helpful. Further ideas can be found from within

www.islam101.com/

www.iqratrust.org

www.iqratrust.org

www.microbooks.org/

www.islamic-foundation.org.uk


Islam, such as from the London Central Mosque Trust andThe Islamic Cultural Centre (146 Park Road, London NWS7RG, tel: 020 7724 3363), the Islam online website(www.islamonline.net), the Muslim Heritage website (www.muslimheritage.com/) and Salaam (www.salaam.co.uk), inorder to give some basis to valuable celebration traditions.

Those discussing the use of th< Qur'an in RE often report a fear ofmaking mistakes when using the Qur'an in any way. It is as thoughthe Qur'an should, literally and metaphorically, be put 'out ofreach' of the pupils. Yet it is surely better to engage with the text,even with the possibility of inadvertently making mistakes, than toavoid all engagement.

Exercise 2.2: Using Muslim sacred texts

Making use of a Muslim sacred text (available on paper or elec-tronically from www.sacred-texts.com/ or www.quran.org.uk/),the teacher and pupils should research examples of how the textcan be used in each of the six ways described by Amer:

1 as a study text, for example by asking pupils to study a surah(such as Surah 2 or many others) looking at Islamic beliefabout Allah,

2 as inspiration for daily life, for example by asking pupils toidentify an appropriate text for a Muslim who has suffered apersonal loss (again, starting with Surah 2),

3 as a catalyst for academically sound historical enquiry, forexample by asking pupils to consider accounts of events inthe Qur'an, such as the account given of Jesus in Surah 4,making use of the skills of textual analysis developed inhistory lessons,

4 as a linguistic framework, for example by asking pupils tocompare two contrasting 'translations' (generally called'interpretations') of a particular piece of text, in order tounderstand more about the process of translation,

5 as a framework for modern ethical dilemmas, for exampletaking guidance on divorce (from Surah 2, 33, 55 or 56) and

www.islamonline.net

www.muslimheritage.com/


www.salaam.co.uk


www.quran.org.uk/


discussing what the implications are of this advice for life inthe contemporary world,

> as a way of facilitating acquisition of vocabulary for pupilswith English as an additional language, for example bygetting pupils with a knowledge of the Arabic used in theQur'an to work with pupils without that knowledge tocreate a 'dictionary* of key concepts.

The Bhagavad Gita and young children

A good example of research on using the Bhagavad Gita in RE isthat of Parmar (2001), who has been researching the use of transla-tions of the Bhagavad Gita to raise questions fundamental to humanexperience. She worked with children aged 7, many of whomhad experienced inappropriate teaching of Hinduism - for exampleusing cartoons that made the pupils uncomfortable. Parmar's ownexperience of Christian education, as a pupil, was not a challengeto her Hinduism, but enriched it, so, when Parmar took up herBhagavad Gita, she used her interpretive skills as an historian as wellas her life as a Hindu. The Bhagavad Gita is set on the eve of battle,with the battle metaphorically at the heart of every person. Theproblem is one of right choice, happiness and suffering, includingthe three gunas or qualities of light, fire and darkness. Carringtonand Troyna (1988) say that children should face controversial issues,and this is important in working with the Bhagavad Gita. Althoughthe work is clearly important, the difficulty appears to be gettingteachers interested. Sometimes, new RE teachers see the subject asbeing about multiculturalism alone, without having a concern forthe substantial sacred texts and other religious items.

A second issue is that of oral, in contrast to literary, traditions.Beckerlegge (2001b) investigates how religions represent them-selves in their traditions, for example in speech, texts, images orritual enactments, and how these are affected by cultural, historicaland technological contexts. The oral tradition, from which theBhagavad Gita and other Hindu Vedic sacred texts derive, involvedan immediate personal relationship between the speaker and audi-ence. Written traditions, and later technologies such as film and theInternet, changed that relationship and therefore affected access to


and relationships with the sacred. Once photography was devel-oped, according to Beckerlegge, photographs of such religiousteachers as Ramakrishna were by some regarded as murtis, and morerecently, there have been representations of deities and sacred nar-ratives in films and on television, notably the 1987-8 televisedRamayana, The qualities of the oral tradition must not be lost in allthese changes.

The National Curriculum for English pfEE and QCA 1999)addresses the development of reading and writing skills, but alsoincludes a focus upon speaking and listening. Pupils are expected todemonstrate an ability:

To speak with confidence in a range of contexts, adapting their speechfor a range of purposes and audiences ... [aged 7-11, and to] speakfluently and appropriately in different contexts, adapting their talkfor a range of purposes and audiences, including the more formal[aged 11-16]. (D£EE and QCA 1999)

This requirement, along with the importance of oral traditions inreligion, gives considerable impetus to the use of story-telling inRE, and to assessing pupil skills in story-telling and listening tostories. Assessment of pupils rarely refers to oral work, except tocomplain of 'too much talking'. Exercise 2.3, below, is thereforeone example that ties together a vital sacred text with its oralorigins, helping pupils develop their own oral skills as well as theirunderstanding of religion.

Exercise 2.3: Story-telling from theBhagavad Gita

The Bhagavad Gita is one of the texts most used by Hindus forguidance on making difficult personal decisions. Choose a topicof immediate importance to the pupils in your class that is alsoaddressed by the text and create a story-telling (telling, notreading, if possible) of that text, and a lesson to follow it up. Anexample might be the apparent recommendation of violence inthe story (generally noticed, with some glee, by more 'lively'pupils), noting the peace-loving Gandhis response when asked


about this. Questioner: 'at the end of the Gita Krishna recom-mends violence'; Ghandi: 'I do not think so. I am also fighting.I should not be fighting effectively if I were fighting violently'(quoted in Beckerlegge 2001 a, p. 307).

Evaluate the lesson, on the basis of pupil answers to the fol-lowing questions. The third question, about meeting targets, canonly be asked where there is a clear 'target-setting' culture in theschool.

What did you learn about Hindu traditions or dharmafrom this lesson?What did you think Hindus would want you to learn from(this part of) the Bhagavad Gita?What did you learn from this Hindu story that will helpyou to meet your targets in RE or as a pupil?

ConclusionIt is worth going back to the questions set in the introduction tothis chapter.

When it comes to the format in which sacred texts are pre-sented, there is a need for further research by teachers on howpupils engage with sacred texts, building on the research ofthe Biblos project and the others described in this chapter.How sacred text is used may also be a continuing topic forresearch not only by teachers but also by the other organiza-tions interested in RE, such as religious groups and SACREs.People have asked about the 'quantity' of sacred texts: whetherthey are primarily presented in short snippets (in a more frac-tured format), or complete texts (in a more holistic format).It is clear that this is not only an issue about presentation. Theimpact on pupil learning of fractured or holistic approacheshas been little researched in RE, and the subject could sensi-bly join with other subjects such as English and history whichmay have a longer tradition of considering this issue. Thepublishing of complete sacred texts, for use in schools, is tobe welcomed (as in the Living Religions CD-rom series fromwww.microbooks.com).

www.microbooks.com


Having complete texts available does not answer the questionof how those texts have been translated, paraphrased or retold.The oral tradition seems most in need of further development,as described from Beckerlegge 200 Ib, above, and research inthat area would be welcome. Pupils as well as teachers haveconsiderable story-telling abilities, often underexploited inschools. The fact that oracy is so important within every reli-gious tradition suggests that RE should be leading - alongsidedrama and languages lessons — in developing this skill.The very act of translating, paraphrazing or retelling indicatessome of the assumptions of both teachers and pupils. How canteachers be prepared, and pupils be supported, in understand-ing these assumptions? Initial teacher training is important,but this must be continued throughout teachers' careers, withcontinuing support from advisors, SACREs, exam boards andthe writers of texts for schools. Teachers and pupils need astrong sense of the various genres used in sacred texts, and usethose texts across all of RE, and not just in topics called 'sacredtexts'. The framing of texts is important, that is, how anextract from a sacred text, or a complete sacred text, is intro-duced and explained to pupils. Such explanatory work willoutline something about the text's source and its genre.'Framing' is well developed in history textbooks such as thoseof the Schools History Project (at www.tasc.ac.uk/shp/), inwhich extracts from historical sources are explained in termsof how the texts were written, whether and how they aretranslated, what they would have been used for and how theyfit in amongst other related texts. RE might use more of theskills of such historical 'framing'.School RE of course has its own pedagogy (as described inChapter 5, below), and this may be different from the peda-gogy of other subjects and of religious communities, whendealing with sacred texts. There is not necessarily a problemwith these differences, but knowing what the differences arewill help make RE more effective. Indeed, each group under-standing the pedagogy of the other groups could benefit all.Long traditions of pedagogy from every religious traditionshould be 'tapped into', notwithstanding possible challengescaused by religious communities not always 'saying the right

www.tasc.ac.uk/shp/


things', from the perspective of teachers, and vice versa. Forexample, memorizing texts, much used in religious contexts,is at times seen by teachers as inappropriately 'old-fashioned',yet it is a skill and practice of much value in RE.

Sacred texts communicate with us, and are used to communicatebetween us. The relationship between text and reader, or betweenwriter and reader, is much studied in literary theory. In RE, sacredtexts may have the religion extracted from them (as described byCopley with respect to the Bible), may be treated as unusableobjects (as described by Amer with respect to the Qur'an), or mayhave their life-giving story-telling properties ignored (as describedby Parmar with respect to the Bhagavad Gita). It is a measure of theimportance of research that all three of these authors, along withothers working in the field, can exemplify good practice withrespect to sacred texts. The texts help communication across timeand distance: it is a kind of dialogue over space and time that caneducate and inspire. Dialogue by text, across space and time, is nowpossible using computers, but the simpler technology of printinghas already expanded the frontiers of dialogue. And dialogue itseliis the subject of a great deal of research in RE, and is the subject oithe following chapter.

3 Dialogue within and between

It's like we're sort of teaching the grown ups.(8 year-old)

IntroductionDialogue has been central to religious and educational traditions forthousands of years, yet many people associate religion with author-itative monologue (such as in stereotypes of endless sermonizing),so the importance of dialogue needs stressing. One of the greatdefenders of educational dialogue was Socrates. Many write aboutSocratic methods, with Socrates having philosophized through dia-logue or argument. Socrates even went to the lengths of refusing towrite things down, as that would restrict his thinking and teaching.It is fascinating in today's literacy-obsessed society to think that thisrefusal to write was the basis of the criminal charges brought againstSocrates for 'corrupting the youth of Athens'. In religion, manywrite — or, better still, talk — about the Buddha's dialogues or Jesus'arguments, or about the many dialogic forms in Hindu traditions,notably the Bhagavad Gita. Religious dialogues include dialoguebetween religions, as well as within religions. Early Christian dia-logue crossed Jewish and non-Jewish boundaries, Sikh dialogueworked across Hindu and Muslim traditions (both within andbeyond both, as Hindu and Muslim writers are recognized in theGuru Granth Sahib, whilst Sikhism asserts itself as a quite distinctreligion), and the Sufi Muslim poet Rumi wrote of the state ofheightened awareness through dhikr ('remembrance' or 'listening')when 'I belong to the beloved' and am 'not Christian or Jew orMuslim, not Hindu, Buddhist, sufi, or zen' (Rumi 1995, p. 32).The Baha'i tradition recognizes the teachings of Zoroaster, theBuddha, Jesus and Muhammad, as well as Baha'u'llah. In these and


countless other ways, talking and listening within and across reli-gions have been central to how people have lived. In the twentiethcentury, the great religious philosopher Martin Buber describedliving itself in terms of dialogue as 'all real living is meeting' whilstalso, helpfully, warning against the temptation of 'monologue dis-guised as dialogue' (Buber 2002, pp. 22 and 25).

RE can and often does reflect the same dialogic approach, espe-cially when the educational and religious traditions corne togetherin a multi-faith RE, the most widespread tradition in English andWelsh RE since the 1960s. Ninian Smart was perhaps the mostinfluential person in the growth of multi-faith RE, and one of hisfirst books was a description of a dialogue between a Christian, Jew,Muslim, Hindu, Sri Lankan Buddhist and Japanese Buddhist. 'Thedemand for fairness is one reason for the dialogue form', says Smart(1960, p. 13).

The dialogue form also emphasizes anew the point that where there isdiscussion, there reasons are found. The possibility of argument impliesthat there are criteria of truth, however vague. Indeed, the man [sic]who refuses to argue at all is guilty of slaying truth: both the true andthe false perish, and he is reduced to mere expressions of feeling.

(Smart 1960, p. 14)

Interfaith dialogue, and dialogue beyond religions, is now built in tothe National Framework for RE (QCA 2004), which says that pupilsshould 'reflect on ... the significance of interfaith dialogue', whichshould in turn help in 'promoting racial and interfaith harmony andrespect for all, combating prejudice and discrimination, contributingpositively to community cohesion and promoting awareness of howinterfaith cooperation can support the pursuit of the common good'.That could be interpreted as rather glib, but the guidance also stressesthat interfaith dialogue recognizes conflicts as well as collaboration,both within and between religions and beliefs, religious and non-religious.

Such a strong and vibrant tradition is clearly ready for detailedwork on dialogue in RE, as represented in the rest of this chapter,which describes some of the leading classroom-based research ondialogic approaches to RE. Research on dialogue is distinctive inthat the research itself may directly help improve RE, and yet it also

DIALOGUE WITHIN AND BETWEEN 23

complements a wide range of other research in RE such as Wright'swork on religious literacy (Wright 1993, 1997 and much else since)or Baumfield on thinking skills (e.g. in Baumfield 2002, 2003).

Dialogue in RE across EuropeJackson describes the tremendous amount of interest across Europe -and beyond - in addressing religious diversity in school education,and this is related to the aims of RE as understood in England andWales. Those aims include first-order aims of increasing knowledgeand understanding, and relating new learning to one's own experi-ence - whichever way around these go. Many new RE teachers seesome of the second-order aims as first-order aims, but for Jackson,these are importantly second-order aims: increasing tolerance andrespect, and promoting social cohesion and good citizenship. Suchaims are not just the province of RE. Those second-order aims areparticularly influential in Europe, especially with respect to socialcohesion, since the various terrible events that include 11 September2001 in USA, the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, Bali, Casablanca,Jakarta, Madrid and civil disorder in northern UK towns from 2001- including activity by far-right organizations for several years. Theneed to address issues of social cohesion was further highlighted bythe awful events in London in July 2005.

It is the reaction to these events that has stimulated projects such asthat of the Council of Europe (made up of 45 states, with informa-tion at www.coe.int/), called Intercultuml Education and the Challengeof Religious Diversity and Dialogue. The Council of Europe includesstates with a very wide range of approaches to RE (from none, inFrance, to confessional RE in many countries), but the project isabout intercultural education regardless of the state of RE. Work onUK RE will feed into more general intercultural education, then.Similarly, the UN-sponsored Oslo Coalition on Freedom ofReligion or Belief set up the Teaching for Tolerance project, based atOslo University. This is an international project, including statesfrom the Islamic world such as Nigeria (50% of whose populationare Muslim, and 40% Christian, according to www.wikipedia.com,quoting www.state.gov/ and www.cia.gov/).

Within the UK, intercultural education includes work on citizen-ship as well as RE. RE professionals in the UK, according to Jackson,

www.coe.int/

www.wikipedia.com

www.state.gov/

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need to engage with citizenship education - which includes know-ledge and understanding (second-order) and appreciation (first-order) of the 'diversity of national, regional, religious and ethnicidentities in UK and the need for mutual respect and understanding'.This is quoted from the 2004 National Framework for RE (QCA2004), which goes on to say that RE provides opportunities topromote 'education for racial equality and community cohesionthrough studying the damaging effects of xenophobia and racialstereotyping, the impact of conflict in religion and the promotion ofrespect, understanding and co-operation through dialogue betweenpeople of different faiths and beliefs'. The connections between REand multiculturalism go back over the decades, as do criticisms of theconnections. For example, some specialists in anti-racist educationhave criticized RE for seeing cultures as closed systems, for a rathersuperficial treatment of cultures (saris, samosas and steelbands, ashighlighted by Troyna 1983), and for an emphasis on the exotic morethan the everyday. Minority cultures were often contrasted with thenational or majority culture, as long as there was no 'threat'. Thismeant that there was a lack of attention to power issues in multicul-tural education.

Some anti-racist educators in the 1990s responded to the earlycritique of multiculturalism by suggesting a more sophisticatedapproach to cultural analysis in schools. This work was paralleledindependently by Jackson and colleagues (in the Warwick Religions& Education Research Unit, www.warwick.ac.uk/wie/WRERU),through their ethnographic research on religious diversity andJackson's development of this into an interpretive approach to RE(Jackson 1997). Gerd Baumann's work (Baumann 1996, 1999) is agood example of the 'new multiculturalism'. Baumann completedfieldwork in London on cultural discourse, suggesting that there wasa 'dominant discourse5 that treats cultures as separate and homoge-neous (e.g. 'the Sikh community'as a unified whole): this separationcreates a superficial view of the issues. In contrast to the dominantdiscourse is a 'demotic discourse': the process of making new culturethrough interaction - as Ipgrave found in her early research on chil-dren in dialogue (1999). 'Culture' can in this way be seen as a pos-session of an ethnic or religious community, and also as a dynamicprocess relying on personal agency — as can be seen in manySACREs, for example. Culture should therefore be seen as a process,

www.warwick.ac.uk/wie/WRERU


including individuals making choices, and individuals drawing ontheir own families' and other cultural resources and sources of spir-ituality, as also described in recent work by Smith (2005). Peoplemust not be labelled in the way the media sometimes labels, such as'Muslim = terrorist'. Pedagogical ideas on dialogue challenge pre-cisely such fixed views of culture.

The 'new multiculturalism' of the 1990s included anti-racistmulticultural education (Leicester 1992), reflexive multiculturalism(Rattansi, in Donald and Rattansi 1992) and critical multicultural-ism (May 1999). These combine anti-racist and cultural concerns,rejecting closed views of cultures and anti-racist fears of culturaldifference as a source of division. At the same time, Jackson's inter-pretive approach looked at people in their contexts, covering therepresentation of religions and 'cultures' showing their diversity (indi-viduals, groups, traditions), interpretation (comparing and contrast-ing familiar and unfamiliar concepts) and reflexivity (pupils relatinglearning to their own views). The Bridges to Religions materials for5-7 year olds (available from www.warwick.ac.uk/wie/ WRERU)attempt to introduce children to other children in the books, assteps towards dialogue. Children reading, and those quoted in thebooks, are in a kind of preparatory dialogue, rather than a face-to-face dialogue. The source material is ethnographic studies of chil-dren in family and school, as also described in Chapter 7, below.Children in class compare and contrast their concepts, experiencesand beliefs. Texts deal with similarity and difference, and diversityof views of children in the class is recognized. In these ways, takingaccount of the real experiences of children in Britain takes 'theexotic' out of RE. The importance of context is emphasized, asare different elements of individual identity that can be expressedin different social contexts. For example, different dress codes indifferent contexts can be discussed, compared and contrasted (as inFrench debates over the wearing of religious dress and symbols),and cultural change over generations can be shown in order to breakdown stereotypes (as with an 'English'-style birthday party given a'South Asian' slant).

Other dialogue work includes that of Leganger-Krogstad (e.g. inJackson 2003 and Jackson 2004, Chapter 7) in the context ofFinnmark, Norway's most northerly county. This project involvedpupil research on their own local knowledge, which was used for



Exercise 3.1: What more can we do?A simple and profound research question (derived from Stern2003), involves asking pupils 'What more can we do to promotereligious harmony?' Similar, and similarly profound, questionsmight be 'What more can we do to promote racial harmony?'or 'What more can we do to promote social harmony?'

This research task can be completed with individual pupilsresponding on paper to the open-ended question, followed upwith groups of pupils creating plans for enacting their ideas.They might create pictures, dramas or videos to explain theirviews, like those respondents used in Burke and Grosvenor 2003on The School I'd Like.

analysis and reflection. They then moved outwards from the localto the national to the global. Themes included connections,self-other, inside-outside and past-future. The work explored thepractice of plurality and identity, with pupils involved in selectingtopics and methods, and developing competence to handle culturalmaterial. Leganger-Krogstad refers to this ability to handle diversecultural material as 'metacultural competence'. She goes on tostudy religious practice and the environment, involving a largenumber of items: cultural landscape, architecture, historical signs,monuments, music, art, symbols, traditions, language and use ofnames, sacred texts, narratives and songs, institutions and values,clothing, food, days and hours, rites, rituals, customs, behaviour,events, discussions in the media, attitudes to the natural environ-ment, membership and leadership. Exploring nature in northernNorway involved exploring the experience of nature in time andspace, using a camera to record the midnight sun. When Leganger-Krogstad moved to Oslo, she started working on exploring the cityenvironment, with trainee teachers exploring the city, visitingmosques and a Lutheran Christian churchyard.

A second strand of dialogic research is that of Weisse (e.g. inJackson 2003 and Jackson 2004 Chapter 7) who works in Hamburg,Germany and in South Africa. Although Hamburg schools areofficially described as having confessional RE, promoting a singlereligion for each pupil, dialogic approaches have been used for manyyears. There is both intercultural and inter religious learning, and


learning about those without religion. There are existential, ethical,social and environmental issues to be considered. It is important toallow for individual expression, not labelling students by religion, asstudents from different backgrounds are learning to listen to others,and to reflect and criticize, grounded in human rights theory. Thisapproach treats conflict as normal and not to be avoided.

Ipgrave (Ipgrave 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004) makes an importantcontribution to dialogue by discussing conditions for dialogue,acknowledging plurality within the school and being positive aboutthat plurality. There are different levels of dialogue: primary (accep-tance of plurality), secondary (openness to difference) and tertiary(pupil interaction). Use is made of children's religious language, andproviding opportunities for structured dialogue. Children negoti-ate their viewpoints. The project developed from phase 1 in oneschool, through phase 2 between schools in a single city, to phase3, which is the e-bridges project making use of email dialogue.Building e-Bridges (Ipgrave 2003) uses email in three dialogic stages:the dialogue of life (getting to know each other, building friend-ship), the dialogue of experience (finding out about each other'spractices), the dialogue of action (debating moral issues, exploringissues of justice and social concern) and questions of faith (reflectingon 'big' questions and comparing different viewpoints).

Dialogue in the primary school suggests that most say they shareparental beliefs. However the research showed some openness to thebeliefs of peers, highlighting issues of agency, and of exploring reli-gious language using one's own experience of religious plurality —including peer relationships. Pupils are searching for integration andcoherence, and make their own current religious identity in dia-logue with others, meanwhile negotiating new meanings.

Exercise 3.2: Dialogue nowWhat opportunities are there in the curriculum for pupils to bein a meaningful dialogue with other pupils? This is a more chal-lenging research question than it seems. Pupils clearly talk withother pupils, and discuss both personal and school-relatedissues. However, the degree and level of dialogue relevant tothe curriculum has rarely been studied. Pupils working together,


even in what is called 'group work', often only take part inthe 'dialogue of life', and rarely take part in the other forms ofdialogue.

A way of completing this research is to ask pupils to describeas many examples as possible of each of the four types of dia-logue, with respect to RE, that they have taken part in over thepast year. They will need quite detailed descriptions of thosetypes of dialogue, taken initially from this chapter and also fromIpgrave 2003, p. 11 onwards. The descriptions here are given inthe form of questions. Pupils may need reminding that dialoguedoes not only involve questions, but also listening to answers.

The dialogue of life: getting to know each other, buildingfriendship. What do you like doing in your spare time?What are you especially good at? This kind of dialoguemay include reference to all kinds of everyday activities, aswell as to religion.The dialogue of experience: finding out about each other'spractices. Occasions and places, comparing experiences.How do you welcome a new baby into your family orcommunity? What are the times of the year special for youand how do you celebrate? How do you pray? What doyou think happens when you die?

The dialogue of action: debating moral issues, exploringissues of justice and social concern. Is it ever OK to kill aliving creature?Questions of faith, i.e. 'theological' dialogue: reflecting on'big' questions and expressing views. Comparing differentviewpoints, such as do you believe in angels and if so whatdo they do?

There is a distinction between research into what opportunitiespupils have for each of these four kinds of dialogue, and havingthe dialogue itself. Once the initial research has been com-pleted, pupils and their teachers might work together to plan foropportunities to promote all four types of dialogue, in the yearto come.


There are three themes arising from this very wide-rangingresearch, relating to the word 'all', to time and to teacher dialogue.

One of the participants in Ipgrave's dialogue research notedthat it revealed the narrowness of many children's understand-ing of diversity. For example, some Muslim pupils thought thatall 'white' children were Christian (as also described in Smith2005). It made her think about RE syllabuses, and how far theypromote diversity within faiths: perhaps not enough. Dealingwith this issue, as the Warwick approach attempts to do,involves getting rid of the 'all' from the discussion of religions.It is rarely true to say 'all Christians ...' or 'all Hindus ...', andRE teachers could helpfully avoid the word 'all' altogether.As well as contemporary dialogue amongst pupils, there aremany opportunities for intergenerational dialogue. Schoolingin general has been described as 'a continuing personal ex-change between two generations' (Macmurray 1968, p. 5),and in RE children might be involved, for example, in inter-viewing members of their grandparents' generation, in orderto understand a 'tradition' — not a passive 'receiving' of tradi-tion, but as active participants in a tradition. Beyond the livinggenerations, texts, sacred and secular, may allow for a form ofdialogue across time, as described in Chapter 2 of this book,above.RE teachers themselves can be in dialogue with one another,and this will help in their own training, a critical issue forRE — a subject with a lower proportion of specialist-trainedteachers in secondary schools, than almost any other subject(as described by Gates 1989, 1991, 1994). This should be atrue dialogue between teachers, rather than the promotion ofa 'body of knowledge' about religions. Some of the possibleprocesses are described in Blaylock (2000), which reported onresearch with teachers having other specialisms but workingin RE.


Exercise 3.3: Inside out

This exercise is adapted from two books (Stern 2003, 2006a), oneof which was about parents (but not specifically RE) and the otherof which was about RE and ICT, and both of which were con-cerned with communication and dialogue. If it is to be consid-ered a research task, then the dialogue must itself be recorded andanalysed, using the same categories as used in Exercise 3.2, above.

From within a school/institution, communicate with an 'out-side' group, justifying an aspect of that school. For example,following on from Exercise 6.2, below, a class might write to aparent or to a religious community, about why RE is valuable.

From outside a school/institution, communicate with an'inside' group, justifying what is being done, as an outsider, forthe issue covered by the school. For example, a parent or religiouscommunity might write to a school saying what they contributeto RE.

The work will only make sense if teachers and pupils reallywant to tell parents and others about what they are doing, and ifthey really want to know what they are doing.

Below is a writing frame for the initial task, to be completedcollectively by teacher and pupils, although it should of coursebe adapted to suit the circumstances and technologies to be used.

Dear Parent/Carer,

In Religious Education, we have been studying ...

You may have [seen, read about, heard about] ...

We enjoy teaching and learning about these topics because ...

The most important reason for studying these topics, though, isto be able to ..., and also to understand ... and ...

This will be useful when [or because] ...

It would be good to hear about anything that interests you aboutReligious Education. If you have any ideas, or any informationthat is useful, do let me know. You could fill in the slip, below.


To: ... Date: ...

When I/we did Religious Education in school, and sinceleaving school at home or at work, my/our favourite topics andactivities were/are ...

I/We have these ideas or resources that might be useful for learn-ing about Religious Education: ...

Name of parent/carer: ...

Dialogue and children's voices

Ipgrave's work on dialogue helps to give voice to children's ownlives, and these voices are themselves highlighted in this section,with quotations and paraphrases, and comments after each quota-tion. For example, a boy aged 10—11, self-identified as Rastafarian,described himself in this way:

quite a lot of my friends only believe ... I say to them, 'Do you believein Jesus?' They go, 'No' ... But when they ask me, I say, 'Yes, I believethere's only one God'. And they ask me, 'What colour do you think heis?' And most people my colour will say he's black, but I think he's allmixed colours — black, white, Asian — blue, pink. I think he's every singlecolour in the world. I don't just think he's one particular colour. Because,even though you have only one God, God must be like everyone's colourbecause to me I think he's everyone's God, because in my religion I thinkthere's only one God and he's everyone's God, so he's got to be every-one's different colour. He can't just be black and be everyone's God.

The pupil here is recognizing both diversity and that there is onlyone God: his description is ambiguous, in the positive sense that itis rich with multiple meanings. It is important to note that childrenat this age are already talking about religion and are reconcilingdiversity with their beliefe. A younger child (aged 8) said:

But you know, if more of us would be able to get along better it wouldboost the chance of even more people getting along better, and if thekids do it then the grown ups might try and do it too, so it's like we'resort of teaching the grown ups.


What interesting ideals are being expressed here. They illustrate theneed for voicing children, if only to understand how mature theycan be, when not simply trying to guess the 'right answers'. Thefollowing quotations are from a conversation between a number ofpupils aged 10:

I think there's only one [God] and he's called different things.I was going to say that!We can't actually say that because we've got so many gods.Yeah but they could be called — em ...You have to believe in all of them because all of them have got some-thing different, like special ...Yeah, because — look, they can all — God can ...Do lots of things ...Change into different - like different features. Like he can be in you.He can come into anybody.He can change into anything.

Here, children themselves are working through dialogue to developtheir own theologies, and Ipgrave s e-bridges work has tried toencourage such dialogue, with the email dialogue growing out ofmore general dialogue work. One exercise tried in the e-bridgesproject is sentence starters, such as 'A Muslim is someone who'.This was responded to by the children in many varied ways, includ-ing formal religious behaviours (goes to the mosque to pray, praysto God, reads the Qur'an, wears a topi, fasts at Ramadan), behav-iour exhibiting moral characteristics (doesn't backbite and doesn'tswear, is honest) and beliefs (believes in Allah and Muhammad is hisprophet, believes in one God, believes in the Qur'an). All thesetypes of response overlap with each other, and pupil explanations oftheir statements provide good stimulus for further dialogue.Examples of responses can also be put on cards, with these cards usedfor further dialogue work, and, if pre-prepared, sorted by the pupils,for example into beliefs and other characteristics, things unique toMuslims or shared by others. Another practical interpretive kind ofwork involves asking pupils who have worked on holy books tocome to agreement, in pairs or groups, on which of the followingstatements come from holy books, and why: my cat likes to lie inthe sun; God has done great things for us; love each other; it was


Sara's birthday last Monday; do not worry about what will happentomorrow; work honestly and give money to the poor; my favouritefood is chips; don't be happy, be sad; our school is in Leicester; allhuman beings belong together; keep all your money and things foryourself; giraffes can be six metres tall; do not quarrel with eachother but make friends; keep your body clean. Children as young as6 can use these statements as the basis of further dialogue.

Starting points for dialogue suggested by pupils aged 8—9, fromIpgrave s project, were based on the moral issue of whether ornot people should be allowed to hunt and kill tigers. Statementsincluded: no you cannot because we have to save them; yes youshould kill them all, they killed my grandson; no they are God'slovely creatures; yes they might eat all my children; no don't killthem as tourists pay money to come to India to see them: just givethem more land. This proved a good basis for discussion, withpupils saying: we're the same though because God made us andGod made tigers and we're animals too really; we're the samebecause God made people to look after animals and he madeanimals to help people; tigers are more precious because there arelots of people but tigers are in danger of becoming extinct; butpeople can die before they should, in accidents, or they could beill and people are in danger, too.

Children aged 10-11 formulated their own questions for Christianvisitors, working out questions in groups, with the questions givento the visitors in advance:

In my religion, Islam, we have to respect our Holy Book, the Qur'an,because it has God's name in it — so we have to put it higher than ourfeet. Why don't Christians do the same with their Bible?

What do you think about Christians that don't go to church? Do you

think the world would be a better place if they did?

The Bible tells us that Jesus performed many miracles. Do you think Jesus

really did perform these miracles or do you think that the person who

wrote the Bible just wanted us to realize that Jesus is a very special person?

Do you feel sad at Christmas because most people think about presents

and food and TV instead of thinking about God and Jesus?


I am a Muslim and I believe that when people die they are judged byGod. Do you believe that?

When you are praying to God do you have any ideas about what Godlooks like? Do you see a face, a spirit of God or a picture of God?

What makes Christians believe that Jesus was the Son of God? Whatevidence is there that he was?

The quality and range of the questions indicates the amount anddepth of dialogue work the children had completed over the years.Interfaith issues and negotiations between different religious pointsof view, and getting children used to that, are well illustrated bysuch work. To extend such work, children can be given a numberof problems and asked to solve them. For example, pupils aged 10and upwards might be asked to design a multi-faith prayer room fora hospital serving Buddhists, Muslims, Christians, Hindus and Jews,or they might be asked to plan a menu for a leavers' party for chil-dren from Christian, Hindu and Sikh backgrounds who are aboutto leave their primary school.

Another challenging question from Ipgrave's work, set for chil-dren aged 7 to 8, asked 'Why is it okay to kick a football but notokay to kick a cat?' Some children said: a football is a toy but a catisn't; you can't put a cat in a cupboard or throw it away when youdon't want it; a football belongs to you but a cat doesn't; a cat belongsto God; a cat will get hurt; a football won't say 'ouch'; a football can'tbe hurt: it can go flat but it can't feel it; cats are like us - we areanimals; you have to look after animals; God says we must be kindto animals; cats are our brothers and sisters: it's Brother Cat but it'snot Brother Ball. This work might have arisen out of prior study ofethics or creation, or work on sacred texts. It might overlap withwork in science, PSHE and RE. The dialogue is of value in itself,and it reveals children's moral thinking in a way that is valuable forall adults. Too often, it is assumed that pupils need to be taughtmorals, rather than that they already have sophisticated moral posi-tions, even at a young age, to be investigated and further developed.

How then can teachers plan for more and better dialogue in RE?There are several issues to keep in mind, according to Ipgrave andothers involved in the e-bridges work:


There is a need to let the children respond at their own level,having built up a real rapport with them. In order to build upa rapport, pupils can use 'chat' at first, and not leap straightinto RE issues.It is also useful for children to find things out for themselves,in addition to the agreed questions, so they have an opportu-nity to become more independent learners.Children will generally have had first-hand experiences at ayoung age that can be the basis of a great deal of future learn-ing, and teachers should have confidence in the tendency ofchildren to be very open-minded, especially on email.Shy children could come out of themselves in the email dia-logues. In addition, children can often discuss on email thingsthey would not be likely to discuss face-to-face, so that com-munity cohesion becomes a central issue. Pupils said that as aresult of the project they 'have learned that other schools havea lot of different religions'. 'The project made Christians seemlike real people', 'Islamic children are as normal as they are'(from a teacher), and 'I used to think our religions were reallydifferent, but they're not'. These are all illustrations of Jackson's'second-order aims' of the e-bridges project.

The email project included blocks of exchanges (rather than a'trickle' of correspondence), with planning completed around sub-jects (RE and citizenship), themes and questions. A dialogue gridwas used as shown below:

September November January April

RE topic

Stage of dialogue(introduction,sharing experience,ethical debate,questions of faith)

Questions

RE expectations

Citizenship


An example of a completed dialogue grid:

RE topic

Stage ofdialogue(introduction,sharingexperience,ethical debate,questions offaith)

Questions

REexpectations

September

Introduction

What are yourfavouritesubjects atschool? Whatdo you likedoing in yourspare time? Isthere anythingyou're especiallygood at?

Comparingtheir ownand otherpeople'sexperiences.

November

Celebrations

Sharingexperience

Are there anydays or timesof year that areparticularlyspecial for you?Why are theyspecial? How doyou celebratethem?

Respondingto others'experiences.Comparingexperiences.Make linksbetween beliefsand festivals.

January

Creation andthe naturalworld

Ethical debate

Is it ever alrightto kill a livingcreature? If itis, under whatcircumstances?If not, why not?

Thinking aboutown and others'ideas of rightand wrong.Making linksbetween valuesand behaviour.Considerdifferent pointsof view whendiscussingmatters of rightand wrong.

April

Islam

Questions offaith

Do youbelieve inangels? If not,why not?If so whatare they?What do theydo?

Describesome religiousbeliefs.Use religiouslanguage todiscussreligiousbeliefs.Explain howsome beliefsare shared andhow religioussymbols aredifferentlyused.Compareideas aboutdifficultquestions.


Citizenship

September

To recognizetheir worth asindividuals.Identifyingpositiveachievements.To think aboutthe lives ofother people.

November

To think aboutlives of otherpeople. To beaware of culturaland religiousdifferencesbetween people.

January

To write aboutopinions andexplain views.To debatetopical issues.To considermoraldilemmas.

April

To reflect onspiritualissues. Beaware ofreligiousdifferences.

Ipgrave s work started in one school, and has continuously devel-oped - including her working paper (Ipgrave 2001) and a book forteachers (Ipgrave 2003). Through this work, she sees children aspresenting themselves and learning to relate in three ways, each ofwhich corresponds to the levels of dialogue:

As a friend or 'pal', related to the 'dialogue of life'. It is oftenenough simply to have a name to 'feel like' a friend. How dothe children try to build up friendship with their email part-ners? How does the concern to make friends affect the choiceof the topic of dialogue? How do they want to appear to theirpartners - as what kind of person? How is language used toestablish friendship? It is clearly important for the childrenthat they identify as friends.As a member of a faith or cultural community and tradition,related to the 'dialogue of experience'. This is a 'community'element, relating to practices and traditions. What do the chil-dren tell each other or ask each other about faith or culturalbackground? How clearly do they explain their own practicesand traditions? How do they relate to each other's practices andtraditions? Some children have - and show - very little senseof membership of a faith tradition, and these same childrenalso seem to have no explicit identity of any kind. Perhaps asa 'majority' tradition, it feels like no tradition at all. Or do thechildren have less of a sense of identity? However, the way thequestion is worded has an effect on possible responses: 'Whatis your religion?' may gain a different response from 'What isimportant to you?' The former question is common in somecontexts, the latter in other contexts. This is a significant


research issue, as how you ask the question does indeed affectthe answer you get. 'Secularization' in the research literature isin some senses an indication of changes in ways of describing,as much as changes within religions and in religious belief.Smith 2005, following Davie 1994, tackles some similar issues.As a thinker, related to the 'dialogue of action' and the 'ques-tions of faith'. What thinking skills do the children demon-strate? What kind of language is used for sharing thoughts?Pupils may want to dialogue in the form of 'puzzles', espe-cially over issues that some regard as controversial. They mightindicate this with phrases such as 'Have you any comments?','I hope to hear your comments' or 'I am surprised that ...'.

Exercise 3.4: Friendship, membershipand thought

For each of these ways of presenting oneself, a 'circles of import-ance' activity can be completed. This activity involves drawinga set of concentric circles, putting the 'self' in the middle, andthe things closest to the 'self' in the inner circle, the next mostimportant in the ring created by the next circle, and so on to theouter circles. The choice of membership and thought as themescomes from Davie 1994 and others who have written about'believing and belonging'. The choice of friendship comes froma concern with the nature of self and friendship, as described byMacmurray 1992 (see also Stern 2002).

For the 'friendship' version of circles of importance, the tidewill be 'Me and the people closest to me'. Previous researchusing this technique indicates that at different ages, there isoften a very different balance of friends and family in the'inner circle'. The use of this research tool is describedin Smith (2005), with one quoted as saying 'I've put as closestGod ... because He is everywhere ... [then] my mum, mydog, my baby sister', whilst another report indicated that 'thePS2 or Xbox was sometimes listed as a significant memberof the household in network diagrams' (Smith 2005, pp. 20and 59, with more examples at mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/friendsfoodfaith/fffindex.htm).


For the 'membership' version, the tide will be 'To what doI belong?' Previous research suggests that the venue of theresearch itself affects the results: within a school, schoolmembership is likely to be more 'central' than it would befor the same people completing the exercise in their homes.For the 'thinking' version, the title will be 'What beliefs andideas are most important to me?' Previous research suggests,as did the work on moral issues described above, that youngpeople have very complex and sophisticated moral systems.

Following each of the exercises, pupils can discuss with eachother (and with their 'dialogue' friends, if involved in e-bridgeswork for example) why different people, memberships and ideasare so important.

ConclusionExercise 3.4 brings us back to the start of this chapter. It is the foun-dation for good dialogue with other pupils. Giving pupils a voice isimportant for schools (as described in Flutter and Rudduck 2004 andRanson 2000) and important for research (as described in O'Hanlon2003). The nature and use of that voice is vital for RE and for life.When Smith writes about the beliefs, practices and memberships ofchildren aged 9-11, one of his conclusions is a message of hope withrespect to the complex issues of freedom of thought, conscience andreligion and diversity, conflict and segregation:

Perhaps the most hopeful note from this research is that we have dis-covered children who, in their everyday lives, are deeply engaged withthese issues, aware of many of the opportunities and problems andalready taking steps to work things out for themselves.

(Smith 2005, p. 69, the final words of the book)

That hope links dialogue in RE with research in RE and with hopefor the future of humanity. Including pupils in dialogue is what isallowed by RE and increasingly required of research. Includingpupils raises issues of inclusion more generally, and that is thereforethe subject of the following chapter.

4 Inclusions and RE

People have to learn to be adults.

(8 year-old with learning difficulties, saying what they had learned

from the Zen story of the sound of one hand clapping)

Introduction: The 'church of inclusion*?Everyone thinks inclusion is a good idea, and that exclusion is a badidea. This chapter investigates a variety of issues in inclusion for RE,and relates those to research on inclusion, with education researchidentified by O'Hanlon (2003) as a method of inclusion in itself.By bringing pupils together in dialogue (as in the previous chapter),RE can bring pupils together in all kinds of ways. It is important tostart with what inclusion itself means; a simple 'bringing together' isonly the start of the story. Some have even suggested that an uncrit-ical promotion of inclusion, without evidence for its value, is remi-niscent of some methods of promoting religion: hence the reference(from O'Brien in Hornby 2001) to the 'church of inclusion'.

Inclusion is a key concept whose history is tied in with the his-tories of other key concepts such as 'poverty', 'special educationalneeds' and 'equal opportunities'. In the first place, consider poverty,a concept that has in some ways been superseded by the concepts ofinclusion and exclusion. Whereas poverty might be described as asimple 'lack' (of money or resources), social deprivation or socialexclusion involves an inability to take part in activities or aspects oflife that others take for granted. An example to illustrate this mightbe the consequences of what are called 'natural disasters' such asfloods and famines. Sen (1981) notes how in most famines, there isnot a lack of food in a country: there is, rather, a group of peoplewho are excluded from access to food. The opening words of hisinfluential book are worth quoting:

INCLUSIONS AND RE 41

Starvation is the characteristic of some people not having enough foodto eat. It is not the characteristic of there being not enough food to eat.While the latter can be a cause of the former, it is but one of manypossible causes. (Sen 1981, p. 1)

Poverty might suggest having less of something, whilst exclusionsuggests not having something at all. This was why, in the late1970s - especially with the publication of Poverty in the UnitedKingdom (Townsend 1979, and see also the more internationalistTownsend and Gordon 2002) — definitions of poverty began to becentred on measuring how many activities people took part in,rather than simply what income or wealth people had. There aretremendous advantages in this change. Being unable to have hotmeals, holidays, a home or seasonal clothing are 'absolute' depriv-ations, albeit not as serious, perhaps, as starvation - the measure ofpoverty used in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries.Not only this, but the inability to take part in activities might bethe result of, say, racism, sexism, physical or mental illness, dis-ability or, as Sen says, a lack of entitlement, not just a lack ofmoney. By the mid-1980s, few people in the mainstream politicalparties talked of poverty, and by the mid-1990s, New Labourpoliticians were talking instead about 'social exclusion' and creat-ing a 'Social Exclusion Unit'. Inclusion and exclusion are also usedby other European politicians, with the trend well represented inCouncil of Europe 1996, which suggests that poor childrenshould be given pocket money by the state 'in order to integratethem into the consumer society' (Council of Europe 1996, p. 75,with more culturally sensitive views of inclusion in the Europeancontext given in Schreiner et al. 2002, and Jackson 2004), and theUnited Nations describing 'overall poverty' as, amongst otherthings,

limited or lack of access to education and other basic services; ...unsafe environments and social discrimination and exclusion. It isalso characterized by lack of participation in decision-making and incivil, social and cultural life ... [for example] the utter destitutionof people who fall outside family support systems, social institutionsand safety nets.

(Townsend and Gordon 2002, p. 59, quoting the UN)


When it came to education, the term 'inclusion' has taken overmany of the uses of the term 'special educational needs'. The moveto a concern with this kind of educational inclusion first developedin the UK in the 1970s, when all young people were to be educated(including those with severe learning difficulties, formerly cateredfor only by the health service), and educated up to the age of 16. Bythe 1980s, further moves were being made, in the UK and wellbeyond, to cater for most or all pupils in mainstream schools, ratherthan having a large number of special schools. By the 1990s, withlandmark legislation such as the UK's SEN Code of Practice (DfE1994) and the UN's Salamanca Statement (UNESCO 1994), anassumption came to be built in to the system that 'inclusion' was agood in itself. This, notwithstanding the warnings of people such asHornby, who worries that the policy change 'has resulted in whatcan, at times, appear to be a tidal wave of inclusive intent preachedwith overpowering zeal by the church of inclusion' (Hornby 2001,quoting O'Brien). Hornby stresses that we should look at the out-comes of inclusion, and see what they are, and not simply opt forinclusion into the mainstream at all costs:

inclusion in an unsuitable curriculum directly contributes to the

disaffection of many pupils which leads them to be disruptive and even-

tually results in the exclusion of some of them. The priority for chil-

dren with SEN must, therefore, be that they have access to curricula

which are appropriate for them, not that they are fitted in to a cur-

riculum designed for the mainstream population which may not meet

their needs. (Hornby 2001)

It is particularly interesting for RE specialists to read of O'Brien'suse of the metaphor of the 'church of inclusion'. NotwithstandingHornby's warnings, that particular church has many members, andthe third strand of contemporary inclusion, related to equal oppor-tunities, developed in part from the Ofsted inspection framework of2000 (and the related training materials), in which Ofsted said that

An educationally inclusive school is one in which the teaching and

learning, achievements, attitudes and well-being of every young person

matter. Effective schools are educationally inclusive schools. This

shows, not only in their performance, but also in their ethos and their


willingness to offer new opportunities to pupils who may have experi-enced previous difficulties. This does not mean treating all pupils inthe same way. Rather it involves taking account of pupils' varied lifeexperiences and needs. The most effective schools do not take educa-tional inclusion for granted. They constantly monitor and evaluatethe progress each pupil makes. They identify any pupils who may bemissing out, difficult to engage, or feeling in some way to be apart fromwhat the school seeks to provide. They take practical steps - in the class-room and beyond — to meet pupils' needs effectively and they promotetolerance and understanding in a diverse society. For special schools,there is an additional dimension because their policies on inclusionmust now include planning for a changing role alongside increasinglyinclusive mainstream schools. (Ofsted 2000a)

The remarkably inclusive Ofsted list of those groups of people whomight for one reason or another be excluded, is as follows:

girls and boys, minority ethnic and faith groups [it is not entirely clearwhether 'minority' qualified only 'ethnic' or also 'faith groups'],Travellers, asylum seekers and refugees, pupils who need support tolearn English as an additional language (EAL), pupils with special edu-cational needs, gifted and talented pupils, children 'looked after' by thelocal authority, other children, such as sick children, young carers, thosechildren from families under stress, pregnant school girls and teenagemothers, and any pupils who are at risk of disaffection and exclusion.

(Ofsted 2000a)

Such guidance, by bringing together 'educational' issues, such asspecial educational needs, and 'social' issues, such as seeking asylumand gender and ethnicity, inevitably brings together the issues ofinclusion, equal opportunities and social justice.

This modern concern with inclusion as a concept encompassingpoverty, special educational needs and equal opportunities perhapsreflects the debt owed by contemporary politicians to communi-tarian philosophy, represented by Tony Blair's glowing Foreword toMacmurray 1996, describing how Macmurray 'places the individualfirmly within a social setting' (Macmurray 1996, p. 9, and see alsoBrittan 1997, Stern 2001a, 2001b, 2003). It also links back to Buber'swork on the 'interhuman', describing the need for 'imagining the


real' as an act of 'inclusion' (as described with great subtlety inFriedman 1999), and it links forward to work on 'inclusion as actionresearch' (as in O'Hanlon 2003). There are religious implications ofthese links too, with Macmurray and Buber both distinguishedphilosophers concerned with relationships and communities, andboth involved, respectively, in Christian and Jewish religious practiceand theology, seeing human relationships as reaching to the other,with God as, in some sense, the Universal Other.

Inclusion is an immensely significant concept, then, and RE cancontribute to inclusion, in its content (the curriculum) and in itspedagogy (the relationships between teacher and pupils). Importantresearch on how RE can in itself model inclusiveness has been com-pleted by Hull (as in Hull 1998, 2003, 2005), and by Ipgrave (ondialogue in RE, for example in Ipgrave 2001). Both of these authorsare concerned with the 'deep' issues of the nature of humanity, andboth can be related to theological theories. Stern's work on inclu-sion is set in the context of the philosophies of Macmurray (on thenature of community, as in Macmurray 1996) and Buber (on dia-logue, as in Buber 1958). Searching for those underpinnings is atremendously important aspect of research, often encouraged by thediscipline of research degrees (such as masters or doctoral degrees)or by the discipline of systematic religious reflection, but of coursea search for theoretical underpinnings can happen anywhere. Thefollowing exercises can be used to analyse both the curriculum andthe pedagogy of RE in a particular school or classroom. Each of theexercises aims to draw out how inclusive the RE is, based on inclu-sive, dialogic models of RE described throughout this book.

Exercise 4.1: How inclusive is the REcurriculum?

This exercise does not list the content of the RE curriculum, butlooks at how that content is joined together or 'mapped'. Thereare eight pairs of statements, joined by a line. For RE in one class-room or one school, work out how far it is along the line, fromone extreme to the other. It may help to copy the statements ontocards and separate them with a rather longer line, to make theposition on the line, and the justification of that position, clearer.


1 Countable learning

Facts are presented, and only facts.Pupik are given plenty of facts,or 'knowing that', rather than'knowing how'.

1 Valuable learning

Every fact should come with athought. Perhaps, 'What does thistell us about ...?' or 'What do youthink the members of this groupwould like us to learn from thisfact?' or 'What can you do withthis fact?' or 'If facts had a mone-tary value, what is the value of thisfact, and why?' (These might becalled 'thinking skills', as describedat www.teachingthinking.net)

2 Purposeless learning

No connection is made betweenfacts, they are left unlinked orlonely.

3 Meaningless learning

No systematic connection is madebetween facts, they are left unpat-terned and not, for example,linked to central concepts.

4 Loose learning

No connection is made betweensystems, cultures, religions andworld views.

2 Linked learning

For any fact presented, pupils haveto find another fact that is similarto, or contrasts with, that fact. Forexample, play 'odd one out', withgroups of three facts.

3 Meaningful learning

Make concept maps within topics,to link facts and concepts system-atically. For a thinking skills activ-ity related to this, teachers mighttry 'maps from memory' as a usefulstrategy: this involves a group ofpupils attempting to draw a map ordiagram, with each member of thegroup, consecutively, spending 20seconds looking at the source map.

4 Mapped learning

In describing any system, get thepupils to say what it is not. This isparticularly important in RE, asRE is beset by descriptions of reli-gious systems that make them allsound the same (e.g. 'be nice topeople').

www.teachingthinking.net


5 Every classroom its ownworld

No connection is made betweendifferent kinds of world views,for example, cultures, religions,philosophies, political systems.

6 Pupils are learning school,not in a school for learning

Pupils are merely learning abouthow to be successful in school, notlife as a whole. No connection ismade between world views and'real life' or living communities.Perhaps this is what is attempted inthe 'thought for the day' slots, soambiguously popular on Radio 4(and elsewhere in the BBC net-work), and so insulted by theschool inspectors Ofsted, who notethat 'many teachers fail to copesatisfactorily with the "Thoughtfor the Day" that typically passesfor the spiritual element in tutorperiods' (Ofsted 2000b, p. 45).

7 Learning is for teachers;pupils are merely the audi-ence

Teachers merely perform, pupilsmerely listen. No connection ismade between world views andpupils, and pupils do not justifytheir views. 'It's boring' may attimes simply mean 'it has no con-nection to my current life or tomy expected future life'.

5 Connected learning

RE must never teach about reli-gions in isolation from othersystems: it must address citizenship,for example, whether it likes it ornot. A simple activity like describ-ing the activities and consequencesof a putative 'religion police' ishelpful here. (This is expanded inExercise 6.3, below.)

6 Schools as learning com-munities

Pupils are in a learning commu-nity, a community of and forlearning, in which RE is aboutlife. RE teachers and pupils shouldfrequently ask, 'how would life inthis community be different ifpeople believed (or did) this?'

7 Learning is for everyone,pupils and teachers alike,with teachers conducting

Teachers conduct learning, and alllisten. RE teachers and pupilsshould frequently ask, 'How wouldyour life be different if youbelieved (or did) this?'


8 Island or siege learning

No connection is made betweenworld views, pupils and pupils'communities.

8 Learning in a communityof communities

RE pupils and teachers should, forexample, frequently set homeworkthat captures the views and waysof life of people outside school.Easy examples include countingup and analysing the breaking ofthe Five Precepts or the Ten Com-mandments in a soap opera, oraccompanying a member of thefamily to a shop and agreeing whatwould be the most appropriate gift(from the available goods) for Jesusas a baby (as in Stern 2006b).

Exercise 4.2: How inclusive is RE pedagogy?This exercise does not list the pedagogies of RE (as described inChapter 5 and in Grimmitt 2000), but looks at how the rela-tionships between teachers and pupils can be broadly described.There are eight pairs of statements, joined by a line. For RE inone classroom or one school, work out how far it is along theline, from one extreme to the other. It may help to copy thestatements onto cards and separate them with a rather longerline, to make the position on the line, and the justification of thatposition, clearer.

1 Obedience school

Pupils work for teachers: they doonly as they are told.

1 A school of human devel-opment

All pupils should work for them-selves in RE, which meansworking in dialogue (not the'monologue disguised as dialogue'noted in Buber 2002, p. 22) withtheir fellow pupils and RE teach-ers, as there is no self outside ofactive involvement in community.


2 Martyr school

Teachers work for pupils at theexpense of their own health orhumanity: only the childrenmatter.

3 Institutional loyalty

Teachers and pupils work for theschool.

4 Exam factory

The school tries to gain the bestpossible exam results.

5 Social engineering

The school's aim is to help theeconomy or civic society beyondthe school.

6 Learning for the academy

The school subjects are taught forthe benefit of those subject disci-plines, usually as embodied in uni-versities and described as 'academicsubjects', such as religious studiesand theology.

—

2 Every person matters

All RE teachers should work forthemselves, which means workingwith their fellow teachers andpupils.

3 Sense of community

All pupils and teachers shouldwork for themselves in RE, whichmeans working with their fellowpupils and teachers.

4 Learning community

RE should be in the schoolbecause it helps people to learn tolive in community. Good examresults are a bonus. RE teachersand pupils must be able and pre-pared to justify RE in these terms.

5 Living learning

RE should be in the schoolbecause it helps people to learn tolive in community. Good civic oreconomic consequences are abonus.

6 Learning to be human

RE should be in the schoolbecause it helps people to learn tolive in community. The good ofacademic religious studies or the-ology are a bonus.


7 Hedonistic learning

The school tries to make everyonehappy.

8 Equality of the shallows

The school is politically democra-tic, without treating people aswhole people.

7 Learning for flourishing

RE addresses pupils' lives (and thelives of communities in andbeyond the school) in their ownterms, perhaps including hedonistcommunities but only as specialtopics.

8 Respect notwithstandinginequalities

RE recognizes the need for epis-temic trust (and consequentinequalities in knowledge and/orunderstanding) between andamongst pupils and teachers, whilstalways accepting that all in thelessons should be treated as wholepeople.

RE and the range of pupil needsHow can RE meet a wide range of needs? Pupils with special edu-cational needs (SEN, determined by the possibility of being regis-tered and statemented, as described in Wearmouth 2001) and thosewith other special needs (such as the gifted and talented, or thosewith English as an additional language) have always completed RE.RE has notable advantages in meeting a wide range of needs, as itcan exploit the richness of religious and other traditions and the waysin which all those traditions have, in turn, had to meet the needs ofthe whole range of adherents. Yet there is some evidence that REdoes not have a distinguished record in meeting such needs, forexample the Ofsted chief inspector's comment in 2000 that 'achieve-ment in religious education is also often weak in schools for pupilswith EBD [emotional and behavioural difficulties]' (Ofsted 2000b,p. 56). Fortunately, in recent years there has been a significantgrowth in research and professional development concerned withRE meeting the range of needs. Brown has written widely on the'regular' teaching of RE to pupils with special needs (as in Brown1996), and has also researched and written on important issues


for RE such as special needs and bereavement. Krisman (e.g.Krisman 2001) and Hull (e.g. Hull 2004) have written on a range ofRE and special needs issues. The National Society (www.natsoc.org.uk) has supported excellent development work in RE andspecial needs, for example O'Brien (2002) for pupils on the autisticspectrum and those with severe and complex learning difficulties,and Orchard 2001 for challenging pupils aged 11-14. The biggestarea of growth has been that supported by the Farmington Institute,who had a large number of FISNMA (Farmington Institute SpecialNeeds Millennium Awards) award-holders, along with a number ofother Farmington reports on RE and special needs (from www.farmington.ac.uk).

It is helpful to describe a case study of research involving pupilswith special educational needs. This case study was carried out byMarie Stern, at that time head of a London special school - andJulian Stern. It involved taking a group of pupils aged 9-11 from aspecial school to a Hindu mandir (the Shri Swaminarayan Mandirand Hindu Mission, London, www.swaminarayan.org/), and, afterthe trip, asking the pupils the three questions outlined in Exercise2.3, above. Prior to the visit, the pupils had worked on some Hindubeliefs and stories (from Rose 1995), making use of some murtis,images on cloth and a puja tray. However, most of the work wasplanned for after the visit. All the pupils had what are described assevere learning difficulties, and were working at levels below thoseof the National Curriculum, but the purpose of this case study isnot to highlight the needs of the pupils, but to describe how REcan help meet the needs of pupils including those having consider-able difficulties with learning.

The three questions from Exercise 2.3, above, were in this case:What did I learn about Hinduism? What do Hindus want us to learnfrom a mandir? and What did I learn from Hinduism to help withmeeting my IEP (individual education plan) targets? The first exer-cise, aiming to explore the first question, was an 'adjectives' exercise.This involved the pupils attaching adjectives to pictures of themandir, a school and a hospital, and saying why they had chosenthem. The adjectives were 'angry', 'frightened', 'cold', 'peaceful','relaxed', 'busy', 'safe', 'happy', 'sad', 'beautiful' and 'interesting'.This is how the pupils justified putting particular adjectives by par-ticular pictures:

www.natsoc.org.uk

www.natsoc.org.uk

www.farmington.ac.uk


www.swaminarayan.org/

Adjectives Mandir School Hospital

Angry I was afraid they would be angry if weteased them about their precious things.

Frightened Before we got there, I thought dieymight be mean. [Why?] Because theyhad so many rules.I was scared because I'm a Christianand I thought that when I was there Iwouldn't know if I'm a Christian or aHindu.

Cold It was warm.

Peaceful When we went 'Aum'.No shouting.When we walked and saw stuff.When there was praying.

Relaxed When the music made my headache go.When we took our shoes off.Nice music.The people were excellent to us.

Busy There were lots of people looking around.Some people were working and givingus advice.

Cussing.Nasty people.

Cussing.Bullying.Kicking.Punching.

School can be cold, warm or hot.

When your friends are there.When you are playing.

When we did yoga.

Teachers do lots of work.

Upset and crying.Angry when the baby died. [This pupil'snew-born sibling died on die day of thevisit. The same pupil is die second of thecontributors to hospitals being 'cold'.]

Going to die.Loads of needles.Heart attack.Meningitis.

Hospitals can warm you up from the cold.My mum was cold when the baby died.

If you get good news.

When you rest and calm down.

It is very busy, with lots of patientsand doctors.Helping babies to come out.

Mandir School Hospital

It's peaceful there because there is notalking and no silliness.There were no bad people.There's no fighting.It's all nice and peaceful.It's relaxing.

It's peaceful because there is no talking andno silliness.The statues made you happy.I liked the flowers, and books in the shop.

The building was beautiful.The statues were beautiful.

You can go and listen and see what they do.It makes you go to sleep when you arelooking at the ceiling. [The ceiling at thismandir is very ornately carved.]The elephant god [i.e. Ganesha]was interesting.

You can see the teacher so she willlook after you.Teachers protect you.Teachers are good to you.You do nice things.

You are happy when you learn.It's better than staying at home.You can play with your friends.

You might hurt yourself.If you hurt yourself.

It has all the things we need.

You do lots of work.

If you're really sick, they can protect you.Nurses help you.

You are happy when someone's alive.

If someone's dying or hurt or has aheart attack.

Adiectives

Safe

Happy

Sad

Beautiful

Interesting


Then the pupils were asked more about what they learned aboutHinduism from the visit, and what they thought Hindus wantedthem to learn from the mandir.

They believe in gods and I saw beautiful statues of Sita and Rama likea Princess and a Prince. They put money in a bowl

I learned about where Hindus pray and that they like to do yoga. I likedthe ornaments and you had to put your hands on the light.

I saw the temple.

I learned how to do the hand movements [copied, perfectly], and howto do Aum. They put red spots on their head.

I learned about the music and how they use the Aum sound. [Why dothey do this?] To help them pray.

Before I went there I didn't know they had so many pictures and youcould see so many things.

I learned that they do yoga there to help them pray to the gods.

Now I know why they put a red mark on their head and I know thatthey ring the bell when they want to pray.

The Hindus made the temple with carving then the man blessed thegods. The monks wear orange and lay on the floor.

The teachers involved in this case study tried to evaluate theseresponses in terms of the levels described in the National Framework(QCA 2004), and said that the responses were working at least atlevels 1 or 2, considerably higher than the level of work the pupilsachieved in the rest of their school work. This suggested that theengaging, experiential learning, based on traditional Hindu teaching,enabled the meeting of many of the pupils' needs. The pupils them-selves were asked about how the visit might have helped them meettheir own targets, set on their lEPs (individual education plans). Thisis what some said:

The music helped me to be quiet. [A pupil with an IEP includingavoiding inappropriate shouting.]

It was good — it made me good. [A pupil with an IEP includingattempting to take responsibility for his own actions.]


I learned some new words. [A pupil with an IEP including learningnew words.]

Not to be rude. [A pupil with an IEP including avoiding rudeness.]

It was quiet; it helped me to be quiet. [A pupil with an IEP includingcalming.]

There are many conclusions that could be drawn from this work,not only for teaching pupils with special educational needs, but forpupils with a wide range of needs, including those deemed 'giftedand talented'. Here are three conclusions, drawn from a range ofresearch on RE:

When teaching RE, trying to meet a wide range of pupilneeds, it is valuable to focus on the key concepts. RE caneasily become a set of descriptions of religious 'phenomena'such as clothing or celebrations, with the descriptions mademore simple or complex for pupils with different needs. Yetit is the concepts - concepts in the case study such as 'calm','respect', the Aum, 'safe' — that carry more of the essence ofthe religious traditions to be studied. Unlike some literacystrategies, RE does not simply add a 'word' to a vocabularylist and then move on. Rather, it introduces concepts likechange, peace, kindness or happiness early in a pupil's educa-tion, and then helps 'deepen' that concept year after year.Progression in RE, then, is a matter of deepening concepts,not simply increasing vocabulary.Religions themselves have a long history of attempting to meeta very wide range of learning needs of their members. RE canfollow suit. Think about the 'multi-sensory' methods of estab-lishing and promoting religions - making use of text, art, music,smell, dance and so much more. Simply using religious music,as described in detail in Stern 2004, can allow pupils access toauthentic elements of religious and other traditions, and can doso in a way that allows a profound response from all pupils.

Pupils' own needs, including special educational needs, mayprovide insight into religions. For example, although aspects ofautism can be understood as barriers to learning, the need forand comfort in ritual is often better understood by those on


the autistic spectrum than by others. Similarly, those withbehavioural difficulties are more likely to understand, say, theBuddhist story of Angulimala (the fierce robber who learnedhow to change, as described at www.angulimala.org.uk, www.buddhanet.net/291bud.htm or Chodzin and Kohn 1997). Onemight as easily consider the insights provided by a pupil's speechdifficulties into the life of Moses (who appeared to considerhimself unworthy to be a prophet, due to his stutter), or pupils'literacy difficulties with the 'unlettered' Prophet Muhammad(pbuh).

A way of systematically researching pupils with a wide range ofneeds — a way of finding out that allows a range of pupils to respondmeaningfully — is to use a 'Salmon Line' (as described in Salmon1994). This is exemplified for RE in Judith Lowndes' work (e.g.Lowndes 2001, also in Stern 2001c), and it is worth consideringhow the Salmon Line could be used further to understand howpupils develop. This work comes from a psychological traditioncalled 'personal construct psychology' (an example of construc-tivism), which is particularly identified with Kelly (Kelly 1955, andRavenette 1999), and described by Grimmitt as related to learningfrom (in contrast to learning about) religion (Grimmitt 2000, p. 18).

Exercise 4.3: Salmon LinePupils should consider one aspect of their learning in RE, forexample their written explanations, their ability to take part indiscussions, their 'learning about' religion or their 'learningfrom' religion (as described in QCA 2004).

For the first stage of the exercise, pupils should, on their own,make two marks on a 'Salmon Line', a straight line with con-trasting words at either end of the line:

Mark Present or P on the line where you think your [writtenwork] in RE is at the moment.

Mark Future or F on the line where you would like your[written work] in RE to be in one year from now.

Excellent Poor

www.angulimala.org.uk

www.buddhanet.net/291bud.htm



There is no precise 'scale' on this line — it simply involves makingtwo marks, for the present and the future.

For the second and most important stage of the exercise, pupilsshould discuss with each other and with the teacher how theycan get from the 'present' to where they would like to be in the'future'. This discussion can take place between pairs of pupils,in groups of four or five pupils or between each pupil and theteacher (who could go around the class discussing this, whilst thepupils got on with another piece of work). If discussion isdifficult, the pupil could write, on their own, about how theymight get from one point to the other. The discussion shouldinclude what might be needed - including what the pupil mightneed to do, but also what help might be needed, and what otherthings would need to change.

RE, inclusion and exclusion, and new religiousmovementsWhen considering inclusion, it is not just those pupils with specialeducational needs who need to be included. Broader groups —indeed, according to Ofsted, all pupils and wider communities -need to be included (as described above, from Ofsted 2000a). Thisis a general issue of the ethos of school and the nature of subjects,relationships with parents, the overcoming of racism and sexism andvarious forms of bullying. The history of English and Welsh RE hasin recent decades been dominated by the incorporation of manyreligious and of non-religious traditions, and the rejection of'con-fessionalism' or the promotion of religious belief. This is a distinc-tive tradition, even within Europe, and there is a need for researchto investigate the impact of this policy, in terms of inclusion, espe-cially as there is some tentative evidence that RE may be a lessonwhere — ironically - pupils who are religious may feel most ostra-cized or excluded (as in White 2001). Jackson has worked on inclu-sion and exclusion in RE across Europe (most recently working onRE as a way of overcoming intolerance in plural societies, forexample in Jackson 2004); Joy Schmack and Brendan Schmack (forexample in White 2000 and 2001, and exemplified in Lovelace2001) have worked on how pupils of religion can be included;


Ipgrave has investigated pupils' own religious backgrounds and howthey can be used in primary RE (in Ipgrave 2004); and Dodd (e.g.Dodd et al. 2002) has looked at issues of Islam and intercultural edu-cation. Good examples of inclusive practice across religious andnon-religious traditions is embedded in the work of every SACREin the country (as described in Hull 1998 and Rudge 2001). Theactive approach exemplified in Lovelace (2001), in which pupils andadults talked about their beliefs and ways of life, can also be used inresearch, as described in Exercise 3.3, above.

All this research investigates how the RE policies of inclusion areimplemented, and how at times RE may unintentionally excludesome pupils. However, there are some ways in which RE policiesmay intentionally rather than unintentionally exclude. For example,parents or carers of pupils may withdraw them from RE, or fromparts of RE, church schools may reject applications from pupils onreligious grounds and the subject as a whole may exclude some tra-ditions from syllabuses. RE teachers can research the inclusivenessof their subject, with their own pupils, by completing the follow-ing exercise.

Exercise 4.4: When do you feel more included?Provide pupils in RE with a definition of inclusion, appropriateto their age and understanding. The definition might be takenfrom the Ofsted definition already quoted:

An educationally inclusive school is one in which the teaching andlearning, achievements, attitudes and well-being of every youngperson matter. ... This does not mean treating all pupils in the sameway. Rather it involves taking account of pupils' varied life experi-ences and needs. (Ofsted 2000a)

Then ask pupils to describe when they feel more included in RElessons. The question should be asked of individual pupils, as anopen question, initially, to allow for answers of many differentkinds. Pupil should then work in groups of two, three or four,to agree on a list of situations in which they feel more includedin RE.


When this question has been asked, pupils have given a widevariety of types of answer. Some have written about the topicsof lessons (topics that seem more 'relevant' or simply moreenjoyable), and others have written about the style of teachingand learning (discussions or project work or group work). Onesurprising response was that of a pupil who felt most includedwhen allowed to work on his own. Perhaps allowing for indi-vidual interests to be met, rather than always working collabo-ratively, can itself help include pupils.

It seems particularly strange that some religious traditions mightbe excluded from the RE curriculum. Of course, no syllabus couldcover absolutely every tradition, yet some traditions are not onlyunlikely to be included in syllabuses, but may be actively rejected asinappropriate. Examples include paganism and other traditionsreferred to as 'new age' religions (as described at www.paganfed.demon.co.uk and www.newageinfo.com), and other new religiousmovements (NRMs) such as Christian Science, Scientology, andJehovah's Witnesses (www.dianetics.org/ and www.scientology.org/and www.watchtower.org/, with information on many groups atwww.religioustolerance.org). James Holt has researched and pub-lished on the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (CJCLDS),and on Jehovah's Witnesses (JW) (i.e. Holt 2002, 2004), and is com-pleting doctoral research on NRMs, especially Christian NRMs.

What is an NRM? Eileen Barker (e.g. Barker 1982, 1984, 1989)writes of the members of NRMs being first generation converts,atypical of society, with a founder or leader who wields charismaticauthority. George Chryssides (e.g. 1991, 1994, 1999, 2000, 2003)writes of NRMs being recent, outside the mainstream and attract-ing converts from the indigenous culture. Holt himself writes of anNRM as having been founded within the past 200 years, andplacing itself or being placed by the majority of its 'parent' faith,outside of the mainstream - either because of tradition or doctrine.The idea of a 'parent faith' is determined by the group itself. Forexample, the Nation of Islam identifies with Islam and the CJCLDSconsiders itself Christian, whether or not the 'parents' acknowledgetheir 'offspring'. Baha'i no longer identifies with any 'parent', soalthough it is new, it should not, according to Holt, be consideredan NRM.

www.paganfed.demon.co.uk


www.newageinfo.com

www.dianetics.org/

www.scientology.org/

www.watchtower.org/



Under this definition, Christian NRMs include the CJCLDS, theNew Church, the Exclusive Brethren, the Christadelphians,Christian Science, Jehovah's Witnesses, Seventh-Day Adventists, theWorldwide Church of God, the Unification Church, the JesusMovement, some Rastafarians and many more groups. They areChristian in the sense that they consider themselves Christian,although other approaches might try to define Christian in terms ofmembership of the World Council of Churches (although thatwould exclude Roman Catholicism), groups founded before thenineteenth century (although that would exclude many recentgroups) or groups that accept the Trinity (although that wouldexclude Unitarians). Curriculum representation on SACREs can,ironically, be damaged by the group's self-identification as Christian.There are roughly 150,000 Buddhists in the UK, and 174,000CJCLDS, but as the latter will call themselves Christian, the groupis not as well represented on SACREs as are Buddhists. Pupils' ownviews are important. Speaking for Ourselves (Lovelace 2001) includesa Jehovah's Witness and a Rastafarian, which is helpful. Bolton(1999) writes about the importance of recognizing children frompagan backgrounds, with paganism 'defined in terms of Wicca,Druidry, Shamanism and Odinism'.

RE could continue without NRMs, but it would miss a lot ofdiversity, a lot of discussion points and the backgrounds of a lot ofpupils. For Holt, the best approach would be phenomenological,that is, the clear systematic study of individual NRM traditions, sothat the curriculum is richer, and pupils from NRMs feel free andconfident enough to share their beliefs as appropriate in lessons.Exam boards might also recognize the possibility of a number ofNRMs being used in answers to examination questions on ethics.In the study of religions, there will always be issues of proportion-ality: it would be impossible to given substantial time to all religioustraditions, even within the most generous timetable. More import-ant than a simple statistical proportionality is an appreciation of thereasons for the inclusion or exclusion of a particular tradition. If,for example, there are pupils in the school following a tradition, thisseems to be a good reason for inclusion. In contrast, if a tradition isincluded only if it is 'safe' and 'respectable', this seems to be aweaker justification for inclusion.


ConclusionWhen it comes to inclusion, RE has the immense advantage ofaccess to thousands of years of multi-sensory, affective teaching thatuses various forms of language, symbols, music, art and dance. Onthe other hand, RE also encompasses traditions of rejection andexclusion - not only in religious traditions, but in its own historyas a subject. The former advantages can be used to outweigh thelatter disadvantages, to help schools as well as RE become moreinclusive. One strategy that would help pupils and teachers alike, inRE, would be for teachers to feel able to say 'I don't know', if thatis accompanied by 'so I/we will try to find out'. This might lead onto what is called 'reciprocal teaching', making the classroom envir-onment acceptable for asking questions. Reciprocal teachinginvolves a dialogue between teachers and students for the purposeof jointly constructing meaning from text, with five strategies forstructuring the dialogue: predicting, clarifying, visualizing, ques-tion generating and summarizing.

It is helpful to end the chapter with a task that has a long religioushistory, and a shorter history as a research tool: Moksha Chitram(adapted from Mackley 2002, Stern 2003 and Stern 2006a). TheMoksha Chitram game originated in Hindu communities in India,helping players think about how to achieve the ultimate goal ofmoksha: release from the cycle of births and rebirths. The game wasadapted by British Christians in India in the nineteenth century,based around the 'seven deadly sins' and corresponding virtues, butcontinuing to use the original Indian symbolism of snakes andladders. Commercial, secularized, versions of the game, becamepopular under the tide 'snakes and ladders' (Fig. 4.1).

Having made use of research in RE to investigate, illuminate andinspire further inclusion of pupils, it is important to retain a sense ofteachers, too, being included. The lives of teachers are complex andchallenging. Judith Everington and colleagues are currently study-ing the life histories of RE teachers (Sikes and Everington 2001),and John I'Anson (I'Anson 2004) is studying the transition from reli-gious studies student to RE teacher. The research indicates that theneed for the inclusion of teachers is as significant as that for pupils,and there is sufficient indication of teacher stress for it to be worthpointing out such a need. Many would recognize the comment from


Macmurray, that '[t]he tendency to sacrifice the adults to the chil-dren [in school] is as disastrous as it is widespread' (Macmurray 1968,p. 37). The following chapter looks in more detail at pedagogy,therefore: the role that RE teachers fulfil, and how that can beenhanced.

Exercise 4.6: Moksha Chitram

The activity could help pupils reflect on any 'goal', but forthese purposes the ultimate end in life is probably the most appro-priate one.

Each pair of pupils should be provided with an empty grid(as below) with 100 squares, numbered from 1 to 100, anda way of drawing snakes and ladders. (In Stern 2006a, thegrid was word-processed, and the snakes and ladders were'stretchable' clip art items.)In pairs, pupils should consider what they want to achievein life, and represent that in a drawing or piece of writingin square 100.Now they will think about some of the things that mighthinder them from achieving their goal, the 'snakes', withthe length of the snake representing the degree of hin-drance. Each pair might produce four or five snakes, eachlabelled according to what they represent.

Now they will think about some of the things that mighthelp them to achieve their goal, the ladders', with thelength of the ladder representing the degree of help. Eachpair might produce four or five ladders, again labelledaccording to what they represent.Now, play the game, using a die.

The completed Moksha Chitram games can be used as adisplay, and the pupils are likely to be keen to discuss howthe games work and what they tell them about what helpsand hinders them in life. The connections to inclusion areclear: pupils are investigating barriers and the overcomingof barriers.


Figure 4.1

5 Teachers and pupils: teachingand learning

Teacher: Come on you still have all those questions to finish. You can finishcolouring in that candle after you have done them.Pupil: But miss, you said to make it look nice!

(Trainee teacher, responding to the question 'What is typically said in RE?')

Introduction

The RE curriculum brings together teachers (whose work is peda-gogy) and pupils (whose work is learning). 'The curriculum'describes what may be taught and learned, whilst 'pedagogy'describes how it might be taught and learned. The what and the howare of course intimately linked. This chapter investigates some ofthose links, starting in this introduction with the role of religion inRE (part of the what), continuing with the nature of pedagogy ingeneral (part of the how) and bringing both together in models ofRE pedagogy. Research has been completed on all of these areas,especially on the nature of the RE curriculum, and research canstimulate further development of the subject and of the teachers ofthe subject. However, Grimmitt has noted that, of the variousapproaches to RE pedagogy represented in his book,

[i]t is quite remarkable that to date there have been no extended, inde-pendent evaluations of any of the pedagogies of RE represented in thisbook, other than as pilot studies undertaken during the life of the pro-jects themselves. This is a serious deficiency because it means that thereis no empirical evidence of the reasonableness or otherwise of the claimsthat each project both implicitly and explicitly makes about the viabil-ity of the pedagogical procedures or strategies that it adopts in accord-ance with its central pedagogical principles in order to meet its aims.

(Grimmitt 2000, p. 22)


Some of the research on RE pedagogy will therefore need to drawon research on pedagogy in other subjects, and that is one of thepurposes of this chapter.

Research on REIt is hardly controversial to quote Wintersgill, who says that 'whatRE offers uniquely is the study of religion' (Wintersgill 1995), or toquote Teece, who says:

I judge good RE to be happening when students are enabled to developtheir own beliefs, values and critical faculties by learning about andfrom the interaction between the study of living religions and ourcommon, shared human experience of the world. (Teece 2004)

This approach, related to that of the Westhill Project (publishedfor example in Read et al 1988), is often described as the three-circle model of RE, addressing traditional belief systems (beliefsand spirituality), shared human experience (issues and ultimatequestions) and individual patterns of belief (beliefs and values). Yetit is still not clear what 'traditional belief system' or 'religion' meanin the model. For Teece, a member of the Westhill Project team,one of the problems is that religions are often understood natur-alistically, non-religiously, sociologically, phenomenologically,anthropologically or historically: religions are not always under-stood 'religiously'. Teece's concern is to have a religious under-standing of religion that is more spiritual than phenomenology,broader than theology and that better aids pupil learning fromreligion.

According to Teece, relating his views to those of Hick (1989),religions share a view of human nature as essentially unsatisfactoryor incomplete, along with the possibility of human transformation:they share these views, but interpret them in many different ways.The unsatisfactoriness or incompleteness of human nature and thepossibility of transformation, according to the world religions, isdescribed by Teece as including:

Buddhism: tanha, dukkha, and understanding the four nobletruths, following the eightfold path and keeping the five

TEACHING AND LEARNING 65

precepts in a path of meditation and skilful living, developingmetta and kantna to the state of nibbana.

Christianity: falknness and sin, and redemption found withinthe person of Jesus Christ and the development of the 'fruitsof the spirit', leading to eternal life.

Hinduism: avidya and maya, attachment (spiritual blindness),and following one's dharma, non-attachment leading tomoksha.Islam: ghafala as 'heedlessness' andjtfra as a good state, and obe-dience to the will of Allah in terms of the Shari'ah and tariqaand the development of the Islamic personality leading toparadise.

Judaism: yezer ha-ra and yezer ha-tov, good and bad inclination,because of free will, and atonement by bringing kedusha intothe world through the development of right relationshipswith fellow humans and with God.Sikhism: haumai and manmukh, and following a path of namsimran and sewa and developing gurmukh leading to the state ofmukti.

This can lead to us viewing the phenomena of religions in a trans-formed way. As William Cantwell Smith says, it is not 'religion' but'religiousness' that should be understood through RE:

Religion is ... inherently human, and integrally so ... if abstracted from... the men and women whose humanity it informs it wilts, even if itis abstracted for the purposes of intellectual scrutiny ... It is not a thingbut a quality: of personal life (both individual and social).

... [Smith is here considering an example of a Hindu man:] If we wouldcomprehend ... we must look not at their religion but at the universeso far as possible through their eyes. It is what the Hindu is able to see,by being a Hindu that is significant. Until we can see it too, we havenot come to grips with the religious quality of his life. And we can besure that when he looks around him he does not see 'Hinduism'. Likethe rest of us, he sees his wife's death, his child's minor and major aspi-rations, his money lender's mercilessness, the calm of a starlight evening,his own mortality. He sees things through coloured glasses, if one will,of a 'Hindu' brand. (Smith 1978, p. 138)


As Fowler (1981) says, students of religion should not be asking'What do you believe?', but instead should be asking 'How do yousee the world?' Teece's own approach is well expressed in A ThirdPerspective (Baumfield et al 1994). There, the work on the humancondition, for 11—14 year olds, fits with the way people are, focusedaround guilt and reconciliation, why we are not perfect, what is theproblem, what should people be like, facing up to the truth about

Exercise 5.1: What does religiousness mean?What makes something 'religious' is worth investigating by allRE teachers. All teachers can have their own views of reli-giousness, but it is understanding the views of pupils as well ascolleagues that can help clarify and, it is hoped, improve thesubject.

The question should be asked in a way that is appropriate forthose of any religion and of no religion. All can be asked bothof these questions:

If you say someone is 'religious', what do you mean? If you say someone is 'not religious', what do you mean?

Pupils could produce their own answers, and then work in pairsand fours, to come to an agreement about what they think 'reli-giousness' means. It is important that there is not a simple 'rightanswer' to the questions: they can be answered in many usefuland meaningful ways. Once the pupils have generated someanswers to the questions, they can be asked the following:

What has been done in RE lessons that helps us to under-stand being 'religious'?What has been done in RE lessons that helps us to under-stand being 'not religious'?

These four questions are helpful in analysing pupil views onreligiousness, and pupil views on how RE lessons tackle reli-giousness. They are therefore central to understanding how thesubject works in a school.


ourselves and an ideal human being in an ideal world. In such ways,Teece says, we need to help our pupils gain a greater understandingof what religion is all about, as so many people fail to understandthis issue.

Research on pedagogy

The previous section looked at religion, ending with work onthe subject of RE itself. Here, the issue of pedagogy — the how ofteaching—is tackled. Understanding pedagogy is centred on under-standing learning theory, and there are two traditions of learningtheory worth describing here: behaviourism and constructivism.These initial descriptions are adapted from Stern 2006b, and can befollowed up in standard textbooks such as Wood 1988, or Danielsand Edwards 2004.

Behaviourists tend to look at how people respond to 'stimuli' (sothey may be called 'stimulus-response' theorists), which in prac-tice generally means 'rewards and punishments'. If the theoryunderlying teaching is based on giving pupils incentives to do the'right' thing, and sanctions to prevent them from doing the'wrong' thing, then the teaching is working on behaviourist prin-ciples. The rewards may be praise, marks, stars, credits, examresults, sweets or bicycles; the sanctions may be criticism, deten-tions, missed breaktimes or fines. Of course, every teacher will userewards and punishments. It becomes more 'behaviourist' if theteacher believes this is the only way in which to get pupils to actin a certain way. Famous behaviourists include Pavlov, Skinner andEysenck, with Pavlov famous for demonstrating that dogs can betrained to salivate on the ringing of a bell if the bell has been rungevery time the dog is fed. Their theories are not so 'fashionable'amongst contemporary psychologists, or amongst RE researchers,but within schools, the practical application of behaviourist theo-ries can dominate teachers' lives. As well as star charts and merits,a concern with physical conditions (for example, having carpetedrooms in order to reduce noise) might - if it dominates teaching -be based on these same theories. It is an unfair stereotype ofbehaviourism to say that teaching is like training dogs, but it is amemorable analogy. Equally unfair, and equally memorable, is thedescription by Rumi, the thirteenth-century Sufi Muslim poet


who wrote Two Types of Intelligence (also quoted in Chapter 1,above, from Rumi 1995, p. 178, www.sufism.org/books/barksand www.sufism.org/books/jewels/rheart.html), of 'acquired'intelligence that flows into a schoolchild from books and teachers,weighing them down as 'retaining all that knowledge is a heavyload'. What behaviourist approaches tend to have in common isthe idea of adding extrinsic rewards or punishments to what ishappening in the learning itself, and having more rewards thanpunishments.

For RE, behaviourism might mean getting pupils to learn RE byrewarding the completion of work, marking and returning workquickly (so that the feedback 'stimulus' is associated with the origi-nal work), rewarding good-quality work, being careful to avoidassociating RE work with punishment - especially unfair punish-ment. A behaviourist approach could also lead to setting up RE class-rooms with good conditions for studying (tables, lighting, displays,resources) to help stimulate positive feelings about the subject. Manysee behaviourism as tied in to debates on 'standards of achievement',as a concern with standards leads many to introduce incentives andpunishments related to the achievement of such standards.

Constructivists tend to look at each pupil's current understandingor 'world view' (whatever subject is being studied), and see teach-ing and learning as building on, or reconstructing, that world view.(It is easy to see how controversial this might be, in terms of reli-gious world views, if pupils or their families think that the role ofRE is to 'reconstruct' pupils' world views.) Pupils are seen as activerather than passive learners: they are not 'empty vessels' into whichteachers pour knowledge or 'behaving machines' that teachers canreprogramme with appropriate stimuli. Vygotsky used the term'scaffolding' to describe constructivist approaches. Helping childrenunderstand what it is that they know and can do, and giving themthe tools with which to develop or change their understanding, istypical of those supporting this theory. Classical, or more individu-alist, constructivists include Piaget, who sees the process of learningprimarily as an individual pupil and teacher working together: pupilsare sometimes like 'lone scientists'. Social constructivists includeVygotsky and Bruner, who see children as learning 'in conversation'with peers and teachers, and may look at systems (classes, families,schools, communities) rather than just at individuals. The process of




learning involves groups of pupils working collaboratively with ateacher to build up their understanding. (Vygotsky and Bruner,then, can be 'blamed' for group work.) It is an unfair stereotype ofconstructivists to say that teaching is all about waiting around whilepupils discover everything for themselves, but it is a memorableanalogy. Equally unfair and equally memorable is Rumi s descrip-tion of the learning that comes from within, from the heart or soul,and that flows outwards and 'gushes continually from the house ofthe heart' (Rumi 1995, p. 178, www.sufism.org/books/barks andwww.sufism.org/books/jewels/rheart.html). What constructivistapproaches tend to have in common is the idea of looking at theintrinsic features of learning, to support learning 'from the inside',either individually (often using 'cognitive' strategies) or collectively(using social strategies).

For RE, constructivism means getting pupils to learn RE byencouraging pupils and teachers to talk about the topics andtasks, encouraging purposeful, interesting and creative activities thatprovide intrinsic motivation. Pupils can work long hours on tasksthat really interest them, making incredible discoveries, whilstextrinsic rewards and punishments may have little effect and willnever make routine and repetitive work interesting. Indeed, con-structivists will often say that extrinsic rewards and punishments willdistract, not encourage, pupils: if you are working on a projectbecause you will get a merit mark or avoid a detention, you will notbe wanting to learn the subject, and will be unlikely to develop alife-long interest in the subject, but will merely be learning how toget a reward. Teachers expressing an interest in RJE, and demon-strating how important it is as a subject, should help, too. The morethat RE can build relationships and conversations within and partic-ularly beyond the school, the more the social constructivists will saythis is how people learn best. Many see constructivism as moreloosely tied in to debates on 'standards of achievement', and yet, inthe last ten years, debates on how to raise standards in UK schoolshas been dominated by various versions of 'assessment for learning'(well described in Assessment Reform Group 1999, Black andWiliam 1998a, 1998b, Weeden et al. 2002, and at arg.educ.cam.ac.uk/), which is clearly based on constructivist theories of learning.

Most of the traditions of RE pedagogy (as described in Grimmitt2000) are broadly in the constructivist tradition, although it is only




Grimmitt himself (within that book) who writes extensively aboutconstructivism. A constructivist approach also matches governmentdescriptions of the importance of RE, as national guidance focuseson intrinsic values of the subject. The National Framework docu-ment asserts:

Religious education encourages pupils to learn from different reli-gions, beliefs, values and traditions while exploring their own beliefsand questions of meaning. It challenges pupils to reflect on, consider,analyse, interpret and evaluate issues of truth, belief, faith and ethics andto communicate their responses.

Religious education encourages pupils to develop their sense of iden-tity and belonging. It enables them to flourish individually within theircommunities and as citizens in a pluralistic society and globalcommunity. (QCA 2004)

Nevertheless, as has already been said, teachers' lives in schools areoften dominated by behaviourist, not constructivist, approaches. Inthat context, some research on how pupils and teachers themselvessee their learning, is worth carrying out, in order to understandwhich traditions are most influential in the classroom.

The following exercise is based on the work of Daniels (2001),itself an investigation of the social constructivist approaches toschooling of Vygotsky. The terms used in the analysis of the exer-cise are 'classification' and 'framing', themselves taken by Danielsfrom the sociologist Bernstein. Stronger and weaker classificationand framing refer to the divisions between subjects ('classification')and the degree to which pedagogy is teacher-centred rather thanpupil-centred ('framing'). Stronger classification and framing aremore likely in schools using more behaviourist approaches, andmatch Rumi's view of'acquired'learning. Weaker classification andframing are more likely in schools using more constructivistapproaches, and match Rumi's view of learning 'from the inside'.The differences are illustrated by Daniels from art lessons in two ofthe schools. In the school with stronger classification and framing,

the teacher read a story called 'Where the Wild Things Live' [sic]. Shethen told the children that they were going to 'make pictures of the


wild things'. The teacher had prepared a number of different pieces ofsugar paper and proceeded to assign children to these pieces of paper.Each piece of sugar paper had an outline of a 'Wild Thing' on it andmost of them had sections/areas of the paper marked off. Each sectioncontained a code number and thus could be translated by a key at thebottom of the piece of paper. The children followed the key which dic-tated the material to be used to 'fill in' the sections/areas marked on thepaper. The 'Wild Things' were thus constructed. The department headsaid of art lessons, 'We are interested in the results of art, of good pro-ductions rather than "experiencing" the materials'.

(Daniels 2001, p. 162-3)

In the school with weaker classification and framing,

the children were given different grades of paper, powder paint and apiece of foam rubber or sponge. The teacher then told the children towet the paper and flick paint at it with the sponge. The children wereencouraged to use different kinds of paper with different degrees ofdampness. They were told to experiment with ways of applying thepowder paint. (Daniels 2001, p. 163)

In this way, Daniels contrast classrooms where 'y°u paint what yousee' and those where 'you paint what the teacher sees' (Daniels2001, p. 170).

Exercise 5.2: What is typically said?Derived from the work of Daniels (2001), here is an exercise thatasks what might typically be said in a classroom, in a number ofsubjects. Examples of the tasks are given here, for RE and forEnglish, but it would be helpful also being completed for anumber of subjects or for a single subject across year groups and,as appropriate, ability groups or gender groups.

In analysing responses, teachers should bear in mind the indi-cations of'classification'and 'framing'. Indications of stronger orweaker classification will be in how different the descriptions areof different subjects, or how 'bounded' those subjects seem.Indications of stronger or weaker framing will be whether pupilsare 'painting what the teacher sees' or 'painting what they see'.


According to Daniels, weaker classification and framing arelikely to be more inclusive, that is, more suited to classroomswhere pupils have a wide range of educational needs.

What is typically said in RE

We are in an RE lesson in a school. What do you think theteacher is saying, and what do you think the pupil is saying, inthis picture?


What is typically said in EnglishWe are in an English/literacy lesson in a school. What do youthink the teacher is saying, and what do you think the pupil issaying, in this picture?

Discussion of the outcomes of this exercise - completed byteachers, as well as by pupils - suggests that there is a concern withthe difference between the 'self-image' of RE, and how the subjectworks in classrooms. Pupils often see RE in terms of 'right andwrong factual answers', and/or a confessionalist promotion ofreligious belief.

The varieties of RE pedagogyBlaylock describes six schools of thought in RE, with phenome-nology providing a platform, a 'given', for RE, even if it is not thewhole pedagogical toolkit for PJE. What is interesting is that, for


Blaylock, phenomenology and the other pedagogies describedhere can be cumulative, and can work in any order. A 'humanizer'start can be complemented by a 'postmodern' piece of work, and,crucially, vice versa. It is worth noting that Blaylock is not describ-ing all the possible pedagogies of RE, and that confessional RE isnot included in his modelling, despite its popularity across manycountries and its continued existence (sometimes almost as an'underground movement', as in Thompson 2004a, 2004b) in theUK. On pp. 76—7 is Blaylock's diagram covering six schools ofthought (adapted from Blaylock 2004, with each also representedin Grimmitt 2000).

These six approaches could be described as competitors or ascomplementary. Complementarity is illustrated in this narrativefrom Blaylock:

Six ways around Easter: a pedagogical fantasy

At the start of term, the new RE teacher Miss X noticed in her syl-labus that she was to teach the eleven year olds about the festival andstories of Easter, the beliefs associated with the celebration, and theimpact of these beliefs in the Christian community. She had just beentrained by some phenomenologists (as in Smart 1969), and so plannedtwo lessons on the phenomenon of Easter. Using artefacts - a varietyof crosses, some icons, some 'He is Risen' badges, hot-crossed buns,and a video of the Easter celebrations in an Orthodox and anEvangelical setting - she taught them about the festival, its terminol-ogy and its diversity.

After two lessons, Miss X read Michael Grimmitt's book on REand human development (Grimmitt 1987), and realized she hadbeen neglecting pupils' learning from religion. She planned some freshactivities: pupils were asked some provocative questions. What if youwere in charge of the Easter celebrations for the two churches nearestthe school: what music would you choose for Good Friday and EasterDay? What does the idea of 'life out of death' or 'resurrection' or 'lifeafter death' mean to you? Can you explain an occasion when hopeseemed hopeless, but you held on anyway? More good work emergedas pupils related the festival to their own experiences.


After these two lessons, she went on a course with Trevor Cooling, andlearned the methods of 'concept cracking' (as in Cooling 1994b).Inspired by the new pedagogy of the conceptual analysis of truthclaims, she planned two lessons of Biblical study in which the claimsof the resurrection were presented to the class. They responded to thechallenge — some who thought it would be impossible discussed theirview with others who thought it a miracle. Some Christian childrenin the class stayed at the end to say how affirming they had found theexploration of their own faith.

During half term, she checked her notes from college, and rememberedall about the deconstruction of religion for postmodern young people(as in Erricker and Erricker 2000). The next two lessons were used todissect how the Easter festival is sometimes used to keep people in theirplace — a heavenly reward for a life of drudgery. One child asked 'So,Miss, is religion just a way of keeping people in their place?' She knewshe was getting somewhere when a group of boys announced theydidn't believe in Easter, and wouldn't be bothering to wait till Sundaybefore eating the chocolate.

There was another course on interpretive approaches to RE (as inJackson 1997), and Miss X was edified. She decided to plan a couplemore lessons, the first on the diversity of Easter as Christian childrendescribe it (she used accounts from 13 year old Catholics, Methodistsand Quakers, from Bristol, Birmingham and Nigeria). Then she askedpupils to write interpreter's notes on the Hallelujah chorus, making senseof its origins, use today and impact within and beyond the Christiancommunity,

As term wore on, Miss X was visited by the local adviser, who wassigned up to a spiritual and experiential approach to RE (as inHammond et al. 1990). She realized what was missing in the terms'lessons and used a guided fantasy based upon the appearance of Jesus totwo disciples travelling to Emmaus. Pupils finished the term creatingworks of art inspired by the work on a choice of themes: 'Back fromthe Dead' or 'My Hope for the Future'.

Perhaps by swapping evidence from a number of schools, RE teach-ers may discover the extent to which the various approaches to RE

Focus Impact Questions raised

Phenomenology Learning in RE is focused uponE.g. Smart, 1969. assembling, broadening and deepening

understanding that takes each religion'sphenomena on its own terms.Examining the 7 Smartian dimensionsof religion brings balance to the study.

RE as humandevelopmentE.g. Grimmitt 1987.

Pedagogy is guided by the need for REto enable human development. Thelinks between psychology and othersocial science disciplines, andphilosophy and questions of meaning,establish a creative tension. The placeof religion as a distinctive humandiscourse, in flux and flexible, isdefended even in relatively secularcultures like those of the UK.

Spiritual Concepts of spiritual dimensions of lifedevelopment he behind the intention to enableE.g. Hay with learners to access their own spirituality.Nye 1998, The psychological defence of theHammond et al. spiritual dimension is linked to the1990. examination of spiritualities from

various different religions.

From the 1970s until now, thisset of approaches has defined abaseline for English and WelshRE: children should learn lots ofinformation about the religions.Its best practice takescomprehensive account of wholereligions.

The term 'learning from religion'originates in this articulation ofRE's purposes, and has beenhighly influential as an 'attainmenttarget'. The focus on finding andmaking meaning through RE hasbecome axiomatic for many REteachers.

Hammond et al. 1990: widelyinfluential on some teachers, butthe momentum is slower now.The emphasis on spirituality andpsychology leads to oppositionfrom phenomenology, and littlegovernment interest.

Is it supportable to argue that 'dryfactuality' goes with phenomenology?Can a phenomenological pedagogywhich takes theologies andphilosophies on their own terms beenvisaged? Practised?

Is this set of approaches tied to anexistentialist philosophy (the idea ofmeaning making)?How can the tensions betweenreligionists and educationists bebalanced?If RE is a part of the curricular'meaning making' then shouldreligionists control what is taught at all?Or is it enough to 'treasure thequestions'?

Are these approaches to RE dualist?Individualist?Is there a danger for RE in being'more spiritual but less religious'?Does the spiritual focus here drawRE too far from religions and theircommunities as found in the UK?

Religiousliteracy -conceptualapproachesE.g. Cooling 1994a,1994b, Wright1993.

InterpretivepedagogyE.g. Jackson 1997.

Deconstructionand the 'worldview"E.g. Erricker andErricker 2000.

Since religion is about truth, the criticalevaluation of claims and schemes forestablishing the truth about religiouspropositions are the key skills for youngpeople in their RE. These skills areespecially necessary in a philosophicalclimate of relativism and postmodernity.

In religious terms, the focus is oninternal diversity as well as religiousplurality, and on a serious engagementwith the layering of religion, cultureand philosophy. In terms of learners,the key skill is interpretation.

If the task of education is constructingthe 'self', then pedagogies for religious(and spiritual and moral) educationshould facilitate this task with regardto the 'philosophical' or 'spiritual' self.To enable this, some 'inappropriate'prior practise must be swept away.

Through teacher training andacademic writing, theseapproaches, allied to 'critical realist'philosophical discourse aboutreligion in a postmodern society,are popular with many teachers.It is a bit less clear that there areresources to support classroomwork in this style.

By linking resources,methodological publications andresearch the 'Warwick school' hasmade a substantial impact onteaching and learning. Versions ofinterpretive pedagogy are practised,increasingly widely, from 5—16.

The National Framework(QCA 2004) and the lobbyinginterests of the British HumanistAssociation(www.humanism.co.uk) havecreated a climate in which 'worldviews' are part of the RE of thefuture. As yet, little curricularresource supports this, but theimpact is likely to grow.

By iodising on the conceptual, andthe 'truth-claiming' elements ofreligion, what is marginalized?

Does a conceptual approach carry thedanger of making too little space forcultural and social aspects of religion?Do these approaches setphenomenology and communitycohesion too lightly aside?

Is it possible for teachers to grasp thisset of methods with sufficient clarityto be effective?Do the subtleties of reflexivity suitthe learning needs of all 5—16s?What is the place of 'neutrality' in the

stances of the teacher and the learnernow?

What effect would deconstruction inRE have for children whose familyculture is evangelical Christian,traditional Islamic, or humanist?What effects would follow if thedeconstructionists tools were turnedupon consumerism or soft agnosticism?Is this their commonest use?


Exercise 5.3: Evidence for perspectivesHaving looked through these descriptions of six perspectives,following up with further investigation of each of them (e.g.from Grimmitt 2000), investigate evidence, from the RE in yourschool, for each of the six perspectives being followed. The evid-ence should be in the form of learning tasks', and not simplyprinciples and policies.

It might be that one perspective dominates RE in your school,there may be elements of all six or there may be little evidencefor any of these. Nevertheless, the investigation allows an REdepartment to see how it might develop further in the future.

Evidence for a phenomenological approach:

Evidence for an approach based on RE as human development:

Evidence for a spiritual development approach:

Evidence for a religious literacy approach:

Evidence for an interpretive approach:

Evidence for a world-view approach:

pedagogy dominate RE. Asking pupils for their views (as suggestedthroughout this book, and supported by Rudduck et al 1996 andFlutter and Rudduck 2004) will be important, too, as will under-standing the cultures and perspectives of university theology and reli-gious studies departments which generate RE teachers (as beingresearched by I'Anson 2004). It may be that the culture and peda-gogy of each school, rather than the training and beliefs of the REdepartment, will dominate, especially if many of those teaching REhave not trained in the subject (as described by Gates 1989, 1991,1994). Clearly, a school dominated by a more behaviourist approachto learning is unlikely to find it easy to deal with constructivistapproaches to RE or any other subject. Yet the variation betweendepartments within UK secondary schools is wide ('the range of


variation by department within schools is probably three to four timesgreater than the average variation between schools', Reynolds in Stolland Myers 1998, p. 167), suggesting that there may be room fordepartments as 'islands of constructivism'. I'Anson's research ontrainee teachers negotiating a route between post-structuralist reli-gious studies (at Stirling University) and modernist school RE givesfurther hope for intelligent negotiation, rather than giving in to thecontext and saying 'there is nothing we can do'.

ConclusionThis chapter has touched on a small part of research on the RE cur-riculum - itself probably the most-researched aspect of RE - andon some broader issues in pedagogy that could be applied to RE.Despite the relative scarcity of good research on RE-specific ped-agogy, it is clear that some work is going on in this area, and thatteachers wishing to develop themselves will want to be researchingtheir own pedagogy, using some of the techniques described here.By researching RE pedagogy, teachers can thereby come to under-stand the impact and value of their work. They may also come tofeel a part of the whole process: not merely 'speaking textbooks',but members of the community of learners, learning and develop-ing together with colleagues and pupils. This links back to the pre-vious chapter on inclusion (in this case, the inclusion of teachers,not just pupils), and it links forward to the next chapter, as that dealswith the values embedded not only in schools but in wider com-munities and societies. RE is, and always will be, a controversialsubject, not because its status is in doubt (even if it is), but becauseit deals with real religions, religions that have been at or near theheart of most of the world's controversies and conflicts.

6 RE and human rights, valuesand citizenships

RE lessons give you the peace of mind in a world, where peace and mind nolonger go together.

(17 year-old)

IntroductionThere is no question that religions are related to human rights,values and the nature of citizenship. The question addressed by thischapter is the extent to which religious education as a school subject isrelated to these issues. For example, what impact can RE-based edu-cation about values (i.e. 'values education') have upon pupils' moraland social development, and can religiously originated approachesto values education and moral formation be offered to all pupils ina plural school? What, indeed, does RE offer to dis-traditioned,non-religious or secular young people in terms of human rights,values and citizenship? What can those same young people 'learnfrom religion'? The emergence in England and Wales of a statutorycitizenship curriculum (e.g. DfEE and QCA 1999) and a non-statu-tory National Framework for RE in England (QCA 2004) hashelped RE to re-evaluate itself and its purposes, including especiallyits role in broader values and citizenship education. Chater (2000),for example, connects citizenship education to liberation theologyvia Freire (1972), while Gearon (2004) writes of teaching citizen-ship through RE, and Baumfield (2003) writes of 'democratic RE'in communities of enquiry. Others, such as Rudge (2001), lookinstead at the impact of RE on its pupils. It is worth starting bybringing all these debates together, with an emphasis on howresearch in RE can illuminate and help develop not only the subjectbut also, potentially, pupils' lives, values and roles in social and polit-ical structures.

HUMAN RIGHTS, VALUES AND CITIZENSHIP 81

Values and citizenship

Are values education and citizenship education subjects in theirown right, or approaches to schooling as a whole? Both have beentaught as separate subjects, yet both are also well embedded inPSHE and RE lessons. Teachers of many subjects in secondaryschools say 'I trained as a teacher of this subject, not of personal andsocial education or values', rather than 'I trained as a teacher ofpupils*. This raises the question of whether any school subjects —including RE — are ends in themselves or are a means to educatechildren. Macmurray, the philosopher of community whose work isdescribed in more detail in Chapter 4, above, said that teaching

is one of the forms of personal relationship. It is a continuing personalexchange between two generations. To assert this is by no means todefine an ideal, but to state a fact. It declares not what education oughtto be, but what it is — and is inescapably. We may ignore this fact; wemay imagine that our task is of a different order; but this will make nodifference to what is actually taking place. We may act as though wewere teaching arithmetic or history. In fact we are teaching people. Thearithmetic or the history is merely a medium through which a personalintercourse is established and maintained. (Macmurray 1968, p. 5)

This is a partial view, of course, and there are many subject special-ists, including RE specialists, who see their subjects as most import-ant. The statutory curriculum documents (such as DfEE and QCA1999) tend to address issues of 'child development' and 'subjectdevelopment' by covering both. It is worth studying the extent towhich particular teachers and pupils see their own subjects in oneor the other way (as is done, in part, by Exercise 6.2, below).

On citizenship, a further question (in part explored in Exercise6.1, below) might be, 'How would you know a good citizen if yousaw one, and of what would you be a citizen?' These are relatedquestions: to judge a 'good citizen', it is necessary to understandwhat a person may be a citizen of: the world, a country or what?The official citizenship curriculum refuses to say 'of what' a citizenis, for the purpose of citizenship education, but there are threecommon traditions: an 'exclusive' citizenship, an 'inclusive' citizen-ship and a citizenship that extends horizons.


'Exclusive' citizenship expresses distinction or special privilege.St Paul says that he is a 'citizen of no mean city' ('I am a man whicham a Jew of Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city', KJBActs 21.39), as a way of getting out of trouble: the Romans wouldnot dare treat a citizen of such a city in the same way as they mighttreat an 'ordinary' person. Citizenship of particular places is stillused as a mark of distinction, nowadays referring to the nation state.The last 75 years have seen more migration and refuge-seeking thanany other period in the history of the world, and claims of citizen-ship, attempts to block citizenship, withdrawal of citizenship, andso on, have characterized political struggles throughout the period.Many of these issues derive, incidentally (or not so incidentally)from religious conflicts. Just within Europe, Jewish migration, pop-ulation movements in the former Yugoslavia, political develop-ments in Northern Ireland and recent responses to terrorism allhave religion and citizenship as important themes. So St Paul wasnot the last person to rely on a claim of citizenship to save his life.Indeed, it is important to note that in UK schools, today, there aremany pupils who are seeking asylum and do not yet have, but wouldlike to have, 'exclusive citizenship'. There are many others object-ing to people being given such citizenship. It is citizenship of thenation state, the sort of citizenship that is related to entitlement toa passport, that is the most common kind in debates on the issue.

However, another quite contrasting approach to citizenship is tosee it as an inclusive and universal characteristic, something thatunites all human beings. Aristotle might have been thinking of thiswhen he said that people were 'born for citizenship' ('... man isborn for citizenship', Aristotle 1925, p. 12, also translated as 'manis by nature a social being' and 'man is by nature adapted to a socialexistence'), although he probably wanted to exclude slaves andwomen from his 'universalism'. Bacon used the term in a clearlyinclusive way, saying that

If a man be gracious and courteous to strangers, it shows he is a citizenof the world, and that his heart is no island, cut off from other lands,but a continent, that joins to them. (Bacon 2002, p. 363)

This idea of a 'citizen of the world' is one that might well appeal toteachers, and the English and Welsh National Curriculum (DfEE


and QCA 1999) does indeed refer to the 'local, national and inter-national' dimension of citizenship, and QCA guidance has men-tioned 'global citizenship', so there are good grounds for doing workin this area. Macmurray talks explicitly about the role of educationand citizenship. He say that 'to be educated today means to havelearned to be human - not Scottish, not British, not even West-European - but human' (Macmurray 1968, p. 145), and, on citi-zenship itself, that there is a

tendency to conceive education as a training for citizenship. Such train-ing has its place in a good system of education. But it is a subordinateplace. To use citizenship as a co-ordinating conception for education asa whole is merely one way of identifying the personal with its organicaspect. (Macmurray 1968, p. 12)

Whatever its definition, citizenship is still to be defined more clearly,and there is a third tradition that goes beyond exclusive and inclu-sive definitions. Curriculum documents and the influential work ofCrick (as described in Lockyer et al. 2004), are themselves heavilyinfluenced by Mill, who saw citizenship education as pushingoutwards, or extending horizons. (This has, within the educationsystem, often been described in terms of 'spiritual development', asa recognition of the 'other', or of something unselfish.) Millhimself, when talking of citizenship education, referred to

the peculiar training of a citizen, the practical part of the politicaleducation of a free people, taking them out of the narrow circle of per-sonal and family selfishness, and accustoming them to the comprehen-sion of joint interests, the management of joint concerns - habituatingthem to act from public or semi-public motives, and guide their conductby aims which unite instead of isolating them from one another.Without these habits and powers, a free constitution can neither beworked nor preserved; as is exemplified by the too-often transitorynature of political freedom in countries where it does not rest upon asufficient basis of local liberties. (Mill 1974, p. 181)

In linking citizenship education to the idea of an extension beyondthe self-and-family, Mill also links it to various personal and socialissues, and to links between schooling and parents, families and local


communities. It is therefore not surprising that RE links to citi-zenship and also to PSHE. After all, what is a 'person'? Is a personreally, essentially, a social being as Aristotle said, or even more? ForMacmurray,

we are not individuals in our own right; and in ourselves we have novalue at all, since we are meaningless. Our human Being is our relationsto other human beings and our value lies in the quality of these rela-tions. (Macmurray 1995a, p. 72)

That definition certainly pulls together various curriculum areas: weare teaching young people, and according to Macmurray have a dutyto help them become more 'real' or more 'human'. Some people areconcerned about how 'real' people can be, in this uncertain, pick-and-mix world full of 'virtual reality' and computer simulations. Ofcourse, even virtual reality is not new, with Shakespeare making hischaracters, happily, play about with the 'reality' of their existence,allowing Orlando in As You Like It to insist, after playing roles, that'Then, in mine own person, I die'.

Bringing together RE, human rights, values and citizenships, thefirst exercise in this chapter helps pupils work, practically, on howthose themes are indeed brought together around the world. It isadapted from Stern (2006a), and aims to help pupils take a positionas if from within a nation state, and to expand their horizons by lis-tening to positions from other nation states, perhaps also gaining anunderstanding of how small the world is and that their humanity isas well described in universal as national terms.

Exercise 6.1: Worldwide debate on religion

This exercise has been developed with pupils aged 14-19. Itcould also be adapted to suit younger pupils.

The teacher allocates countries (or continents) to individualpupils, pairs or groups of pupils. Each pupil (or group) is then tobecome a representative of that country. The task is to write ascript for a United Nations speech on the significance (or lackof significance) of religion on their country, using informationfrom one newspaper from that country (or two newspapers, for


older pupils), using that day's papers (from www.onlinenews-papers.com/). The reports could be word-processed, and thecombination of all reports might be made into a big 'worldnewspaper' for the day, with added reportage on the debate tofollow.

Have a UN debate on the motion 'Religion is the mostimportant influence on the world today'. Pupils will take part inthe debate, representing their countries and will only be able tospeak 'in role', with a choice of 'for' or 'against' the motion,depending on their initial research on how important religion isin 'their' country. (For more on the UN itself, look at www.undcp.org/unlinks.html or www.unsystem.org/)

Research into the impact of RE and citizenshipeducationResearch by RE specialists such as Rudge (1998, 2001), studyingthe impact of RE and citizenship education, an impact promised bysyllabuses and policy statements, must take account of the follow-ing issues:

• Education programmes covering religious, moral and socialissues may or may not have an effect on pupils' development.Their impact is worth questioning and cannot be taken forgranted.

• The RE curriculum may or may not offer something of valueto pupils of backgrounds that are not 'religious'. Descriptionsof such pupils (terms such as 'dis-traditioned' or 'secular') willthemselves need defining in order to answer the question.

• There are positives and negatives to be found in inter-faithdialogue and encounter in the plural school (and all schoolsare plural). Dialogue is not a neutral process, and its positiveimpact should not be taken for granted.

• It should be possible for the 'non-religious' to learn from the'religious', and the 'religious' to learn from the 'non-religious'about values. 'Learning from' is something broader than acquir-ing knowledge. RE may have a bias towards the 'religious' asthe norm, and in that way might differ from other curriculum

www.onlinenewspapers.com/


www.undcp.org/unlinks.html


www.unsystem.org/


subjects: this may be, and may be seen as, a hindrance for thesubject.

• 'Impact' is hard to define, track and record, and individualprogrammes do not happen in isolation, as all education islikely to have its own impact.

All of these issues come down, here, to two questions: 'What doesRE aim to do for pupils and society (and how do we know)?', and'What effect does it have (and how do we know)?' On the first ques-tion, about the aims of RE, some answers are immediately accessiblein government policy statements, inspection frameworks, locallyagreed syllabuses, school policies, classroom resources, published arti-cles and on professional association websites (all accessible throughwww.REOnline.org.uk). The National Framework (QCA 2004)says RE 'actively promotes the values of truth, justice, respect for alland care of the environment'. It also 'places specific emphasis on:

pupils valuing themselves and others;the role of family and the community in religious belief andactivity;

the celebration of diversity in society through understandingsimilarities and differences;sustainable development of the earth'. (QCA 2004)

Furthermore, RE 'also recognizes the changing nature of society,including changes in religious practice and expression, and theinfluence of religion in the local, national and global community'.The whole school curriculum 'should aim to provide opportunitiesfor all pupils to learn and achieve', whilst RE 'should be a stimu-lating, interesting and enjoyable subject' (all from QCA 2004). Thedocument goes on to discuss pupils' self worth:

The national framework aims to promote religious understanding, dis-cernment and respect and challenge prejudice and stereotyping ... Acentral concern of religious education is the promotion of each pupil'sself-worth. A sense of self-worth helps pupils to reflect on theiruniqueness as human beings, share their feelings and emotions withothers and appreciate the importance of forming and maintaining pos-itive rela 2004)

www.REOnline.org.uk


The 'learning about' and learning from' aspects of RE, described inthe National Framework, owes a debt to the work of Grimmitt(1987, 2000), in describing learning about and learningjrom religion,and there is an assessment system including a 'levels' scale, with, forexample, level 4 (expected of average 11 year-olds) described asfollows:

Attainment target 1Pupils use a developing religious vocabulary to describe and showunderstanding of sources, practices, beliefs, ideas, feelings and experi-ences. They make links between them, and describe some similaritiesand differences both within and between religions. They describe theimpact of religion on people's lives. They suggest meanings for a rangeof forms of religious expression.

Attainment target 2Pupils raise, and suggest answers to, questions of identity, belonging,meaning, purpose, truth, values and commitments. They apply theirideas to their own and other people's lives. They describe what inspiresand influences themselves and others. (QCA 2004)

These have implications for secular pupils, especially. Citizenshipalso has a transformatory aspect, transforming both pupils andsociety, although religion may in some ways be sidelined intonarrow issues of personal identity and some community issues. Insummary, the policy base for RE does indeed expect RE to have aspecific impact on pupils' personal development.

A second research question would be to ask: What effects orimpact might RE have (and how do we know)? Whatever syllabusessay about the hoped-for impact of RE, its actual impact needsseparate study. Where there is a gap between the stated aims and thereality of RE, this can lead to considerable frustration, especially ifRE gives the impression that it is easier to show respect for ancientreligions, than it is to show respect for the current lives (includingsome of the religious lives) of the current pupils. In terms of acad-emic performance, there is some evidence - albeit unclear evi-dence - in the inspection data. A recent Ofsted report on RE(Ofsted 2002) said that pupils' achievements 'remain disappointinglylow', but attitudes remain at least 'satisfactory' in over nine in ten


schools and 'very positive'in over seven in ten schools. The 'MakingRE Work'project (Bell 1999, Rudge 1998 and Zamorski 2000, alsosummarized in Rudge 2001) focused on three, chronologicallysequenced, overlapping themes:

the relevance of RE to social justice, human rights and interfaith dia-logue, in the UK;

the tensions between local and national provision for RE in the contextof the standards agenda in the UK; and

the emergence of citizenship education that itself questioned some ofRE's aims and outcomes.

The research looked in enormous detail at the need for training, andmore broadly the need for effective strategies to support schoolsand pupils. However, the related project on effective pedagogies forRE (Agombar et al. from www.uea.ac.uk/care/nasc/NASC_home.htm), the 'NASC' study, gave a less promising view of RE, citing RE,along with business studies, economics and personal, social andhealth education, as contributing to disaffection amongst schoolpupils. In summary, then, despite some evidence of relatively lowstandards, some evidence of a positive contribution to social justice,human rights and interfaith dialogue, and some approaches to peda-gogy that might generate disaffection, there is mixed evidence on theimpact of RE. There is therefore plenty more for RE researchers todo in this field.

The following exercise goes to the heart of the issue of the valueof RE, and helps give a voice to pupils. Pupils do value the oppor-tunity to have a voice, and are indeed Voiced' in the NationalFramework document (QCA 2004). Pupil quotations on the valueof RE, taken from the PCfRE RE Festival database (available atwww.pcfre.org.uk/db/), themselves can be researched, or the ques-tions used for further research (as suggested in Weston 2003).

www.uea.ac.uk/care/nasc/NASC_home.htm

www.uea.ac.uk/care/nasc/NASC_home.htm



Exercise 6.2: The value of RE

In any organization there are different parts. For example, in aschool, there are different subjects. Forget about the things thatcould be sold in the shops (such as furniture), and think insteadabout the value of each subject. Why is one more valuable thananother? To what extent is the value intrinsic to the subject (thevalue of the subject in itself, for example in helping pupilsdevelop their own ideas), and to what extent is the value extrin-sic to the subject (the value of the subject for other purposes, forexample in helping qualify pupils for a job)?

If all subjects in school were, in total, worth exactly 1,000units, how much would each subject be worth, and why? Pupilsand teachers might work on this question, preferably in smallgroups. The list of subjects below is based on the English statu-tory curriculum for pupils aged 11-14 (DffiE and QCA 1999),and of course could be adapted to suit other curricula.

Once individual pupils or groups have filled in the values andthe reasons for attributing those values, these responses can becombined into a whole-class or whole-school account.

More sophisticated analysis can be achieved if other character-istics are included on the response sheet, such as the age andgender of the respondent, and other social or religious character-istics. It could be used, for example, to analyse whether religiouslyactive pupils set a higher value on RE, as long as responses weresuitably anonymous to avoid ethical research problems of requir-ing responses on issues that pupils may wish to keep private.

Subject Value Why this value?(intrinsic andextrinsic value)

ArtCitizenshipDesign and technologyEnglishGeographyHistoryICTMathsModern foreign languages


MusicPSHEREScience

Total value: 1,000 units

A more sophisticated use of the exercise might involve more'modelling', where one variable is changed in order to see theimpact on other variables. For example:

If RE were abolished, which other subjects might increasetheir 'value' in order to compensate for this loss, and howwould they change?If RE were to become the study of a single religion, what'value' would it lose or gain?

More informal 'modelling' of such a kind has been completedby Gearon (2004) modelling the curriculum in such a way as toemphasize the complementarity of the two subjects, and Crick(2004) contesting that position in a review of the book (see alsoLockyer et al 2004).

Religion within citizenship and human rightseducationOne of the leading researchers on the interconnections betweenRE, religion and citizenship education is Gearon (e.g. 2002a,2002b, 2003, 2004, 2005 and Gearon (ed.) 2003). His work can bedescribed in terms of religion's place in the world, its relationshipto the United Nations and citizenship or human rights educationand the connections between RE and citizenship or human rightseducation. He starts from the idea that religion's role in public andpolitical life has been underplayed. Talk of 'secularization' has oftenmeant that religion, in Western contexts, has been pushed into the'private' sphere since the eighteenth-century Enlightenment.However, this appears to be changing as there is increasing evidenceof the importance of religion in post-Cold War public and politi-cal life, often, but not exclusively, centring on issues of humanrights, including freedom of religion or belief. The post-Cold War


context is particularly important, with Bowker and Smart workingon this since the 1960s, attacking the secularization thesis (as welldescribed in Smart's final book, Smart 1999). For example, in 1998the US legislature passed the International Religious Freedom Act:a requirement for the US government to have a report on religiousfreedom every year (available on the Internet, on the US Depart-ment of State's website at www.state.gov/). Religious freedom istherefore seen as a barometer of wider freedoms, although thisshould not be regarded as uncontroversial.

The United Nations system incorporated and defined freedom ofreligion or belief since the 1948 UN Universal Declaration of HumanRights (see www.unhchr.ch/udhr/), but the early history of the UNtended, according to Gearon, to downplay religious and ideologicaldiversity. The notion of'universal'human rights itself may downplaydiversity as the universality of the declared rights itself seems to denythe specificity of religious context (it can be described as a 'human-ist' text), even though it may be the religious contexts that provide,for many people, the reasons for having such rights. However,freedom of religion and belief, incorporating non-religious beliefs,was incorporated in the 1981 UN Declaration on the Elimination of AllForms of Intolerance and Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief(www.ohchr.org/english/law/religion.htm). This has meant that,after a long neglect or low-level treatment of religion explicitly, theUN system from the late 1970s and with the 1981 Declaration beganto recognize the international significance of religion for a stableworld order. There is a UN Special Rapporteur on Religion andBelief, with that role having considerable relevance to education,including UNESCO work (see www.unesco.org/). The 1992 UNDeclaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic,Religious and Linguistic Minorities (www.ohchr.org/english/law/minorities.htm) is further evidence of a move to considering theseissues as important, despite or perhaps related to the conflicts pre-cisely over these issues in the 1990s.

It is worth considering, as a separate issue, the role of religion incivic education, citizenship and human rights education as that has,according to Gearon, been significantly underplayed. The CrickReport (Crick 1998, and see also Lockyer et al. 2004) is evidence ofthis, although the National Curriculum orders on citizenship (asdescribed in DfEE and QCA 1999) slightly redresses that imbalance.

www.state.gov/

www.unhchr.ch/udhr/

www.ohchr.org/english/law/religion.htm

www.unesco.org/

www.ohchr.org/english/law/minorities.htm



Reflecting broader global trends, there is increasing recognition ofthe importance of religion in citizenship and human rights educa-tion, although the recognition of the importance of teaching aboutreligion remains arguably less strong in civic or citizenship educationthan in religious education. Paul Marshall of Freedom House in theUS (Marshall 2000, and on the Web at www. freedomhouse.org/religion/) publishes on religious freedom in the world, with a slightlymore objective approach than that of the US Department of State.He gives the US a top rating (i.e. 1), with the UK getting a lowergrade (i.e. 2) (due to the establishment of the Church of England),Burma, Turkmenistan, China and Saudi Arabia getting much lowergrades (e.g. 7). There are major issues relating to apparentlyconflicting rights, such as religious rights perhaps being in conflictwith other human rights. Gender is itself an important theme in this,as is the balance between freedom of expression and freedom of reli-gion. The latter has recently been brought out in the conflicts in theUK over the play Behzti set in a Sikh gurdwara, and over the televis-ing of Jerry Springer: The Musical (both can be investigated at, forexample, www.guardianunliniited.co.uk/ with an archive of religionnews at www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/religion).

This brings the research back to the issue of RE and citizenshipor human rights education. RE is a subject that in many ways,understandably, stresses the positive in religions. That positiveapproach, however, is one that can lead to avoiding some of themore difficult issues, and so the political has often been underplayedin RE, and contentious historical contexts have, according toGearon, been sidestepped. For example, a Christian tradition ofcomplicity in colonialism and imperialism is one such 'avoided'issue. Yet, within Christianity, there are also liberating and anti-establishment figures such as Oscar Romero. A topic such as geno-cide is useful as a case study for considering religion in its globalcontext (as in Gearon 2005). From a religious and cultural per-spective, genocide is important, as there are often religious and cul-tural bases to genocide (described for example in Power 2003, andsee also Smith 2003). In 1948, the Universal Declaration of HumanRights was signed on 10 December, the day after the declaration ongenocide. In other words, it was the context of genocide that setthe scene for 'universal' human rights. Gearon 2005 follows this up,as does (in an applied approach) Gearon 2004. There is, according

www.freedomhouse.org/religion/


www.guardianunliniited.co.uk/

www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/religion


Exercise 6.3: The religion policeAsk pupils to imagine that religion has been made illegal, and theyhave all been recruited, for one week only, to the 'religion police'.

Working initially in class time, and then completing the workfor homework, they must identify all evidence they can of reli-gion, over seven days. Evidence might include religious symbolsworn by people (whether worn for religious reasons or simplyas jewellery), religious buildings, signs and writing on shops(such as 'ideal for Christmas' or 'Halal meat'), conversations inwhich people use religious terms (including 'bless you'), televi-sion programmes mentioning religion, art work including reli-gious symbolism or music with religious lyrics.

Pupils engage imaginatively in the exercise, many showing afrightening affinity for police work of this kind and/or for well-organized resistance fighting, and RE teachers are more likely tofear the completion than the absence of the homework.

Extended work may be completed on more 'real' situations.For example, there have been bans on religious dress by someUK schools, who have inflexible uniform rules, and by allFrench schools. In contrast, pupils may also look at the oppositesituation, such as the legal requirement for UK school to startevery day with 'collective worship' (see for example Gush 1994).

to Gearon, 'an increased emphasis on fostering tolerance and free-dom of religion or belief through school education', and 'an in-creased emphasis on religion and culture in international polities'.

The following exercise is adapted from Stern 2006b, and can becompleted either as homework or classwork.

Conclusion

Talking of the 'religion police' reminds people of the necessarycontroversy in RE. RE teachers in the UK are often defensiveabout the subject. It might be appropriate to think of how RE canbe more confident, and tackle the difficult issues. When someonecomplains to an RE teacher, 'But religions have caused most of theworld's wars and terrorism', the answer need not be 'No, that is not


real religion'. The answer could be 'Yes, and that is why it is worthstudying, and why it is worth getting people together from differentreligious and non-religious traditions to discuss and argue aboutthese very issues'. There are many aspects of RE, human rights,values and citizenship that can be illuminated by research, with theresearch drawing on a wide variety of disciplines. From research onworld politics and the impact of RE described in this chapter, it isclear that RE needs all the researchers it can get in the classroom.Despite the enormous range of skills of full-time professionalresearchers working on RE - many of whom are represented in thisbook — it is only if RE teachers and pupils are themselves involvedin research that the full potential of research to support the subjectcan be exploited. A particular approach to research, involvingteachers and pupils as researchers, and putting research at the centreof RE, is therefore described in the next chapter.

7 Ethnographic research incommunities

They see us in a very funny way!(Interview response of young British Muslim)

Introduction

Research on sacred texts, described in Chapter 2, has investigatedthe relationships between pupils, texts and religious communities,and this work led easily into the study of dialogue in RE, in Chapter3. Dialogue work recognizes the Voices' of pupils, and recognitionand involvement are central to inclusion, the topic of Chapter 4.Teachers are part of this dialogue, and the significance of researchon pedagogy was the theme of Chapter 5. The relationshipsbetween teachers and pupils are models for relationships beyond theschool, with RE being a model of and an influence on the moraland political issues described in Chapter 6. What connects all ofresearch in RE is how embedded research is in the everyday workof schools, and how sensitive research must be to the relationshipsand the ways of life that make up the whole school community. Itis fitting, then, to continue with a chapter on ethnographic researchin RE, as ethnography has at its heart the need to understand notonly the people being studied, on their own terms, but also theresearchers completing the study, and the relationships betweenresearchers and researched. It is not simply that we can have an'ethnographic approach to life', attempting to understand peopleand communicate this understanding sensitively to others. It is thatthe ethnographic researcher is not, and should not attempt to be, aseparate, impersonal and neutral observer of life, looking at 'inter-esting objects of study'. Buber (1958) describes two forms of com-munication. A person can treat the other as an object, as 'it', or cantreat the other as a subject, as 'thou'. Buber's contrast between 'I-it'


and 'I-thou' relationships is used to understand people and to under-stand social and political structures. His is a good basis for the workof this book, as it also applies to teachers, pupils and researchers,most especially ethnographic researchers.

Ethnography, pluralism and RE

Starting with some definitions, ethnography is etymologicallyderived from 'people-writing' or 'people-drawing', with 'people'perhaps meaning race or nation. So ethnography is related toethnology (for example investigating tea ceremonies), and toanthropology, which in the past often involved investigating isolatedand preliterate communities, though it later developed into socialanthropology often in urban settings. 'Ethnography' refers toimmersive fieldwork in a real or a virtual community, and to thereport of the fieldwork, which may be in print, a documentary ora film. It is an empirical study consisting largely of more-or-lessparticipant observation, and semi-structured or unstructured inter-viewing allowing the interviewee some 'agency'.

This issue of agency is an important ethical and political issue. Oneof the leading ethnographic researchers working in RE is Nesbitt,who describes researching young Hindu homes (reported in Jacksonand Nesbitt 1993), and the potential problems of power, of havingthe power to interpret and use material gained from people.Increasingly, therefore, the subjects of research are being treated asactive participants, with some editorial input. Such 'deep listening',and empowering people, can be an attitude to life as well as toresearch. We can have an 'ethnographic' approach to life, althoughwe can also choose to reject that, as people and as researchers. Theaims of ethnography are to understand human behaviour at ever-increasing depth, from the point of view of those studied, and tocommunicate this deepening understanding sensitively to others.When ethnographic research is completed for RE, as it is by Nesbittand others at the Warwick Religions and Education Research Unit(www.warwick.ac.uk/wie/WRERU), there are therefore manybenefits to RE teaching and learning, and to research in RE.

It is also, in contrast, important to be aware of some of thedangers of small-scale ethnographic studies. The clangers includethe possibility of being superficial (simply looking for 'easy to


ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCH IN COMMUNITIES 97

see' characteristics), 'essentializing' an aspect of religion (makingsomething that is incidental into something that is central to thereligious life), homogenizing a 'religion' (assuming all those of areligion are like the people studied) or creating artificial bound-aries between religions (by making differences between individu-als into universal differences). A simple example given by Nesbittis her self-questioning, when studying Hindu children, askingwhy she was picking out the child's use of a puja corner, todescribe her life at home, whilst ignoring the child spending timewatching soap operas on the television. A classroom example,from Stern, is of a group of children watching a video of a Muslimwedding in Bangladesh, the wedding of family members of oneof the class. When the class was asked to say what they had learnedfrom watching the video, the most striking lesson' was describedby one pupil (not from Bangladesh), who said with real surprisein his voice 'I'd no idea they had mopeds in Bangladesh!' Some ofthe advantages and challenges of the ethnographic study of reli-gion are analysed and exemplified in the work of various writers,including Nesbitt (especially Nesbitt 2004, and other related workin Jackson and Nesbitt 1993, Nesbitt 2001, 2003, 2005 andNesbitt and Kaur 1998), Searle-Chatterjee (1997, 2000), Ballard(1994), Baumann (1996, 1999) and Geaves (1998, see also Geavesetal. 2004).

Ethnography, pluralism and RJE all interconnect. Skeie (1995)talks about pluralism as a commitment to an affirmative responseto diversity or plurality. Plurality is a significant aspect of post- orlate-modernity, while pluralism is our response to this, accordingto Skeie. And there is an acknowledgement of religious and cul-tural plurality, which has driven much recent RE. Interculturaleducation, as exemplified in Nesbitt s recent book (Nesbitt 2004),is a phrase used more in French than English, with 'intercultural'helpfully bypassing some of the conflict between multicultural andanti-racist movements. This can therefore connect the study ofreligion (as in Sutcliffe 2004) and RE. We should ask ourselveswhether we, in universities or schools, can be more like ethnogra-phers in how we work, teach and interact. This is relevant to thewhole school ethos, not just to RE. It may boil down to some-thing pretty close to 'respect'.


Exercise 7.1: Respect map

Pupils as researchers can construct a 'respect map' of their ownschool.

If work in RE has included how people identify themselvesas (for example) an atheist, a Buddhist, a Christian, a Hindu, aJew, a Humanist, a Muslim, a New Age follower or a Sikh, pupils(in pairs or small groups) could become researchers concernedwith one of those labels'. The questions and topics described byNesbitt ('guidelines for teachers', Nesbitt 2004, pp. 154-66)may be helpful as preparation for pupils and teachers alike, aswould her subtle analysis of identity (Nesbitt 2004, chapter 10).

Each group should be given a map of the school, with therooms appropriately labelled with what subjects or activities theyhost. The pupils should interview other pupils and staff, askingabout where in the school 'atheists' (or whichever group is beingstudied) would be most respected, and why. For example, pupilsmight say that 'atheists' are most respected in science laborato-ries and in the staff room, or that Jews are most respected in REand English rooms.

The analysis of the respect maps of members of all the groupscan provide a subde picture of the social organization of theschool, how different subjects and activities of the school areregarded by pupils and how much pupils understand about theseissues.

Other 'respect maps' can be completed for boys and girls, orfor members of different social groups. The value for RE ofstarting with those self-identified with religious categories is thatit can provide a basis for much further RE, clearly connected tothe lives of the pupils as lived in their own school.

Ethnography, Muslim diversity and RE

Using ethnography can not only help teachers and pupils to under-stand the people being studied, it can also help researchers to seehow they in turn are understood by those studied. This is particu-larly well illustrated by the research of Smalley (as reported inSmalley 2005, and see also Grove and Smalley 2003), on teachingabout and learning from Muslims, in part in order to understand


Islamophobia in the classroom. Smalley completed ethnographicwork with two Muslim communities in Peterborough, and it isworth describing some of the processes of that research, as anexample of some of the opportunities for ethnographic researchwith clear implications for RE.

Peterborough had two distinct Muslim communities, representinga huge diversity in terms of ethnicity, language, reasons for being inBritain, religion and, of course, individual, personal differences.There were interviews with 24 parents and further research withtheir children, with the sample coming from each of the two groups.One group was from Pakistani background families who were mostlylabour migrants, Sunni Muslims, from a rural background and withvaried educational backgrounds. These interviewees mostly had anexpectation of marrying and doing business with other Britishpeople from Pakistani backgrounds. The second group were fromAfrican Asian background families, originally refugees, Shi'aMuslims (Khoja Shi'a Ithna'asheri) with urban backgrounds. Theymostly had an expectation of marrying and doing business with awide range of people from Britain, East Africa, India, Canada, theUSA and Dubai. Smalley looked across two generations: how didparents bring up children and how did this compare with the waythey had been brought up? It is helpful to describe some examples ofresearch findings, along with their implications for PvE. As onerespondent said, 'They see us in a very funny way!'

One piece of research involved participant observation at amosque during Muharmm (related to the death of Hussein, thegrandson of the prophet), stressing suffering and martyrdom andmoral issues for the contemporary world such as remorse andmercy. Preaching on one occasion was by a woman on the themeof Islam as 'all or nothing', on the death of Hussein, with breast-beating and, later, cheerful socializing. Later preaching also involvedthe congregation being drawn *to a pitch of frenzied weeping',which 'ended as quickly as it had begun'. Even small children wereinvolved with active roles to play and written work, taking themback to the routes of Shi'a Islam and the morals of Karbala.

For teaching RE content authentically, this work would bring tolife characteristics of Sunni and Shi'a Islam. It could also help teach-ers to convey something of the power and purpose of ritual, thusproviding a more accessible view of what might otherwise seem


inexplicable. It could provide RE with a view of the practice andexperience of women and girls (which is not always easily avail-able), and connections with the expressions of remorse in othertraditions (such as Good Friday processions in southern Europe). Interms of the process of RE, this work would provide a way ofrecording and communicating religion, and an insight into how thisexperience fits into a bigger picture and tensions between differentexperiences within a tradition.

A second theme of Smalley's research involved interviewingMuslim women about the hijab. Texts of research (such as Cohenet al. 2000) point out many of the difficulties of completing inter-views, including problems with leading questions and withconfidentiality. Researchers are divided over the advantages ofbeing 'insiders' and 'outsiders' (with a superb set of articles on thetopic in McCutcheon 1999). Smalley helped create a 'connection'with the interviewees by talking as a parent, herself. Responses totalking about hijab varied widely, itself an important lesson foranyone wishing to teach 'the right answer' (or scared of presenting'the wrong answer') on such issues. One respondent said 'I just feelmore comfortable in it now — I feel more confident', others talkedabout the importance of inward goodness not (just) outwardappearances, others about only doing things when they are under-stood (for the right reasons). However, such paraphrazing of theaccounts takes away from their power and interest. The fullaccounts, and, even more, being involved in the interviews them-selves, provide a much better sense of the individual life storiesbehind each decision.

Learning from home environments is a third theme of Smalley'sresearch. This involved visits to homes in order to complete inter-views, but the visits themselves provided further insights. Forexample, the pictures on the walls and the position of books aroundrooms all contributed to children's informal learning about Islam.The interviews took place, often, with children in other rooms orsitting with the mother, food being offered and questions aboutschooling such as difficulties over homework. These 'ambient' char-acteristics, which could have been seen as distractions from thepurpose of the interview, in fact helped retain a focus on peoplerather than on edicts and doctrines, and helped stress how peoplenegotiate everyday life.


For RE, then, it is important to understand the variety of experi-ence that children from different backgrounds bring to a diverseschool. Overall, the qualitative fieldwork, according to Smalley,'gives polyphonic depth and richness - we hear many voices'.Ethnographic research can add authenticity to RE, and can add per-sonal — but not institutional - authority to RE. Smalley points out thatthis is no simple matter, as authenticity may not be 'positive' in theway many RE teachers would expect. In Smalley (2005) the ques-tion is asked 'How can we be positive but realistic?', which is anextension of the same problem. It takes the argument back to theissues raised in Chapter 6, above, on controversy in RE: RE must bea gritty subject, and must not be a bland diet of 'niceness'. ForSmalley, the answer to the question is in multiple views (i.e. seeingexamples from the whole range of all traditions) and in activeinvolvement (i.e. through ethnographic research and through dia-logue within RE classrooms).

The following exercise helps guide a piece of what might becalled 'reverse ethnography'. As 'ethnography' has already beendescribed as deriving etymologically from 'people-writing' or'people-drawing', here is an attempt at the reverse: an attempt to'draw with people'.

Exercise 7.2: Reverse ethnography: drawingwith peopleMost pupils and adults are familiar with 'photostories', where akind of strip cartoon is not drawn but made up using a series ofposed photographs. They have been popular in newspapers andmagazines, and have been often used to illustrate social andmoral problems or dilemmas.

Pupils can create their own photostories. Such an activity hasbeen made considerably easier in recent years, with the emer-gence of electronic cameras and the ease of editing pictures andtext with the simplest of word-processors.

Working in groups of four to six pupils, the pupils should begiven a particular issue or dilemma related to their RE lessontopic, and be asked to create a twelve-photo photostory to illus-trate that issue. They will need to pose for, as well as photograph


the twelve scenes: hence, 'drawing with people'. They will alsoneed to write the captions to each of the twelve scenes.

An example of a topic, related to Smalley's research, could bea discussion in a Muslim family about hijab.

Pupils creating photostories are often motivated by the taskitself, as well as the topic. Further motivation might be added byan expectation that the photostories would be used to teach thetopic to other pupils in the school.

ConclusionEthnographic research is by its nature small-scale research, devel-oping complex accounts of the everyday lives of people rather thangeneralized accounts of 'society' as a whole. It is the sharing ofethnographic accounts, the communication between ethnographicresearchers, that can build up our understanding beyond that of theinitial subjects of the study. The following exercise, adapted fromStern 2006a, should help spread the word about ethnographicresearch and allow teachers and pupils to share their experiences.Schools should consider the ethics of what material it is appropri-ate to put on intranet or Internet sites, and the consideration ofonline ethics is itself a valuable contribution both to understandingRE and to understanding research.

Exercise 7.3: Blogging for REIf a class or an RE department wants to demonstrate the valueof its research, they may be able to develop a class online diaryor blog (i.e. a shortened version of the word 'weblog'), increas-ingly popular as a genre with experienced web users. Guidanceon Hogging can be found at www.blogger.com (for software andtechnical guidance), with examples of UK blogs covering allaspects of life at www.bloggingbrits.co.uk

A class could create a blog for RE, accessible to other classesin that school. The ethics of presenting research in this wayshould be discussed with the class and with those having aresponsibility for the school's Web policy (with general researchethics available from Cohen et al. 2000).

www.blogger.com

www.bloggingbrits.co.uk


The blog may helpfully start with reports on ethnographicresearch as described in this chapter, and might also move on toinclude reports on other work based on the various exercisesdescribed in earlier chapters of this book, reports on visits to reli-gious and other communities, and reports on visits from suchcommunities — perhaps including answers to questions posed bypupils. It might also include work by local students of religion,members of local organizations such as SACREs and accountsof religious and other celebrations.

8 The future of RErsearch

I was scared because I'm a Christian and I thought that when I was thereI wouldn't know if I'm a Christian or a Hindu.

(10-year-old pupil, explaining associating the word frightening'with amandir, prior to a visit)

Introduction

The fixture of RE as a subject and the future of research in RE areclosely connected. These connections are made throughout thisbook. In this final chapter, there is an attempt to see whether thereis a single argument running through the various themes in RE andresearch, based on the identification of problems in need of solu-tions or, more positively, questions in need of answers. Within RE,problems or questions have been identified with respect to theproper understanding and use of sacred texts, the methods of devel-oping dialogue within and between communities, the nature of andways of achieving inclusion, the development of coherent peda-gogy in RE and how RE can properly contribute to political issues.Within research, problems or questions have been identified withrespect to interpretation and translation, how meaningful dialoguecan be stimulated and captured, how to measure inclusion, under-standing the relationship between what teachers do and what pupilslearn, and understanding and measuring the impact of religionand RE. Chapter 7, on ethnography, raised the problem or ques-tion of how RE can proceed through the use ethnographic researchmethods. Difficult as it is to reduce such complex problems to asingle one, it seems as though there is a relational theme runningthrough them all. How do pupils relate to sacred texts and their usein religious communities, how do pupils relate to each other and to

THE FUTURE OF RE:search 105

communities within and beyond school, how do pupils and teach-ers relate to each other, how do pupils and teachers of RE relate tonational and international social and political contexts, and how doRE and research relate to each other? There is a single concept thathelps illuminate all of these relationships: that of sincerity. Sincerityis not the answer to all the problems of RE or research, but it is avaluable principle rarely addressed in the literature, and one that canhelp carry RE and research through to a better future, a futuremaking full use of research in RE, a future that might be properlydescribed as one of RE:search.

Research and sincerityMuch empirical research in RE (as described for example in theexcellent Francis et al. 1996) has followed social scientific method-ologies, focusing on questioning in a way that avoids confusing (over-complex or unclear) or leading questions. If confusing questionsgenerate confused answers, and leading questions bias the answers inthe direction in which the questioner leads, researchers can simplyavoid these types of questions. By avoiding misleading questions, itis thought that lying will be avoided and truth will emerge. Thoseinvolved in religion will understand how limited 'avoiding lying' isas an approach to research, and how much more is required for mean-ingful dialogue about religion. Reaching towards the truth, in REresearch or in the rest of life, requires more than 'not lying'. The'more' that is required may be described as 'sincerity'.

Within social science research, there are two major traditions,phenomenological or interpretive research, which generally makesuse of more qualitative research methods, and positivistic research,which generally makes use of more quantitative research methods.Research projects often draw on both traditions, despite those trad-itions being based on contrasting philosophies. The implicationsof 'sincerity' are therefore worth working through both traditions.And although sincerity is little studied in mainstream methodol-ogy textbooks, it is supported by philosophic heavyweights such asWittgenstein, Macmurray and Habermas. Wittgenstein contrasts'truthfulness' and 'sincerity', so that 'A dog cannot be a hypocrite,but neither can he be sincere' (Wittgenstein 1958, p. 229e). That is,people and dogs can be truthful, but only people can be sincere. As


well as attempting to avoid some of the biases associated with par-ticular research tools, then, RE research should try to elicit a form ofsincerity from respondents, something more than 'avoiding lying'.Macmurray, similarly, contrasts 'negative untruthfulness' (i.e. lying)and sincerity, with sincerity being 'much more than' avoiding lying:

[Sincerity] is positively expressing what you do think and believe. Torefrain from expressing what you think or believe or know to someone,if it is to his advantage or to someone else's advantage that he shouldknow it, is positive dishonesty. We call it dissimulation — the suppres-sion of the truth. (Macmurray 1995b, p. 76)

This is similar to Mingers' description of the contrast in Habermasbetween 'truth' and 'truthfulness'.

Habermas argues that any communicative utterance aimed at generat-ing understanding and agreement implicitly raises four validity claims —that it is comprehensible, that it is factually correct or in principlepossible (truth), that it is acceptable normatively (rightness), and that itis meant sincerely (truthfulness). (Mingers 1999, p. 4)

Sincerity in phenomenological researchPhenomenological research approaches focus on 'meaning-making',with the meaning often being seen as made by individuals, and insome circumstances by the researcher and the respondent together.Such research is likely to ignore the systematic measurement of socialorganizations and the possibility of systematic measured comparisonof organizations. Research methods used include participant obser-vation when the researcher joins the group to be studied, the closeanalysis of conversations or texts and in-depth interviews sometimesmodelled on psychotherapeutic interviewing techniques (many ofwhich are well described in Silverman 1997, and for studies of reli-gion in McCutcheon 1999). This can lead to more individualisticmeaning-making, as in Moustakas' description of heuristic research(1994). 'Heuristics' is a term used in general research methodologyfor rather open investigation or discovery, sometimes by trial anderror, and for Moustakas, heuristic research


refers to a process of internal search through which one discovers thenature and meaning of experience and develops methods and proce-dures for further investigation and analysis. The self of the researcher ispresent throughout the process and, while understanding the phenom-enon with increasing depth, the researcher also experiences growingself-awareness and self-knowledge. Heuristic processes incorporate cre-ative self-processes and self-discoveries. (Moustakas 1994, p. 17)

It is worth quoting Moustakas at some length, as his is a model ofresearch that is open to all researchers. Moustakas' views will havemany echoes for those in RE concerned with the search for truth:

I must immerse myself totally and completely in my world, take in whatis offered without bias or prejudgement. I must pause and considerwhat my own life is and means, in conscious awareness, in thought, inreflections. I enter into my own conscious reflections and meditations,open and extend my perceptions of life and reach deeper meanings andessences. This connectedness between what is out there, in its appear-ance and reality, and what is within me in reflective thought and aware-ness, is in truth a wondrous gift of being human. But knowledge doesnot end with moments of connectedness, understanding, and meaning.Such journeys open vistas to new journeys for uncovering meaning,truth, and essence —journeys within journeys, within journeys. This isperhaps the most telling reality of all, that each stopping place is but apause in arriving at knowledge. Satisfying as it is, it is but the inspir-ation for a new beginning. Knowledge of appearances and reasonedinquiry are not the end of knowing. No scientific discovery is evercomplete ... This is the beauty of knowledge and discovery. It keeps usforever awake, alive, and connected with what is and with what mattersin life. (Moustakas 1994, p. 65)

That is a wonderful picture of research. However, the tendency tomore individualistic meaning-making of this kind might yet troublesome researchers of religion and some other phenomenologicalresearch. For example, personal involvement can cause difficulties,as described of the meetings with a Vodou priestess noted byMacCarthy Brown in McCutcheon 1999. Helpfully, the individ-ualistic (and potentially over-personal) approach is contrasted bySilverman with the possibility of systematic analysis in qualitative


research. He stresses the need 'to broaden our conception of quali-tative research beyond issues of subjective "meaning" and towardsissues of language, representation and social organization' (Silverman1997, p. 1). He also notes his 'belief that a social science, which takesseriously the attempt to sort fact from fancy, remains a valid enter-prise', as part of the 'search for ways of building links between socialscience traditions rather than dwelling in "armed camps" fightinginternal battles' (Silverman 1997, p. 1). Ethnography can be build-ing that bridge, by following the guidance of Silverman and also thatof Moustakas, who himself refers back to Buber's 'explorations ofdialogue and mutuality' (Moustakas 1994, p. 17).

It is the return to issues of dialogue that reaffirms the need forsincerity in phenomenological research, and it is dialogue that canalso bring back the broader community dynamics, vital in schoolsand in school-based research in RE. The mutuality of relationshipsin community is underpinned by Macmurray's concern withschools as communities, affirming the humanity and integrity ofpupils and teachers alike.

Children and adolescents — the beneficiaries or the victims of ourteaching, are young persons. Infants are very young persons indeed. Wefall into line with the deepest insight of our religious heritage. Weadults are fallen beings, who have lost the innocence to which we wereborn. We have betrayed the personal integrity of our childhood inbecoming conformed to the fashion of this world. If we are to recoverour integrity, we have to become as little children. For the integrity ofthe personal is to be found more certainly and more securely in the earlyyears of life than is ever likely to be achieved in our maturity. Thisinsight is at last corroborated by science. The psycho-therapist, facedwith the disintegration of the adult personality, must grope his wayalong the paths of memory to the early years when the originalintegrity was lost. The only cure he has to offer is a re-education ofwhat has been miseducated. From this perspective the task of theteacher appears no longer as an effort to achieve an integrity of char-acter that is absent in the young animal; but rather to preserve theintegrity of childhood through the process of its growth and maturity.Here indeed is the basic principle of all personal culture, and thereforeof all true education. The original integrity of the personal must be preservedthrough all the stages of its development. (Macmurray 1968, p. 17-18)


Sincerity in positivistic research

Positivist approaches to research can at times be stereotyped asentirely focused on 'scientific counting', creating systematicmodels of organizations, and ignoring all questions of meaning.The stereotype of positivist research may also include an entirelyneutral researcher who has no impact on the people beingresearched. Yet some of the more positivist research does indeedinvestigate meanings, and most certainly recognizes the difficultiesof achieving neutrality. It is possible that sincerity can helpenhance positivist research, and that is what is attempted here. Todevelop sincerity in research requires creating contexts in whichrespondents feel that their answers matter, and that the questionerwants and needs to know what they think for substantive reasons.This may require more dialogue and 'engagement', and lessanonymity and pretended neutrality, than is usual in research. Itcan mean that research should routinely be set in the context ofpurposes related to the subject of research. For example, intro-ducing research on school effectiveness to pupils, a researchermight ask the pupils whether they would like to help improve theirschool (the answer is almost inevitably 'yes')» and whether theyknow better than, say, their teachers, how to improve their school(the answer is generally also 'yes'). In such a context, and if theresearcher is committed to reporting the research back to thepupils, the student council and the staff, the pupils are likely tofeel — correctly — an incentive to be sincere. The only people whomight be excluded from accepting the assumption that schoolmight be improved, say, would be those who believed school as awhole, or this school in particular, was wholly inadequate — forexample, those who might support the 'deschooling' movement(as for example in Illich 1971, 1974) - and those who believed theschool was perfect in every way. Such pupils are rare, and work byRudduck and colleagues suggests that pupils have many criticismsof schools (including schools with better and worse public 'repu-tations'), but that they share basic educational goals, so that'[b]ehind the public mask of nonchalance that some pupils wearto hide their anxiety about the future is a concern to succeed andsome realisation of the consequences of not making the grade'(Rudduck et al 1996, p. 3).


Researchers, too, will avoid the 'mask of nonchalance', by admit-ting their interest in the responses. In that way, sincerity creates amore honest relationship that is likely to involve more sincereresponses from pupils. The apparent bias of the research - a biastowards finding out what matters - will itself be likely to enhance,rather than detract from, the value of the responses. 'Sincerity' as anapproach to research can also be related to the stress on 'ownership'of research tools, highlighted in the methodology of Dalin andRust. They say that

[organization development assumes that school personnel should havea maximum degree of ownership in the renewal process. Research onchange indicates that successful implementation is highly correktedwith a sense of ownership of the ideas, the process and solutions found.

(Dalin and Rust 1983, p. 175)

In this way, 'ownership' can be seen as a way of increasing the like-lihood of sincerity. Developing the theme of ownership, sinceritycan also be demonstrated by valuing the products of research:research results can be given back to those researched, for their ownuse. The sincerity involved in such approaches to research also hasprofessional implications.

Sincerity in RE researchSincerity in RE research has an impact on RE classrooms whenthose classrooms involve pupils and teachers working together asresearchers, as in ethnographic, interpretive, constructivist andvarious other RE traditions. Classrooms aiming for 'more than notlying' will be learning communities, bound together in a rich dia-logue of truths and human development. RE, a subject itself richin dialogue, truths and human development can lead the way toresearch-rich schooling. The six themes in RE research identifiedfor the Westhill Trust Seminar series in 2004-5, and thereforeaddressed in Chapters 2-7 of this book, addressed current researchin RE of relevance to teachers in the UK. They also have relevanceto RE researchers across the world, with UK RE often seen as aleading light in international educational contexts. The researchtasks - described as 'exercises' — spread through the book each


illustrate different ways in which RE research, and therefore RE,might exemplify sincerity. It is helpful to give specific examples,explaining the relationship between the task and sincerity.

On sacred text, Exercise 2.3 on story-telling from the BhagavadGita is helped by the expectation of trying to understand the inten-tions of those who use the text in a religious context, and trying tounderstand the purposes to which pupils might put the text. Thework would demonstrate less sincerity to the extent that pupils weregiven questions with simple, ready-made, right and wrong answers,or were given no time to consider the importance of the texts to theirown lives, religious or not. Research on dialogue, like dialogue of allkinds, can be made more likely to be sincere if participants havesomething of importance to talk about, and Exercise 3.1 on whatmore can be done to promote religious harmony provides such atopic, a topic of especial significance in those periods when dishar-mony is all too common. Inclusion is investigated by inspectionbodies such as Ofsted, and some of the guidance on inspection (suchas Ofsted 2000a) suggests inspectors should talk to pupils about theirfeelings on inclusion. The involvement of pupils is to be welcomed,and research on inclusion in RE should go even further. Exercise 4.1asks pupils and teachers to investigate in detail how inclusive the REcurriculum is, with sincerity promoted by the self-reflective natureof the research. It can be further enhanced by explicitly framing theresearch as part of improvement-planning for the RE department. Ina similar way, on pedagogy, pupils are asked in Exercise 5.2 abouttheir own subjects, and the responses are not guesses at the 'rightanswers', but genuinely meant questions about how teachers andpupils typically speak in lessons. Human rights, values and citizen-ships are increasingly researched in RE, and they are also the basis formuch good work beyond the UK. Making research more sincere canbe about making the questions and answers current and relevant tothe lives of the pupils, as in the debate in Exercise 6.1. Ethnographicresearch in RE is likely to be based in a tradition where sinceritymight be expected, and Exercise 7.2 looks at clarifying the processof ethnography, in order to enable more sincere research to takeplace. It illuminates ethnography by transposing it: by drawing withpeople rather than drawing/writing about people.

The more sincerity there is in RE research, the more value thatresearch is likely to have, in itself and for RJE, schools and the wider


communities in which they are set. There are many who will jokeabout sincerity, and trivialize its significance. There is a well-known quotation from Jean Giraudoux, a French diplomat andwriter of the early twentieth century: 'The secret of success issincerity. If you can fake that, you've got it made' (www.quotationspage.com/quote/481.html). Joking apart, an approachto RE and research that embodies sincerity is one that could helpenrich and enliven an already rich and vibrant subject. TeachingRE, with teachers and pupils as researchers in the classroom, canbring people and communities together. Now, just as in everyother period of history, this is a worthwhile and much needed task.

www.quotationspage.com/quote/481.html


Participants in the WesthillTrust Seminars

This entire book is the result of the collaboration of all those whoparticipated in the Westhill Trust Seminars. Those who were at theseminars are listed below. All actively contributed to the book; thereis an asterisk by the names of those who gave formal presentationsat the seminars.

Westhill Trust Seminar 1: Sacred text, covered byChapter 2

Kate Adams, of Bishop Grosseteste College, London.Fatma Amer*, of the Muslim Council of Britain, a teacher and

lecturer.Ian Birnie, chair of the CE Research Committee.Trevor Cooling, of the Stapleford Centre.Terence Copley*, of the Biblos Project, based at the University of

Exeter.Basma El Shayyal, a teacher in London.Teresa Griffiths, of the College of St Mark and Stjohn, Plymouth.Ann Holt, of the Bible Society.Colin Johnson, of the Westhill Trust.Sarah Lane, of the Biblos Project, and of Churches Together.Naina Parmar*, a teacher at Earlham Primary School, London.Rosemary Rivett, of RE Today Professional Services.Julian Stern, of the Institute for Learning, University of Hull.Brigitte Whitehead, of Bloxham School, Oxfordshire.

114 WESTHILL TRUST SEMINARS

Westhill Trust Seminar 2: Dialogue, covered byChapter 3

Justine Biggin, of Christchurch CE Primary, St Leonards on Sea,East Sussex.

Marilyn Bowles, of Willowbrook Primary School, Leicester.Caroline Chick, of Willowbrook Primary School, Leicester.Sarah Eames, of Sandfield Close Primary School, Leicester.Charlotte Gravestock, of East Sussex School Improvement Service

and CfBT.Mary Hayward, of the Warwick Religions and Education Research

Unit, University of Warwick.Julia Ipgrave*, formerly of Belgrave St Peters C of E Primary

School, Leicester, and now of Oxford Brookes University.Bob Jackson*, of the Warwick Religions and Education Research

Unit, University of Warwick.Ursula McKenna, of the Warwick Religions and Education

Research Unit, University of Warwick.Joyce Mackley, of RE Today Professional Services.Lizzie McWhirter, of the Coventry Diocese.James McWhirter, of Shropshire.Jill Maybury, of the Interfaith Education Project, Birmingham.Kevin O'Grady, of High Storrs School, Sheffield.Julian Stern, of the Institute for Learning, University of Hull.

Westhill Trust Seminar 3: Inclusion, covered byChapter 4

Vicky Barlow, RE Advisor for Wrexham.Lesley Beadle, RE Today Professional Services.Denise Brogden, of Turnshaws School, Huddersfield.Geraldine Cooper, of the Interfaith Education Centre, Bradford.Tony Dodd, of the Centre for Educational Studies, University of

Hull.James Holt*, then of Parrs Wood School, Manchester.Eddy Jackson, a teacher from Blackpool.Phil Leivers, formerly RE Advisory Teacher, Coventry, now of

Solihull Education and Children's Services.Francis Loftus, of Barlby High School, Barlby, North Yorkshire.

WESTHILL TRUST SEMINARS 115

Lesley Lumbers, of Immingham School, Immingham, north-eastLincolnshire.

Tal Nye, of Catcote School, Hartlepool.Liz O'Brien, an Adviser for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of

Birmingham.Naina Parmar, of Earlham Primary School, London.Olivia Seymour, of Burnholme Community College, York.Julian Stern*, of the Institute for Learning, University of Hull.

Westhill Trust Seminar 4: Pedagogy, covered byChapter 5

Marian Agombar, of the Keswick Hall RE Centre, University ofEast Anglia.

Sarah Anderson, at the time training to teach at Bishop GrossetesteCollege, Lincoln.

Vicky Barlow, RE Adviser for Wrexham.Lat Blaylock*, of RE Today Professional Services.Lucy Fawcett, of Lydgate Junior School, Sheffield.Dave Francis, an RE consultant of Somerset.Patricia Hannam, of Ulverston Victoria High School, Cumbria.Paul Hopkins, an RE consultant of Lincoln.Colin Johnson, of the Westhill Trust.Martin Lee, then of Mark Hall School, Harlow, Essex, now of

Presdales School, Hertfordshire.Graham Lever, of Oakfield Middle School, Frome, Somerset.Linda Lindan, a teacher from Newcastle-under-Lyme,

Staffordshire.Julian Stern*, of the Institute for Learning, University of Hull.Geoff Teece*, of the School of Education, University of

Birmingham.

Westhill Trust Seminar 5: Human rights, valuesand citizenships, covered by Chapter 6

Linda Asquith, of The Cathedral High School, Wakefield.Jane Atkinson, a teacher from York.David G Attfield, of Durham.Rachel Barker, of RE Today Professional Services.

116 WESTHILL TRUST SEMINARS

Jim Fox, of Joseph Swan School, Gateshead.Liam Gearon*, of the Centre for Research in Human Rights,

Roehampton University.Patricia Hannam, of Ulverston Victoria High School, Cumbria.Colin Johnson, of the Westhill Trust.Joyce Miller, of Education Bradford.Imran Mogra, of the Faculty of Education, University of Central

England in Birmingham.Mary Nakkazi, of Refugees Into Jobs, and soon to return to teach-

ing, London.Jill Napier, of Flegg High School, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk.Linda Rudge*, of the Keswick Hall RE Centre, University of East

Anglia.Julian Stern, of the Institute for Learning, University of Hull.

Westhill Trust Seminar 6: Ethnography, coveredby Chapter 7

Lisa Adams, of Denbigh High School, Luton.Roger Buder, an RE consultant in London.Sarah Edwards, a teacher from Birmingham.Iffat Hussain, of Rhyddings High School, Accrington, Lancashire.Colin Johnson, of the Westhill Trust.Phil Leivers, of Solihull Education and Children's Services.Graham Lever, of Oakfield Middle School, Frome, Somerset.Haris Livas-Dawes, of Hull, and working with the Department of

Ethnography at the British Museum.Eleanor Nesbitt*, of the Warwick Religions and Education

Research Unit, University of Warwick.Kelvin Ravenscroft, of Bradford Grammar School.Sarah Smalley*, RE Adviser for Cambridgeshire.Julian Stern, of the Institute for Learning, University of Hull.Sandra Teacher, the Education Officer at the Board of Deputies of

British Jews.Diana Wilson, formerly a teacher in Cambridgeshire and now of

the Island School, Hong Kong.

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Glossary of acronyms

AREIAC: the UK Association of RE Inspectors, Advisers andConsultants (www.areiac.org.uk).

CE: Christian Education, formerly CEM (the Christian EducationMovement). The body that oversees RE Today Professional Servicesand the PCfRE, amongst other things. Committed to multi-faithreligious education that makes no assumptions about the beliefs orreligious commitments of pupils or teachers.

DfES: Department for Education and Skills (www.dfes.gov.uk).The UK national department for education, covering education inEngland, with other government bodies having responsibilities inWales, Scodand and Northern Ireknd. Previous tides include DfEE(Department for Education and Employment), DfE (Departmentfor Education) and DES (Department of Education and Science).

Hefce: the Higher Education Funding Council for England, thelargest funding body for research in the UK.

ICT: Information and Communications Technology, the phraseused in UK education to refer both to teaching about computersand related technologies, and to the use of such technologies tosupport the teaching of other subjects.

EEP: Individual Education Plan, the agreed plan of work for apupil, especially one identified as having special educational needs.

NRM: New Religious Movement, defined by Holt as a religiousgroup founded within the past 200 years, placing itself or beingplaced by the majority of its 'parent' faith, because of tradition ordoctrine, outside of the mainstream.

Ofsted: the Office for Standards in Education, the UK national

www.areiac.org.uk

www.dfes.gov.uk

GLOSSARY OF ACRONYMS 131

government body responsible for the inspection of schools inEngland and Wales (www.ofsted.gov.uk).

PCfRE: the Professional Council for Religious Education, a pro-fessional body for teachers of RE in the UK (www.pcfre.org.uk).The PCfRE sits within the RE Today Professional Services sectionof CE: Christian Education (www.christianeducation.org.uk), anorganization committed to the teaching of the major world faithsin religious education, and to an accurate and fair representation oftheir beliefs, values and practices in all its teaching materials.

PSHE: Personal, Social and Health Education. In some schools, thisis called PSE (Personal and Social Education) or PSME (Personal,Social and Moral Education). There is therefore an overlap with theScottish subject RME (Religious and Moral Education, see also'RE', below), and the cross-curricular themes of SMSC (Spiritual,Moral, Social and Cultural development, see below).

QCA: Qualifications and Curriculum Authority: UK curriculumauthority, and successor to SCAA (Schools Curriculum andAssessment Authority).

RE: Religious Education, also referred to in some UK schools asReligious and Moral Education (RME, especially in Scotland),Religious Studies and Religious Instruction; in universities mostcommonly referred to as Religious Studies and Theology.

REEP: the RE and Environment Programme, on the Web (atwww.reep.org.uk) and in books such as Vint 1998.

SACRE: the Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education,the organization within local government responsible for RE inthat area.

SMSC: Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural development. Theseare cross-curricular themes identified in the English and WelshNational Curriculum documents (such as DfEE and QCA 1999),and inspected by Ofsted (as described at www.ofsted.gov.uk).

Spelling of technical terms throughout this book are taken wherepossible from the QCA glossary of terms in RE (SCAA 1994), orfrom The Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (Bowker 1997).

www.ofsted.gov.uk

www.pcfre.org.uk

www.christianeducation.org.uk

www.reep.org.uk

www.ofsted.gov.uk

IndexAfganistan 23Africa (East Africa) 99Agombar, Marian 88, 115Amer, Fatma 1, 13-15, 20,113Angulimala (see www.angulimala.org.uk)Arabic 13, 16Aristotle 82, 84art 26, 54, 60, 89, 93assessment 17, 68-9, 87Assessment Reform Group (and arg.educ.cam.ac.uk/) 69Association of RE Advisers Inspectors and Consultants

(AREIAC) (and www.areiac.org.uk/) 7, 130atheism (see secular, see also humanism)avidya 65

Bacon, Francis 82Baha'i 21, 58Baha'u'llah 21Bali 23Balkrd, Roger 97Bangladesh 97Barker, Eileen 58Baumann, Gerd 24, 80, 97Baumfield, Vivienne 23, 66Beckerlegge, Gwilym 16-17, 18, 19behaviourism 67-8, 70, 78Bell, Jacqueline 88Behzri92Bernstein, Basil 70Bhagavad Gita 16-18, 20, 21, 111Bible (and King James Bible, KJB) 9-12, 20, 33, 77, 82

(see also bible.gospelcom.net/)bible.gospelcom.net/ 8Biblos Project 9-12, 18Birnie, Ian viii, 113Black, Paul 69Blair, Tony 43Blaylock, Lat viii, 1, 29, 73-7, 115blogging 102—3 (see also www.blogger.com and

www.bloggingbrits.co. uk)Bolton, Jackie 59Bowker,John90, 132Brittan, Samuel 43British Humanist Association (see www.humanism.co.uk)Brown, Erica 49-50Bruner, Jerome 68—9Buber, Martin 22, 43-4, 47, 95-6, 108Buddhism 10, 21, 34, 55, 59, 64-5, 98 (see also dukkha,

karuna, metta, nibbana, tanha,www.angulimala.org.uk, www.buddhanet.net/ andwww.buddhanet.net/291bud.htm)

Burke, Catherine 26Burma (Myanmar) 92business studies 88

Canada 99Carrington, Bruce 16Casablanca 2?Chater, Mark 80China 92Chodzin, Sherab 55Christadelphians 59Christian Education (CE) ix, 130 (see also

www.christianeducation.org.uk)Christianity 10, 11, 12, 14, 21, 22, 26, 29, 33, 34, 35, 44,

51, 58-9, 60, 65, 75, 77, 92, 98,104 (see also Bible,Biblos Project, fallenness, sin, Easter,www.biblesociety.org.uk/, and the various Christiangroups)

Christian Science 58, 59 (see also www.dianetics.org/)Chryssides, George 58Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (CJCLDS)

58,59citizenship (see also human rights) 23, 35, 37, 46, 80-94,

111Cohen, Louis 2, 100, 102computers (see Information and Communication

Technology)confessionalism 3—4, 23, 26, 56, 76constructivism 68-71, 78, 79Cooling, Trevor 75, 77, 113Copley, Terence 1, 9-12, 14, 20, 113

Council of Europe (see www.coe.int/)Crick, Bernard 83, 90, 91Cupitt, Don 11Cush, Denise 93

Dalin, Per 110Daniels, Harry 67, 70-1Davie, Grace 38design and technology 89Department for Education and Skills (D£ES, also DfEE,

DfE, DES) 42, 80, 81, 82, 89, 91,130,132 (see alsowww.dfes.gov.uk)

dharma 65dhikr21dialogue 21-39, 47, 95, 104, 109, 110, 111Dodd, Tony 57, 114Donald, James 25Druidry (see Paganism)Dubai 99dukkha 64

East Africa (see Africa)Easter 76-7, 100economics 88Edwards, Ann 67English 7, 8-9, 13, 17, 18, 20, 54, 71, 73, 89, 98equal opportunities 40, 42 (see also racism and antiracism)Erricker, Clivell,75, 77Erricker,Janell,75, 77ethnography 95-103, 104, 108, 111Evangelical Christianity 76Everington, Judith 60exclusion (see inclusion)Exclusive Brethren 59Eysenck, Hans 67

fallenness 65, 108Farmington Institute (see www.farmington.ac.uk)fitra65Flutter, Julia 5, 39, 78Fowler, James 66France 25, 93, 97Francis, Leslie 4, 105Freire, Paulo 80Friedman, Maurice 44friendship 10, 28, 37, 38-9

Gandhi, Mohandas K (Mahatma) 17-18Gates, Brian 29, 78Gearon, Liam 1, 80, 88, 90, 92, 116Geaves, Ron 97genocide 92,geography 89Germany 26ghafala65gifted and talented 49 (see also inclusion)Giraudoux, Jean 112Gordon, David 41Grimmitt, Michael 4, 47, 55, 63, 69-70, 74, 76, 78, 87Grosvenor, Ian 26Grove, Julie 98gurmukh 65

Habermas, Jurgen 105, 106hajjl4Hammond, John 74, 77haumi 65Hay, David 74heuristic research (see phenomenology in research)Hick, John 64Higher Education Funding Council for England (Hefce)

2,130hijab 100, 101Hinduism 10, 16-18, 21, 22, 29, 34, 50-4, 60, 65, 96,

97, 98, 104 (see also avidya, dharma, mandir, maya,moksha, murtis, puja, www.krishna.com/,www.swaminarayan.org/)

history 7-8, 9, 15, 16, 18, 19, 26, 81, 89Holt, James 1, 58, 59, 114Hornby, Garry 40, 42Hull, John 11, 44, 50, 57Humanism 98 (see also secular, www.humanism.co.uk)

www.coe.int/


www.areiac.org.uk/

www.dfes.gov.uk


www.blogger.com


www.humanism.co.uk


www.buddhanet.net/




www.dianetics.org/

www.krishna.com/


www.humanism.co.uk

INDEX 133

human rights 80-94, 111 (see also citizenship)Hussein 99

I'Anson, John 60, 78-9fflich, Ivan 109inclusion 3, 4, 40-62, 95, 104 (see also Special

Educational Needs)India 60, 99Individual Education Plan (IEP) 130 (see Special

Educational Needs)Information and Communication Technology (ICT,

including television) 16-17, 20, 26, 27, 35, 38, 89,101, 102-103, 130 (see also website addresses)

interpretive research (see phenomenology in research)Ipgrave, Julia viii, 1, 24, 27-9, 31-8, 44, 57, 114IQRA Trust (see www.iqratrust.org)Iraq 23Islam 4, 10, 12, 13-16, 21, 22, 25, 26, 29, 32, 33, 34, 35,

36, 58, 65, 75, 95, 97, 98-101 (see also fitra, ghafala,hijab, Nation of Islam, Qur'an, Shi'a Islam, Shari'ah,Sunni Islam, tariqa, www.iqratrust.org, www.isiamic-foundarion.org.uk, www.islamonline.net,www.muslimheritage.com/, www.quran.org.uk/,www.salaam.co.uk, www.sufism.org/books/barks.www.sunsm.org/books/jewels/rheart.html)

Islamic Foundation (see www.islamic-foundation.org.uk)

Jackson, Robert 1, 4, 23-6, 41, 56, 75, 77, 96, 97, 114Jakarta 23Jehovah's Witness 59 (see also www.watchtower.org/)Jerry Springer, The Musical 92Jesus Movement 59Johnson, Colin ix-x, 113, 115. 116Judaism 10, 12, 14, 21, 22, 34, 44, 65 (see also kedusha,

yezer ha-ra, yezer ha-tov,www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/)

karuna 65Kaur, Gopinder 97Kay, William 4kedusha 65Kelly, George 55Kohn, Alexandra 55Krisman, Anne 50

Leganger-Krogstad, Heid 25-6Leicester, Mai 25literacy (see English)Lockyer, Andrew 90, 91London Central Mosque 15Lovelace, Ann 56, 57, 59Lowndes, Judith 55

MacBeath, John 5MacCarthy Brown, Karen 107McCutcheon, Russell 5, 100, 106, 107McDonald, Joseph 5Mackley, Joyce 60Macmurray, John 29, 38, 43, 44, 60-1, 81, 83, 84, 105,

106, 108Madrid 23mandir 50-2, 104manmukh 65Marshall, Paul 91-2mathematics 81, 89May, Stephen 25maya 65Methodism 77metta 65Mill, John Stuart 83-̂Mingers,John 106modern foreign languages 89moksha (and Moksha Chitram) 60, 61-2, 65Moustakas, Clark 106-8Muharram 99mukti 65murtis 17, 50music 26, 51, 53, 54, 60, 76, 90, 93Myers, Kate 79

nam simran 65National Framework for RE (QCA 2004) 3, 22, 24, 53,

55, 70, 75, 80, 86, 88National Society (see www.natsoc.org.uk)

Nation of Islam 58Nesbitt, Eleanor 1, 96, 97, 98, 116new age religions 58, 98 (see also

www.paganfed.demon.co.uk andwww.newageinfo.com)

New Church 59New Religious Movement (NRM) 58, 131New Zealand 10nibbana 65Nigeria 23, 77Norway 25-6Nye, Rebecca 74

O'Brien, Liz 50, 115O'Brien, Tim 40, 42Odinism (see Paganism)Ofited (Office for Standards in Education) 3, 42-3, 46.

49, 56, 57, 87-88, 111, 131, 132 (seealsowww.ofsted.gov.uk)

O'Hanlon, Christine 39, 40, 44Orchard, Janet 50Orthodox Christianity 76Oslo Coalition on Freedom of Religion or Belief 23

Paganism 58, 59 (see also www.paganfed.demon.co.uk)Pakistan 99Parmar, Naina 16-17, 20, 113, 115Pavlov, Ivan 67pedagogy 63-79, 95. 104Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) 34, 81, 84

88, 90, 131phenomenology in religious education 73, 74. 76phenomenology in research 105, 106-8Piaget, Jean 68Pluralism 97positivism 105, 109-1Upoverty 40-1Power, Samantha 92Professional Council for Religious Education (PCfRE)

ix, 88, 131 (see also www.pcfre.org.uk)puja 50, 97

Quakerism (the Religious Society of Friends) 77Qualifications and Curriculum Agency (QCA, previously

the School Curriculum and Assessment Authority,SCAA) 80, 81, 83, 89, 91, 131, 132 (see also NationalFramework for RE)

qualitative research (see phenomenology in research)quantitative research (see positivism)Qur'an 10, 13-16, 20, 32, 33

racism and antiracism 24, 25, 41, 56, 86Ramakrishna 17Ramayana 17Ranson, Stuart 39Rastafarianism 31, 59Rattansi, Ali 25Ravenette, Tom 55Read, Garth 64RE and Environment Programme (REEP) (see

www.reep.org.uk)reciprocal teaching 60RE Festival Database (see www.pcfre.org.uk/db/)research 2-3, 4, 5-6, 37-38, 39, 44, 57, 63, 64, 79,

93-94, 95-103, 104-112 (see also each of theexercises)

RE Today ixReynolds, David 78-79Roman Catholicism 59, 77Romero, Oscar 92Rose, Jenny 50Rudduckjean 5, 39, 78, 109Rudge, Linda 1, 57, 80, 85, 88Rumi ((ala al-Din al-Rumi) 4-5, 21, 67-9. 70Rust, Vail 10

St Paul 82Salamanca Statement 42Salmon, Phillida 55-6Saudi Arabia 92Schmack, Joy (see]oy White)Schmack, Brendan 56Schools History Project (see www.tasc.ac.uk/shp/)Schreiner, Peter 41


www.newageinfo.com

www.iqratrust.org

www.ofsted.gov.uk

www.iqratrust.org

www.isiamicfoundarion.org.uk

www.isiamicfoundarion.org.uk

www.islamonline.net

www.quran.org.uk


www.salaam.co.uk




www.watchtower.org/



www.pcfre.org.uk

www.reep.org.uk


www.tasc.ac.uk/shp/

www.natsoc.org.uk

134 INDEX

science 34, 90Scientology (see www.scientology.org/)Searle-Chatterjee, Mary 97secular 10,29, 37-8, 56, 57, 66,74, 75, 80, 85,90,98Sen, Amartya 40-1Seventh-Day Adventists 59sewa 65Shakespeare, William 84Shamanism (see Paganism)Shari'ah 65Shi'a Islam 99 (see also Islam)Shri Swaminarayan Mandir (see www.swaminarayan.org/)Sikes, fit 60Sikhism 10,21,24, 34, 65,92,98 (see also gurmukh,

haumai, manmukh, mukti, nam sirnran, sewa,www.Sikhs.org/granth.htm)

Silverman, David 106,107-108sin 65sincerity 6,105-112Skeie, Geir 97Skinner, B P 67Smalley, Sarah 1,98-101,116Smart, Ninian 22, 74,76, 90Smith, Greg (and mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/

ftendsfoodfaith/ffindexhtm) 25, 29, 38, 39Smith, Stephen 92Smith, Wilfred Cantwell 65SocraMs (and Socratic methods) 21South Africa 26Special Educational Needs (SEN) 40, 42,43, 49-55 (see

also inclusion)special needs (see Special Educational Needs)Sri Lanka 22Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education

(SACRE) 18,19,24, 57, 59,103,132Stern, Julian 1, 2, 26, 30-1, 38, 43, 44, 47, 50, 54, 55,

60, 61, 67, 84, 92, 97,102,113,114,115,116Stern, Marie 50Stofl, Louise 79Sunni Islam 99 (see also Islam)SutcHffe, Steven 97

tanha64tariqa 65Teece, Geoff 1, 64, 66-7,115thinking skills 23,38, 39,45 (see aha

www.teachingthinking.net)Thompson, Penny 4, 76Townsend, Peter 41Troyna, Barry 16, 24,truth 2, 9, 22, 66-7, 70, 75, 77, 86, 87,105-106, 107,

110Turkmenistan 92

Unification Church 59Unitarianism 59United Kingdom (and England, Northern Ireland,

Scotland, Wales) 3-4,10,23, 24, 82, 88, 92, 93,110

United Nations (UN) 41,42, 84-85,90,91 (see alsowww.tmdcp.org/unlinks.html andwww.unsystem.org/)

United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of AlForms of Intolerance and Discrimination Based onReligion or Belief (seewww.ohchr.org/english/law/religion.htm)

United Nations Declaration on the Rights of PersonsBelonging to National or Ethnic, Religious andLinguistic Minorities (seewww.ohchr.org/english/law/minorities.htm)

United Nations Educational, Scientific and CulturalOrganisation (UNESCO) (ieewww.unesco.org/)

United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights(see www.unhchr.ch/udhr/)

USA 23,90-1,92,99

values education 80-94, 111Vint, Robert 131Voudou 107Vygotsky, Lev 68-9,70

Walshe, Karen 9Warwick Religions & Education Research Unit (see

www.warwick.ac.uk/wie/WRERU)Wearmouth, Janice 49Weeden, Paul 69Weisse, Wolfram 26Westhill Trust viii, ix-x, 1-2, 110,113Westhil Project 64Weston, Deborah 88White, Joy (also Joy Schmack) 56Wicca (see Paganism)Wiliam, Dylan 69Wintersgill, Barbara 64Wittgenstein, Ludwig 105Wood, David 67World Council of Churches 59Worldwide Church of God 59Wright, Andrew 23, 75www.angulimak.org.uk 55www.biblesociety.org.uk/ 8www.blogger.com 102www.bloggingbrits.co.uk 102www.buddhanet.net/ and

www.buddhanet.net/291bud.htm 8, 55www.christianeducation.org.uk 130www.cia.gov/ 23www.coe.int/ 23, 41www.dfes.gov.uk 130www.dianetics.org/ 58www.farmington.ac.uk 50www.freedomhouse.org/religion/ 92www.guardianunlimited,co.uk/ and

www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/religion 92www.humanism.co.uk 75www.iqratrust.org 14,www.islaml01.com/ 14www.islamic-foundation.org.uk 14www.islamonline.net 15www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/ 8www.krishna.com/ 8www.microbooks.org/ 14,18www.muslimheritage.com/ 15www.natsoc.org.uk 50www.newageinfo.com 58www.ofsted.gov.uk 132www.ohchr.org/english/bw/minorities.htm 91www.ohchr.org/english/hw/religion.htm 91www.onlinenewspapers.com/ 85www.paganfed.demon.co.uk 58www.pcfre.org.uk and www.pcfie.org.uk/db/ viii, 88www.quotationspage.com/quote/481.html 112www.quran.org.uk/ 8,15www.reep.org.uk 131www.REOnline.org.uk 3, 86www.reKgioustolerance.org 8www.sacred-texts.com/ 8,15www.salaam.co.uk 15www.scientology.org/ 58www.sikhs.org/granth.htm 8www.state.gov/ 23,91www.snfism.org/books/barks 4,68www.sufism.org/books/jewels/rhearthtml 4, 68www.swaminarayan.org/ 50www.tasc.ac.uk/shp/ 19www.teachingthinking.net 45www.theteDingplace.org/ 8www.uea.ac.uk/care/nasc/NASC_hotne.htm 88www.undcp.org/unlinks.html 85www.unesco.org/ 91www.unhchr.ch/udhr/ 91, 92www.unsystem.org/ 85www.warwick.ac.uk/wie/WRERU 24,25,96www.watchtower.org/ 58www.wikipedia.com 23

yezer ha-ra 65yezer ha-tov 65

Zamorski, Barbara 88Zoroastrianism 21




www.Sikhs.org/granth.htm

www.angulimak.org.uk


www.blogger.com


www.buddhanet.net/



www.cia.gov/

www.coe.int/

www.dfes.gov.uk

www.dianetics.org/



www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/

www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/religion

www.humanism.co.uk

www.iqratrust.org

www.islam101.com/


www.islamonline.net


www.krishna.com/

www.microbooks.org/


www.natsoc.org.uk

www.newageinfo.com

www.ofsted.gov.uk





www.pcfre.org.uk


www.quran.org.uk/

www.reep.org.uk

www.REOnline.org.uk



www.salaam.co.uk


www.sikhs.org/granth.htm

www.state.gov/




www.tasc.ac.uk/shp/



www.uea.ac.uk/care/nasc/NASC_hotne.htm


www.unesco.org/

www.unhchr.ch/udhr/

www.unsystem.org/


www.watchtower.org/

www.wikipedia.com



www.unsystem.org/



www.unesco.org/

www.unhchr.ch/udhr/
