Religious literacy encompasses all aspects of human culture and behaviour in one. It stems from the importance of oracy. Meet and hear stories from humanists around the world. Murali Balaji. I believe that delivering religious literacy in terms of detailed knowledge about all the major, or even selected, religions through most RE classrooms is verging on a practical impossibility, even it was desirable. FutureLearn’s purpose is to transformaccess to education. Free to use, quality assured, comprehensive coverage of religion and worldviews. I’m not suggesting RC education is the perfect model.

This includes police, civil servants, teachers, journalists, council workers and parents. We can harm young peoples’ religious literacy by ignoring skills in the interests of ramming multiple lists of facts into the curriculum in the interests of political or professional ideology… and Religious Literacy really matters (for all the reasons listed in the ODIHR Toledo Guiding Principles 2007 and several more I can think of). Sure, my sort of RE is difficult to assess, measure or deliver via MOOC or webinar… but defining the curriculum in those terms is a great example of letting the tail wag the dog. As I see it Religious Literacy involves learning FROM religion as well as ABOUT it but is not limited to either; with limited resources, RE teachers must have a clear conception of what they want to do, tempered by what they are able to do, and must focus their efforts and prioritize in order to be effective.
It follows that the first, biggest, most difficult and important step in improving Religious Literacy in RE classrooms is for RE teachers to understand and agree what it Religious Literacy consists in and what they are trying to achieve. That excellent work is going on and that some students in some schools are growing in Religious Literacy is a certainty. RE should teach students to communicate effectively in the language of one tradition that is appropriate to them, their school and the expertise of the available teacher(s), give them as many opportunities to explore aspects of other traditions as resources allow, and never ever fail to recognise that the chance to reflect on why it all matters to them personally, to their society, to the world and the future of humanity is why kids come back through the classroom door. Trying to keep boredom at bay while in coronavirus lockdown? I wonder whether starting from secular humanism, which can seem more of a critique of religion than a religion in itself and which can assume a world-view that is alien to that common to people of all sorts of faith, might end up undermining all religions – leaving young people with little opportunity to understand religion as anything other than a critical outsider and with very limited religious literacy as a result? This sets up with the skills to fully understand one faith (? The embarrassing fact is that many A-grade students leave Year 11 pleased with their RS certificate but having no real interest in religion, a false sense that they know about it, license and encouragement to share their essentially baseless opinions. For example, by emphasising principles, you can start to engage in the rudimentary recall of facts of a religion or world view, in the hope to lead a more innovative way of communicating with people for whom religion is an integral aspect of their lives, and others where it is not. I think we need more views.

Knowing that someone has religious beliefs or practices can then be the start of an open-ended conversation, rather than an invitation to make assumptions – either positive or negative. Week 3 explores the relationships and differences between religion and culture. For a child to be able to vocalise their thought process, whether with visual prompts, or key words, in order to better communicate. What does it mean to lead a humanist life?

I have a particular interest in Islam and the culture and history of the Muslim-majority world, especially Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan. I totally agree about approaching RE conceptually, although as a Kantian I tend to think that concepts without at least some perceptions are empty – just as too many perceptions without due reference to concepts are blind. We use cookies to give you a better experience. Understand religious radicalisation and violence and learn strategies to build resilience in communities and schools. It permeates the way we see the world in a much more significant way that any of the old religious traditions. I've been researching the fascinating interplay between religion and wider society for over twenty years. Even if none of this were true, even if we had a surplus of fantastically trained teachers, enormous budgets, masses of time, well-stocked cupboards and a ringing endorsement from OfSTED, I would argue that even if young people do know a lot about the practice of Buddhism and Bah’ai, can recognize a Kippah, list the Gurus and get an A* (or 9) in a GCSE paper, it doesn’t guarantee that they are religiously literate in the sense that many people would wish them to be. 15 Great Principles Shared by All Religions. The Church of England is still the established faith; although the state recognizes religious freedom and supports parents’ right to educate their children within their faith-tradition. Identify and describe the the principles of 'religious literacy' Reflect on the boundaries between religion and culture. This website uses cookies in order to offer you the most relevant information.

They would rather that young people learned how to conceive of, discuss and engage with faith appropriately, that they respected religious practice and the wisdom that religious thinkers can offer to the world outside their communities, that they found religions fascinating, realized their complexity and diversity and the need to find out far more before making any judgement… and by talking to people, travelling and experiencing, not just reading a textbook, or relying on a teacher who has done so. I had an interesting chat recently that suggested that faith schools, and the person in question suggested Catholic schools, and the only ones that get students anywhere close to religiously literate as they actually spend 13 years teaching primarily about one form of Christianity. See them all here. It can be a daunting space: this symbol is associated with what religion, this mantra belongs to whom and ‘celebrating’ in school without being disingenuous. Religious literacy strives for better communication between peers in a classroom, and also between teachers. The Catholic school is ‘a clear educational project of which Christ is the foundation.’ In the person of Christ, the deepest meaning of what it is to be human — that we are created by God and through the Holy Spirit united with Christ in his Incarnation — is discovered.”.

You will also use case studies to explore Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and indigenous religious traditions in both historical and contemporary contexts. Would you advocate disestablishing the Church of England, remove the formal requirement for collective worship and the emphasis on Christianity in RE, and move against faith-schools..?

According to the Sutton Trust (What Makes Great Teaching 2014) the single biggest factor that makes a difference to student outcomes is teacher subject-knowledge, so it is little surprise that, according to OfSTED (RE: Realizing the Potential) , RE lessons often fall well short of being inspiring, even effective, particularly lower down the age range where the teaching about a list of religions approach has been more common.

Primary teacher and middle leader in Religion and History, Read the other blogs in the series.

Learn new skills with a flexible online course, Earn professional or academic accreditation, Study flexibly online as you build to a degree. upgrade Indeed it is difficult to understand contemporary religions without understanding the secular humanist culture in which they exist. Religious literacy helps citizens to develop their sense of identity and belonging in a plural society. Human practice and behaviour. Religious literacy strives for better communication between peers in a classroom, and also between teachers. Additionally, developing civic religious literacy can empower individuals and organizations to engage better with members of their society. Get your questions answered. For me, increasing religious literacy which is primarily (though not only) a set of skills supporting an attitude of humility, respect and curiosity, should be the primary aim of Religious Education. Religious literacy should aid in the delivery of your lessons, no matter the topic or question at hand.
It allows the development of a set of principles that can be adopted in order to co-exist in a productive and mutually beneficial manner. ), which enables them to go on a study others.