{"id":1375,"date":"2022-07-12T08:42:38","date_gmt":"2022-07-12T08:42:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/religious-studies\/?p=1375"},"modified":"2022-07-12T11:14:34","modified_gmt":"2022-07-12T11:14:34","slug":"how-can-we-teach-religion-in-schools-better","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/religious-studies\/?p=1375","title":{"rendered":"How can we teach religion in schools better?\u00a0\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Suzanne Newcombe<\/a><\/em>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Religious Studies Department here at the Open University has just reached the conclusion of an 18-month collaborative project exploring the thoughts of stakeholders \u2018outside the classroom\u2019 on Religious Education in schools and the proposals for shifting the school paradigm to an approach called \u2018Religion and Worldviews.\u2019\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Proposed Religion and Worldviews national entitlement summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pupils are entitled to be taught, by well qualified and resourced teachers, knowledge and understanding about:
\n\u00b7 what religion is and worldviews are, and how they are studied;
\n\u00b7 the impact of religion and worldviews on individuals, communities and societies;
\n\u00b7 the diversity of religious and non-religious worldviews in society;
\n\u00b7 the concepts, language and ways of knowing that help us organise and make sense of our knowledge and understanding of religion and worldviews; the human quest for meaning, so that they are prepared for life in a diverse world and have space to recognise, reflect on and take responsibility for the development of their own personal worldview.
\n(NATRE, CoRE, RE: Today, n.d.).<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Over the last year, this research group has explored three key research questions with a series of focus groups and surveys. We asked for opinions and impressions on 1) the current State of Religious Education in schools, 2) the \u2018Religion and Worldviews\u2019 proposal and 3) What is needed to improve the quality and public perception of RE teaching. We explored these issues with:\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n