Reiss, Michael;
(2023)
Powerful knowledge or big ideas in Religious Education? Aims and classroom approaches.
In: Franck, Olof and Thalén, Peder, (eds.)
Powerful Knowledge in Religious Education.
Palgrave Macmillan: Cham, Switzerland.
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Abstract
Few school subjects arouse such strong passions as Religious Education, with some arguing that it should be banned from schools—as it is in many countries—and others that we have never had more need for high quality Religious Education than nowadays. Unsurprisingly, there has therefore been a long history of attempts to redefine the aims and classroom approaches of the subject. Recently, Michael Young’s ideas about powerful knowledge have had a strong influence on school curricula in a number of countries, despite the danger that they can be high-jacked by those with a narrow, outdated, naïve and even discriminatory approach to education. Independently, there have been parallel movements advocating an aims-based approach to the curriculum (Michael Reiss and John White) or an approach that begins with big ideas, whether in science education (Wynne Harlen and colleagues) or Religious Education (Barbara Wintersgill and colleagues). In this chapter, I explore the arguments behind both powerful knowledge and big ideas, examining their applicability within Religious Education, and do so by starting from an aims-based approach to Religious Education. I pay particular attention to what is so distinctive about Religious Education in comparison with mathematics, science and the arts, concluding that we are less likely to reach agreement about the aims and classroom approaches in Religious Education than in any other school subject. I close by considering the implications of this for both ‘common’ schools (no fees, comprehensive entry) and private schools (fee-paying, selective).
| Type: | Book chapter |
|---|---|
| Title: | Powerful knowledge or big ideas in Religious Education? Aims and classroom approaches |
| ISBN: | 3031231856 |
| ISBN-13: | 9783031231858 |
| DOI: | 10.1007/978-3-031-23186-5_6. |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-23186-5_6 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Curriculum, Pedagogy and Assessment |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10168238 |
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