DfE on Primary School Assessment

For those who are interesting in assessment, especially in primary schools, you might find this interesting from the DfE today : 27 mar 2014

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/297595/Primary_Accountability_and_Assessment_Consultation_Response.pdf

BBC: Religious education 'helps communities get along'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-26617395

Studying a range of religions helps break down misunderstanding between communities, the all-party group concludes. 
Shortages of qualified religious education teachers could harm inter-community relations, a group of MPs and peers says.
 more at : http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-26617395

Chaplaincy Conference: Building a Bridge Through Spiritual Friendships

Chaplaincy Conference

Building a Bridge Through Spiritual Friendships

Balliol College Oxford University March 15 &16 2014

Hosting by the Oxford Buddha Vihara and organising by Keith Munnings enabled senior chaplains from the US to join with UK chaplains and academics in sharing about their work. The Buddhist Chaplains, trainers and academics worked in higher education and healthcare.

 Holly Haynes from Upaya, Harrison Blum of NorthEastern University and Richard Torres from Community College shared their experience in the US while Keith Munnings, Sarah Shaw, Roger Green and Caroline Braziershared the UK experience. What quickly became apparent was the US emphasis on professionalism and the UK honouring of the enthusiastic and skilled amateur. In the US training systems are regularised and extensive leading eventually to recognised qualifications.

All their experiences with people where they worked were very moving and demonstrated the value of Buddhist practice whether it was a support to the practitioner or practices actually offered to some of the people in need. Along with chaplains from other faiths – , Andrew Wilson and Shaunaka this led to more discussions of the roles of chaplains and what is expected of them by universities, hospitals etc. The ethical challenges especially of not buying into economic systems were also discussed. However it seemed that above all the sense of presence, of silence, calming and caring that mattered. And behind that lay the serving of needs unconditionally.

On the first day there was also an excellent keynote talk from Chris Cullen from the Oxford mindfulness Centre ”Mindfulness in the Mainstream”. He explored the meaning of secular and how mindfulness has adapted the Buddha’s teachings to speak to a secular society. However in the work of most established mindfulness writers and teachers the teachings of the Buddha are being dispersed without the foreign words and iconography. The values are implicit and intrinsic. But there are dilemmas – the corporate world is also using “mindfulness”. In the breakout groups his talk sparked much examination of the role that mindfulness played in chaplaincy, some concerns and some suggestions for future development.

On Sunday, Dr. Andrew Todd the Director of the Centre for Chaplaincy Studies at Cardiff University and an Anglican was the keynote speaker. He looked at the gift of Buddhist chaplaincy to multifaith chaplaincy in this secular society. How Buddhist teachings had inspired people like Thomas Merton and helped all go into a “deeper unknowing “ that is summed up beautifully in the Heart Sutra. Andrew said “ Prajna-Sunyata, wisdom and emptiness cuts through all argument – the cognitive trap”. The panellists discussed this apophatic not knowing further as they spoke of their work and the challenges of chaplaincy.

This short summary cannot fully detail the richness of the conference. For more details and papers presented please do contact Keith Munnings keith@eskola.co.uk . If you are doing chaplaincy work or wish to do so please contact him and the Buddhist Healthcare Chaplaincy group. There is an endorsement body and there are some trainings available and multifaith training in the pipeline.

Namo Amida Bu


Acharya Modgala Louise Duguid

Tower Hamlets Teacher Tom Bennett on Religious Education

http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=+6417096

I don’t believe in God. But teaching children about religion is one of the most important things I will ever do

news | Published in TES magazine on 21 March, 2014 | By: Tom Bennett

Religious education in English schools is being edged out, marginalised by exam and curriculum reforms. To some, this is a cause for celebration. In many countries, such as France and the US, it would be unthinkable to include religion in the syllabus other than incidentally. Religion, they say, is a matter of personal conscience, to be taught at the family altar if at all.

Full article : http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=+6417096

The Changing Face of Religion

http://www.religiousstudiesproject.com/podcast/grace-davie-on-the-changing-face-of-religion/

March 5, 2012

Grace Davie on the Changing Nature of Religion

In her keynote address to the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion in Milwaukee last October, Grace Davie eruditely portrayed the changing perceptions of ‘religion’ over the last fifty years. In the 1960s, most sociologists consciously or unconsciously bought into idea of the ‘death of god’ – religion became effectively invisible to academia. Throughout the 1980s and 90s, a number of events – most notably the ‘Satanic Verses’ controversy – dramatically increased the ‘visibility’ of religion: it became a political problem. Now, in the 21st century, religion is increasingly being construed by politicians, educators, the media etc, as a useful resource to be exploited. These public perceptions are but one facet of the way in which ‘religion’ can be understood as ‘changing’.

In this interview with Chris, Professor Davie discusses the place of religion in modern Europe, paying particular attention to the place of the United Kingdom within the European context. In an effort to combat the caricatures that typify media accounts of religion in the contemporary world, Davie discusses the changing nature of religion, in academia and in the public square, and considers the impact of the arrival of new cultures into Europe, whilst reflecting on secular reactions to these.

Full article:
http://www.religiousstudiesproject.com/podcast/grace-davie-on-the-changing-face-of-religion/

Article by an Atheist on the value of Religious education

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/im-an-atheist-but-ive-got-faith-in-religious-studies-9200300.html

I'm an atheist. But I've got faith in Religious Studies

MPs said yesterday that the potential for conflict in multi-faith areas would be reduced if young people were given classes on different religions

Religious education: What's it for and how well are we teaching it?

http://voiceofrussia.com/uk/news/2014_03_18/Religious-education-Whats-it-for-and-how-well-are-we-teaching-it-2667/

Download podcast

Religious leaders in Britain have warned that neglecting religious studies in school will lead to serious social problems. It’s being claimed that a subject vital for community cohesion is being side-lined by UK schools with few resources devoted to RE and an unwillingness in some schools to teach it. VoR's Flora Neve reports.

Debate has been growing over the quality and purpose of religious education in UK schools.

Last year, research showed less that £1 per child per year is spent on religious studies in most state schools, and in some it’s as low as 75 pence.

When Education Secretary Michael Gove announced his plans for the new English baccalaureate, religious studies was conspicuously absent. 

MP Steve Lloyd is chairing a parliamentary report on religious education in school.

He believes the government is neglecting a subject which is not only of academic importance, but essential for reducing religious intolerance and the likelihood of extremism.

"If you have two communities and neither have accurate information about the others beliefs or value system it tends to lead to aggravation- sometimes violence and certainly not harmonious community relations. If you have a complete misinformation about a different group that’s where we tend to stereotype, we tend to scapegoat and we tend to turn people into ‘the other’."

Although a secular country, Christian morals and Bible studies are crucial to understanding literature and the arts over a thousand-year period.

Diversity of faith

But religious studies classes do not only teach about Christianity.

The UK is made up of a number of different religions: According to the latest figures, London was the most diverse region in the country, with the highest proportion of people identifying themselves as Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu and Jewish.

State schools generally aim to reflect this diversity by teaching all the major religions.

However, an Ofsted report published at the end of last year claimed more than half UK state schools have been failing pupils in their religious education.

Dr. David Lundie is a lecturer in education studies at the University of Glasgow and has done extensive research on RE teaching.

He says one of the problems, alongside cuts to resources, is a growing uncertainty over what the subject is actually about.

"Its purpose has constantly been challenged. Is religious education, as one school put it, 'respect' study? Is it primarily the academic study of the doctrines of different faiths? Is it a study about the human condition? I think these anxieties about the very purpose of the subject remain unresolved. That leads to professional anxiety amongst teachers. There’s simply no way they can cover such a breadth of entailments."

For many the biggest threat to religious education is not from within the state system but from elsewhere.

The government is now funding a significant number of free schools, and many of those are faith schools.

According to the latest figures a around a third of government-funded schools are schools with a religious character .

They have no obligations to teach about different religious and non-religious beliefs, and they are selective.

This does not bode well for community cohesion, according to Richy Thompson, campaigns officer at The British Humanist Association.

"In a full discussion about community cohesion in respect to schools we need to look at all sorts of things," he says. "Most faith schools use selective admissions. This has a negative impact on community cohesion. Anything they do in their curriculum can only go some way to overcome the problems. Teaching about religious beliefs is not as good as teaching in a mixed environment. Some academies and free schools allow some schools to not only teach in a less inclusive manner but also to set up their admissions and employment polices in a more narrow way. And that’s going to add to their problems.

The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Religious Education presented their report to the Education Secretary on March 17.

(VoR)

Flora Neve
Read more: http://voiceofrussia.com/uk/news/2014_03_18/Religious-education-Whats-it-for-and-how-well-are-we-teaching-it-2667/

REC: Important new teacher group

SACRE BRIEFING

Special update 2

March 2014

Important new teacher group

Please forward this information to teachers serving on your SACRE.
Deadline for applications: midday on Tuesday 11th March

This information can also be found the NASACRE website.

NASACRE has been invited by the Religious Education Council to encourage teachers to apply to join an important teacher group that will undertake some national development work for RE. This letter is an invitation to teachers to express an interest in becoming a member of one of the working parties which will feed into the DfE Expert Advisory Group (EAG) for RE led by the RE Council. Similar groups have already been set up by the DfE to implement the revised national curriculum and the RE group will have the same kind of task, with the difference that it will build on the new national framework from the RE Review, whilst also making its work relevant to locally agreed, diocesan, academy and other syllabuses for the subject. If you are a teacher serving on a SACRE, this could be the role for you and will be an excellent opportunity for you to engage in vitally important RE work, as well as providing you with some incredibly valuable opportunities for professional development.

RE Council Newsletter March 2014

http://religiouseducationcouncil.org.uk/public-engagement/newsletters/2014-02-28/re-council-newsletter-march-2014

This month, there have been some positive results for RE, with a good range of news coverage and comment pieces in UK media recognising the importance of religious literacy and knowledge, including in The Economist. APPG work continues, with the end of the oral evidence sessions for the current inquiry into the contribution RE can make to good community relations, and we look forward to launching the good practice document which will be the result of the evidence submitted.
In this issue:

• Introduction
• APPG on RE
• Young Ambassadors for RE
• RE Council website
• RE Quality Mark
• Professional development for teachers of RE: RE Today Services
• The Stapleford Centre RE videos
• Faraday Institute Bursaries
• PGCE RE Bursaries from CSTG
• The Teach RE course
• RE:ONLINE
• Culham St Gabriel's regional strategy
• Hindu Council UK: website resources
• ISRSA produces new iGCSE in Philosophy and Theology
• Network of Buddhist Organisations
• 2014 Accord Coalition Inclusivity Award
• Researcher wanted for Pikuach review
• 'Old localism, new localism': What does the future hold for RE in schools?
• The Woolf Institute short courses

View the March Newsletter.
Click here to view older versions of the RE Council newsletter.