3.1 What is being proposed?
RE can provide a platform for students who come from a traditional religious background to share their experiences and communities, while it can also provide a much-needed framework for non-religious pupils to explore their moral and ethical beliefs and assumptions. The Religion and Worldviews proposal is a way to further these discussions of best practice in RE teaching and making the subject better understood and more effective.
Proposed Religion and Worldviews national entitlement summary
Pupils are entitled to be taught, by well qualified and resourced teachers, knowledge and understanding about:
- what religion is and worldviews are, and how they are studied
- the impact of religion and worldviews on individuals, communities and societies
- the diversity of religious and non-religious worldviews in society
- 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.
In this subject, pupils develop knowledge and understanding of religious and non-religious traditions, including their diversity and impact on individuals, communities and society. Pupils learn about the different ways in which people study these traditions, as well as building an awareness of and reflecting on their own personal worldview (Wright, 2022).
The way RE operates in schools is open to a lot of local variation. This allows for local school leaders to reflect the diversity of religious and non-religious traditions in the local community. It can also mean that not all students are able to experience the benefits of high-quality RE teaching for their intellectual and personal benefit.
Because it deals with the roots of our personal values and the subject of how we find meaning in our lives, good RE teaching cannot be simply replaced by what is covered in Citizenship or Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) curriculum.