Religious Education, Big Ideas and the study of religion(s) and worldview(s)

This article outlines the 'Big Ideas' approach to curriculum reform, as applied in the 'Principles and Big Ideas of Science Education' project. A critical analysis follows of the outcomes of the University of Exeter's 'Identifying Principles and Big Ideas for Religious...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:British journal of religious education 2019-01, Vol.41 (1), p.27-40
Main Authors: Freathy, Rob, John, Helen C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Big Ideas
Course Content
Criticism
Curricula
Curriculum Development
Educational Change
Educational Principles
Elementary Secondary Education
Epistemology
Foreign Countries
Outcomes of Education
Pedagogy
Program Descriptions
RE-searchers
Religion
Religious Education
Science Education
Science Instruction
Teaching Methods
World Views
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Summary:This article outlines the 'Big Ideas' approach to curriculum reform, as applied in the 'Principles and Big Ideas of Science Education' project. A critical analysis follows of the outcomes of the University of Exeter's 'Identifying Principles and Big Ideas for Religious Education' project, which sought to apply the same approach to Religious Education (RE) in English schools. This project made great headway in generating 'Big Ideas' to inform and improve the selection and sequencing of RE curriculum content. However, its primary focus on subject content knowledge means that 'Big Ideas' about epistemology and methodology are lacking. The article recommends an additional focus on multi-disciplinary, multi-methodological, inquiry-based, reflexive learning, which would ask why, how, where and by whom our 'knowledge' of religion(s) and worldview(s) is generated. In this regard, the article posits four 'Big Ideas about the study of religion(s) and worldview(s)' to highlight the symbiotic relationship between knowledge and knower, and to reject the false dichotomy between the object of study and method of study. In so doing, it draws upon the theoretical framework underpinning the 'RE-searchers approach' to primary school RE, which correspondingly exemplifies how such ideas can be taught in practice.
ISSN:0141-6200
1740-7931
DOI:10.1080/01416200.2018.1500351