Transcript Making Progress in RE: Creative and engaging learning

Making
Progress in
RE:
Creative and
engaging learning
The Wiltshire SACRE
RE Conference May
2010
creativity / progress / engagement
How can RE be better?
• Refresh the subject at the
frontiers between expressive
arts and creative curriculum
• Focus with sharp attention on
progression of skills: identify /
talk about / describe / make links
between / understand / explain
why
• Use exciting learning strategies, and
be more relaxed about content –
move from little religious facts to big
spiritual questions
Questions for God
• This activity enables a close connection between AT1
and AT2
• It asks pupils for their own thoughts in mysterious
areas and deepens theological engagement (with 6
year olds and others)
• The work shows progression, range and variety. It’s
not very dependent on literacy skills
• It exemplifies the power of spiritual thinking skills
and good structures to energise RE
Questions for the all-knowing:
• If your pupils could ask ‘the person who knows
everything’ five questions, what would they ask?
How do they think the ‘all-knowing’ would reply?
This activity is an opening to wondering like no
other in RE and can be used in any age group.
• Set the process in 4 steps:
–
–
–
–
Every child make up 3+ questions
Lay them all out round the class, and each choose the
best one.
Say why it is puzzling, interesting, hard to answer
Suggest three ways in which ‘God’ might reply to the
question
This task, to ask the
questions you’d like to of
‘the person who knows
everything’ is versatile
across many levels.
Aaron is able to work at
level 2. In the RE context, he
asks questions about things
that matter to him. This is a
high achievement for
Aaron, who is in Year 1.
Why are we here?
We live to die
Why do we have
feelings?
To express our heart
Is there such a thing as
hell?
Hell relies on your mind
What is God?
God is the building of
our souls
• This variation of the
strategy opens up
lots of children’s
questions about the
narratives of Jesus
The task was to suggest questions to ask of ‘the one who
knows everything’.
This piece of work shows that Duncan can work at level 3.
Duncan can ask important questions about religion and
belief.
Next steps might be to suggest answers that might come
from religions studied.
Zoe (9) gives
evidence of
achievement at level
4 – suggesting a
range of answers to
her puzzling religious
questions and
applying religious
ideas for herself
Wenxin is working in one of her
additional languages. She has selected
‘the best question’ to ask God / the
omniscient, and suggested why it is a
good question, why it is hard to
answer and three things God might
say in reply.
She raises questions and suggests
answers, understands and applies
ideas well to the topic (L4).
If you think she can express and
explain her views in the light of
religious ideas (which I do) then you
can give level 5 for this piece.
Christopher, 11:
can he handle
questions about
meaning and
purpose in the
light of religious
beliefs he has
studied? Can he
give views and
reasons for views
that he holds,
aware of others
ideas? If so he is
working at L5.
The questions of
learning from religion
• Identity: Who am I? Where are we from?
• Belonging: Who do I belong to? How do we belong
together?
• Meaning: What meanings to life can be found?
• Purpose: What am I for? What’s the point of our
lives?
• Truth: How do we know? Are my beliefs true?
• Values: What matters to me? What are the
significant treasures of life?
• Commitments: What will I live for? Would I die for
anything?
Add to a questions focused approach the kind of task
setting that builds engagement. EG: on a visit.
• Peaceful, thoughtful and friendly places. The class decide
what the most peaceful, thoughtful friendly places are in
the school and grounds. They go to these places, and do
something as a class that is peaceful, thoughtful friendly.
• When they then visit a place of worship, they choose and
photograph the most peaceful, thoughtful, friendly places.
• At the place of worship, also ask the children: where in the
church / synagogue / mosque might worshippers feel
closest to God?
• Why didn’t we ask that at school? Discuss.
• Ask pupils to use their photos of the four places to give
recounts of their visit to the place of worship and its
significance for believers
• This activity sequence is about experiencing the meaning
of religion, not just being told about it – crucial!
Palm Sunday Thoughts
It’s easy to make any piece of RE Story more
engaging by using creative and expressive
structures that link to literacy and to pupils’
empathic responses
Daisy, 9,
heard the
story and
related it
particularly
to the
thoughts of
the three
small
children up
the tree.
Adapt the strategy of thinking from a picture
to many other stories...
• Nativity
• Parables:
– Good samaritan
– Prodigal Son
– Rich Fool
• Jesus’ trial
• Resurrection
• Noah and the ark
• Moses at Passover
• Divali: Rama and
Sita’s homecoming
• Guru Gobind Singh
and the founding of
the Khalsa
Where is God?
• Great emphasis on God-talk in the Wiltshire
syllabus – but it is hard to do.
• Creative expression unlocks, calms down,
frees the mind, surprises the teacher and
makes enjoyable learning
• Art in Heaven’s most popular theme: Where is
God?
God is in prayer
“This is spiritual because the
colours stand for all the good
things the person is praying
for. God loves everyone just as
much as everyone else.”
Olivia and Hannah are both
11.
7 year old Shahzad says that God / Allah is
everywhere, but drew this Mosque. Is it that
humans can draw near to God at the mosque,
but are never apart from God?
“This model is called ‘All you need is love’.
Some people don’t believe in god, but they
do believe in love. I have shown this idea
in my model.”
Sophie is 10.
“Allah is the Islamic word for ‘God’. In the Muslim
religion, Allah cannot be pictured. I have made a
pattern and copied it on a scanner to show that
Muslims believe Allah is in every little thing. The big
word shows they also think God is over everything.”
Jade is 8
“We have not answered the
question ‘where is God?’ But
we have suggested how to go
about answering the
question. Seek and you will
find. But watch out. If God
was at the touch of a button,
would you dare click it?”
5 Themes to choose from
• Art in Heaven has five themes for 2010.
• Closing date 31st July
• The themes are:
– Mystery stories!
– Spiritual space
– Respect: A logo for RE
– Talking to God: Where is God?
– Celebrating Life, Celebrating Love!
Full details and hundreds of examples on the
web gallery at www.natre.org.uk
Nicholas is 8. what has
enabled this creative
engaged progress?