Theory and practice

Mark Plater has been professionally involved with RE teaching for nearly half a century, watching the political and educational shifts over time but always fascinated to learn how we might
do things better. He...

In February 2018 I finally became a Doctor of Philosophy. When I embarked on my PhD research my youngest son was starting primary school; when I finished, he was beginning secondary school! I thought at the time,...

This article reports on an online dialogue about RE and special educational needs and disabilities that took place in autumn 2021 between Rebecca (Becky) Pearce, a primary school teacher and 2021–22 Farmington...

CENTRAL TO THE BIG IDEAS APPROACH ARE THE CONCEPTS OF TRANSFER AND RELEVANCE. IF YOUNG PEOPLE ARE TO ENGAGE WITH RE, THEY HAVE TO SEE THAT IT HAS SOME RELEVANCE FOR THEIR LIVES, WHETHER OR NOT THEY REGARD THEMSELVES...

Geoff Teece

Sjay Patterson-Craven

Jennifer Ossei-Brainoo

Emma Salter

The promotion of a conversation about a worldview approach to RE as outlined in the new vision recommended by the Commission on RE, is at the heart of the REC’s current work. In one sense this is a radical new...

This is the second part of the article by Denise– the first was published in the Summer 2021 issue (Volume 38, Number 3, pp. 53–58) and drew largely from her experience as an academic working in the field of...

RE professionals are very familiar with the inclusion of philosophy of religion and ethics into the secondary curriculum. Indeed some secondary departments refer to themselves as Philosophy and Ethics rather than...

In his editorial to the Spring 2021 edition of this journal (Volume 38, Number 2), Geoff Teece referred to the publication of Schools Council Working Paper 36 as a possible paradigm shift in thinking about RE. Such a...

This article grew out of an exciting professional development opportunity and a personal interest in the use of cognitive science to support children’s learning. As a primary RE lead, Deborah was given the...

We have all become increasingly aware over the years of the need to reflect diversity within religions when we teach RE. In more recent times there has been a growing interest in what some have called ‘nones’:...

We have been privileged in Professional REflection to be able to publish a number of thought-provoking articles arising from the Commission on RE report, including recent pieces from Trevor Cooling and Joyce Miller....

Following almost 30 years as an RE teacher, department head, senior lecturer and PGCE course director, Lynda Maddock is now the Subject Officer for GCSE RS at the WJEC (and Eduqas in England). She holds an...

As we all know, one of the aims and purposes of RE, certainly since Tony Blair’s Secretary of State for Education Charles Clarke took an interest in the subject, has been to contribute towards community cohesion....

In the second of our reflections on the Commission on RE Final Report, former Commission member Joyce Miller draws from her own formative experiences as a teacher of RE in the 1970s to provide us with two rich ideas...

In the first of two articles reflecting on how the National
Entitlement included in the Commission on RE Final
Report might be implemented, Trevor Cooling gives
us an insightful analysis that draws...

The world is dealing with two huge crises at the moment. We have the immediate crisis caused by Covid-19 and the continuing ecological crisis caused by greenhouse gases, and we know that young people have increasingly...