‘Thinking about thinking’ Thinking about thinking with Year 8 in PRE ‘Thinking about thinking’ Studying what this really means, and how

Emma Williams’ book ‘The Ways We think’ Literature Emma Williams’ book ‘The Ways We think’ ‘Rationalistic Conception in schools’ Is this true? Williams, 2015

What do Year 8s think thinking is? Research Questions: What do Year 8s think thinking is? How do year 8s conceptualise knowledge?

Why is this important? P.R.E. deals with competing truth claims. (It is therefore ‘critically real’). The are always epistemological assumptions within the classroom (prior assumptions from both the teacher and the pupil about the knowledge being learned) 3. Understanding the pupils’ conceptualisation of thought and knowledge helps when trying to get students to understand different philosophical frameworks.

Interpretivist Paradigm Action Research Four Tasks Interpretivist Paradigm Questionnaire Triangulation Pupil Work as Data Group Interview Observation

Findings, Conclusions and Implications Rationalistic conception very much how pupils conceptualise thinking. Pupils are open to knowledge being multifaceted. Conclusions: Looking at different types of truth helps pupils to understand things ‘religiously’ or ‘morally’. Being able to view knowledge and truth in different ways allows for a more dialogic and metacognitive approach to learning in PRE. Main implication: Awareness of different types of knowledge is hugely important in developing understanding of Religious Knowledge in PRE.