1. The pitfall of happy answers
Enquiry-based RE:
The pitfall of happy answers

2. RE Topic titles
Places of Worship
Signs and Symbols

3. RE Topic titles Places of Worship Special Stories Leaders and teachers
Celebrations
Holy Books

4. RE Topic titles History topic titles Why did the Spanish armada fail?
Places of Worship
Special Stories
King Arthur – fact of legend?
Leaders and teachers
What were the causes of the 1st World War?
Celebrations
Holy Books

5. Enquiry-based approach to history History topic titles
Why did the Spanish armada fail?
heroic
lucky with the weather
Key question which is pursued over several lessons
noble
King Arthur – fact of legend?
honesty, frankness,
honourable
ask challenging questions
chivalrous
about views which one might favour
What were the causes of the 1st World War?
aggressive Germans
rigorous examination of the evidence
tensions in Europe
provisional truths

6. RE Topic titles History topic titles
Is it important for Muslims to have the Qur’an?
Why did the Spanish armada fail?
Holy Books
Why do some people think Jesus is inspirational?
King Arthur – fact of legend?
Leaders and teachers
What were the causes of the 1st World War?
Why did Jesus tell stories?
Special Stories

7. RE Topic titles Enquiry-based approach solid liquid gaseous
Professor David Leat
Is it important for Muslims to have the Qur’an?
Prof. of Curriculum Innovation Newcastle University
Enquiry-based approach
Holy Books
solid
Why do some people think Jesus is inspirational?
The enquiry answer is thought to be known. Little or no room for an alternative view. Closed enquiry.
liquid
The enquiry answer is thought to be more open. Some room is permitted for an alternative view.
Leaders and teachers
Why did Jesus tell stories?
gaseous
The enquiry answer is very open. Lot of room for alternative views. Answers tend to be provisional.
Special Stories

8. RE Topic titles Happy Answers
Is it important for Muslims to have the Qur’an?
Yes
because the Qur’an is their special book
Holy Books
a good teacher
Why do some people think Jesus is inspirational?
perform miracles
I am the light of the world
I am the bread of life
Leaders and teachers
Why did Jesus tell stories?
easy to remember
easy to understand
a good teacher
Special Stories

9. RE Topic titles Challenging enquiry
Is it important for Muslims to have the Qur’an?
Holy Books – revelation or inspiration?
Holy Books
Why do some people think Jesus is inspirational?
Was Jesus God on earth?
Leaders and teachers
Why did Jesus tell stories?
Jesus’ lost stories – what do they mean?
Special Stories

10. What should children learn in RE lessons?
3 Dec 2012
What should children learn in RE lessons?
It is important for young people, ‘to get a different perspective on the big issues of life – issues such as where we come from, what happens to us after we die, why poverty and war exist in our world, and so on.’
Joanna Moorhead
‘It's about getting pupils to engage with the big questions of life.’
Rosemary Rivett National Association of Teachers of RE
‘I don't think it should be about filling children with facts and figures – it should give them a chance to engage with the big questions of life, such as 'how did the world begin, and what happens after we die'?’
Andrew Copson British Humanist Association
Community cohesion
Leslie Prior
Senior lecturer in religious education at the University of Roehampton

11. Big Questions How are we to live? What happens to us after we die?
Is there a God?
Where have we come from?
Have we been created for a purpose?
Why is there so much suffering?

12. RE provides…
‘something absolutely fundamental to the education of young people. The creation of a space for serious critical exploration of the meanings and values by which we live.
To live good lives, individually and collectively, we need to be able to make sense of the world and of ourselves.
Prof. James Conroy University of Glasgow
And religious education, still for all its failings, is the only site that systemically and systematically tries to give a place in the curriculum for that.’