RELIGIOUS EDUCATION (RE) in English schools often fails to organize students to “live in a fancy world”, a latest report from Ofsted says.
The report, Deep and Meaningful? The religious education subject report, published on Wednesday, asserts that it’s “simply not the case” that unbiased teaching “equates to teaching a non-religious worldview”.
The report examines the curriculum and teaching practices in a wide range of schools in England. It concludes that the chief aspects determining the standard of RE aren’t the style of school, however the strength of the teacher’s subject knowledge, regular time for RE lessons, and a “well-organised curriculum containing knowledge chosen by leaders to enable pupils to deepen their understanding term by term”.
The curriculum “rarely”, nevertheless, enables the event of such a depth of understanding, the report says, since it doesn’t “discover clearly the acceptable mixture of content” which might enable pupils to “make sense of non secular and non-religious traditions as they seem world wide”.
The Church of England’s chief education officer, the Revd Nigel Genders, said on Wednesday that Ofsted’s concerns “deeply resonate”.
“RE is pivotal for equipping children and young people to live in a contemporary diverse society,” he said. The subject was not nearly knowledge, he said. “It’s about fostering respect, critical considering, and understanding in a pluralistic world. The misconception that neutrality equals a non-religious world-view have to be corrected.
“We urge educators and policy-makers to heed the recommendations, refining curriculum content, enhancing teacher training, and ensuring consistent assessment practices.”
The report was published ten years after a previous Ofsted report called on the Government to enhance the teaching of RE (News, 11 October 2013).
Wednesday’s report finds little improvement: “The unrealised potential of the topics stays now, because it was then.”
It criticises the Government for failing to implement the recommendations of the previous report, which included establishing clearer expectations about what pupils ought to be taught, and calls on the Government “urgently [to] update guidance for schools about its statutory expectations for RE”.
The status of RE as a compulsory subject but not a part of the national curriculum has meant that there is critical variation in approaches to the topic, a situation that makes improving overall standards harder, the report suggests.
The report says that there isn’t a centrally coordinated support for RE teachers: as a substitute, independent organisations are entering into the breach.
The chair of 1 such organisation, the Religious Education Council of England and Wales (REC), Sarah Lane Cawte (Feature, 9 February), said on Wednesday: “RE has suffered from a gulf in government funding and the axing of the teacher-training bursary.
“Whilst the bursaries have been reinstated, there remains to be much to be done. We are pleased that this Ofsted report calls for more government motion to support RE across the sector.”
Next month, the REC will launch a “curriculum toolkit” to assist schools to develop their syllabus and teaching practices.
The REC has also entered into partnership with the National Association of Teachers of Religious Education to create the Religious Education Policy Unit (REPU), representing greater than 60 organisations and teachers in 4000 schools.
The chair of REPU, Deborah Weston, welcomed Ofsted’s report, particularly its concentrate on the importance of RE in helping young people to “make sense” of the world, while also aiding of their personal development.
Ofsted recommends that college timetables be organised to stop gaps in teaching which could affect the buildup of information, and that pupils receive an education that’s “each broad and deep”.
