Planning for Learning, Teaching and
Assessment within RME
An Information Pack to support Assessment practice
within RME in schools.
How might we involve learners in assessing progress in RME?
How might we involve parents more in assessment in RME?
What aspects of your current practice are successfully enabling you
to assess learners progress in RME?
What types of assessment instrument are most appropriate for
assessing RME?
What issues/challenges are there in making assessment in RME
valid and reliable?
How do we build assessment into learning programmes to make it
manageable and proportionate?
How are we developing moderation of RME to ensure that we are
raising standards?
Which aspects of RME are the most difficult to assess?
Which aspects of RME are the easiest to assess?
How do we use assessment information to report on a learners
achievements in RME?
Space for Personal Reflection/Notes
National Guidance and Expectations
Subject Specific Guidance
Curriculum for Excellence
RME: Principles and Practices Paper
Assessment within RME:
-
KU of religious practices and traditions
Skills in making informed, mature responses to
issues of belief and morality
Learning about, and their responses to, practices
and traditions and beliefs and values
Increasingly reflective responses to beliefs, values,
practices and traditions of others
Reflection
RME: Experiences and Outcomes
KNOWLEDGE AND
UNDERSTANDING
REFLECTION, DBV, APPLYING,
ANALYSING, EVALUATING,
CREATING
Successful Learners Responsible Citizens
Confident Individuals Effective Contributors
LEARNING ABOUT RELIGION < > LEARNING FROM RELIGION
Curriculum for Excellence
What are we assessing/reporting on in
RME?
Curriculum Organisers:
-
Christianity
World religions selected for study
Developing Beliefs and Values
-
Creating
Evaluating
Subdividers:
Beliefs
Values and Issues
Practices and Traditions
Developing Beliefs and Values (?)
Using the Es and Os to create Learning Intentions and
Success Criteria.
Are the Es and Os linked coherently – are they
experiences or are they outcomes?
Building the Curriculum 3 - The Four Capacities
Applying
Understanding
Remembering
BLOOMS TAXONOMY
Building the Curriculum 3 : Curriculum Design
-
Challenge and Enjoyment
Breadth
Progression
Depth
Personalisation and Choice
Coherence
Relevance
Building the Curriculum 5
What do we assess?
-
Knowledge and Understanding
Skills (Building the Curriculum 4)
Attributes and Capabilities
Building the Curriculum 5
Progression between Levels
DEVELOPING CONSOLODATING SECURE
BREADTH, CHALLENGE AND APPLICATION OF LEARNING ACROSS THE CURRICULAR AREA
WHAT DOES THIS LOOK LIKE IN RME?
This diagram is an example of
Blooms Taxonomy in action.
It shows how skills are
interlinked and lead from each
other. It also shows progression
from one skill to another.
The left side refers to the Key
Skills of Blooms and the right
hand side gives examples of how
these may be used in practice.
Key Reflective Questions:
How are you implementing
these skills within your own
practice?
How do you develop these skills
in class?
In what way do you assess
these skills and what evidence
do you keep?
How do we build in Skills for
Learning, Life and Work such as
working with others etc?
Diagram courtesy of McGinlay 2010
“Religious
and moral education is a process
where children and young people engage in a
search for meaning, value and purpose in life.
This involves both the exploration of beliefs and
values and the study of how such beliefs and
values are expressed.”
What am I
learning about?
Building the Curriculum 1
Do I need to
explore more or
new ideas to
develop my
understanding?
What are the
main points of
what I have
learnt?
“Religious and moral education enables children
and young people to explore the world’s major
religions and views which are independent of
religious belief and to consider the challenges
posed by these beliefs and values.”
RME Principles and Practices Paper
Knowledge and Understanding
Key Questions
Can I give
evidence of
what I have
learnt?
Can I explain
what it
means?
How would I
summarise
what I have
learnt?
Describe what
I have learnt
It is important for learners within RME to learn
about faith positions. Through learning about
faith they will start to develop the skills needed
for personal reflection and critical thinking that
will in turn contribute to their own developing
beliefs and values.
Learners will learn about faith stances and
viewpoints independent of religious belief and
will study the following:




Beliefs
Values and Issues
Practices and Traditions
How a faith systems beliefs influence
action?
LEARNING ABOUT FAITH
“RME allows young people to:
What am I
learning
about?
What
conclusiuons
can I come to
about . . ?
 investigate and understand the responses
which religious and non-religious views
can offer to questions about the nature
and meaning of life
What do I
understand
about what I
am learning?
 encourage the development of enquiry
and critical thinking skills
 create opportunities for the development
of problem -solving skills”
RME Principles and Practices Paper
What is my
opinion of . . .
?
Analysis and Evaluation
Key Questions
What is the
evidence for
what I am
learning?
What are the
key points of
what I am
learning?
Can I give
arguments for
and against a
viewpoint or
issue?
Can I point out
differences and
similarities with
other pieces of
knowledge?
Can I
distinguish
between fact
and opinion?
Through learning about religion and faith the
learner should have the opportunity to develop
critical thinking skills of analysis and evaluation
– have the opportunity to question and debate
and this will in turn allow them to develop the
key RME skill of Personal Reflection.
By exploring issues in depth and examining
evidence and alternative and counter views to
different beliefs systems or moral viewpoints
then the learner will be expanding their own
knowledge base and developing their own
personal thoughts on the matter.
LEARNING ABOUT FAITH
AND LEARNING FROM FAITH
What am I
learning
about?
How has my
understanding
changed or
developed?
Has it
changed my
beliefs and/or
values?
“The context of study should encourage the
development of a child or young person’s own beliefs
and values in addition to developing his or her
knowledge and understanding of values, practices and
traditions. This can be achieved through consideration
of, reflection upon and response to the challenges
presented by religious beliefs and values, and those
which flow from viewpoints independent of religious
belief.”
RME Principles and Practices Paper
What have I
actually
learnt?
Personal Reflection
Do I agree or
disagree with
it?
Key Questions
What has it
taught me?
How do I feel
about it?
What can I
learn from it?
Do I
understand/
empathise
with the
situation?
It is important for the learner to engage with
knowledge and understanding in the classroom and in
particular in the RME classroom as this will allow them
to develop and grow in response to what they are
learning.
This approach of Active Learning is essential to allow
for development of the four capacities and to
contribute to the Development of Beliefs and Values
Es and Os.
From these prompt questions the learner will develop
the skills of communication through literacy
development to communicate their ideas and shared
values.
LEARNING FROM FAITH
Early
First
What is the basic piece of KU I
want my learner to have in
order to achieve this E and O?
What skills are we
developing? How will they
apply these skills in new and
unfamiliar situations?
What are we assessing and
how are we doing it?
Third
Fourth
The aim of Progression exemplification is to show how learners progress between
level (ie Early to First) and how this might be demonstrated, but also to show that
at the same time there will be depth within each Experience and Outcome to
allow students to develop and be challenged. This ensures that learners can
develop from level to level while at the same time be stretched and have the
depth of their knowledge increased and skills developed.
What depth can they go
into in relation to this piece
of KU?
KEY QUESTIONS TO ASK
WHEN PLANNING FOR
PROGRESSION IN KU AND
SKILLS
Second
What experience am I going to
give my learners in order to
achieve this E and O? (ie Active
Learning)
You may also need to revisit this
E and O later as part of
progression.
In order to truly plan for clear progression routes in any subject, professionals
must work across sectors to ensure that plans are clear and that learners have
the opportunity to move from one level to another without fear of losing
understanding and also to ensure that there is no repetition of learning and that
learning is built on from level to level with an increasing depth of knowledge
being developed. Early Years, Primary and Secondary need to work together to
plan clear routes of progression and clear lines of development.
It is essential to plan for progression from one stage to the next and for this
process to be complete you must consult with colleagues at all levels and sectors.
Take the above strand, as you can see the Es and Os lead into each other and
increase in depth as they move towards the fourth level. The amount of
knowledge required increases and the skills needed to arrive at the outcome are
also increasing in difficulty. The clues as to how the learners should achieve the
outcome are expressed in the language of the outcome. E.g. describe, reflect,
investigate, explore, express etc.
This is one emerging example
of how progression may look
across on e strand of the Es
and Os. It is important to
note that different teachers
may choose to group
different Es and Os together
in different ways and there
will therefore be different
learning experiences across
the board.
However it is important that
clear lines and routes of
progression are developed
from Early through to Fourth
level. This is done with clear
and open communication
between
sectors
and
between colleagues.
A consistent approach to
planning will ensure that all
learners can be challenged
where and when appropriate
and
that
learning
experiences follow on from
each other.
ASSESSMENT AND MODERATION FLOW CHART
Select Es and Os to be used as a focus
REFLECTIVE MODERATION QUESTIONS (NQAG CRITERIA)
Select ROA (Lit, Num and HWB)
Is there coherence amongst the Es and Os that have been selected for this
task/unit/assessment?
Write clear learning intentions for the piece of
work/unit/task in terms of KU and Skills
Does the task or approach to assessment chosen allow ample opportunity to demonstrate
achievement?
Write and share the success criteria for the learner
Evidence to support learning and teaching
SAY WRITE
MAKE
Do the success criteria created match the learning intentions derived from selected
experiences and outcomes?
Is there evidence of the learner being involved in the assessment process through peer and
self assessment? (Assessment as Learning)
DO
Is the evidence of high quality and demonstrate understanding of the Es and Os selected?
Range of assessment approaches used
Self, Peer, Teacher led
Assessing the progress in learning
BREADTH, CHALLENGE and APPLICATION
Is the assessment evidence clearly marked with feedback and annotations to indicate
strengths and areas for development?
Does the evidence indicate depth, breadth and challenge in learning?
Evaluate the learning
Feedback and Next Steps in learning
Share with the learner and parents
RME Evidence
Is there evidence of
learning about Faith?
RME Evidence
RME Evidence
Is there evidence of
learning from faith?
Is there evidence or
opportunity for the
learner to develop
their beliefs and
values?
SP
P
PW
This sheet is one emerging example
of how you may approach the
recording of evidence and is not
designed to be prescriptive. There
are many ways to do this and you will
design a method that is appropriate
for your context. The clear focus is
that the learner and teacher is
gathering evidence of learning
against
pre
agreed
Learning
Intentions and Success Criteria.
The SP, P and PW refer to the
following terms: Some Progress,
Progress and Progressing Well. Again
this is a professional judgement
made by the teacher and is a
comment on the progress made in
the learners’ journey to fully
understand the Learning Intentions
and achieving the Success Criteria.
There is space to take not of the
different types of evidence used and
for both staff and pupil to make
comment on the learning.
This form also shows how it is
possible for the gathering of evidence
of learning against the four
capacities.
Reflective Questions:
1) Are processes in place to allow for
moderation of evidence across your
school, cluster or local authority?
2) Do you engage in professional discussion
with colleagues about emerging
standards?
3) Are you engaging with the NAR to help
establish standards?
4) How do you raise expectations of pupils
and other teachers?
5) Do you ensure that high expectations are
made of learners at all times?
Teachers planning
learning, teaching and
assessment.
This informs next steps and
future planning. It links to the
imporvement agenda and
helps raise standards for all.
By planning for clear
progression routes we
understand where young
people are at in their
leanring and where they
need to go.
Expectations of learning
agreed and evaluated.
“You cannot write down a standard – you
have to experience it”
Gordon Stobart
This is closely linked ot
planning for progression.
Through department,
school, cluster and local
authority moderation
activities a professional
debate occurs.
Through this debate and
professional discussion
standards emerge.
For more information on Gordon Stobart and his
work on Assessment, please visit the following
link:
http://www.ioe.ac.uk/staff/CPAT/LCCN_78.html