Critical Religious Education for the
Primary Classroom
David Aldridge
Principal Lecturer, Philosophy of
Education
Programme Lead: Professional
Education Courses
Oxford Brookes University
daldridge@brookes.ac.uk
@zudensachen
@BrookesBAEd
http://davealdridge.brookesblogs.net/
Edition Wars
“This revised version of Dungeons and Dragons is compatible with all
previously released material”
Ontology - an account of what happens when learning (understanding)
goes on in the encounter with religions
Good learning is left untouched by this account: hearing and telling
stories, responding to and creating images and other art, role play;
offering an ‘orientation’ for these activities/ processes
However, this is not the same as the claim that you can ‘mix and match’
pedagogy
Aldridge, D (2012) ‘Schemes of Work and Lesson Planning’ in Barnes, L P
(ed) Debates in Religious Education, Abingdon and New York: Routledge
Softening the Edges
Influenced by the philosophical hermeneutics of Hans-Georg Gadamer
Emphasis on the moment of understanding as a transformative event
(ontological) rather than the acquisition of knowledge or skills or (solely)
making ‘judgements’ (epistemological)
Emphasis on dialogue rather than argument or debate
BUT
Participants in dialogue (rather than e.g. a conversation) allow themselves
to be conducted by the subject matter
The event of understanding entails an orientation toward truth; truth is
always at issue/ at stake in RE
Common Objections
1.An emphasis on questions of truth creates conflict
and damages community cohesion
2.Questions of truth do not exhaust the subject matter
of RE
3.Encouraging young students to question the truth of
their own and others’ deeply held beliefs creates
anxiety
4.Critical RE is too challenging for my students
Three Principles
1.The Text is a Teacher
2.No Meaning without Truth
3.Understanding is an Event of Belonging
The Text is a Teacher
What can a
student ‘learn
from’ this image?
For further
discussion see:
http://prezi.com/z
2rs0cqoyy2/religion-andsubject-matter/
The Text is a Teacher
Or this one?
For further
discussion see:
http://prezi.com/z
2rs0cqoyy2/religion-andsubject-matter/
The Text is a Teacher
Subject Matter
OBJECT OF STUDY
Student
Text
No Meaning without Truth
http://davealdridge.brookesbl
ogs.net/2012/05/31/primaryreligious-education-workbased-week-five/
What is this
story about?
No Meaning without Truth
Subject Matter
OBJECT OF STUDY
Student
Text
Understanding is an Event of Belonging
How to teach the story of the sacrifice of Isaac?
What is the subject matter?
What are students’ perspectives?
How to ensure that student , teacher and text
‘belong’ to the subject matter, or that an event of
mutual belonging occurs?
Understanding is an Event of Belonging
Subject Matter
OBJECT OF STUDY
Student
Text
Understanding is an Event of Belonging
http://www.reonline.org.uk/learninginner/?id=20863
http://www.reonline.org.uk/wordpress/wpcontent/uploads/2013/06/Banq-Chr_Jud0001-Res2-Abraham-Cards-v01a.pdf
Common Objections
1.An emphasis on questions of truth creates conflict
and damages community cohesion
2.Questions of truth do not exhaust the subject matter
of RE
3.Encouraging young students to question the truth of
their own and others’ deeply held beliefs creates
anxiety
4.Critical RE is too challenging for my students
References
Aldridge, D (2011) 'What is religious education all about? A
hermeneutic reappraisal?', Journal of Beliefs and Values 32:1, 33-45
Aldridge, D (2012) ‘Schemes of Work and Lesson Planning’ in
Barnes, L P (ed) Debates in Religious Education, Abingdon and New
York: Routledge
Aldridge, D (2013) 'The logical Priority of the Question: R G
Collingwood, Philosophical Hermeneutics and Enquiry-Based
Learning', Journal of Philosophy of Education, 71-85
Aldridge, D (2013) REOnline Banquet: What is Faith?, REOnline,
available at http://www.reonline.org.uk/wordpress/wpcontent/uploads/2013/06/Banq-Chr_Jud-0001-Res2-Abraham-Cardsv01a.pdf
Aldridge, D (2014) A Hermeneutics of Religious Education, London
and New York: Bloomsbury
References
Gadamer, H-G (2004) Truth and Method, trans Weinsheimer, J and
Marshall, D G, London and New York: Continuum [original German
publication 1960]
Hella, E and Wright, A (2009) ‘Learning ‘about’ and ‘from’ religion:
phenomenography, the Variation Theory of Learning and religious
education in Finland and the UK’, British Journal of Religious Education,
31:1, 53-64
Hookway, S (2002) ‘Mirrors, windows, conversations: religious
education for the millennial generation in England and Wales’, British
Journal of Religious Education 24:2, 99-110
Hookway, S (2004) Questions of Truth: Developing Critical Thinking
Skills in Secondary RE, Religious and Moral Education Press
Wright, A (2000) ‘’The Spiritual Education Project: Cultivating Spiritual
and Religious Literacy through a Critical Pedagogy of Religious
Education’ in Grimmitt, M (ed) Pedagogies of Religious Education, Great
Wakering: McCrimmon, 170-187
Following it up...
Consider pursuing MA, EdD and PhD study in hermeneutics, religious
education or critical RE at Oxford Brookes University:
MA Education, MA Childhood
http://www.brookes.ac.uk/studying-atbrookes/courses/postgraduate/2013/education/
http://www.brookes.ac.uk/studying-atbrookes/courses/postgraduate/2013/childhood-studies/
EdD
http://www.education.brookes.ac.uk/research/degrees/edd/
PhD
http://www.education.brookes.ac.uk/research/degrees/