Andrew Wright’s ‘Critical
Religious Education’
Wee Wise Words…
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVm6LbE
b5AM
• Would you use this in the classroom?
• How would you use the clip?
ELEMENTS OF CRITICAL REALISM
- The “Holy Trinity”
 Ontological Realism
 Epistemic Relativity
 Judgemental Rationality
Bhaskar, R (2000) From East to West, Routledge
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' in British Journal
of Religious Education Vol 31 Number 1
Wright, A (2007) Critical Realism, Multiculturalism and the Pursuit
of Truth, University of Wales Press
Contribution to the Pedagogical Debate
 Combined by Wright with the shared concern for “truthful living” – a
human development justification for Religious Education
 Clarification of the ‘intentionality’ and ‘subject matter’ of Religious
Education; dialogic model
 The role of religions as “the primary bearers of claims about
transcendent reality’ (Wright 2007)
Religions have a social reality but also make truth claims about the
broader ‘whole’ of which they are a part
 Religions have relatively discrete “prototypical identities”
Aldridge, D (2010) ‘What is religious education all about? A hermeneutic
reappraisal’, Journal of Beliefs and Values 32:1
Jackson, R (1997) Religious Education: An Interpretive Approach,
Hodder and Stoughton
A Model for Sequencing Learning
 Problematisation - selecting the critical question for the unit of work
 Beginning with the student’s horizon of understanding (the ‘mirror’)
 Encountering the horizon of the religious content (the ‘window’)
 The engagement of horizons (the ‘conversation’) Answering the critical
question
Hookway, S (2002) Mirrors, Windows, Conversations: Religious Education
for the Millennial Generation in England and Wales. British Journal of
Religious Education 24:2, pp.99- 110
Hookway, S. (2004) Questions of Truth: Developing Critical Thinking Skills
in Secondary Religious Education, 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, McCrimmon.
Applying the model…
 What is the critical question in this exploration of
beliefs about life after death?
 What do students know or believe about life after
death?
 What religious content do they need to encounter?
 How will you ensure students’ engagement with the
alternative view?
INTRODUCING VARIATION
Reincarnation
The Kingdom of Heaven (10:50)
Big Bird on Death
Children and Near Death Experiences
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' in British Journal
of Religious Education Vol 31 Number 1
P4C/ Community of Enquiry
cf Robert Fisher http://www.teachingthinking.net/thinking/web%20resources/robert_fisher_talkingtothink.htm
Procedure for the Community of Enquiry
 We first choose a question.
 The person who thought of the question starts by explaining what they mean by the question, and
offers their own initial thoughts on it.
 Anybody who wishes to speak must put up their hand.
 When a person is speaking, everyone else listens.
 Only one person speaks at a time.
 Everyone should try to speak at least once during the session.
 The person speaking chooses the next person to speak (who has their hand up). If there is more
than one person who wishes to speak, you should pick the person who has said least so far
(NAME)
 A new speaker first has to offer critical comment and EVALUATE what the previous person has
said e.g. I agree because…., I think that is wrong because…., I disagree about this aspect….
 The speaker must then say something substantial to drive the discussion forwards (BUILD)
 NAME
 EVALUATE
 BUILD