RE Curriculum Philosophy and Intent Statement
Of the 7.7 billion people in the world only 16% class themselves as non-believers (source The Pew Forum). In addition, the issues RE covers are in the news on a regular basis, so RE is relevant and beneficial to all students, whether they are religious or not.
Our purpose is to provide students with a rigorous academic experience, which encourages critical thinking, tolerance, knowledge and understanding, stimulates philosophical thought, decision making skills, collaboration, and independent working skills.
The RE curriculum at JPA uses the approach that we all look at the world through our own world view lens. A worldview is a person’s way of understanding, experiencing and responding to the world. Personal world views may stem from religion or not – such as Humanism. World views are influence by our upbringing, friends, surroundings, culture, country, media and what individuals consider to be the truth. World views are not fixed – they will be influenced by new experiences, people, situations and knowledge. We need to be aware of our own world view lens when exploring the disciplines within RE, so we can evaluate and reflect effectively. Learning in RE may, in turn, influence our personal worldview.
RE is about developing religious literacy, our curriculum promotes an understanding of religion and worldviews which best fulfils this purpose. At JPA we base our spiral curriculum in a multi-disciplinary understanding of the subject – Theology, Philosophy and Social Science. This provides a balance, ensuring that students are seeing religion and worldviews through different lenses – both their own and others.
1- Think like a Theologian
This is about thinking through believing and practicing. Theology is the study of religious beliefs and practice. It looks at where beliefs come from (sources of authority), how they have changed over time, how they are interpreted and applied in different contexts and how they link to each other and shape the way people view the world. This includes non-religious world views/authorities and student’s own world views/authorities.
2- Think like a Philosopher
This is about thinking. Philosophy means the ‘love of wisdom’ so a philosopher loves to explore knowledge and thinking. It is about finding out how and whether things make sense. It deals with questions of morality and ethics – good and bad and right and wrong. It takes seriously the nature of reality, knowledge, truth, religion, and existence. It explores the nature and meaning of life. It includes critical evaluation of the chains of reasoning and personal reflection.
3- Think like a Human / Social Scientist
This is about living. Human / Social Scientist study human society and relationships.
It explores the diverse ways in which people practise their beliefs – both within and between religions and world views. It engages with the impact of beliefs on individuals, communities, and societies.
Moreover, RE makes a key and unique contribution to understanding cultural values, British values and the multicultural world in which we live. It provides an excellent opportunity for students to engage with contemporary moral issues and develop social, cultural, and philosophical awareness. The RE curriculum fosters student oracy and literacy by providing opportunities to read, view, write, design, and talk confidently, appropriately, sensitively and with empathy, about the many diverse topics we study.
It is our belief that students should have an opportunity to learn how to respect themselves and understand their own identity, to respect others, and to understand their own and others' rights and responsibilities. Therefore, the RE curriculum enables students to consider and respond to a range of important questions related to their own spiritual development, the development of values, attitudes and fundamental questions concerning the meaning and purpose of life. This is beneficial as it can play a key role in creating social cohesion and generating genuine understanding between communities thus reducing friction, intolerance and social unrest.