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bath & wells: services for children and young people
schools & colleges
Why teach RE?
RE is...
- Educational
- Exploratory (asking questions)
- About beliefs and values
- About awe, wonder and mystery
- About challenging materialist values
- An opening to alternative values and commitments
- A curriculum subject in its own right
- A major means of exploring the spiritual dimension of the curriculum
- About things done by most of the world's population
- About what makes people tick
- About how many people live happy, fulfilled lives today
RE is not...
- Indoctrination
- Mission or evangelisation
- Just Bible stories
- About the past only
- Disproved by science
The Aims of Religious Education as set out in Awareness, Mystery and Value (the Agreed Syllabus for Somerset, North Somerset, Bath & North-East Somerset and the Diocese of Bath and Wells):
Religious Education should help pupils to
- Acquire and develop knowledge and understanding of Christianity and the other principal religions represented in Great Britain
- Develop an understanding of the influence of beliefs, values and traditions on individuals, communities, societies and culture
- Develop the ability to make reasoned and informed judgements about religious and moral issues, with reference to the teachings of the principal religions represented in Great Britain
- Enhance their spiritual, moral, cultural and social development by:
- Developing awareness of the fundamental questions of life raised by human experiences, and of how religious teachings can relate to them
- Responding to such questions with reference to the teachings and practices of religions, and to their own understanding and experience
- Reflecting on their own beliefs, values and experiences in the light of their study
- Develop a positive attitude towards other people, respecting their right to hold different beliefs from their own, and towards living in a society of diverse religions.
And...
Schools are legally required to teach RE. (see The Legal Position).
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