Research projects and publications

Our publications

Flanagan, R., & Whitworth, L. (2024). Policy, Principles and Practice–Facilitating Creative Teaching. In: Teaching Religious and Worldviews Education Creatively (pp. 19-35). Routledge.

Hunt, C (2024, forthcoming) Discovering spirituality through critical reflection and autoethnography. In: K. Clough and B. Flanagan (Eds) International Handbook of Research Methods in Spirituality & Contemplative Studies. Abingdon: Routledge

Hunt, C (2024, forthcoming) Adult Education and Spirituality. In: S. Clancy, N. James and K. Orr (Eds) International handbook of teaching and research on adult learning and education. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing.

Hunt, C (2023)  ‘Doing’ reflective practice and understanding spirituality as a way of being: Implications for professional and transformative practice, Journal for the Study of Spirituality, 13(2), 147-162 .DOI: 10.1080/20440243.2023.2249823

Schweitzer F, Freathy R, Parker SG, Simojoki H (2023). How to Improve Religious Education Through Teacher Training: Experiences and Insights from European Countries. Munster, Waxmann.

Freathy R, Parker SG (2023). Insights from the history of the education of teachers of Religious Education in England. Subject specialists and specialization. In Schweitzer F, Freathy R, Parker SG, Simojoki H (Eds.) How to Improve Religious Education Through Teacher Training: Experiences and Insights from European Countries, Munster: Waxmann, 25-42.

Freathy R, Schweitzer F, Parker SG, Simojoki H (2023). Introduction. In Schweitzer F, Freathy R, Parker SG, Simojoki H (Eds.) How to Improve Religious Education Through Teacher Training: Experiences and Insights from European Countries, Munster: Waxmann, 7-21.

Parker SG, Simojoki H, Freathy R, Schweitzer F (2023). Understanding and developing RE teacher education. Conclusions and perspectives in a European horizon. In Schweitzer F, Freathy R, Parker SG, Simojoki H (Eds.) How to Improve Religious Education Through Teacher Training: Experiences and Insights from European Countries, Munster: Waxmann, 257-269.

Dillon, P. (2022). Sacred Places as cultural ecologies. Making space for the intangible, Nordicum-Mediterraneum, 17 (3). https://nome.unak.is/wordpress/volume-17-no-3-2022/ 

Freathy R, Dunkley H (2022). Realising the potential of RE: representation, reflection and research. RE Today, 40(1), 10-11.

Freathy R (2022). Translating the RE-searchers Approach. Prismet, 73(1-2), 141-144.

Freathy R, Parker SG (2021). The Professionalization of Teachers of RE in England: a Case Study. In Simojoki H, Schweitzer F, Henningsen J, Mautz J-R (Eds.) Professionalisierung des Religionslehrerberufs Analysen im Schnittfeld von Lehrerbildung, Professionswissen und Professionspolitik, Leiden: Brill | Schöningh, 501-527.

Hunt, C (2021) Critical Reflection, Spirituality and Professional Practice.  London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Doney, J (2021) ‘Interrogating Policy Processes in Education Through Statement Archaeology: Changes in English Religious Education’. Paedagogica Historica.

Doney, J (2021) Unearthing Policies of Instrumentalization in English Religious Education Using Statement Archaeology. Abingdon, Routledge.

Doney, J (2021) Theorising boundary encounters as a means to understand diffusion of ideas in religious education. In: Friedrich Schweitzer, Peter Schreiner (eds.): International Knowledge Transfer in Religious Education. 233-246. Münster, Waxmann.

Parker, S, Allen, S and Freathy, R (2020). The Church of England and the 1870 Elementary Education Act. British Journal of Educational Studies. 68(5): 541-565. DOI.

Parker, SG and Freathy, R (2020). The Church of England and religious education during the twentieth century. In Rodger, T., Williamson, P. and Grimley, M. (Eds.) (2020). The Church of England and British Politics since 1900. Woodbridge: Boydell and Brewer. pp. 199-221.

Freathy, R, Schmidt, A and John, HC (2020). Working with ‘big ideas about’ the study of religion(s) and worldview(s) - Multi-disciplinary and multi-methodological RE: a handbook for teacher educators, teachers and teacher trainees. Exeter. University of Exeter.

Freathy R, John HC (2020). Worldviews and Big Ideas: a Way Forward for Religious Education?. Nordidactica : Journal of Humanities and Social Science Education, 2019(4), 1-27. Full text.

Hunt, C (2020) Celebrating ten years of the Journal for the Study of Spirituality. Journal for the Study of Spirituality, 10:1, 1-5, DOI.

Hunt, C (2020)  ‘Storying the World through Spirituality’. In M.Fowler, J.D.III Martin and J.L.Hochheimer (Eds) Spirituality: Theory, Praxis and Pedagogy. (Brill, E-book, ISBN: 978-1-84888-091-7)

Larkin S, Freathy R, Doney J, Freathy G (2019). Metacognition, Worldviews and Religious Education a Practical Guide for Teachers, 1st Edition. Oxford, Routledge.

John H, Freathy R (2019). A Case Study in Biblical Interpretation: knowledge, knower and knowing (part 2). REToday, 36(3), 58-63. Full text.

Freathy R, Jackson R (2019). Jack Priestley (1935–2018). British Journal of Religious Education, 41, 240-242.

Freathy R, John H (2019). Religious Education, Big Ideas and the study of religion(s) and worldview(s). British Journal of Religious Education, 41(1), 27-40.

Flanagan, R. (2019) 'Implementing a Ricoeurian lens to examine the impact of individuals' worldviews on subject content knowledge in RE in England: a theoretical proposition.' British Journal of Religious Education.

Flanagan, R. (2019) 'Worldviews: what are they and how can we teach them as well as religions?', RE Today, 37:1.

John HC, Freathy R (2019). The Country of the Blind: knowledge, knower and knowing (part 1). REToday, 36(2), 49-53.

Wright, K., Whitworth, L. , Lyal, J. , Clinton, C., Flanagan, R and Love, R. (2019) 'Teach: RE Primary - An Introduction'. Oxford: Culham St Gabriel.

Wright, K., Whitworth, L. , Lyal, J. , Clinton, C., Flanagan, R and Love, R. (2019) 'Toolkit for Primary Religious Education ITT Providers'. Oxford:Culham St Gabriel.

Flanagan, R. (2018) 'Mission Impossible: training the next generation of RE teachers in 4 hours', RE: Today. 35:2

Freathy R, Davis A (2018). Theology in multi-faith Religious Education: a taboo to be broken?. Research Papers in Education  Full text. DOI.

Freathy R, Reed E, Davis A, John H, Schmidt A (2018) Who is Jesus? Supplementary materials for Religious Education in the upper secondary school. Download pdf‌

Parker SG, Freathy R (2017). Childhood, Faith and the Future: religious education and ‘national character’ in the Second World War. In Strhan A, Parker SG, Ridgely S (Eds.) The Bloomsbury Reader in Religion and Childhood, London: Bloomsbury Press. Full text.

Wintersgill, B. (ed) 2017. Big Ideas for Religious Education.  Exeter, University of Exeter.

Doney J, Parker SG, Freathy R (2017). Enriching the Historiography of Religious Education: Insights from Oral Life History. History of Education, 46(4), 436-458.

Freathy R, Doney J, Freathy G, Walshe K, Teece G (2017). Pedagogical bricoleurs and bricolage researchers: the case of Religious Education. British Journal of Educational Studies

Parker SG, Freathy R, Doney J (2016). The Professionalisation of Non-Denominational Religious Education in England: politics, organisation and knowledge. Journal of Beliefs and Values: Studies in Religion and Education,37(2).  Full text

Freathy R, Parker SG, Schweitzer F, Simojoki H (2016). The professionalisation of RE teachers: a process in progress?. Retoday, 33(3). Full text

Freathy RJK, Parker SG (2015). Prospects and problems for Religious Education in England, 1967-1970: Curriculum reform in political context. Journal of Beliefs and Values, 36(1), 5-30. Abstract. Full text

Simojoki, H, Schweitzer, F, Parker, SG, Freathy, R (2016) Die Professionalisierung des Religionslehrerberufs als Aufgabe und Gegenstand religionspädagogischer Forschung. Historische und systematische Perspektiven.  Zeitschrift für Pädagogik und Theologie, 68(2), 135-152.  Full text

Simojoki, H, Schweitzer, F, Parker, SG, Freathy, R (2016) Editorial. Zeitschrift für Pädagogik und Theologie, 68(2), 131-133 Full text‌

Freathy R, Parker SG, Schweitzer F, Simojoki H (2016). Conceptualizing and Researching the Professionalization of Religious Education Teachers: Historical and International Perspectives. British Journal of Religious Education, 38(2), 114-129. Full text

Freathy R, Parker SG, Schweitzer F, Simojoki H (2016). Professionalism, Professionalisation and Professionality in Religious Education. British Journal of Religious Education, 38(2), 111-113. Full text

Baumfield, V (2016) Making a difference in the Religious Education classroom: integrating theory and practice in teachers’ professional learning. British Journal of Religious Education, 38(2), 141-151.

Hunt, C (2016) Spiritual creatures? Exploring a possible interface between reflective practice and spirituality. In Fook, J., Collington, V., Ross, F., Ruch, G. and West, L. (Eds) Researching Critical Reflection: Multidisciplinary perspectives. London: Routledge, pp.34-47.

Hunt, C (2016) Why me? Reflections on using the self in and as research. In J.McNiff (Ed) Values and Virtues in Higher Education Research: Critical issues. Abingdon: Routledge, pp.48-63 .

Wintersgill, B. (2016) Teenagers' Perceptions of Spirituality. Kindle edition

Wintersgill, B. and Brine, A. (2016) Government national agencies for inspection and curriculum development in RE. in Gates. B (ed) . Religion and Nationhood. Tübingen. Mohr Siebeck

Freathy, R., Reed, E. D. and Davis, A. (2015). The Art of Bible Reading: A New Approach. REToday. 32(2). 45-48.

Freathy, R. and Parker, S. G. History, Remembrance and Religious Education: An Introduction. In S. Parker, R. Freathy, and L. Francis. (Eds.) (2015). History, Remembrance and Religious Education. Oxford: Peter Lang. pp.1-19.

Freathy, R., Parker, S. G. and Doney, J. Raiders of the Lost Archives: Searching for the Hidden History of Religious Education in England. In S. Parker, R. Freathy, and L. Francis. (Eds.) (2015). History, Remembrance and Religious Education. Oxford: Peter Lang. pp. 105-137.

Parker, S.G., Freathy, R., Francis, L.J. (2015) History, Remembrance and Religious Education. Oxford: Peter Lang.

Larkin, S., Freathy, R.J.K., Walshe, K., Doney, J. (2014). Creating metacognitive environments in primary school RE classrooms. Journal of Beliefs and Values: Studies in Religion and Education, 35(2), 175-186

Freathy, R.J.K., Parker, S.G., Schweitzer, F., Simojoki, H. (2014). Towards international comparative research on the professionalization of Religious Education. Journal of Beliefs and Values: Studies in Religion and Education, 35(2), 225-241. Abstract

Freathy, R., Reed, E. D., and Davis, A. (2014). The Art of Bible Reading: A Narrative Approach. Dialogue Australasia, 32. 1-3. Full abstract 

Freathy, R., Reed, E.D., Davis, A., Cornwall, S. (2014). The Art of Bible Reading: Student Edition Buxhall, Kevin Mayhew Ltd.

Freathy, R., Reed, E.D., Davis, A., Cornwall, S. (2014). The Art of Bible Reading: Teacher Edition Buxhall, Kevin Mayhew Ltd.

Freathy, G., Freathy, R. (2014). The RE-searchers: promoting methodologically orientated RE in primary schools. REtoday, 31(3), 50-51.

Freathy, R. and Freathy, G. (2014). Initiating children into hermeneutical discourses in Religious Education: a response to Rachel Cope and Julian Stern. Journal for the Study of Spirituality, 3(2), 156-167.

Wintersgill, B. (2014) Researching Materials Used To Teach About World Religions In Schools In England in in Andreassen, Bengt Ove und James R. Lewis (Hg.). Textbook Gods. Genre, Text and Teaching Religious Studies. Sheffield: Equinox Plublishing.

Freathy, R. and Freathy, G. (2013). RE-searchers: a dialogic approach to RE in primary schools. Resource, 36(1), 4-7.

Nixon, D. (2013) Stories from the Street. A theology of homelessness, Farnham: Ashgate.

Freathy, R.J.K., Parker, S.G. (2013). Secularists, Humanists and religious education: religious crisis and curriculum change in England, 1963–1975. History of Education, 42(2), 222-256.

Parker, S., Freathy, R., Francis, L.J. (2012). Religious Education and Freedom of Religion and Belief Oxford, Peter Lang.

Reed, E.D., Freathy, R.J.K., Cornwall, S., Davis, A. (2013). Narrative theology in Religious Education. British Journal of Religious Education, 1-16.

Freathy, R., Parker, S. (2012). Freedom from Religious Beliefs: Humanists and Religious Education in England in the 1960s and 1970s in Parker S,Freathy R,Francis LJ (eds.) Religious Education and Freedom of Religion and Belief, Oxford: Peter Lang, 7-27.

Hunt, C. (2012) Packaging positive thinking or returning to roots? Adult education and spirituality, Lifelong Learning, Well-Being and Personal Development 150th Anniversary of Vaughan College/SCUTREA Pre-Conference, John Foster Hall, University of Leicester, 3 July 2012. Hunt, C. Packaging positive thinking or returning to roots?

Parker, S., Freathy, R., Francis, L.J. (2012). Introduction in Parker S,Freathy R,Francis LJ (eds.) Religious Education and Freedom of Religion and Belief, Oxford: Peter Lang, 1-3.

Parker, S.G., Freathy, R.J.K. (2012). Ethnic Diversity, Christian Hegemony and the Emergence of Multi-faith Religious Education in the 1970s. History of Education, 41(3), 381-404.

Walshe, K and Teece, G. (2012) Understanding ‘religious understanding’ in Religious Education. British Journal of Religious Education.

Crook, D., Freathy, R.J.K., Wright, S. (2011). Citizenship, Religion and Education. History of Education, 40(6), 695-700.

Mansour, N. (2011). Science Teachers’ Views of Science and Religion vs. the Islamic Perspective: Conflicting or Compatible?. Science Education (95), 281-309.

Clegg, S., Hunt, C., Parker, J., Rowland, S., Skelton, A, & Steirer, B. (Eds) (2011) Leaving the Academy: Special Issue, Teaching in Higher Education. Abingdon: Routledge.

Parker, S.G., Freathy, R.J.K. (2011). Context, Complexity and Contestation: Birmingham's Agreed Syllabuses for Religious Education since the 1970s. Journal of Beliefs and Values, 32(2), 247-262.

Bayliss, P. & Dillon, P. 2010. Cosmologies and lifestyles: a cultural ecological framework and its implications for education systems, Anthropological Journal of European Cultures, 19 (2), 7-21.

Freathy, R., Aylward, K. (2010). 'Everything is in parables': an exploration of pupils' difficulties in understanding Christian beliefs concerning Jesus. Religious Education (usa), 105(1), 86-102.

Freathy, R., Parker, S. (2010). The necessity of historical inquiry in educational research: the case of Religious Education. British Journal of Religious Education, 32(3), 229-243.

Freathy, R.J.K. (2010). Review of Copley, T. Teaching religion: sixty years of religious education in England and Wales. History of Education, 39(4), 567-570.

Hunt, C. (2010) '"Walking back to happiness": A reappraisal of spirituality as an aspect of adult and university education’. In B.Merrill and P.Armstrong (eds) Looking Back, Looking Forward: Learning, Teaching and Research in Adult Education – Past, Present and Future. Proceedings of the 40th Annual SCUTREA Conference, (pp.206-213), University of Warwick/ SCUTREA.

Mansour, N. (2010). Exploring science teachers’ beliefs, intentions and practices about teaching and learning Science-Technology-Society (STS) issues. Eurasian Journal of Physics and Chemistry Education, 2(2), 123-157.

Mansour, N. (2010). Science teachers’ interpretations of Islamic culture related to science education Vs. the Islamic epistemology and ontology of science. Cultural Studies of Science Education, 5(1), 127-140.

Mansour, N. (2010). The impact of the knowledge and beliefs of Egyptian science teachers in integrating an STS based curriculum. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 21(5), 513-534.

Nixon, D. 2010. “Wonderfully  and  Fearfully  Made  in  the  Image  of  God”: Ordinands’  Perceptions  of  Sexualities  and  Sexualities  Education. Journal of Adult Theological Education, 7, no. 1: 9–25.

Hunt, C. (2009) A long and winding road: a personal journey from community education to spirituality via reflective practice. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 28(1), 71-89.

Hunt, C. (2009) ‘Wyrd knowledge: towards an understanding of spirituality through reflective practice and mythopoesis’. In P.Willis, T.Leonard, A.Morrison and S.Hodge (eds), Spiritualty, Mythopoesis and Learning, Queensland: Post Pressed, pp.130-146.

Hunt, C. (2009) ‘A step too far? From professional reflective practice to spirituality’. In H.Bradbury, N.Frost, S.Kilminster and M.Zukas (eds), Beyond Reflective Practice: New approaches to Professional Lifelong Learning, London: Routledge, pp.155-169.

Hunt, C. (2009) ‘“They pass by themselves without wondering”: Using the self in, and as, research’. In P.Coare and L.Cecil (eds) Really Useful Research: Critical Perspectives on Evidence-based Policy and Practice in Lifelong Learning – Proceedings of the 39th Annual SCUTREA Conference, (pp.255-262), University of Cambridge/ SCUTREA.

Hunt, C. (2009) ‘Seeking Integration: Spirituality in the context of lifelong learning and professional reflective practice in R.L.Lawrence (ed.) Honoring our Past, Embracing our Future - Proceedings of the 50th American Adult Education Research Conference, (pp. 155-160), National-Louis University/AERC, Chicago, IL.

Clegg, S., Hunt, C., Parker, J., Rowland, S., Skelton, A, & Steirer, B. (Eds) (2009) Purposes, Knowledge and Identities: Special Issue, Teaching in Higher Education. Abingdon: Routledge.

Dillon, P., Bayliss, P., Stolpe, I.  & Bayliss, L. (2008) What constitutes ‘context’ in sociocultural research. How the Mongolian experience challenges theory, Transtext(e)sTranscultures, 4, 18-31.

Aylward, K., Freathy, R. (2008). Children's conceptions of Jesus. Journal of Beliefs and Values, 29(3), 297-304.

Freathy, R. (2008). The Triumph of Religious Education for Citizenship in English Schools, 1935-1949. History of Education, 37(2), 295-316.

Freathy, R.J.K. (2008). Three Perspectives on Religious Education and Education for Citizenship in English Schools, 1934-1944. British Journal of Religious Education, 30(2), 103-112.

Freathy, R. (2008). Religious assembly in McCulloch G,Crook D (eds.) The Routledge International Encyclopedia of Education, London: Routledge, 488-489.

Freathy, R. (2008). Religious education in McCulloch G,Crook D (eds.) The Routledge International Encyclopedia of Education, London: Routledge, 490-491.

Freathy, R. (2008). Religious school in McCulloch G,Crook D (eds.) The Routledge International Encyclopedia of Education, London: Routledge, 491-492.Freathy, R. (2007). Ecclesiastical and religious factors which preserved Christian and traditional forms of citizenship in English schools, 1934-1944. Oxford Review of Education, 33(3), 367-377.  

Hunt, C. (2008) In our end is our beginning: spirituality and the role of the adult educator. In J.Crowther et al (eds) Whither Adult Education in the Learning Paradigm? (pp.303-310), University of Edinburgh: SCUTREA.

Mansour, N. (2008). Religious beliefs: a hidden variable in the performance of science teachers in the classroom. European Educational Research Journal, 7(4), 557-576.

Mansour, N. (2008). The experiences and personal religious beliefs of egyptian science teachers as a framework for understanding the shaping and reshaping of their beliefs and practices about Science-Technology-Society (STS). International Journal of Science Education, 30(12), 1605-1634.

Clegg, S., Hunt, C., Parker, J., Rowland, S., Skelton, A, & Steirer, B. (Eds) (2007) Diversity and Commonality in Higher Education: Special Issue, Teaching in Higher Education. Abingdon: Routledge.

Hunt, C (2007)  Diversity and pedagogic practice: Reflections on the role of an adult educator in higher education. Teaching in Higher Education (Special Issue) 12(5), 765-779.

Hunt, C (2007) (with West, L.)  Towards an understanding of what it might mean to research spiritually. In L.Servage & T.Fenwick (Eds) Learning in Community. Proceedings of the joint Conference of the American Adult Education Research Conference (AERC) and the Canadian Association for Studies in Adult Education (CASAE) (pp.301-306), Mount St Vincent University, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Hunt, C (2006)  Travels with a turtle: metaphors and the making of a professional identity. Reflective Practice 7(3), 315-332.

Hunt, C (2006)  Reviving the Conspiracy: Engaging with spirituality as a form of resistance.  In L.Roberts, W.Martin & J.Satterthwaite (Eds) Discourse, Resistance and Identity Formation (pp. 43-58). Stoke-on-Trent: Trentham.

Hunt, C (2006)  (with West, L.) Engaging with spirit: Researching spirituality in adult learning.  In P.Armstrong (Ed.) Inter-cultural perspectives on research into adult learning (pp. 176-183). Leeds: SCUTREA.

Freathy, R. (2006). Gender, age, attendance at a place of worship and young people's attitudes towards the Bible. Journal of Beliefs and Values, 27(3), 327-339.

Wellington, J., Bathmaker, A., Hunt, C., McCulloch, G. & Sikes, P. (2005) Succeeding With Your Doctorate. London, Thousand Oaks California, and New Delhi: Sage Publications. [1-4129-0116-2]

Nixon, J. Clegg, S., Hunt, C., Parker, J., Rowland, S. and Skelton, A. (Eds) (2005) Transformative Purposes, Values and identities for Higher Education: Special Issue, Teaching in Higher Education. Abingdon: Routledge.

Hunt, C (2005)  ‘Only the trying': Struggles of an adult educator within the academy. In P.Coare (Ed.) Difference and Diversity in Lifelong Learning (pp. 173-182). Sussex: SCUTREA, University of Sussex.

Hunt, C (2005)  Four entries: 'Adult'; 'Community Education'; 'Meaning Making'; 'Multiple Intelligences'. In L.English (Ed.) International Encyclopedia of Adult Education (pp. 33-36; 131-136; 391-395; 414-417). Basingstoke and New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Hunt, C (2005) Reflective Practice. In J.P.Wilson (Ed.) Human Resource Development: Learning and training for individuals and organizations (revised 2nd edition) (pp. 234-251). London and Sterling, VA: Kogan Page.

Who is Jesus?

(Westhill Endowment Trust and Bible Society England and Wales)

The Who is Jesus? textbook was the outcome of ‘The Art of Narrative Theology in Religious Education: Phase Four’ project, undertaken between 1st November 2014 – 30th April 2016, led by Rob Freathy and Esther Reed, with assistance from Anna Davis, Helen John and Anneke Schmidt.

• What historical sources can we use to find out about Jesus?
• What do the gospel writers tell us?
• How do Muslim and Christian views about Jesus compare?
• What can we know about Jesus’ attitudes towards women?
• How might a visually impaired Christian respond to biblical stories in which Jesus heals the blind?
• Is Jesus the same for people across different contexts and cultures?
• What is the significance of Jesus for the lives of Christians today?
• How and why do artists represent Jesus in different situations using a variety of signs and symbols?

All of these questions and more are addressed in this textbook for upper secondary school Religious Education and Religious Studies.

Who Is Jesus? provided an innovative examination of the figure of Jesus through a variety of different cultural, religious and disciplinary lenses. A team of fictional scholars, each with a different set of interpretations, methodologies and methods, guide students in their encounters with artistic, visually-impaired, Muslim, feminist and cross-cultural perspectives of Jesus.

The aim is not to inculcate any particular view of Jesus or to promote a particular approach to studying him, but to introduce students to some of the diverse ways in which the title question – Who is Jesus? - can be answered.

Downloadable resources

Who is Jesus? - ebook

Identifying Principles and Big Ideas for Religious Education

(St Luke's College Foundation)

The aim of this project was to address long-standing practical issues concerning curriculum content selection, curriculum coherence and subject relevance in Religious Education (RE) by applying the theories of Grant Wiggins, Jay McTighe and Lynne Errickson to develop principles and ‘Big Ideas’ that teachers, curriculum designers, syllabus writers, textbook authors and other stakeholders can use in determining the selection and sequence of RE curriculum content.

More specifically, the project’s objectives were:

1. to identify principles for RE that will clarify for political, public and professional audiences the purposes and practices of the subject;
2. to identify a manageable number of Big Ideas for RE which can be used subsequently to determine the selection of curriculum content;
3. to provide a progressive description of each Big Idea, using concepts and language appropriate for pupils at each Key Stage, which can be used subsequently to determine the sequencing of curriculum content; and finally, 
4. to use these Big Ideas and progressive descriptors as criteria to select exemplar RE curriculum content and demonstrate how this could be sequenced appropriately across the Key Stages.

Outcomes

In October 2016, Dr Barbara Wintersgill (Honorary University Fellow) and Professor Rob Freathy (Professor of Education) from the University of Exeter, and Professor Michael Reiss (Professor of Science Education, UCL Institute of Education), led a three-day symposium on Dartmoor in the South West of England to kick-start the process of fulfilling the objectives above. Participants included members of the Religion, Spirituality and Education Research Network, and invited national RE specialists from the fields of academia, inspection and training, in association with teachers.

The results of these face-to-face discussions and the following correspondence are presented in the following report: Big Ideas for Religious Education Report (PDF).

The report presented a new and radical approach to RE. It took account of recent changes in the government’s policy on curriculum and assessment, and drew on principles that have been implemented in other parts of the world for some years.

It identified six ‘Big Ideas for RE’, which set in narrative form the understanding expected of students aged 5–7, 7–11, 11–14 and 14–16. By understanding these ‘Big Ideas’ progressively as they move through compulsory education, students will be equipped to engage intelligently with situations, issues and questions that they will encounter after they leave school.

RE-searchers: A critical dialogic approach to RE in primary schools

(Culham St Gabriel's Trust)

An innovative pedagogical approach to Religious Education (RE) was trialled very successfully in one primary school in the southwest of England. It was informed by the belief that the main purpose of RE should be to teach pupils the disciplinary knowledge and skills associated with the communities of academic inquiry concerned with theological and religious studies, and it synthesizes critical and dialogic pedagogical principles.

The approach sought to enable pupils to enter into the kind of informed, critical and sensitive dialogues which are at the heart of academic study of religion(s) and worldviews(s) (see Freathy & Freathy 2013). It acknowledged that there is no neutral vantage point from which religions can be explored without prejudice, and it sought to facilitate the critical discussion and evaluation of a plurality of perspectives through practical, participative and inter-active methods of critical dialogic enquiry.

For the purpose of trialling the approach in practice, pupils were re-conceived as joint researchers working alongside teachers to investigate the effectiveness of different methods of studying religion(s), and thereby, acquiring the knowledge and skills associated with the communities of academic practice concerned with theological and religious studies.

To do so, a simple technique was developed utilising four cartoon character researchers (with illustrations and accompanying profiles), each representative of different methodological approaches. These 'RE-searchers' were then utilised by pupils to explore the efficacy of the different approaches upon which they were based, and thereby pupils were introduced to more abstract issues concerning ontology, epistemology and methodology.

The project (Freathy, Freathy, Doney, Walshe and Teece, Jan 2014 - Dec 2014) subsequently sought to develop these pedagogical principles and procedures further, in consultation with a wider range of schools and teachers.

Video: RE-searchers approach - a short-film of Rob Freathy introducing the RE-searchers approach.

Downloadable resources

PDF: The RE-searchers Approach: A quick start guide with exemplar units of work and activities

PDF: The RE-searchers: A New Approach to Religious Education in Primary Schools

RE-flect: A programme to foster metacognition in the Religious Education classroom

(Esmee Fairbairn Foundation)

Rob Freathy, Shirley Larkin, Karen Walshe and Jonathan Doney undertook this project between 2010 and 2012. It was informed by consultative action research principles and with a mixed methods design. Six primary school teachers and 160 pupils (8-10 year olds) took part in the second year of this two year project.

With the teachers, the project team sought to create and evaluate metacognitive learning environments - consisting of meta-thinking, worldview and resources zones - in which Religious Education (RE) could be taught in primary schools.

As part of the project, pupil attainment in RE and pupil perceptions of the learning environment were measured. Data from classroom observations, Worldview Profiles, and pupil and teacher interviews were also analysed qualitatively.

Outcomes

The results showed an overall increase in attainment in RE; a positive change in pupil perceptions of the learning environment and learning in RE; and the ability of pupils to reflect on and articulate their worldviews.

Resources

The project resulted in the publication of a book titled Metacognition, Worldviews and Religious Education: A Practical Guide for Teachers, by Shirley Larkin, Rob Freathy, Jonathan Doney, Giles Freathy (Routledge, 2020).

The Art of Narrative Theology in Religious Education

(Bible Society)

This project aimed to develop curriculum resources for use with Key Stage 3 pupils using the contemporary biblical paintings of Brian J. Turner, which show biblical scenes in a quirky, contemporary style that is both engaging and thought-provoking.

The project sought to develop a pedagogy of Religious Education (RE) based upon a narratival framework informed by both narrative theology and narrative philosophy.

Working from the narrative assumption that individuals and communities are formed by reading, sharing and living within stories, the project team suggested that such a narratival pedagogy of RE might encourage pupils to think about how the lives of Christians are shaped by their interpretations of biblical narratives, to offer their own interpretations of biblical and other texts, and to consider the stories – religious, non-religious or both – which shape their own lives. In so doing, the project sought to move away from a 'proof-texting' approach to the Bible towards one in which pupils are enabled to think about the significance of biblical narratives for both Christians and themselves.

The resultant pedagogy comprised four phases of learning:

• encountering narrative;
• interpreting narrative;
• understanding narrative in community contexts;
• and reflecting on narratives of self and others.

Resources

This pedagogy has been implemented in practice to form a set of commercially-published curriculum materials for use with KS3 students.

Book: Freathy, R., Reed, E. D., Davis, A., and Cornwall, S. (2014). The Art of Bible Reading: 12 Lessons on the Bible for Key Stage 3. Buxhall: Kevin Mayhew Ltd.

Video: The Art of Bible Reading - A Narrative Approach. In this film, Rob Freathy, Esther D. Reed, Anna Davis and Brian J. Turner introduce you to their narrative approach to Religious Education in schools.

The hidden history of curriculum change in Religious Education in English schools, 1969-1979

(British Academy and Westhill Endowment Trust)

Rob Freathy and Stephen Parker undertook a historical research project with a view to contributing to knowledge about curriculum change in Religious Education (RE) in English schools between 1969 and 1979, with a focus on the controversial Birmingham Agreed Syllabus (1975). Both original archival material and oral life history data were utilised and contextualised within their educational, socio-cultural and political milieu.

Findings

The research uncovered political processes associated with RE’s development, both locally and nationally, that had been neglected in the existing literature; for example:

• significant campaigns by secularists and humanists to abolish, reform or establish a secular alternative to, RE;
• fervent responses by certain Christian groups, including Mary Whitehouse’s well-publicised Save Religion in State Schools campaign;
• forgotten national policy developments led by the Department of Education and Science and Her Majesty’s Inspectors;
• and theoretical tensions surrounding the dominance of Christianity in the RE curriculum due to historical and cultural reasons and the need for multi-faith content as a response to the mass immigration of adherents to non-Christian religions.