We are delighted to announce that the Templeton World Charity Foundation Inc. has awarded funding to the Religious Education Council of England and Wales (REC) to work with RE Today Services to take the vision of worldviews in RE a step closer to the classroom.
The £150,000 grant will fund the creation of a toolkit of materials to help subject leads and advisers build a syllabus and define a curriculum for teaching religious education framed by the new worldview vision.
Recommended as the central idea for religious education by the Commission on RE in 2018, the worldview approach emphasises the importance for pupils of an academic understanding of the contribution of religious and non-religious worldviews to human life. It focuses both on organised worldviews and on the personal worldviews that pupils bring with them into the classroom.
The new project will produce a range of syllabus frameworks and example materials that illustrate how this vision translates into different syllabus models for different contexts. The materials will be crafted over three phases during a three-year period until 2024.
Commenting on the project, Stephen Pett, project leader and RE Adviser from RE Today, said:
“This is an exciting project, offering the opportunity to make a significant impact on the direction and quality of RE for the coming years.
“Our focus is on creating clear and practical guidance to help those who create syllabuses for the subject. We will draw on the rich possibilities opened up through a study of religious and non-religious worldviews and offer different models for applying these ideas to curriculum development. We want pupils to gain a richer understanding of religion and of religious and non-religious worldviews, as part of their understanding of the world and of themselves.”
Professor Trevor Cooling, Chair of the REC, said:
“This is an important project that takes a further step towards improving the quality and rigour of religious education and its capacity to prepare pupils for life in modern Britain. It reinforces the vital role the subject plays in enhancing society, education, and the economy.
“We believe that the new vision will enthuse pupils as they learn more about how their own personal worldviews can grow and develop through learning about organised religious and non-religious worldviews.
“As a member organisation, we will draw on the expertise of the teachers, advisers, consultants, and members of faith and belief communities who are part of the REC to develop the new frameworks. Our ultimate goal is to support teachers in planning academically rigorous and personally inspiring RE for their pupils”