Pedagogies of Religious Education:
Opening up a new field of research in RE.
Michael Grimmitt
School of Education, University of Birmingham, UK

This summer McCrimmons will publish a new book entitled, Pedagogies of Religious Education: case studies in the research and development of good pedagogic practice in RE (Grimmitt, M.H. 2000). The case studies comprise nine on-going research projects in RE developed in the UK which, between them, represent eight different pedagogical models upon which primary and secondary teachers may draw when teaching RE.

As well as highlighting the significant similarities and differences between these models, the book is intended to stimulate further debate about the need for new pedagogies of RE and the development of new research projects in the field. An important step in this process is to establish some consensus about the meaning and significance of pedagogy within the context of teaching and learning in RE.

A possible working definition of a pedagogy is: a theory of teaching and learning encompassing aims, curriculum content and methodology. Another is: a science of teaching and learning embodying both curriculum and methodology. Whatever the definition, the fundamental concern of pedagogy is to relate the process of teaching to that of learning on the part of the child (B.Simon, 1981, 95)

Even though it may not be a term that RE research projects have used much in the past to describe how they have understood the basis for learning and teaching in RE, there is no doubt that what projects advocate are pedagogical models or, where they provide a fully integrated theory of teaching and learning in RE which includes aims, methodology and curriculum content (but not all do), a pedagogy of RE.

Each of these models attempts to address and resolve some of the perennial issues and difficulties which arise when education and religion are brought into a relationship within the context of a secular education system serving the needs of children and young people who are members of a religiously diverse and predominantly secular society.

All pedagogical models of RE are expressions of certain assumptions about how education and religion can be brought into a relationship within the context of a secular educational system. These assumptions are based upon a particular view of religion and of education; indeed they combine a particular view of religion(s) with a particular view of education. How this relationship is conceived sets the parameters within which pedagogical judgements are made. Let us consider this process.

A view of how religion(s) and education can be brought into a relationship will reflect a view of why and how pupils will benefit from their study of religion(s). Both views will find expression in the choice of aim for RE, the selection of curriculum content thought appropriate to achieving this aim and the choice of methodology (or methodologies) thought capable of bringing about the learning outcomes necessary to fulfil the aim. These are the component parts of a pedagogy of RE and there will be points of similarity and difference between what each pedagogical model proposes and the assumptions upon which these proposals are based.

At the heart of a pedagogy of RE, however, lies an intention to promote a particular kind (or several different kinds) of interaction between the pupils and the religious content which they are studying. The nature and scope of the kinds of interaction that are considered appropriate and desirable also reflect the assumptions about the nature of religion and education which underlie each pedagogical model. These interactions may be grouped into two broad categories: those which contribute to pupils learning about religion and those which contribute mainly to pupils learning from religion. In the former category are included instructional, conceptual, empathetic interactions (i.e. where pupils assimilate and accommodate the content as understood within its faith context ), and in the latter category reflective, interpretative, critical, and evaluative interactions (i.e. where pupils assimilate and accommodate the content as understood within its faith context but then re-contextualise and reconstruct it within their own self-understanding for the purposes of values clarification, existential analysis, illumination of personal constructs, etc., or subject its truth claims to critical evaluation using criteria from a variety of disciplines - philosophical, scientific, ethical, psychological, etc.). Most of the pedagogies of RE which have been developed in the last fifteen or twenty years seek to promote interactions in both categories, but not in relation to all the components of each category listed here.

In order to actualise the kinds of interaction deemed important each pedagogical model deploys certain pedagogical procedures or strategies which determine how pupils will experience, engage with, and respond to the content. The choice of these pedagogical procedures or strategies reflects whatever pedagogical principles the model is applying to the specific problems of teaching and learning in RE, given its particular view of religion and education and how they are related. In those pedagogical models in which pedagogical judgements reflect the application of specific theories of learning or of human development to the task of teaching RE (and not all models do so), these principles constitute general laws or substantive hypotheses about how optimal, or at least the intended learning outcomes may be achieved. It is to actualise whatever form of interaction or interactions that these principles require that pedagogical principles and procedures are employed.

To summarise, pedagogical principles are general laws or substantive hypotheses about teaching and learning which inform the process of devising pedagogical procedures or pedagogical strategies which, in turn, determine how pupils will experience, engage with and respond to the content. Ideally in designing a pedagogical model pedagogical principles should first be expressed in generic terms (i.e. as Piaget or Bruner might formulate a principle about assisting concept development) and then expressed in terms specific to RE.

Thus, pedagogical procedures or strategies are designed to implement pedagogical principles and in so doing fulfil or contribute to the stated aims of RE. However, in a sense, the pedagogical principles are more important than the pedagogical procedures or strategies because the principles are transferable and invite teachers to invent their own pedagogical strategies for implementing them. It is when teachers are unaware of the importance of applying pedagogical principles in their work, or have a limited understanding of them, that pupils' potential for learning in RE is rarely actualised.

One of the intentions of the new book is to help readers, whether trainees or practising teachers, to be better placed to compare and contrast each model's assumptions about learning and teaching in RE, be better able to identify points of similarity and difference between them, and feel better prepared to incorporate some of their pedagogical principles and strategies in their own teaching.

References:
B. Simon (ed) (1981), Education in the Eighties: the central issues (London, Batsford)
M.H. Grimmitt (ed) (2000), Pedagogies of Religious Education: case studies in the research and development of good pedagogic practice in RE (Great Wakering, Essex, UK, McCrimmons Publishing Co.Ltd) Contributors include: Alan Brown, Trevor Cooling, Jane and Clive Erricker, Michael Grimmitt, David Hay, John. M. Hull, Robert Jackson, John Rudge, and Andrew Wright. For further information contact M.H.Grimmitt@bham.ac.uk