20th February 2015 10:00
By Blue Tutors
News emerged recently that religious leaders in Britain have challenged the government over plans to leave Humanism out of the new GCSE in Religious Studies. Students will be asked to study two major faiths, but Humanist and secular world views will not be a significant part of the course. Religious leaders including the former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams have questioned the decision to side-line Humanism, arguing in an open letter that students should see a broader range of perspectives which shape modern Britain, in which many people do not practice any religion. How should Religious Studies tutors respond to this and what can they do to help their students?
Tutors, to some extent, have the luxury of embellishing their lessons with extra material that might not be on the curriculum, but which they may feel adds to the student’s education and understanding. In the case of the new Religious Studies GCSE there may be a lot to add. The department for education has said that as well as being academically rigorous, the new RS GCSE should teach students about modern Britain. However, Humanism does not feature as a central discussion, meaning that the new GCSE is getting off to a bad, out-of-date start. It will be very important for RS tutors to ensure that they allow their students to take a broader look at British society and the questions which are central to people’s outlook on life.
For many people in Britain, religion is not a key part of their lives. Yet this does not mean that they do not ask the big questions such as ‘what does it all mean?’ ‘What does it mean to live a good life?’ ‘what kind of society do I want to live in?’. By beginning and ending lessons with one religion, tutors risk omitting some of the richness of British life which the GCSE is supposed to open up. They would do better to begin with the big questions – the ones which most people in Britain consider regardless of religion – and start a nuanced discussion from there. Hopefully the department for education will reconsider the narrow focus of the GCSE, but for now the onus is on tutors to broaden the curriculum.