Teaching Virtue: The Contribution of Religious Education

Description

In much of the world, religious traditions are seriously valued but, in the context of religious plurality, this sets educationalists an enormous challenge. This book provides a way forward in exploring religious life whilst showing how bridges might be built between diverse religious traditions. Teaching Virtue puts engagement with religious life – and virtue ethics – at the heart of religious education, encouraging ‘learning from’ religion rather than ‘learning about’ religion. The authors focus on eight key virtues, examining these for what they can offer of religious value to pupils and teachers. Individual chapters put the discussion into context by offering a vision of what religious education in the future could look like; the need for responsible religious education; a historical review of moral education and an introduction to virtue ethics. Lesson plans and examples demonstrate how the virtues may be approached in the classroom, making it an invaluable guide for all involved in teaching religious education. Title Page Copyright Page Contents Notes on Contributors Foreword Acknowledgements Introduction Note References Part 1 - Orientations Chapter 1 The prospective nature of Religious Education Introduction: The aims of RE (Religious Education) Subverting religiousness Other stakeholders in education The impact of the past and future Shared responsibilities Subject centred or child and society centred? Moral and spiritual Prospective education, agency and the whole person The Birmingham (UK) experience Conclusions Notes References Chapter 2 The need for responsible Religious Education in the light of the ‘Value Free’ society A value-free society? The fact/belief divide promoting relativism Positivism and its hold on education Values, secularism and religion The task for RE What does this mean for the practice of RE today? References Chapter 3 Virtue ethics – Background and current popularity Persons, religion and education Two dimensions of religious and other education Ethics, virtue and moral reason Past and present virtue ethics Towards religious and other virtue education References Chapter 4 The demise and rebirth of moral education in English Religious Education The transition from confessional to non-confessional religious education A genealogical account of the contribution of religious education to moral education Refining and defending the argument The rebirth of moral education in English religious education Notes References Part 2 - Dispositions Chapter 5 Being honest Difficulty with words The role of religion References Chapter 6 Being compassionate But What Does It Mean? The roots of compassion Which virtues make us good? Compassion and faith Love The crucified God The scope of compassion Suffering A more than human world All creatures great and small And, finally, ourselves References Chapter 7 Being just Beginnings Jean Piaget (1896–1980) and others Religious rules and religious principles Justice Postmodernity and relativity Skills and analysis Dispositions in the classroom Note References Chapter 8 Being courageous Two further points need to be borne in mind here Transference of abilities Human flourishing Discipline Weakness of the will Moral luck Risk Fear Men and women Education and courage References Chapter 9 Being hopeful Introduction Hope – a theological virtue Hope provokes discontent New possibilities Hope presupposes ‘the Good’ The good life within the Christian tradition Ways of bringing the good life to mind: The practice of hope But is hope an illusion? How we live matters Utopias False Utopias? The future of God Notes References Chapter 10 Being temperate Is temperance a virtue? Virtue qualified by narrative Temperance versus drunkenness Be ye therefore sober (1 Peter, chapter 4, verse 7) References Chapter 11 Being wise Plato and especially Aristotle on wisdom Knowledge and wisdom Bad luck Imparting wisdom Subjectivism about what is good Communicating a vision? The defective will and the testing of exemplars References Chapter 12 Being faithful Introduction: Getting to the heart of faith The concept of religious faith Faith as a human interaction Virtuous faith? Notes References Part 3 - Exemplars Exemplars Introduction Exemplars for Keystage 1 (ages 5–6) Exemplars for Keystage 2 (ages 7–11) Some background2 Keystage 3 (ages 11–14) The story of Job Story – Job Chapter 14 Keystage 4 (ages 15–16) Keystage 5 (ages 17–18) Notes Appendix: The Birmingham Religious Education Survey Introduction Research design Questionnaire design Teacher questionnaires Pupil questionnaires The pilot study Sample Data analyses Preliminary analysis of pilot study data Teacher responses Pupil responses Conclusio Index