Birmingham Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education


Birmingham City Council \| Birmingham Grid for Learning

Birmingham Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education 2007

5. Programmes of Study
B. Key Stage 1

Foundation

Throughout Key Stage 1:

Teachers will mainly seek to develop the spiritual and moral dispositions of pupils. In order to do so, they will present them with, and draw on, resources from Christianity and other religious traditions using the selection criteria set out [see Factors]. Particular attention should be given to the religious tradition(s) from which the pupils come.

Pupils will begin to engage with views about God, society and the world around them. By the end of the stage they will have been introduced to the meaning of the Christmas and Easter celebrations, and will have become familiar with a small range of key stories, religious cultural expressions, artefacts and other religious material, which amongst other things express the sense of being made welcome, of belonging and which convey a sense of meaning in life.

Pupils will begin to recognise various ethico-religious demands, obligations and affective responses, and learn some of the language in which these are expressed, and they themselves will begin to use religious words and concepts, and to articulate and discuss aspects of some basic religious perceptions, e.g. the importance of caring and being responsible.

They will also begin to use other expressive media (art, music, drama) to appreciate how religious faith can help them represent deep feelings, and to form their basic dispositions towards all that surrounds them in the wider world, towards other people, the natural world, and their own inner self. Pupils will:

begin to ask relevant questions,
develop their sensitivity for the awesome character of the world,
employ their imagination in looking beyond appearances,
acquire dispositions of caring and respect for the dignity of all human beings and of all animal life, and
value constructive social relationships.

Development of Pupils and Society:
Skills, Understanding and Application of Knowledge

I. Learning from Faith

The dispositions of pupils will be developed using the treasury of faith. Drawing on the beliefs, expressions and practical actions of religious traditions and by having regard to key questions [see: key questions in the non-statutory material], pupils at this Key Stage should grow intellectually, affectively/emotionally, and practically by being enabled to:

chart to illustrate person & social focus and link to larger version

with a personal focus

primarily, but not exclusively, cognitive

Consider reflectively matters that are of real and immediate concern to them and others, and to discuss these personal concerns.
Give attention to what is precious to them and to others in their home and school environment.
Begin to form the capacity to evaluate by learning to ask questions and to listen to others, empathising and thinking about whether they agree or disagree.

primarily, but not exclusively, affective

Consider and express those spontaneous feelings, which are related to, or may lead to, worship (and various other spiritual exercises), and to expressions of wonder, praise, thanks, concern, joy and sadness.

primarily, but not exclusively, conative

Develop dispositions that demonstrate their awareness of spiritual, moral and aesthetic values (see: dispositions).

primarily abilities and skills oriented

Using religious stories and teachings to learn how to share with others.

with a social focus

Appreciate the mutual dependence between young people and their family and/or carers.
Begin to recognise why people may reasonably differ and to work together to find ways of settling differences.

II. Learning about religious traditions

Pupils should be offered a holistic view of religious traditions, their beliefs, their expressions, and their practical actions. Thus pupils should be helped to develop their knowledge, their affections, their dispositions, their abilities/skills and relationships with others in society by using key questions and:

with a personal focus

primarily, but not exclusively, cognitive

Listening to, and thinking about, a range of religious stories and concepts, and discussing what they might mean.

primarily, but not exclusively, affective

Beginning to explore religious ideas and emotions expressed in and through the arts (e.g. in music, painting and dance).

primarily, but not exclusively, conative

Identifying and exploring some prominent religious celebrations, rituals and forms of worship, including the use of silence. (Christmas and Easter are strongly advised to be taught at this key stage)

primarily abilities and skills oriented

Learning how religious hopes and commitments practically affect personal and community life.
Identifying some important religious symbols, beginning to think about what they might mean and developing their religious vocabulary.

with a social focus

Considering what people from all parts of the world share and how animals may depend on what human beings do.

Areas of Study

A. Cultivating Spiritual and Moral Dispositions:

"A disposition is a prevailing quality of character marked by an inclination, or will,
to act in a particular way or by a tendency to a certain kind of action."

In the course of their study, pupils will be seeking to cultivate their spiritual and moral dispositions, which should not be isolated from religious understanding. Within the religious context the virtuous nature of these dispositions depends precisely on the condition of the sense of life as a life lived before God or out of a duty to the Divine, or in anticipation of the dissolution of the self in nirvana. To treat the development of dispositions as purely an exercise in self-development, or alternatively as desirable behaviour from the viewpoint of the interest of society, is (from a theological perspective) to exacerbate the deepest problem of the human condition, and in the words of St Augustine, to turn these virtues into ‘splendid vices’.

Therefore, to convey the sense of religious life in religious education it is necessary to show the inextricable link between the religious understanding and the dispositions.

It is also believed that through an active engagement with religious material and resources, employing key questions, and the use of imaginative empathy, exemplars and experimental modeling, (as well as other means) the dispositions will emerge and grow. Social structures are developed through the links created between people across space and time. For the purposes of this syllabus the dispositions have been agreed to be:

RT = a specified religious tradition or believers of a specified religious tradition
L.f.F. = Learning from Faith
L.a.R.T. = Learning about Religious Traditions

	Spiritual and Moral Dispositions	Some suggested Key Questions at this stage are:
	Being Imaginative and Explorative	L.f.F.: What do you see in your mind? L.a.R.T.: How do believers of (RT) imagine God to be?
	Appreciating Beauty	L.f.F.: How does this make you feel? L.a.R.T.: Why is this special to the believers of this RT?
	Expressing Joy	L.f.F.: What makes us happy and how do we show it? L.a.R.T.: When and where do we see happy people in (RT)__? Why were the shepherds happy to go to Bethlehem?
	Being Thankful	L.f.F.: When and why do we say, ‘Thank you’? L.a.R.T: Do you know a ‘thank you’ prayer?
	Caring for Others, Animals and the Environment	L.f.F.: What would it be like if no-one cared for us or our world? L.a.R.T.: How does God care for me?
	Sharing and Being Generous	L.f.F.: Do you like to give and receive presents? Are you rich enough to share? L.a.R.T.: Why do believers give presents on special occasions?
	Being Regardful of Suffering	L.f.F.: What hurts you? L.a.R.T.: How do (RT)___ try to make things better? How did Jesus make people better?
	Being Merciful and Forgiving	L.f.F.: How big is your love? L.a.R.T.: How big is God’s love?
	Being Fair and Just	L.f.F.: Does it matter if people are not fair? L.a.R.T.: Who decides what is fair? Is it God?
	Living by Rules	L.f.F.: Could we live without rules? L.a.R.T.: What rules has God made?
	Being Accountable and Living with Integrity	L.f.F.: Can others depend on you? Can you let yourself down? L.a.R.T.: How in (RT)__ do believers say sorry to God?
	Being Temperate, Exercising Self-Discipline and Cultivating Serene Contentment	L.f.F.: What influences my behaviour? L.a.R.T.: What do (RT)____ teach about being peaceful?

	Spiritual and Moral Dispositions	Some suggested Key Questions at this stage are:
	Being Modest and Listening to Others	L.f.F.: Why should we listen to others? L.a.R.T.: What does the story of (RT) teach us about listening?
	Cultivating Inclusion, Identity and Belonging	L.f.F.: How do you know you belong? L.f.R.T.: What do (RT)___ do when a baby is born?
	Creating Unity and Harmony	L.f.F.: How are you both different from and also the same as everyone else? L.a.R.T.: What does the story of __(RT)_teach believers about getting on with each other?
	Participating and Willing to Lead	L.f.F.: What is good about taking part? L.a.R.T.: What do believers of (RT)___ do together?
	Remembering Roots	L.f.F.: How do you remember special people, places and events? L.a.R.T.: Which special person do the believers of (RT)__ remember?
	Being Loyal and Steadfast	L.f.F.: What sort of a friend are you? L.a.R.T.: What sort of friend was __ in (RT)? What sort of friend was Peter?
	Being Hopeful and Visionary	L.f.F.: What do you hope for the future? L.a.R.T.: To what do the believers of (RT)___ look forward?
	Being Courageous and Confident	L.f.F.: What is courage? L.a.R.T.: How did (character in story) show courage?
	Being Curious and Valuing Knowledge	L.f.F.: Why is ‘Why’ important? What do we need to know? L.a.R.T.: How do the believers of (RT)___ learn about God?
	Being Open, Honest and Truthful	L.f.F.: Why does the truth matter? L.a.R.T.: Do believers ever lie?
	Being Reflective and Self-Critical	L.f.F.: How could you be perfect? L.a.R.T.: How do (RT)___ help people to change for the better? How did encountering Jesus change others?
	Being Silent and Attentive to, and Cultivating a Sense for, the Sacred and Transcendence	L.f.F.: What is it like when you are really quiet? L.a.R.T.: What is it like to be quiet in a (place of worship)____?

B. Selected religious material:

To make progress in the process of achieving the attainment targets of Religious Education, pupils during this key stage should be taught using appropriate key questions and the various aspects of religious traditions, namely their:

Beliefs, especially those central to the religions in question, and beliefs about human beings, the past and future, the natural world.
Key figures and institutions.
Literature: Stories, poetry, prayers, wisdom literature, hymns/carols.
Celebrations, rituals, - symbols, artefacts and language.
Cultural expressions in the arts, i.e. those which have religious import (In music, art, sculpture, dance, drama, design of buildings).
Actions, with examples of what members of the religious faiths have done and are doing to help others or to care for the world about them.
Ethics, laws/rules that govern behaviour.

These will be selected from:

Religious traditions represented in the classroom, [see Religious Traditions].
Christian traditions, (at this stage, Christmas and Easter are required) [see religious traditions: Christianity].
Resources from diverse religious traditions that help to deepen and broaden the spiritual and moral dimension, e.g. by choosing material from different parts of the world and also encountered in Birmingham and Britain [see religious traditions: Bahá'í, Buddhism; Hinduism; Islam; Jainism; Judaism; Rastafarianism; Sikhism].
Resources from daily life and the experience of the pupils in the classroom, and from what is to be found in the immediate neighbourhood and community, e.g. through visits to religious buildings, visits from people of faith, together with resources from the wider world which may be accessed through Information and Communication Technology (ICT).
Resources that promote a positive appreciation of, and care for, others.

C. Using Clusters:

The dispositions may be clustered to reveal 1.their interdependence and 2.the different configurations in which they may be encountered within the varying cultures and civilisations. Any clustering will also take into account the ages, aptitudes and family background of the children in the school (see advice on clustering). Teachers may choose to cluster the dispositions outlined above into six basic clusters. Thus one might cluster the dispositions in one of the following ways:

Example 1:

1 – 4 as developing creativity (How should we imagine and express what matters?)

5 – 8 as developing compassion (How and why should we care?)

9 – 12 as developing choice (What should we stand for?)

13 – 16 as developing community (How and where should we contribute and relate to others?)

17 – 20 as developing commitment (What ventures should we undertake?)

21 – 24 as developing contemplation (How do we come to understand what matters?)

Example 2:

[24, 21, 7, 12] as being attentive (How can we learn about what lies beyond the limits of our world?)

[1, 13, 9, 22] as being receptive (How can we learn to receive without abusing the gift?)

[17, 23, 14, 18] as learning from the past (How can the past live and enlarge the present?)

[19, 20, 15, 1] as looking to the future ((What dare we hope for?)

[5, 16, 10, 11] as recognising inter-dependence ((How do we learn that others rely on us and we on them?)

[3, 4, 8, 6] as responding and developing (What can we do to develop fully as persons?)