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© WERDELIN 2013
Religious Education & Philosophy for Children
Who am I?
Lost in a maze of meaning...
As a part of interfaith outreach group for the Muslim community of Norwich, I am in the process of developing a series of discovery exercises aimed at primary and secondary schools.
Children today are subjected to a widening stream of wildly conflicting messages through an ever expanding range of media, supplanting and often undermining the coherent narratives that traditionally bound both local communities and nations of which they formed a part in a bid to define identity and - therefore - define reality itself.
Firmly grounded in social constructivism, Structural Cooperative Learning offers a unique tool to help learners cope and de-construct the onslaught while providing an overarching context to social skills building.
On a philosophical level the exercises help learners reflect, at their individual levels, on issues of epistemology ("How do you know something?") and ontology ("What is reality") in the very practical zone of personal beliefs in the classroom.
Naturally included are a suite of subsidiary skills, including higher level thinking skills, questioning and debating techniques.
A: “Because … well, it’s the right thing to do.”
B: “Says who?” ...
werdelin E D U C A T I O N
facilitating 21st century skills through Cooperative Learning
‘‘Space to get in the zone...’’
- Billy, Acle Academy
Enquiry and Immersion:
Full-Day Field Trip
to Ihsan Mosque
A Werdelin Education
community building
& outreach programme
Belief, identity and
re-framing of narratives
in Year 6
‘‘I believe that Christians can believe in Buddhism, but he believes his dad likes barbecue sauce, Mike says he doesn't believe in anything and she doesn’t know - is that ok to write?’’
- one of four learners with 3 minutes to go on a collective team declaration
What do you see?
“ ... enjoyed your session very much, as did the children. Your manner and enthusiasm with them was very similar to my own philosophy.”
- Keith Pink, teacher at Dereham St. Nicholas Junior School
Dereham St. Nicholas Junior School
What do we believe?
Year 4
The candid verbalization of opinions during the debate gives teachers a unique insight into the knowledge and thought processes of each individual student.
Beginning with a pair/share where partners take turns listing various beliefs they are familiar with, the crunch began with groups of four attempting to find and formulate a common ground for a declaration of faith.
As this is a Church of England Voluntary Aided School with a Christian context, most children agreed on believing in "God" - but as the above quote suggests, this was by no means a rule. Discussion about the nature of the Divine abounded and final statements included "Our team believes in life", "Our team believes in family", "Our team believes in God, mummification and that Egyptians have no money" and, one team brilliantly solving the conundrum: "Our team believes it's ok to believe in different things."
This is Year 4.
Interested in RE & P4C? contact@werdelin.co.uk
RE teacher?
Interested in P4C?
read more on
cooperativelearning.works
Book event >
A unique cross cultural meeting for all secondary RE students in Norfolk
I have been advocating Cooperative Learning as a tool to facilitate collaboration between schools and faith communities for some time. I have now been commissioned by Ihsan Mosque in Norwich to stage a unique cross cultural meeting for all primary and secondary RE pupils in Norfolk and the surrounding counties.
Please see formal invitation by Mr Jamal Sealey, community leader here:
In presenting Enquiry & Immersion, we are drawing on available skills within our community. We thereby hope to establish the Muslims of Norwich as a valuable resource for education and to moderate negative stereotyping by facilitating religious literacy through independent enquiry and personal encounters. >
Read more about the first event
or mail to book places
