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I recall a conversation I had with our youngest son when he was about three years old. He asked me if his soft toy Winnie the Pooh was real or not. I asked him what he thought made something real? He said it needed to talk and move. I said, but you can feel him, you are holding him in your hand. He looked puzzled. So what is real? As the same son turns seventeen this week, he is now asking these questions in a different way, often related to particle physics, or cell structure in biology… But he is still asking questions.

Earlier this term, Culham St Gabriel’s commissioned a nationally representative survey through Savanata ComRes. The survey asked circa 2000 parents in the UK for their views on a range of matters related to religion and worldview literacy. 

Close to 4 in 5 parents who responded discussed beliefs that affect people’s behaviour and decision-making with their child either sometimes or often. Over 70% discussed beliefs and practices of people with religious and non-religious worldviews, beliefs concerning what happens when we die and about the origins of the universe. Discussing some of the big questions in life, as well as philosophical and religious beliefs seems to be fairly commonplace in UK homes. I wonder how many other households have discussed the question ‘what is real?’.

Alongside this, the importance of school as a place where children learn about religious and non-religious perspectives was highlighted. Almost 70% said their child mainly accesses information about religious and non-religious worldviews at school. It is perhaps not surprising therefore, that 2/3 parents thought religious education was an important part of the school curriculum. 

In light of the #census2021 and evidence that we live in an increasingly multi religious, multi secular society, the importance of a broad based, critical and reflective education in religion and worldviews has never been more important. Parents agree. When presented with a new approach to the subject- religion and worldviews- parents were even more positive about its value. 

·      73% of UK parents said it is important to learn about the similarities and differences between beliefs and lived experience of different worldview traditions

·      72% of UK parents said that RE lessons should include teaching that worldviews are complex and may comprise both religious and non-religious beliefs

·      70% of UK parents said RE lessons should teach about the social and historical context of different religious and non-religious worldviews

So, if you are a parent or carer what questions have you discussed with your child today? 

Will you support us in calling on government to fund a National Plan for RE?

 

https://www.cstg.org.uk/activities/campaigns/parent-survey

https://www.rethinkre.org/what-do-we-want

My three ‘take-aways’ from RExChange 2022…

Living with and navigating complexity

One of the themes running through the conference for me was the complexity of the space we are navigating regarding religion and worldviews. The vibrancy and energy generated through the conference space, with diverse and sometimes conflicting views being presented was to me inspirational. It was fascinating to hear Adam talk about the broken ‘chain of learning’ regarding religion and belief literacy, but his solution was not one of ‘uniformity’, but rather one of shared understanding characterised by contextuality. Culham St Gabriel’s is increasingly partnering with organisations across this ‘chain of learning’ and I hope we can bring some helpful contributions to this complexity. Our new promotional films are one example of this perhaps (see below). One of the positive outcomes for me of the conference was the hospitable nature in which people debated and questioned different perspectives. I thought Gillian Georgiou exemplified this particularly well coming with great humility and openness in her keynote presentation. Perhaps we can move to a place where we don’t just live with or navigate complexity but celebrate it.

Co-existing well

Being comfortable co-existing with those who have a different worldview to ourselves therefore follows from the above. Tom Fletcher CMG’s challenge to us as to whether we are promoting trust and equity, and whether we are using or being used by technology resonated with many of us, I think. Tom’s emphasis on the importance of co-existing well, rather than putting up walls of division lies at the heart of our subject. In particular, I believe a religion and worldviews approach to our subject puts this at the centre. If we understand our own positioning, and approach knowledge as interpreters, we will be able to see the value of different voices and co-exist well. The Culham St Gabriel’s vision sums this up rather well – we want to see a broad based, critically reflective education in religion and worldviews which contributes to a well- informed, respectful and open society. Once again, the Theos animation Nobody Stands Nowhere comes to mind too. This is about truly positive co-existence.

Being courageous

Tamanda Walker ended her presentation by calling for boldness and courage in relation to anti-racist education. Tom Fletcher ended his keynote by saying we need to be brave. In many ways the conference was a clarion call for teachers and other educators to step up, to show that education, particularly an education in religion and worldviews, is key for the future health and well-being of our children and young people; and beyond that for the health and well-being of humanity (I like bold claim!). It was a call for more freedom, curiosity and creativity in school curricula, and to equip our children and young people with skills of diplomacy and problem solving, and to encourage them to be curious and above all, kind.

Thankyou to all our amazing contributors!

New Promotional Films https://www.cstg.org.uk/campaigns/promoting-an-education-in-rwv/promotional-film-collection/

Theos Animation Nobody Stands Nowhere https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFRxKF-Jdos

Tom Fletcher CMG expands his thinking of ‘head, heart, hands’ in his book Ten Survival Skills for a World in Flux. Available here http://tomfletcher.global/

Recordings from the conference will be available soon at www.reonline.org.uk

Congratulations to our winners

As part of our 10^th Anniversary celebrations Culham St Gabriel’s Trust invited organisations to apply for ten £1000 grant awards. We had an exceptionally high number of applications and trustees had some very difficult decisions to make, however the following projects stood out for their innovation and creativity. We look forward to sharing more about these projects in due course through our blogs, newsletters and events.

Denise Angell, Warren Road Primary School – Celebrating diversity with our parents and community

Jennie Downes, Diocese of St Asaph – Cynefin- identity and belonging

Joanne Harris, Broughton High School – Religious Education and Careers Webinar

Terry Hart, Diocese of Manchester – Engaging with Judaism

Laura Knight, Saxlingham Nethergate CE Primary School – Our Multi-Faith Society

Hannah Jones, Myton School – Promoting learning about world religions and global culture

Helen Jones, LTLRE North West – A Learn Teach Lead Primary Early Career Teacher Network

Karen Longden, St Barnabas CE Primary School – Faith Food Café – a place to share, support and celebrate

Catriona Martin, RE Matters – Challenging religion and worldview stereotypes

Ruth Marx, Tower Hamlets SACRE – Key Stage 5 Core Religious Education Provision across Tower Hamlets

As a Trust we are deeply saddened by the news of The Queen’s death last Thursday. I have found the many tributes to her incredibly powerful and moving. What strikes me is the way in which she was held in such high regard by some many different people, people from diverse backgrounds, with different worldviews and cultures. She truly served her people, those of all faiths and none. She understood the way in which people with often contrasting worldviews can come together, to bring hope, to challenge injustice. What an incredible legacy this is.

Overwhelmingly she had a servant heart. Servant leaders value people for who they are. Servant leaders put others first, they are humble. Servant leaders listen because they want to learn from others, they seek to understand and discern. Servant leaders are dependable, and display kindness and concern for others. The Queen demonstrated these values and qualities throughout her life, often in extraordinarily difficult times. She was steadfast, constant, and utterly dedicated. In this, she was an inspiration to us all. I hope that I can in some small way emulate this dedication and servant heart, not only my professional life but in my personal life too.

The Queen’s servant heart is one that we as a Trust strive to share too. We aim to be responsive, generous, and available to all our partners. Over the last year we have been challenged as a Trust to consider the question, how can we best serve our community? I imagine this might have been a daily question the Queen asked herself, how can I best serve my people today? The outpouring of love and tributes in the last few days demonstrate how she touched so many over so many years through her daily service.

The Queen was someone with incredible integrity. A value which is sadly not seen frequently in public life these days. The Queen was kind, dependable and trustworthy in the way she fulfilled her role. I believe that we must learn from this. Integrity must lie at the heart of what we do and how we engage with others in our personal and professional lives. As The Queen so clearly demonstrated, these values will bring people together for the good of our communities.

So, as we embark on this new term, with a new Prime Minister and a new King Charles III, I shall particularly keep the values of service and integrity close to my heart and remember The Queen as a woman who devoted her whole life to the giving of herself to others.

In our 10^th Anniversary Year, it is perhaps fitting that we also celebrate the dedication and leadership of John Keast OBE as Chair of the Trust over the last 4 years. At the end of August John stepped down as Chair, as his term came to an end. John has not only given his time, but also his wisdom and enthusiasm taking the Trust through a strategic review. I am personally indebted to John for supporting me as I took on the role of Chief Executive in 2019.

In addition to his work for the Trust, John has given hugely to the wider religion and worldviews community over many years. He will be greatly missed, but we wish him all the very best in his long-awaited retirement.

John Keast OBE, Chair of CSTG 2018-2022

Some of our trustees past and present with John Keast OBE and Kathryn Wright, Chief ExecutiveWe are delighted to announce that Dr Linda Whitworth became the new Chair of the Trust on 1^st September, and that Nansi Eliis has become the new Chair of Grants and Education Committee.

Dr Linda Whitworth, new Chair of CSTG from September 2022As incoming Chair Linda writes,

Following John Keast’s wise and very effective leadership as Chair of Trustees over the last few years, I am excited to be taking over as Chair at a time of both challenge and opportunity. Religion and Worldviews education has seen considerable developments recently and the Trust is in the forefront through campaigning and supporting research and teaching.

I am particularly looking forward to working with the growing team of staff, consultants and trustees who make up the Trust. Our vision and strategy objectives are at the heart of all we do, from leadership programmes to understanding and promoting a positive perception of the subject.  As a teacher educator I have benefitted from the support of the Trust and I am delighted that we continue to support teachers and other colleagues at all stages of their careers.

The Trust is celebrating its 10-year anniversary this year, so this is a good time to reflect on what we have achieved and how our continuing vision could develop. There is plenty of work to do and I am looking forward to contributing to the Trust’s role in the religion and worldviews community.

To: The Chair of the ISRSA and its council members,

We are writing as Chief Executive, the Chair of Trustees and the Chair of Grants and Education Committee of Culham St Gabriel’s Trust to express our disappointment and concern at the publication of your recent report: Religion and Worldviews (Weltanschauung); we respectfully urge you to withdraw it.

We are disappointed because the report is an inaccurate representation of the Commission on RE (2018) and subsequent developments of religion and worldviews. In light of this we are concerned about the ISRSA’s reputation. This is important to us as we have funded your essay competition, and there is an associated reputational risk for the Trust. We note, for example, that Rudolf Eliott Lockhart, Chief Executive of the Independent Schools Association, has expressed publicly his personal reservations about the report. In addition, we see that several academics have expressed grave concern regarding claims made in your report about recruitment being undermined by a religion and worldviews approach, claims these academics say are unfounded. The report does not consider the many developments, including a literature review and discussion papers which build on the Commission report.

We are concerned about the lack of transparency regarding the process of development of the report and its research base. The report as published by the ISRSA does not explain the following:

• Who authored the report
• How views of the ISRSA Council were gathered
• If and whether ISRSA members views were surveyed, how these results were analysed, and conclusions drawn
• Whether the views are representative of the ISRSA membership, and/or the views of the entire ISRSA council and/or the views of the authors on behalf of the ISRSA.

This contrasts starkly with the report of the Commission on RE (2018). The CORE Report makes clear who drafted the report (Amira Tharani), the Chair of the Commission (Very Revd Dr John Hall) names of the commissioners (p.78-80) and 17 pages of organisations and people consulted or who provided evidence (p.81-97). Therefore, the lack of transparency about the methodology used for your own report is not just telling but concerning. 

Our call to you is to withdraw the Report and enter a dialogue with the Religious Education Council of England and Wales, to whom many of the comments in your report are directed, about the development of the subject. We note the eight reservations regarding a religion and worldviews approach. We would encourage you to read the following well-informed critiques of your arguments listed at the end of this letter. 

Yours sincerely,

Dr Kathryn Wright, Chief Executive
John Keast, OBE, Chair of the Trust
Dr Linda Whitworth, Chair of Grants and Education

 

Professor Trevor Cooling, with accompanying statement from Professor Bob Bowie https://blogs.canterbury.ac.uk/nicer/personal-response-addressed-to-the-isrsa-patron-and-council-from-professor-trevor-cooling-emeritus-professor-at-canterbury-christ-church-university-to-the-isrsa-report-religions-and-worldviews-welt/

Dr Wendy Dossett https://reformingre.wordpress.com/2022/07/02/the-isrsa-report-a-personal-response/

Mr Wayne Buisst https://venividiteachy.wordpress.com/2022/06/15/obscure-german-words-and-other-such-ablenkungsmanovers/

Luke Burns https://ocrs.online/2022/06/20/what-the-weltanschauung/

Kathryn Wright, our CEO, spoke at the International Ministerial on Freedom of Religion or Belief this week. She took part in an official conference panel discussion exploring how we can help children and young people with different religious and non-religious worldviews grow into adults who build societies where differences are valued and respected and where everyone is free to contribute.

In this blog she shares her opening words to the panel discussion about why we should teach about freedom of religion or belief (FoRB), what we might teach, and how we might teach it.

Kathryn Wright, our CEO, spoke at the International Ministerial on Freedom of Religion or Belief  (FoRB) on 5-6 July 2022. She was also planning to contribute to a fringe event organised by Humanist UK, but sadly due to a scheduling clash she was unable to fulfil this invitation.  The following blog is a transcript of her planned contribution. 

Culham St Gabriel’s in association with the RE Policy Unit is delighted to be working with the UK Forum for Freedom of Religion or Belief to host an exhibition stand at an International Ministerial taking place on 5-6 July in London. Our chief executive is speaking at the official conference, and also at a fringe event organised by Humanist UK. The conference will bring together governments from around the globe, parliamentarians, faith and belief representatives, and civil society to urge increased global action on freedom of religion or belief for all. The overarching themes of the conference will be preventing FoRB violations and abuses, and protecting and promoting freedom of religion or belief. Culham St Gabriel’s are involved in promotion the importance of education in furthering freedom of religion or belief. There are resources and events to support the conference, many of which could be used in schools or other educational settings. Details can be found here: https://www.londonforbfringe.com/

We are celebrating our 10^th anniversary today! To celebrate we are launching 10 special grant awards of £1000 each. Applications have now opened. We are looking to support 10 small innovative projects or initiatives that will make a difference! Closing date: 22^nd September.

Find out more and apply at https://www.cstg.org.uk/grants/celebrating-10-years/