London South Bank University
Grant awarded 2022/2023: £29,593
Understanding the Interplay: Education, Lived Worldviews & Citizenship
Enhancing teacher education, pedagogy and curriculum development through creative methodology, co-creation of a pedagogical framework and resources to support young people’s lived citizenship.
Understanding the Interplay responds to growing divisions in society and recognises schools and classrooms as a crucial space for the practice of reflexive citizenship, dialogue and democratic engagement in a religiously and culturally plural setting. As RE and Citizenship education are re-imagined across Europe, and in light of broader initiatives for global citizenship seeking a regenerative education rooted in human interaction, dialogue and exchange (UNESCO, 2021), this project draws together researchers, teachers and teacher educators in both subjects, to enhance education through the co-creation of a pedagogical framework and resources that resonate with the complexities of young people’s experiences as citizens and the place of religion/worldviews therein.
This endeavour is guided by two central research questions;
1) How do young people understand being a citizen and what, if any, is the relationship to worldviews?
2) How useful is the concept ‘worldview’, and a ‘worldviews approach’ in understanding more complex personal and civic identities, to promote more inclusive notions of citizenship?
The methodology builds on a theoretical framework of worldview literacy as ‘reflexive engagement in plurality’ (Shaw, 2023). It draws on Lego Serious Play® as both an innovative research methodology and pedagogical resource to explore young people’s worldviews and the potential of the concept of ‘worldview’ to enhance understanding of lived citizenship (in terms of identity, belonging and participation).
Student responses to the workshop and discussions were thematically analysed alongside our own reflections on the methodology in practice, in an iterative process that incorporated the reflections of our collaborators and user-advisory group. Based on this analysis, we propose that inclusive citizenship education should incorporate the exploration of connections between worldview, identity, belonging & participation, as a way to value and centre young peoples’ lived experience. We suggest the following principles for education inspired by understanding this interplay:
1. Explore lived experiences
2. Value the affective (feelings)
3. Explore intersectionality and interconnectedness
4. Provide space for reflection (personal and collective)
5. Support creative expression
6. Scaffold explicit reflexivity
7. Recognise reflexive engagement in plurality as active citizenship
These principles are reflected in the Understanding the Interplay Methodology, which provides a pedagogical framework for the practice of worldview literacy in the classroom:
ENGAGE– with the concept/idea
INTERPRET & ARTICULATE – your own ideas
LISTEN – to how others interpret the concept/idea
REFLECT & CONNECT - highlight links between each other’s ideas
CO-CONSTRUCT – understanding together
REFLEX – on how your understanding has shifted in response to others
This framework underpins a suite of co-designed resources available to download from the UI Project Webpages.
You can also read an RE:Online research spotlight here (Sept 2025).