Skills and processes
"The following skills and processes are necessary to progress in religious education.
They should be reflected in the objectives set and in the learning opportunities provided.
• Investigation: asking relevant questions; using different sources to gather information; knowing what may constitute evidence for understanding religion.
• Interpretation: drawing meaning from artefacts, works of art, poetry and symbols; interpreting religious language and texts.
• Reflection: pondering on feelings, relationships, experiences, ultimate questions, beliefs and practices.
• Empathy: considering the thoughts, feelings, experiences, attitudes, beliefs and values of others; seeing the world through the eyes of others, and seeing issues from their point of view;
developing the power of imagination to identify feelings such as love, forgiveness and sorrow.
• Evaluation: debating issues of religious significance with reference to evidence and argument;
weighing the respective claims of self-interest, consideration for others, religious teaching and individual conscience.
• Analysis: distinguishing between opinion, belief and fact; distinguishing between features of different religions.
• Synthesis: seeking coherent patterns in the various features of religion; connecting different aspects of life into a meaningful whole.
• Application: making the association between religions and individual, communal, national and international life;
identifying key religious values and their interplay with secular ones.
• Expression: explaining concepts, rituals and practices; identifying and articulating matters of deep conviction and concern;
responding to religious issues through a variety of media.
• teachers must also be aware that it may not be appropriate in RE for pupils from some religious backgrounds to be asked to express their learning about religions through representational art, music, dance or drama."
Religious Education in Cambridgeshire: The Agreed Syllabus 2002
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