Farmington Institute

Summary: The study has arisen from an awareness of the real need for young people throughout the country to engage in inter-faith dialogue across different cultural and religious boundaries. It builds on work already done at Coopers’ Company and Coborn School with models of dialogue which include video-conferencing, the Inter-Faith Forums, and visiting of communities/places of worship, all of which students have been participating in for several years. The research includes also two innovative models of practices in two schools in the South-West. Each model has been evaluated according to the same overarching criteria, but each has the strengths and […]

Summary:The aim of this project is to provide accessible and freely available resources for teachers wishing to include a study of the Bahá’i Faith in their RE lessons. It follows on from the work of Scott Murray, Farmington Fellow 2008, whose work provides a very clear and concise introduction to the Bahá’i Faith and its inclusion in the Scottish RE Curriculum. The pitch is upper-Primary / lower-Secondary, with the information building from the introductory level to more in-depth study. The range covers the history of the Faith; key figures; principles and teachings and places of worship. It occurred to me […]

Summary: This project arose originally out of my own interest in the relationship between religion and secularism in society, and the inclusion of this as a topic in some recent A Level and GCSE syllabuses (in particular the new OCR GCSE syllabus C and the AQA Religious Studies A level). My aims in this report were to research and describe Religious Education in an unfamiliar context, and to try to understand the relationship between religion and society that lay behind it; to produce some background information for teachers and students as material for study and debate; to help students and […]

Summary: The report first deals with the history of music and its importance in five of the world’s main religions: Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Sikhism: these being the religions which are usually covered in schools. I have then concentrated on the themes of ‘Spirituality’, ‘Greetings’, ’Celebrations’ and ‘Blessings’, using the similarities between the religions to suggest ideas for listening, composing and performing. It is hoped that children will celebrate the similarities between the religions, helping them to express their own beliefs, empathise with other faiths whilst, at the same time, helping them to develop their own spirituality. There are […]

Summary: A Scheme of Work for Key Stage 2 to meet the needs of the Norfolk Agreed Syllabus through units based on themes and concepts. Long, medium and short term lesson plans for teachers which will help with the teaching of Attainment Target 1 – Learning about Religion, and Attainment Target 2 – Learning from Religion. The lessons are non-resource specific so that they can be used in different schools. One of the aims is that the units also go some way to help in developing coverage of the area of experiences and opportunities: visits and visitors, using senses, art, […]

Summary: This report looks at the development of an eight week compulsory course on happiness and wellbeing as part of the current development (PD) rota system which operates for S5 pupils. It includes lesson outlines and materials.

Summary: The aim of this resource pack is to enable music and R. E. teachers to access easily some examples of chant and vocal pieces used in times of worship across the five largest world faiths. The explanatory material deals only with the sources of texts and performance details. The resource pack is not intended to be a definitive study of religious practice, but could be used alongside more in depth lessons on each religion. I have deliberately concentrated on only a few services as obviously it would not be possible to mention every possible variation.

Summary: Since September 2008 Ofsted has had a duty to report on Community Cohesion. As a result of this and because of my job as Head of Religious Education, I wanted to investigate the responsibility that Religious Education would have in this area. Consequently I have written a paper which reflects the important role that Religious Education has. To facilitate the teaching of Community Cohesion through Religious education I have written a scheme of work, with a focus on identity and belonging. This can be taught through the Primary World Religions and the target year group is Year 6.

Summary: This report looks at the Jewish historical experience with reference to the specific and unique German-Jewish experience of the Enlightenment and its aftermath, and argues that it has particular relevance to today’s world. There has been an unprecedented increase in the numbers of refugees seeking to escape persecution and worse by fleeing to other parts of the world, which has created more widespread challenges among the already domiciled populations. The author argues that lessons may be learned from the German-Jewish experience: about the relationship between what we commonly call church and state, and more particularly, with future relevance for […]

Summary:This report aims to look at the development of a Creative, Playful and Empathetic Pedagogy (CPEP) in the context of Religious and Moral Education (RME) in Scottish Primary Schools. The CPEP approach allowed me to design, develop and plan units of work for the teaching of Sikhism as a Living Faith. It draws on the concept of Rich Tasks, to shape the overall focus of each unit ; the planning framework of Teaching for Understanding, to map out each unit and to develop understanding goals/performances of understanding ; and the transformative dynamic of REAL Learning to design active/collaborative learning experiences. […]