Religious Studies at Stranmillis University College

29/10/2019

ADVANCE NOTICE - INTERFAITH WEEK 2019: Sunday 10th to 17th November

Interfaith Week is a programme of the Inter Faith Network for the UK, and this year's theme is GROWING INTER FAITH UNDERSTANDING AND CO-OPERATION. You can view the Interfaith Week website at https://www.interfaithweek.org/.
The Northern Ireland Inter-Faith Forum is organising some events to mark the week and details of these will be sent out within the next few days via this mailing and our Facebook Group page. In the meantime, can you contribute to the Week's key aim of strengthening good inter faith relations at all levels? Perhaps you can give a short talk in your own faith community, or write a short article for a community news sheet, or organise an event where people can visit your community or organisation? If you are an RE teacher, perhaps you could focus on inter faith issues in your classes during the week. If you have any other contact with a school, perhaps as a parent, could you offer to talk about inter faith relations to an RE class or in an assembly? For lots more practical ideas, see the Interfaith Week website.
Look out for more information about local events in Northern Ireland - coming soon!

09/06/2019

This is an interesting development after many years of trying to accommodate those students (not only those from a Catholic background) who wish to have the qualification that will enable them to teach in a Catholic primary school. The 'mixed' reality of Stranmillis University College is now certainly recognised in this; we have always been a non-denominational institution, open to all, but we have been publicly perceived, incorrectly, as 'the protestant college'. Until now students who wanted to do the Catholic RE Certificate have had to take a distance-learning course; now they will be able to opt to do it alongside their other studies in Stranmillis.
But it does raise the question of the validity of a system that enables teaching to be exempted from equal employment legislation. Should one sector be allowed to dictate that teachers need an 'extra' qualification in order to teach in a Catholic school? Is it a barrier to greater integration in education in Northern Ireland? Why can Religious Education not be taught to everyone together (and let the churches or other faith communities do any religious instruction or faith-formation in their own premises)?
What do you think?

It opens up jobs in Catholic primary schools to teachers who study at Stranmillis.

03/04/2019

EUROPEAN FORUM FOR TEACHERS OF RELIGIOUS EDUCATION (EFTRE): DUBLIN 2019

28-31 August 2019 - Dublin City University

Registration is now open for the 2019 EFTRE Conference, which will take place at the St Patrick's Campus of Dublin City University from 28th to 31st August 2019, on the theme of Reconciling Realities in Religious Education.
Keynote speakers will include Dr Anne Looney (Executive Dean of the DCU Institute of Education), Pádraig Ó Tuama (Leader of the Corrymeela Community), Dr Abdullah Trevathan (Director of Al-Akhawayn School, Morocco) and Professor Manfred Pirner (University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany).
Full details can be found in the EFTRE website:
http://eftre.weebly.com/conference-2019.
Please make this event known to your RE colleagues and networks by sharing this post.

15/03/2019

The UK Inter Faith Network has released this statement on the mosque shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Terrorist attack on in NZ - Statement from the Co-Chairs of the Inter Faith Network for the UK and Moderators of the IFN Faith Communities Forum - Please share

https://www.interfaith.org.uk/news/terrorist-attack-on-mosques-in-chistchurch-nz-statement

08/01/2019

WITHDRAWAL RIGHTS FROM RELIGIOUS EDUCATION
In light of recent concerns about the misuse of legislation that permits parents to withdraw their children from RE in schools, a document has been produced clarifying the nature of these legal rights. In the past few months there has been evidence of some parents using this option as an expression of personal prejudice, for example because they do not wish their children to learn about religions to which they personally object. The new document explores in detail the background to the legislation and offers practical guidance on scenarios when withdrawal should or should not be permitted.
It has been issued jointly by the National Association of Teachers of RE (NATRE) and the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) and can be accessed via: https://www.naht.org.uk/advice-and-support/curriculum-and-assessment/dealing-with-requests-to-withdraw-from-religious-education/.

Free guidance from NATRE and NAHT.

28/09/2018

This is a useful panel discussion on the recent Report by the Commission on Religious Education. RE teachers and others should find it worth a look!

In an increasingly diverse world, religion no longer has the hold on us it once had. Is it time there was a rethink on how religion is taught in our schools?...

23/09/2018

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION IN NORTHERN IRELAND'S SCHOOLS - WE NEED AN OPEN DISCUSSION!
An item on Radio Ulster's "Sunday Sequence" programme this morning included somewhat dismissive remarks by the Bishop of Derry, Donal McKeown, about the recent report of the Independent Commission on Religious Education in England. He seemed to imply that this was justifying a watering-down of RE by those with secular sympathies, and that it would not be at all helpful for RE in Northern Ireland. This gave a very poor and limited impression of a highly singificant report. [It would be worth listening to the "Sunday Sequence" clip on the BBC iplayer (coming within the first 10-15 minutes of the start of the programme).] The bishop did not address the key issue in Northern Ireland, namely that the Religious Education Core Syllabus here is entirely and exclusively defined and written by four Christian denominations (Catholic, Presbyterian, Anglican and Methodist) without any involvement from other faith and belief communities or other interested parties; the Churches have defined it as "essentially Christian". This is surely grossly inadequate in our plural society. We need a much fuller open discussion on this, based not on the preferences of Churches but on sound educational principles! (The Commission Report can be accessed via https://www.commissiononre.org.uk/.)

We are a high-profile independent Commission working to improve the quality and rigour of RE, and its capacity to prepare pupils for life in modern Britain

09/09/2018

The independent Commission on Religious Education's long-anticipated final report has been published and will be launched formally at Westminster on Wednesday 12th September. While the report relates specifically to England, many of the issues are relevant to RE throughout the UK and further afield, not least Northern Ireland. Some of the significant issues dealt with relate to the right of withdrawal from RE, the inclusion of diverse non-religious beliefs and worldviews, the name of the subject and how to ensure a strong academic base for the subject in schools. The report can be downloaded from https://www.commissiononre.org.uk/, where much more information about the process can also be found. Serving RE teachers and students preparing for this role should find this an interesting and challenging read!

We are a high-profile independent Commission working to improve the quality and rigour of RE, and its capacity to prepare pupils for life in modern Britain

08/09/2018

Trustees respond to plan for pupils who do not want to take part in religious instruction

05/07/2018

NEW TEAM FOR RELIGIOUS STUDIES AND RE AT STRANMILLIS:
David Armstrong will be retiring after 13 years of service to Religious Studies at Stranmillis University College. Since the move of James Nelson to Queen's University and Norman Richardson's semi-retirement (both in 2014), David has carried major responsibility for all the post-primary Religious Studies modules at Stranmillis. A fuller appreciation of David's work will appear in a forthcoming post on this page.
In the new academic year David's RS modules will be taken by two existing members of staff with a strong background in these areas: Dr. Anita Gracie and Dr. Barbara McDade. Anita will continue to work with some of the primary RE specialists, while other specialist and non-specialist aspects of Primary RE and PDMU will be led by Jill Magennis, a former RE/RS student who has been working for the past two years in the College's PGCE and Early Years departments. Norman Richardson, now part-time, will continue to contribute to some areas.
In the photo, taken at the 2018 Graduation: (l-r) Jill Magennis; Anita Gracie; Norman Richardson; David Armstrong; Barbara McDade.

12/06/2018

Criticism of Religious Education (RE) in schools is often based on a misperception of its purpose. This letter to The Times newspaper by Rudi Elliott-Lockhart of the RE Council for England & Wales, published on 12:06:18, responds to a recent critique and offers a soundly educational rationale for the inclusion of RE.