A practitioner action research approach to learning outside the classroom in religious education: developing a dialogical model through reflection by teachers and faith field visitors

ABSTRACT

This paper reports the co-creation of knowledge through a Practitioner Action Research Community of Practice of teachers and mid-level policy enactors which sought to engage the question of how to enhance Religious Education in primary schools serving socially disadvantaged children. Co-authors’ professional values and assumptions are explored, and questions developed to carry out a needs assessment of primary teachers in contexts of social disadvantage; highlighting the advantages of effective school-community partnership, leading to a recognition of the importance of learning outside the classroom for enhancing children’s experience of Religious Education. A model of successful learning outside the classroom was developed, centring on the importance of spaces for encountering the lived experience of religion, asking challenging questions, and sharing learning objectives. The benefits of this approach for children from disadvantaged backgrounds are explored. Feedback from teachers, children, places of worship and SACREs was fed into the reflective process to arrive at a series of opportunities, weaknesses and training needs for effective field visits and visiting speakers. The paper concludes by setting out a model for an online portal to enable schools and education officers from places of worship to connect effectively with one another to enhance primary Religious Education.

KEYWORDS:

• Practitioner action research
• learning outside the classroom
• mid-level policy enactors
• dialogical pedagogy

Acknowledgments

This research was funded by a grant from the Culham St Gabriel’s Trust’s Research 7 funding call: Religious Education and Social Disadvantage, grant #280.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Culham St Gabriel’s Trust [280].

Notes on contributors

David Lundie

David Lundie is Senior Lecturer in education at the University of Glasgow, and was principal investigator on the Religious Education and Social Disadvantage project.

Waqaus Ali

Waqaus Ali is director of Knowledge to Action, a values education non-profit organisation working with schools in the North West of England.

Michael Ashton

Michael Ashton is Lecturer in teacher education with a specialism in Religious Education at Liverpool Hope University.

Sue Billingsley

Sue Billingsley is a teacher and Religious Education curriculum lead at Outwoods Primary School in Warwickshire.

Hinnah Heydari

Hinnah Heydari is a primary teacher and works as schools facilitator at Liverpool Community Spirit's house of hospitality.

Karamat Iqbal

Karamat Iqbal has published on ethnicity, disadvantage and education in Birmingham. He is director of Forward Partnership, a non-profit organisation working with schools in the Midlands.

Kate McDowell

Kate McDowell is a teacher and Religious Education curriculum lead at St Cleopas Church of England Primary School in Liverpool.

Matthew Thompson

Matthew Thompson is director of Liverpool Community Spirit, an inter-faith organisation.