This document advertises an upcoming webinar on teaching religious education and discusses potential pitfalls teachers may face. The webinar will address how to find credible sources of information about religions and consider religious authority. It will also provide guidance on safely facilitating discussions about different faiths and integrating the promotion of British values. Teachers are encouraged to utilize resources from their local SACRE organization, national groups like the Religious Education Council, and religious organizations directly to ensure they represent all religions accurately and avoid presenting minority views as majority.

1. Webinar Series
RE teaching and religious
authority: who and what is
right?
Where to find credible, accurate and safe
information
4.00pm - 4.45pm
Wednesday 26th November 2014
http://www.interfaithexplorers.com/webinars

2. www.interfaithexplorers.com
• Supported by UNESCO
• Helps pupils understand the world around them & respect
cultural and religious diversity
• Offers high quality cross-curricula resources to use with
pupils at Key Stage 2 and those embarking on their Key
Stage 3 transition
• Supports core personal and social skills development as
well as self-directed, exploratory learning
• Promotes universal core values & the development of
ethical thinking
• Designed to compliment RE and PSHE teaching, alongside
citizenship education

3. Webinars
• Support teachers in their work around
interfaith dialogue and RE / PSHE /
Citizenship learning in schools
• Offers a space for teachers to come
together and think about issues arising from
classroom practice in these areas

4. Webinar Presenters
• Claire Clinton
o An experienced teacher within EYFS, Primary and
Secondary education
o She has over 20 years of classroom experience, and 16
years of advisory work at a national and local level
o Presently the Religious Education Advisor for the
London Borough of Newham for six years
o Former RE consultant for the London Borough of
Redbridge and Essex County Council

5. Session objectives
• To consider the pitfalls and risks when researching information
about religions and faith practice in the UK today
• To reflect on how these risks be mitigated
• To share where can we go to find credible sources of religious
authority
• To consider key principals to use when trying to research /
understand the different aspects of religions practiced
• To think about how to apply sufficient rigour in the resources
they use to safeguard children from 'extreme' or incompatible
worldviews
• To explore how best to facilitate discussions about, and
integrate, the promotion of British values through teaching RE

6. Potential Pitfalls
Teachers may :
• Inadvertently present a minority view as a majority
view
• Misrepresent a religion or community
• Give incorrect information to pupils & cause offence
to others
• Feel that others are more knowledgeable so what
they say will be absolutely true. For example: a child
saying they can’t do something because of their
religion

7. How do we mitigate these - 1?
Know where to go:
• Establish relationships your local RE Advisor
• Usually there is someone in each authority attached
to the Local Authority SACRE
• Good place to ask questions and check information
• SACRE – organisation that brings together different
faith groups, teachers and councillors.
• Some SACRE produce advice or briefing papers, e.g.
Redbridge http://www.redbridgerenet.co.uk
• Religious Education Council (become a member!)

8. How do we mitigate these – 2?
Use free online resources available:
•www.interfaithexplorers.com
•www.natre.org.uk
•www.reonline.org.uk
•http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/0/
Plus:
•RE Today publications: ‘Representing Religion’
booklet is brief but helpful for gaining a view into
different religions
•Other RE published textbooks – they go out to faith
groups before they are published

9. Religious organisations
• The Board of Deputies of British Jews
• Islamic Society of Britain (Sunni Muslims)
• Majlis-e-Ulama UK and Europe (Twelver Shia Muslims)
• Church of England
• Catholic Church for England and Wales
• Other denominations all have official views on
different subjects:
o Baptist, Methodist, Pentecostal, Salvation Army,
Evangelical, Free Churches

10. When reading information
• As educationalists we need to think through
motives behind whatever we use as a
source
• Who is writing this, what is their worldview
and what is their purpose?
• Thinking in this way about sources we use
helps us to safeguard children
• Be specific when talking about religion/s
using phrases like ‘some Christians believe…’

11. Key principals
• Be a good student:
o Increase your knowledge on religion and secular
world views
• Build up community relationships with a range
of people of faith:
o Parents at school and local community leaders are
a good starting point
• Understand the big picture:
o Within any religion, there are range of views within
each religion and between religions

12. www.interfaithexplorers.com can…
• Support you
o Through it’s interfaith pedagogy that uses the
interpretative method
• Provide you
o With first hand answers to questions from
Christians, Muslims and Jewish people through
our DVD clips
o Guidance & briefings: available in the New Year!
• Help you
o Understand the bigger picture within religion

13. Big picture within religion
Example:
Christianity

15. Big Picture Example
(Graphics to be inserted)

16. Wrap up
Any questions?

17. Contact us
For further information about the webinar series and
how Interfaith Explorers can support you visit:
www.interfaithexplorers.com
or contact
Rokhsana Fiaz OBE
Chief Executive
Maimonides Interfaith Foundation
rokhsana@maimonides-foundation.org