Clitheroe Royal Grammar School
Text in the RS classroom and curriculum: how we can use stories to develop literacy, critical thinking and academically rich experiences for students
As Subject Lead for Religious Studies, I am committed to the power of text within the curriculum. I am inspired by Mary Myatt’s belief that students should engage with rich and academically challenging literature, and believe that RS is uniquely positioned to deliver this. RS offers students the opportunity to encounter profound, complex texts that inform belief systems and provoke deep enquiry and discussion whilst also developing their literacy.
My research into the Islamic narrative of the Night of Ascension during the Edge Hill Summer School in 2021 allowed me to deepen my understanding of the historical and theological significance of this moment. This experience strengthened my resolve to embed narratives meaningfully into the curriculum. Stories can be springboards for broader enquiry, encouraging students to explore religion through many disciplinary lenses. There is a particular joy when students come to realise that a single text may raise multiple interpretations and that there is neither a need nor a way to determine a singular ‘correct’ one.
In my session, I will explore methods for enhancing one’s own knowledge of religious stories, particularly in Islam and how best to facilitate this exploration in the classroom. I have trialled various strategies, including ‘Everyone Read’, Story-Source-Analysis sheets, and recently, I’ve begun embedding ‘ways of knowing’—such as theology and sociology—into the curriculum. These approaches help students develop richer insights into texts and encourage them to approach content through multiple disciplinary lenses.
Clitheroe Royal Grammar School
RE:Online ‘Research of the Month’ Edge Hill RE Summer School
Text and Story in Religious Education (Summer School 2021)