25 Things I Wouldn't Know Without RE

From reading this list, it may be shocking to some people what I wouldn't know if it weren't for learning about them in RE. However, that's the point. People don't realise just how important RE is.

Before you read these reasons, I suppose you should know the GCSEs I do. With the things I wouldn't know without RE, I suppose Gove would guess I only take 'soft' subjects; he'd be wrong. I take the following subjects at GCSE: English Language (A*), Mathematics (C), Core Science (B), Additional Science, ICT (A*), Further ICT (A*), English Literature, Religious Studies, History, Geography and Media. (Grades included for those subjects I have already gained qualifications in - just to give an indication as to where I am academically).

From my subjects, the 'soft' subjects are Media, and, outrageously, Religious Studies. It's not as though I haven't finished the courses, either, as 2 days ago (15/06/11), I sat my last GCSE exams, and now I'm done - that's it. My GCSE education - other than RE - had not contained the following things. It's safe to say that, without RE (in particular, GCSE RE), I wouldn't know about any of the following:

1) the names of the six main world religions, and their key beliefs
2) the voting system in the UK (Gove, that one's for you)
3) why some people don't believe in God
4) what is euthanasia, and its arguments for and against
5) that some people believe suffering has a purpose
6) how can we conserve the environment? (Not even Geography or Biology taught me that one...)
7) examples of human rights and why they're important
8) that there are different views on when life begins
9) UK laws on abortion
10) animal rights
11) that many religious people accept scientific explanations for the existence of the universe (again, probably for Gove, but also for Dawkins)
12) the aims of punishment
13) the controversy of capital punishment (and the laws regarding its use world-wide)
14) the just war theory
15) the idea of situation ethics (how lots of people choose to live their lives)
16) the existence or work of Amnesty International
17) theodicy
18) UK laws on drugs, alcohol and tobacco
19) who Martin Luther King Junior was, and what he did (we didn't even study that in History - yet it's vital to learn about the work of this man)
20) utilitarianism as a practical theory for life
21) what have the Government done to work towards community cohesion in the UK?
22) UK law on divorce
23) the causes of world poverty
24) how can the appearance of the world lead some people to theism?
25) why do wars occur?

RE is a huge part of who I am as a person. Without it, seeing as I wouldn't know these things, would I not be a completely different person? I can't help but think that would be the case. Don't let Gove exclude RE from the EBacc - write to your MP to sign EDM 1375 today. We need RE.

The Time I Wrote to Michael Gove

Dear Mr Gove, 

I am a year 11 pupil who attends Bishop Challoner Catholic College and I live in the Selly Oak constituency. A recent issue regarding the status of Religious Education has been brought to my attention.  I am writing to you with reference to the inclusion (or rather, non-inclusion) of Religious Education in the English Baccalaureate Humanities subject list. Upon finding out that RE is not included in this official list of Humanities subjects, I was not only personally disappointed, but also shocked. As someone who aspires to be an RE teacher myself, I know only too well about negative attitudes towards RE not only from students, but also parents; I cannot help but presume that attitudes towards RE are going to become not only increasingly negative, however also relaxed in that it could get as bad as ‘Well, RE doesn’t matter.’ or, “RE isn’t a real subject, anyway.” Such comments, Mr Gove, are already being uttered by (yes, again) RE students (and the parents of them) across the country. When I decided I wanted to pursue a career as an RE teacher, I also made the choice to commit myself to changing attitudes to RE not only among my own pupils, but on a national scale – this is something I have already begun trying to do by having a large number of interactive and well received resources for RE online. So, why is RE worthy of being included in humanities subjects? If you would be so kind as to listen to my views, I’m sure you shall see.

Firstly, although there is a common misconception that RE is about learning mere stories from holy books of the six main world religions, this couldn’t actually be any different; my own RE course at Bishop Challoner Catholic College includes ethical and philosophical issues and dilemmas facing society today – abortion, euthanasia, life after death, attitudes towards homosexuality, fornication, promiscuity, conflicts in multi-faith and multi-ethnic societies, how best to decide what moral decisions to make, how the six main world religions influence how we live in society, why conflict occurs, just war, capital punishment, crime and its impact on society, and also very many more. So, as you can see, RE isn’t at all like its, I shall call ‘stereotype’, suggests. 

Secondly, not only a personal belief, but a belief of a lot of Religious Education teachers, is that by ensuring there is a good quality of Religious Education is taught in schools, religious conflicts or stereotypes are not only to be confronted, but also (if not stopped) dramatically decreased. If there is a lack of good quality Religious Education in Britain’s schools, how, I ask, is there going to be religious tolerance in its multi-cultural society? Well, my view is, there’s not. Without Religious Education, students aren’t being educated about world religions from an unbiased perspective, therefore are less likely to respect people of different faiths (or if atheists, people of faith); students won’t know why people believe what they do, they won’t understand why they participate in the acts of worship they do or how to best respect their beliefs and values. This, Mr Gove, is something I can only see as bad for Britain’s multi-faith society. As a student who is eager to participate in both religious and political debate, I would be saddened to think that, by lack of descent Religious Education in schools, there would be significantly less interest in religious beliefs and ideas, and thus less religious debate among young people. If students aren’t debating or thinking about these issues, how are they to know what they actually, personally, believe? We’d be educating students who don’t know how to make moral decisions for themselves. Is this not an essential part of growing up, Mr Gove?

Moreover, not only will the general lessened interest come about where RE is concerned, however RE won’t be considered important as far as results are concerned. If a student should fail their GCSE in Religious Education, it won’t matter; it’s only RE. Head teachers will become disinterested with the results generated by the RE department in their school, as it won’t count as a humanities subject, and won’t form a sector of its own, either. Soon enough, RE won’t be seen as worthy of funding, leading to no RE being taught in many of Britain’s schools. Do you not think RE is worthy of funding, Mr Gove? As a politician, you must only know so very well that community cohesion is a goal that, to some extent, could be called ‘struggling’ in the UK. If RE should make an exit from schools, I believe you’ll find that community cohesion is far a less likely goal to be achieved. 

Furthermore, why is it that RE is not being considered a humanities subject? As I mentioned in a previous paragraph, in RE you learn about seemingly an infinite amount of issues affecting society (and so, humanity) today. Surely by definition a humanities subject is one in which you learn about issues facing humanity, what humanity has done in the past, is doing in present, and will progress to do in the future. This is something that – undeniably – is done in Religious Education. Religion and the influence is brings about is not only something from the past, however something we have in the present and is certain to progress and follow on into in the future. Therefore, Mr Gove, I challenge you to provide me with a reason we shouldn’t include Religious Education in the English Baccalaureate Humanities subject list; I can’t help but think it’s a difficult task to do so. 

Something more I’d like to bring to your attention is the feedback I receive from RE teachers who are out there trying to encourage students to participate in Religious Education. From this feedback, I can assuredly gather that it’s not only a trying task trying to show students that RE is worth learning about, but also an unpleasant one. If RE isn’t in the humanities list, I believe it will become only even more difficult to persuade head teachers, other subject teachers, students and parents that RE is worthy of school children’s time.

Finally, Mr Gove,  I would like to thank you for your time in reading this letter. I do hope you will take the time to consider my views that I have put forward and also that this letter will go some way to helping the status of RE change amongst politicians of Britain today.

Sincerely,

Clare Dempsey
Year 11 RE student,
Bishop Challoner Catholic College

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I wrote this to Gove in December 2010, and also sent it to Nick Gibb and my MP. In March, it was also sent to many of my friend's and teacher's MPs, many of whom went on to sign EDM 1375. Just a shame Gove will never read it.