Creative Teaching of Religious Education : Themes, Stories and Scenes

This book is based on the vision that religious education (RE) can be taught creatively, with relevance to the lives of teachers and their pupils today, in predominantly secular society. RE should be taught from the perspective of knowledge and understanding of religions, to foster tolerance and to dispel prejudice and misunderstanding, without any attempt to influence children's personal beliefs. The philosophy which underpins this book is the belief that RE is best taught within an integrated approach to the humanities. The humanities are about what it is to be human, in time and place and in terms of belief. Therefore, RE is linked with history, geography, and the creative arts within five themes: human survival, light and dark, leadership, the environment, and time and motion. As well, there is accurate and detailed subject knowledge about the six major world faiths and plays/scenes about them written and produced in schools by myself.

The book is in alignment with the British National Curriculum, which requires that RE is taught in schools, and with the latest Ofsted Report (2010), which states that there is a need for guidance for teachers, and more creative and innovative approaches to link RE with the wider curriculum.

I am an experienced primary school teacher and retired senior lecturer in Education from Anglia Ruskin University, UK. I have also had experience in lecturing in higher education at other British universities, Brunel and La Sainte Union-Southampton, where I taught Theology and Religious Studies and Religious Education for student teachers. I have taught Theology and Religious Studies at Birkbeck College, University of London, where I wrote and taught courses in Hinduism. I have a doctorate in Comparative Religion, and my research interests are in comparative religion, interfaith dialogue, ethics, and children's spirituality. I have published papers in academic journals and a book on religious pluralism and ethics through the University Press of America, Boston.