1. Staying real and relevant January 29 th 2015

2. In this session we will explore O Your identity as a teacher O Balancing the tensions O What’s it all for? O Staying relevant –some practical examples O Useful resources and websites

3. ‘ Knowing myself is as crucial to good teaching as knowing my students and my subject… We teach who we are ’ The Heart of a Teacher – Identity and Integrity in Teaching, Parker J Palmer

4. ‘Here is a secret hidden in plain sight: good teaching cannot be reduced to technique; good teaching comes from the identity and integrity of the teacher’ Parker J Palmer

5. ‘ At the heart of education is the heart of the educator ’. Thomas H Groome, Professor of Education, Boston College

6. Take some time now to reflect and complete this… 1. When I think about my identity as a Religious Educator these are the characteristics that are important for me… Or if you prefer come up with an image that captures how you see your identity

7. ‘ ‘ Teaching at its core is a moral profession. Scratch a good teacher and you will find a moral purpose.’ Michael Fullan

8. My moral purpose Shaped by O A commitment to changing the world O A belief that we cannot teach with our backs to the world O The challenge of God’s preferential love for the poor

9. What’s it all for? “ …My heart is moved by all I cannot change. So much has been destroyed. I must cast my lot with those who age after age, perversely, and with no extraordinary power reconstitute the world ”. Adrienne Rich Natural Resources

10. 2 nd reflection O For me, the purpose of religious education is…

11. Staying real – Recognizing the tensions For example between O Informing and transforming O Change and constancy O Educating for faith and about faiths

12. Staying relevant We might ask, as a criterion for any subject taught in primary school, whether, when fully developed, it is worth an adult’s knowing, and whether having known it as a child makes a person a better adult. If the answer is negative or ambiguous, then the matter is cluttering the curriculum. Bruner, J. (1960). The Process of Education

13. Some practical ideas O Collaborative learning O Asking and encouraging good questions O Making links between what students are doing outside the classroom and in the classroom O Making links to real world issues of concern today (see examples on next slides)

17. Charlie Hebdo Communities of Faith Founders/origins of the major world religions Examples of conflict as a result of religious difference Foundations of major world religions Explore in detail a major world religion The situation of faith today Be able to identify evidence of religious beliefs in stories of two religious traditions The Moral Challenge

18. www.tes.co.uk/teaching-resource/ Web page

24. http://www.loretoeducationcentre.ie/development -education