1. Exemplifying a Critical RE Approach to Philosophy and Ethics Christina Davis – London School of Economics Angela Goodman – Institute of Education Angela Wright – King’s College London

2. Starter Think-Pair-Share What do you think is the relationship between Philosophy, Ethics and RE?

3. The Aim of this Seminar To explore how a CRE pedagogy can impact the planning of a Philosophy and/or Ethics scheme of work

4. Context: The current situation Popularity of Philosophy – On exam specifications – In Year 9 Philosophical questions without philosophy! Ethical questions without the ethical theory! Not aimed at truth (related to ethical/religious relativism)

5. Critical Realism/CRE 1.Ontological Realism 2.Epistemic Relativity 3.Judgemental Rationality CRE (Critical Religious Education) = Three principles plus truthful living Aim of CRE = To create religiously literate individuals

6. A critical approach CRE provides an appropriate framework for studying Philosophy and Ethics with its concern for questions of truth. So how would a CRE SOW look different?

7. Planning a Philosophy/Ethics scheme of work Need philosophical tools. Need to set up the question properly. Need appropriate depth when considering possible answers – big emphasis on developing appropriate level of subject knowledge, esp. across disciplines.

8. A suggested SOW Why science and religion: controversial, good for cross curricula, suspicion that problematic/insufficient in many contexts Rationale of order/lessons incorporated Importance of context – Genesis Importance of theological depth

9. Example: Fact vs. belief lesson Card sort starter – see word doc. Discussion on facts and opinions. Introduce logical positivism simply: "For something to be true, it must be empirically verifiable.” Evaluation – do we need to have sense evidence for everything?

10. Why relevant to science? Introduces students to more inclusive notion of ‘evidence’. Inviting students to question whether empirical verification is essential for meaning and truth. Make students aware of their reasons for valuing science so highly (evidence and certainty) – feeds into future lessons.