What is Religious Studies about?
In conversation with
Lisa Jenkins
Andrew Murray
Transcript below:
I suppose there's the introduction of big ideas, which obviously is a different concept for the achievement standards. And the introduction of assessment and learning matrices. Plus we've got some really important inclusions for students with a consistency, knowing what credits they're going to have every year. How there's 60 for every year.
For me, what I'm seeing is some deeper learning experiences for our students. The ability to go deeper. It's not about the assessment any longer. It's about the skills. The other thing which I'm seeing is an exploration of who we are as a people. Development of local curriculum. An examination of our faith as New Zealanders and the way that we can explore that in terms of our students moving forward into the workforce. Keeping in mind that whole idea of education to employment and these new standards are giving our students that opportunity to be people of New Zealand.
Perhaps by no fault of anybody what was seen previously is, this is the curriculum, and then this is the Māori bit, which is going to be added, I see a real weave. Not only do I see this weave, it's a reflection of who we are as a nation now. It's also something that there's a connectivity, I suppose. Between each level, where there's a foundation, a building at that first level. And there's that weave all the way through, so those connections can be made by our students.
The thing that is really on top for me is that it's not about karakia in the classroom, it's not about singing a waiata. It's about a reflection that these things are who we are as New Zealanders. I think our students, our teachers, our communities are going to have a greater understanding of that. I think, when we worked as a SEG, we very much wanted that to be weaved in. That was a really good analogy to use, because that's how I feel we've ended up with it. Even though that is one particular big question that's really dedicated to that, it doesn't stop there. It does feed through and it is an opportunity for students to come back to. And self-reflect, and include in any of the assessments that are there for the internals or externals.
What I loved about being part of the SEG is it was real inquiry. There were no right or wrong answers, and we had the ability to get it wrong. We had the ability to get it right, which you'll see in the products that we've finally produced. There was that ability to have deep conversations. What I've talked about with our students is that ability of inquiry and deep learning. That was modeled really well by the SEG. There was room for deep conversation amongst a diversity of our teachers, who deliver religious studies in New Zealand.
But don't you think also that it wasn't just about the teachers? That we also had such big diversity within the SEG? That we incorporated a lot of other RE specialists? I don't know about how you felt, but I really felt the weight, and the challenge of our sector on our shoulders. I must congratulate Ministry on their openness to add people to the team. Early on when we had discussions and we had that voice that was perhaps missing, Ministry were really open to saying, Andrew, who do we need to add? And we had that discussion, and we added people.
Advice to teachers, I think, be open. Be open to inquiry. Be open to deeper learning experiences. Be open to taking the best of what was and reinvent the best of the new. It's not simply fitting in what we've done into the new. Because what we're seeing coming through with our tamariki is a new type of student. A new student that's used to learning different things in the classroom. It's a different learning experience. Let's be about the learning experience, not the content.
I agree. I think that the one thing I feel empowered about is making a really fun experience. My advice for teachers would just be, enjoy it, and do things, and make innovative changes that perhaps you felt you weren't able to do before. I think it's an amazing opportunity to get away from being in any formal setup. Like you said, the 21st century learner is going to come away from formal examinations, and be more about different forms of assessment.
This subject is currently being piloted as part of the mini-pilot. It is currently being reviewed and will be updated in late September.
Religious Studies uses social scientific methods to understand the systems of religious beliefs, rituals, narratives, ethical regulations, identities, communities and institutions (religious systems). Social scientific methods have proved especially useful for clarifying questions about the functions of religious culture for enabling cooperative communities, at small and large scales. Social methods are also useful for clarifying the role that religious systems play in conflicts between social groups who do not share a common religion.
The Religious Studies standards must be applicable for a diverse Aotearoa New Zealand and need to be able to be used by all schools and all students – by those with a specific religious affiliation as well as by those who have none but wish to acquire knowledge and understanding of religions. This is important in the context of globalisation and of the migration of people of different faiths and cultures to Aotearoa New Zealand.
The discipline of Religious Studies is important to our educational system because it offers students the opportunity to acquire basic knowledge about the motivating beliefs of others. This fits well within the Social Sciences Learning Area as part of being a critical, active, informed, and responsible citizen requires an understanding of what other citizens believe and understand and why they are motivated to behave as they do.
Big Ideas and Significant Learning
The Learning Matrix contains four Big Ideas of Religious Studies. They are:
Big Idea 1: Religion in Aotearoa New Zealand
Understandings of, and relationships to, religion are affected by social and geographical contexts. This relationship is reciprocal as religion also affects natural and social environments over time. Aotearoa has a unique and diverse cultural landscape. To understand the communities we live in and with, we need to understand the beliefs and practices of these communities. The cultural and religious landscape of Aotearoa is also deeply influenced by its position in the Pacific and patterns of interaction and migration both past and present. All students bring their own unique cultural context and this Big Idea is broad enough so that students can engage with contexts that are most relevant to their local and personal context.
Big Idea 2: Religious systems and cultures
Religious traditions begin and develop in specific places at specific times. The beliefs, rules, tikanga, and rituals of religious groups adapt over time and through movement such as migration. The history and development of these communities can be explored through the concept of whakapapa. Religious systems and cultures develop ways of thinking and talking about place and space, both local and distant as well as physical and metaphorical.
Big Idea 3: Authoritative narratives and texts
The construction of religious knowledge comes from prayers, karakia, hymns, songs, waiata, genealogies, whakapapa, parables, pūrākau, other narratives, theology, doctrine, dogma, creed, and recognise the religious use of metaphor, simile, poetry, religious experience, and imagination. These are authoritative sources and require a specific vocabulary and set of skills to interpret, read, and discuss.
Big Idea 4: Religion and ethical issues in the contemporary world
The beliefs and understandings of religious communities inform their responses to contemporary issues. People show respect for others when they make the effort to learn about what others take to be important in life, and how they approach ethical issues. Being good citizens does not require that all citizens share the same beliefs. This is where the idea of ngākau tapatahi (or impartial consideration of an issue, without taking sides; working together) becomes an integral part of relating to others.
Significant Learning
Within these Big Ideas sits the Significant Learning. This is the learning that is too important to be left to chance, as determined by a group of subject experts. The Learning Matrix shows how the Significant Learning for each Big Idea progresses in each level to construct teaching and learning programmes. The Teaching, Learning, and Assessment Guide will provide some example contexts of where the Religious Studies Big Ideas weave with the Social Science strands.
While the Learning Matrix divides the Significant Learning under four Big Ideas, this does not mean that teaching needs to be linear across the matrix or divided equally between each Big Idea. Teachers may choose a context that engages with aspects of two or three Big Ideas and spend a large portion of teaching time exploring this in depth. Equally, teachers may choose to spend more time on one Big Idea than another, provided students have the opportunity to engage in some way with all the Significant Learning.
Key Competencies in Religious Studies
Disciplines each have their own languages, practices, and ways of knowing and making meaning. These different ways of communicating and working can be described in relation to five key competencies:
- Using language, symbols, and text
- Thinking
- Participating and contributing
- Managing self
- Relating to others.
Applying this specifically to Religious Studies, Level 6-8 students learn to identify and analyse religious language, symbols, and texts, understand how texts are interpreted, and develop the discipline specific vocabulary for talking about peoples’ conceptualisations of 'the sacred'. Students of Religious Studies learn to compare and analyse beliefs and practices and think about how these affect communities and society. One way to learn about different beliefs and practices is for students to participate and contribute in communities of practice, whether that be as an active participant or outside observer. The Significant Learning of religious studies should help students to reflect critically on their own beliefs, practices, and codes of conduct; this reflection leads to self-management. Studying religion provides an understanding of what people believe and what they deem to be important. This understanding of different viewpoints is key when relating to others.
Social Science competencies and ways of working
Religious Studies sits within the Social Sciences Learning Area in which students explore human society and citizenship. To do this, students:
- ask questions, gather information and ideas, examine current issues
- reflect and evaluate understanding and responses
- explore and analyse peoples values and perspectives
- consider ways people make decisions and participate in social actions.
Introduction to sample course outlines
Sample Course Outlines have been produced to help teachers and schools understand the new NCEA Learning and Assessment Matrices. Three examples have been provided of how a year-long Religious Studies course could be constructed using the new Learning and Assessment Matrices. They are indicative only and do not mandate any particular choice of text or approach.
More detailed sample Teaching and Learning Programmes will be developed during school piloting of the Assessment Package.
Assessment Matrix
Conditions of Assessment for internally assessed standards
This section provides guidelines for assessment against internally assessed standards. Guidance is provided on:
- appropriate ways of, and conditions for, gathering evidence
- ensuring that evidence is authentic
- any other relevant advice specific to an Achievement Standard.
NB: Information on additional generic guidance on assessment practice in schools is published on the NZQA website. It would be useful to read in conjunction with these Conditions of Assessment.
The school's Assessment Policy and Conditions of Assessment must be consistent with the Assessment Rules for Schools With Consent to Assess. These rules will be updated during the NCEA review. This link includes guidance for managing internal moderation and the collection of evidence.
For all standards
Internal assessment provides considerable flexibility in the collection of evidence. Evidence can be collected in different ways to suit a range of teaching and learning styles, and a range of contexts of teaching and learning. Care needs to be taken to allow students opportunities to present their best evidence against the standard(s) that are free from unnecessary constraints.
It is recommended that the design of assessment reflects and reinforces the ways students have been learning. Collection of evidence for the internally assessed standards could include, but is not restricted to, an extended task, an investigation, digital evidence (such as recorded interviews, blogs, photographs or film), or a portfolio of evidence.
It is also recommended that the collection of evidence for internally assessed standards should not use the same method that is used for any external standards in a programme/course, particularly if that method is using a time bound written examination. This could unfairly disadvantage students who do not perform well under these conditions.
A separate assessment event is not needed for each standard. Often assessment can be integrated into one activity that collects evidence towards two or three different standards from a programme of learning. Evidence can also be collected over time from a range of linked activities (for example, in a portfolio).This approach can also ease the assessment workload for both students and teachers.
Effective assessment should suit the nature of the learning being assessed, provide opportunities to meet the diverse needs of all students, and be valid and fair.
Authenticity of student evidence needs to be assured regardless of the method of collecting evidence. This needs to be in line with school policy. For example: an investigation carried out over several sessions could include teacher observations or the use of milestones such as a meeting with the student, a journal, or photographic entries recording progress etc.
Students should be given the opportunity to present evidence in a format that suits their individual learning style or the context of the assessment activity. Example formats include: presentation, timeline, blog, vlog, podcast, social media profile, journal, essay, photo-essay, debate, role-play, drama performance, video, model, and prepared speech.
As a guide, the expected response volume is around 800 words or 4-5 minutes of oral presentation.
Students may work on assessments individually or in groups. The contribution of each student needs to provide sufficient evidence for the assessment of that student and allow that student the opportunity to gain the standard with Achieved, Merit, or Excellence grades. Teachers could monitor this by allowing students to work together on the initial part of a project, such as an investigation, and follow this up with individually produced student material on the project.
Students should have opportunities to work on assessments both in and out of class time.
Teachers will assist students either by stipulating or by approving the student's selection of the religious community to be used for the assessment activity, and by monitoring and guiding the early direction of the student’s work.
Students should be given the opportunity to present evidence in a format that suits their individual learning style or the context of the assessment activity. Example formats include: presentation, timeline, blog, vlog, podcast, social media profile, journal, essay, photo-essay, debate, role-play, drama performance, video, model, and prepared speech.
As a guide, the expected response volume is around 800 words or 4-5 minutes of oral presentation.
Students may work on assessments individually or in groups. The contribution of each student needs to provide sufficient evidence for the assessment of that student and allow that student the opportunity to gain the standard with Achieved, Merit, or Excellence grades.
It is expected that the descriptions are largely sourced from material supplied by a teacher through textbooks, lessons, scholarly works, or other teaching tools that form a delivery package.
Students should have opportunities to work on assessments both in and out of class time.
Teachers will assist students either by stipulating or by approving the student's selection of the religious narrative and the religious tradition to be used for the assessment activity, and by monitoring and guiding the early direction of the student’s work.