Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think RE is a big waste of time

659 replies

Himalaya · 08/03/2011 07:58

I don't mean that kids shouldn't come out of school with a basic knowledge of the world's religions and some skills in philosophy and critical thinking, but to have to take RE classes every week for 12+ years seems like overkill, and a waste of their time.

They certainly don't come out at the end of it with twelve years worth of knowledge, so you have to wonder what is the point. The only point seems to me to be to instill in them strongly the idea that religions deserve a special kind of RESPECT.

Most of the stuff in primary and early secondary is just mush content-wise (but with a heavy undertone of respect).

I think the facts on religion they need to know could be covered in a couple of modules of general studies, or under humanities at KS3 and KS4. It would free up time that could be used for critical thinking, philosophy, study skills, economics, public speaking, sport, creative writing etc....

OP posts:
manicbmc · 08/03/2011 08:04

I'm in total agreement and as such I've told dd it's the one subject I do not care whether she passes. I could understand if she had to choose one of the humanities to study to gcse level but reckon she should at least have had a choice in the matter.

Punkatheart · 08/03/2011 08:09

Funnily enough - I disagree. It is a subject in which they hopefully learn tolerance, understanding and yes, critical thinking. They debate, discuss and assimulate facts.

Religion has a huge effect on the world - whether or not an individual is interested in it - so that qualifies it as important. But the thinking element, to my mind, is the thing.

Ooopsadaisy · 08/03/2011 08:14

Our school do RE and Citizenship and it seems to be more about understanding and discussing differing beliefs and opinions.

Is abortion an option is X situation?

Be aware of the religious beliefs, the laws of the country, the consequences of the pregnancy/birth of the child for those living as well as the set of beliefs that dictate when the unborn baby actualy becomes a living entity....

I think this subject tackles lot of dilemmas that we all come across in life: euthanasia/IVF/divorce etc.

I think it has a lot of value.

xStarGirl · 08/03/2011 08:17

YANBU! As someone who was forced to study RE up until the day I left school (only school in the area was C of E Hmm), I agree wholeheartedly. RE/RS is crap, and doesn't really teach you anything. Even with one of my favourite, most fabby teachers in charge, it's a crap subject.

I got an A*, but can I remember anything they taught me a whole five years down the line? Can I buggery. Unless it's something that's common knowledge anyway, like "Catholics don't like abortion".

NinkyNonker · 08/03/2011 08:19

I loved re so might be biased, but I would have thought true understanding of the main religions was increasingly important now.

manicbmc · 08/03/2011 08:21

They tackle most of that in citizenship. I think it's great that children should have a good general understanding of religion but not to the point where they have to take it at gsce.

I'm an atheist. My dd is an atheist. We are both tolerant and accepting of other peoples' differences to us (religious or otherwise). If someone was really not interested in History at all would you make them take it at exam level?

Librashavinganotherbiscuit · 08/03/2011 08:22

As someone who did RE A-Level (despite being an atheist) RE should encompass at least 3 of those skills you have mentioned - critical thinking, philosophy and study skills.

Hullygully · 08/03/2011 08:23

I think RS these days is fab. And you cannot understand world literature, history or politics without a damn good grasp of it.

StewieGriffinsMom · 08/03/2011 08:25

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

commanderprimate · 08/03/2011 08:31

Totally agree with the OP. The subject is generally taught by the religious too, so the level of critical distance achieved doesn't tend to be great. Humanist and atheist viewpoints are not given enough space. It can be argued that the existence of the subject at all is a form of special pleading for religion to have a special status.

Issues and skills like tolerance and critical thinking would be much better served by teaching kids a basic grounding in philosophy, ethics and logic, sans any faith based content. As it is the subject can't help but be mush, consisting of imparting numerous contradictory myths all of which claim to be true.

manicbmc · 08/03/2011 08:32

I'm not underestimating the importance of the subject matter - just the fact that forcing people to take it to exam level is a waste of time.

Personally, I think that all kids should take maths, English language, one science (at least), IT, a foreign language, and a humanity - and then a few subjects of their own choice.

Hullygully · 08/03/2011 08:33
StewieGriffinsMom · 08/03/2011 08:35

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Bonsoir · 08/03/2011 08:36

I did a lot of RE at prep school - a private Methodist girls' school - and it was all about teaching women to be submissive doormats ridiculously generous and kind to people who didn't deserve it.

So glad my DD doesn't have to do all those years of indoctrination (with all the subsequent years of unravelling).

GiddyPickle · 08/03/2011 08:39

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

captainbarnacle · 08/03/2011 08:41

Sadly, as grown men/women some of your comments sound like the ignorant ramblings of the teenagers I had in my RE classes. I would have thought that 10-30 years out of school would have helped you realise that skills taught in RE classes of knowledge, understanding, tolerance, philosophical and critical thinking are important.

I am sure that there are schools where RE is badly taught - same for all subjects - but as a set of knowledge it is important for kids whatever else they do with their lives after school. No other subject comes close.

You might guess I have been an RE teacher :) I am also an unbeliever - and so were many of my colleagues.

Pupils only do an RE exam/GCSE because the govt say they are supposed to have RE lessons - so they may as well get a certificate at the end of it.

Bonsoir · 08/03/2011 08:41

I think it's crucial to understand world religions and how they have shaped cultures and individual thinking, but religion should be taught as part of a history course, not as a subject in its own right. I think history ought to be a lot more prominent on the school curriculum.

LaurieFairyCake · 08/03/2011 08:43

People have absolutely no idea what's in the RS curriculum Hmm

DH teaches in an almost completely Muslim school in a town that is an occasional hotbed of tensions.

Trust me you want RS taught there.

In a world where Gadaffi is being challenged and Egypt has started to become democratic you want people to be able to critically evaluate their religion and other peoples.

Bonsoir · 08/03/2011 08:43

captainbarnacle - mother-tongue (English) is always the most important subject.

Hullygully · 08/03/2011 08:43

SGM - I am going to assume there should be a comma in that post..

Vallhala · 08/03/2011 08:43

YANBU.

I attended a very religious school and spent my entire time there, from 11 to the day I left, studying and being obliged to take an O level in very a pointless subject using time which I'd far rather have dedicated to English, Latin or another more useful and enjoyable subject.

captainbarnacle · 08/03/2011 08:44

Religion is not history.

(and history is my degree and my first teaching subject)

Where else in the curriculum do you discuss modern issues of racism, sexism, multiculturalism - all the things which affect us all? You might read a text in English - but this doesn't always allow for a debate of all the issues. You might study the reformation or the arab-israeli conflict in history - but again this doesn't look at why these groups believe what they believe.

xStarGirl · 08/03/2011 08:44

Hully - I was forced into RS at school, not that long ago. Unless the curriculum has changed drastically, it's presumably still stuff that I already knew. Hence the A* - it was piss-easy, no revision needed, because it's all common sense.

And to those saying it helps with other skills, I found it was vice-versa. Skills I learned in other lessons meant that RS didn't actually teach me anything other than it was fun to get the class chanting "Jesus was a black guy!" at the class zealot Grin

cory · 08/03/2011 08:44

I think it would be an excellent subject- if taught as stringently as science or history. Unfortunately, in dcs' and my experience, the subject is often taught by the kind of person who takes every opportunity to push a religious agenda of their own: that should not be allowed.

And for GSCE (compulsory in dd's school) the school can choose to opt for the GCSE that is just general Christianity- this is not actually what we want dd to do, and the teacher finds it very difficult to switch off his own Christian viewpoint and treat the subject more objectively. (state school not faith school btw)

I am sure the curriculum is fab, but the teaching dd has been getting so far is not, and I don't like that they have chosen the emphasis on one religion only. I am a Christian myself, but I think dd is missing out.

The teaching in the lower years was much better.

Bonsoir · 08/03/2011 08:44

Religion is very much history.