Investigating learning in RE

Abstract

In this paper I will present an assessment of some of the key theories arising from the work of Piaget and Vygotsky and investigate whether they might meaningfully apply within the context of the secondary RE classroom. Drawing on experience from my IEP (Initial Experience Phase) as well as the formative literature, I will present a case for the primacy of Piaget and Vygotsky among recent determinative pedagogical theories and illustrate how conversance in the language of both theorists, more so than with other theorists, prompts the trainee teacher or NQT to look beyond the mechanics of each theory and carve their own valid methodologies (the validity of which depending ironically upon their instinct for abandoning theory and acting according to the situation). In this way I will argue that Piaget and Vygotsky present the most ‘meaningful’ pedagogical theories in a climate of theoretical excess. Beyond the remit of a ‘typical’ lesson, I will illustrate how this mind-set has enabled me to envision a radically reformed version of religious education which underpins a hypothetical model for education where the holistic development of children takes precedence over governmental agendas aimed at tailoring education to serve industry and the economy and that such a model might manifest via a ‘spiritual revolution’.