Key Stage 3 - RPE

7

What pupils will learn

How it builds on learning

7.1 Is Britain a ‘religious’ country?

This topic is focused through a predominantly social sciences lens and asks students to explore what is meant by the term religion, what the religious make-up of Britain is and how that has changed over time, as well as how the diversity of the country, and a range of religious beliefs have shaped Britain today.

This topic builds on KS2 learning for all pupils of simple facts about significant world religions, and places them into context of Britain today.

7.2 What does it mean to have a worldview?

Students will be introduced to the ideas around different disciplinary approaches used in the subject and explore how these might influence a viewpoint.  Using case studies to consider both their own perspective and how others reach their views, students will explore how the concept of a worldview shapes our lives.

This topic will set up lots of future study, highlighting how different disciplinary foci will shape their learning.

It also builds on 7.1 as this used a sociological lens, and students will be able to reflect on how this shaped the topic

7.3 How does Abraham influence modern religious belief?
Focusing theologically, students will explore the life of Abraham, and how this is both influences and is remembered in the three Abrahamic traditions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam today.

This topic builds on lots of KS2 learning about the Abrahamic faiths, and shows links between them that sets students up for later study.

7.4 Is the ‘unexamined life’ worth living?

Building on the famous quotation from Socrates, students will be introduced to some of the great philosophical theories throughout history and consider whether these can help us understand our life, or it is better to focus on the world around us instead.

This is the first philosophically focused topic of Key Stage 3.  Students will be able to draw links between some theologically influenced philosophers and explore how their worldview shaped their thinking (7.2).

7.5 Islamic art as an expression of belief

This topic is focused through a theological lens, but does touch on a social sciences lens, and introduces students to the diversity and complexity of artwork in Islam.  This is used to explore the beliefs that are represented within the artwork, and what this can tell us about belief in Islam throughout history.

This topic builds on KS2 learning about Islam, with students recalling key ideas about the faith when beliefs and practices are encountered.

Students will also build on their knowledge of Abraham from earlier in the year (7.3), revisiting some of the influence he has on Islam.

8

What pupils will learn

How it builds on learning

8.1 Can God and evil coexist?

This topic is focused through both a theological and philosophical lens, raising the question of how God is defined, introduces students to the philosophical problem of evil, and a range of different theological views that attempt to solve this problem.

This topic builds on KS2 learning of Abrahamic faiths, and their teachings about the nature of God, as well as drawing on ideas about Abraham (7.3), philosophical thinking (7.4), and considering how their perspective might influence responses to the question (7.2).

8.2 How do Hindus understand Dharma?

This topic is focused through both a social sciences and theological lens, introducing students to the concept of Dharma, and how this is central Hindu traditions despite variations in practices, before considering how this influences the actions of believers around the world.  Students are also introduced to the challenges of viewing Dharma from a Eurocentric perspective that is heavily influenced by Abrahamic faiths and Greek philosophy.

This topic will build on the philosophical ideas encountered philosophically (7.4) and the way our experience shapes our perspective on the world (7.2).

8.3 How is Christianity growing globally?

Students will explore the global picture of Christianity from a sociological perspective to consider why Christianity is growing in some areas but declining in others.  Theological differences in expressions of Christianity will be explored to consider how wide and varied the faith is today.

Starting from the sociological data explored in topic 7.1, students will then build on Christian ideas covered in the study of Abraham (7.3) and God (8.1), as well as drawing parallels between the diversity of Hindu expressions (8.2) and Christian diversity to question whether faiths are monolithic or not.

8.4 Should we class Buddhism as a philosophy or a religion?

Starting with a philosophical focus around what makes something a religion, students will explore varied expressions of Buddhist thinking and consider whether these lead to a philosophical belief system or a religion.  Bringing in theologically focused questions about what it means to be Buddhist will help guide the thinking around this question later in the topic.

Students will build on ideas about what makes a religion (7.1) and a philosophical viewpoint (7.4), as well as how the formation of Buddhist thought is shaped by Hindu ideas (8.2)

8.5 Can anything be a religion?

Using a sociological lens, students will explore the changing nature of belief in Britain, and question whether other ideas have taken on the role of religion in the 21^st Century.  Theological questions around what makes these replacements significant will help to consider what classifies as a religion

This will build on ideas about what makes a religion and the changing nature of Britain (7.1) as well as how we understand different philosophical viewpoints (7.4). Questions considered in 8.4 will also be relevant to the topic

9

What pupils will learn

How it builds on learning

9.1 What does it mean to do the ‘right’ thing?

This topic is focused through a philosophical lens but does also touch on some elements of a theological lens.  Students explore the question of right and wrong, looking at a range of different views about how we know, understand, and use these concepts, including considering how both they and key thinkers would respond to a range of ethical dilemmas.

This topic will build on ideas about Christian views on right and wrong, focused around Jesus (8.3), as well as questions about why people want to live a good life including suffering (8.1) and philosophical views on the world (7.2 and 7.4)

9.2 Do ethical ideas actually work in the real world?

Moving from the theoretical to the application of ethical theories, students will consider questions raised in the development of new technologies that have an ethical dimension.  Applying the ideas from earlier in the year, students will question whether ethical theories have any place in reality.

Mainly focusing on applying the ethical theories from 9.1, students will also draw on ideas from topics about perspectives (7.2 and 7.4), as well as ideas about how we should live from a variety of perspectives (7.3, 7.5, 8.1, 8.2 and 8.4)

8.3 Why is it so important for Sikhs to help others?

Exploring the origins of Sikh beliefs about equality will guide students to consider how this is lived out in the modern world, considering different expressions of Sewa and why this is central to Sikh life today.

Using ideas from other Dharmic traditions (8.2 and 8.4) to understand the development of Sikh traditions, students will also consider worldviews (7.2) and ethical thinking (9.1)

9.4 Elective topic

Students are given a choice of topic to explore, with a range of resources designed to guide them on a self-led exploration of the topic.
Each topic is designed to look at how religious and philosophical ideas can be applied to modern situations, allowing students to consider a wide range of perspectives on these topics.  Each topic will have slightly different disciplinary foci, depending on the specifics but each topic will touch on all three disciplines in some way.

Each of the elective topics will ask students to apply their learning from across KS3 to the modern situation they are focused on.