Response to Consultation on Curriculum for Wales - Religion, Values and Ethics (RVE) guidance

Abstract

From a sociological perspective, Religious Education (RE) has often been criticised for presenting ‘world religions’ as “discrete, self-contained, clearly defined traditions” that could be studied in isolation from one another (Cooling, Bowie and Panjwani, 2020: 24). As a result, RE has regularly been accused of failing to reflect the lived experiences of religious (and non-religious) communities (Benoit,2020; CoRE, 2018). The interdisciplinary approach taken to the Humanities is welcomed, and the contribution of RVE to the Humanities Area is not only relevant but also important. However, the proposed RVE guidance fails to give pupils the opportunity to learn what religion really is, how it is understood in the modern world, or how it can be taught as a challenging, exciting and intellectually stimulating subject. We recommend that a sociological approach be also adopted in RVE to study the phenomenon of religion and non-religion. We are also concerned that the RVE guidance does not take the opportunity to explicitly adopt a decolonised and anti-racist curriculum.