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'Unlocking Reflexivity: Is Identifying ‘Unlocking Reflexivity: Is identifying individuals’ worldviews a key for non-specialist teachers of RE?’ Submitted by Ruth Elizabeth Flanagan to the University of Exeter as a thesis for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Theology, July 2018. This thesis is available for Library use on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. I certify that all material in this thesis which is not my own work has been identified and that no material has previously been submitted and approved for the award of a degree by this or any other University. (Signature) 1 2 Abstract Teachers’ worldviews may impact their practice in terms of pedagogy, curriculum choices, and the value they assign to, and their enthusiasm for, a curriculum subject. Religious Education (RE), in England, involves the teaching of religious and non-religious worldviews. RE teachers often lack training, subject knowledge, confidence or even desire to teach the subject. Teachers may teach aspects of religion(s) and non-religious worldviews which adhere to their own worldviews but ignore aspects of religion(s) and non-religious worldviews with which they disagree. The claim in this thesis is that better understanding of their own worldviews might help teachers guard against these conscious or unconscious omissions of religion(s) and non-religious worldviews and the reinforcement of unexamined biases. To this end, I have developed a working definition of ‘worldview’ as an individual’s frame of reference, held consciously and subconsciously, that evolves due to life experiences that enables them to make sense of the world. I have designed hermeneutical tools for teachers to read themselves, to identify aspects of their worldviews and the narratives which have formed these. These tools have application to the self-examining of life stories, and have been tested, through semi-structured interviews with 10 Primary school teachers in the South West. The findings revealed variations between teachers’ worldview- consciousness and the impact of their worldviews on their teaching of RE: notions of ‘good life’ varied and determined their teaching of, choices within and rationale for RE alongside growing confidence. Depth of understanding was facilitated for some by overseas travel, working and living overseas or in a multicultural area. Greater self-understanding unlocked reflexivity for teachers with acknowledgement of the impact of their own worldviews on their teaching of RE. (275 words) 3 Table of Contents Abstract ......................................................................................................................................... 3 Table of Illustrations .................................................................................................................... 10 Abbreviations .............................................................................................................................. 11 Acknowledgments ....................................................................................................................... 11 Chapter 1: Worldviews and RE .................................................................................................... 12 1.1.The origins of the research ............................................................................................... 12 1.2. Why choose Religious Education as a focus for this research? ....................................... 13 1.3. Problems identified .......................................................................................................... 14 1.3.a. Not ‘realising the potential’....................................................................................... 14 1.3.b. Negative attitudes towards RE .................................................................................. 15 1.3.c. A sense of ‘norm’ and ‘other’ .................................................................................... 15 1.3.d. A lack of confidence in teaching RE .......................................................................... 16 1.4. The possible causes .......................................................................................................... 16 1.4.a. The History of RE ....................................................................................................... 16 1.4.b. The growth of a pluralistic society ............................................................................ 18 1.4.c. A lack of specialist teachers of RE ............................................................................. 18 1.5. A possible solution ........................................................................................................... 19 1.5.a. Assistance from the Interpretive Approach .............................................................. 19 1.6. Aims .................................................................................................................................. 20 1.7. Research Questions .......................................................................................................... 21 Method ........................................................................................................................................ 23 Aims ............................................................................................................................................. 23 1.8. Definition of terms: .......................................................................................................... 24 1.8.a. Reflexivity .................................................................................................................. 24 1.8.b. Worldviews................................................................................................................ 26 1.8.c. Life narrative .............................................................................................................. 28 1.9. Research Context ............................................................................................................. 30 4 1.10 Why is a definition, identification and understanding of worldviews important in education? ............................................................................................................................... 32 1.10.a. Worldview identification may aid self-understanding. ........................................... 33 1.10.b. Identifying worldviews may counter bias. .............................................................. 33 1.10.c. Challenging the notion of neutrality or the myth of the “norm” ............................ 34 1.10.d. Enhancing knowledge and critical thinking ............................................................. 36 1.10.e. Stemming the growth of ‘religious illiteracy’ .......................................................... 38 1.10.f. Enriching global citizenship ...................................................................................... 39 1.11. How can individuals identify their own worldviews and the narrative forming it? ....... 40 1.11.a. The challenges in identifying worldviews ............................................................... 40 1.11.b CPD as a tool to begin the reflexive process ............................................................ 41 1.11.c. Competing or complementary roles? ...................................................................... 42 1.12. Structure ......................................................................................................................... 43 1.13. Parameters of the study ................................................................................................. 45 1.14. Research methods .......................................................................................................... 45 1.15. Anticipated research outcomes: .................................................................................... 46 1.16. Conclusion and contribution .......................................................................................... 47 Chapter 2: Literature Review ...................................................................................................... 49 2.1 Introduction....................................................................................................................... 49 2.2. Does teachers’ ‘knowledge’ impact teaching?................................................................. 51 2.3. The relationship between knowledge and experience .................................................... 55 2.4. How does Tacit Knowledge relate to Reflexivity? ............................................................ 57 2.5. Differentiating between Teachers’ Knowledge and Teachers’ Beliefs............................. 59 2.6. Defining Teachers’ Beliefs ................................................................................................ 60 2.7. The impact of teachers’ worldviews on what? ................................................................ 63 2.7. a. The impact of teachers’ beliefs ................................................................................ 63 2.7.b. Teachers’ beliefs guiding actions .............................................................................. 63 2.7.c. Teachers’ beliefs and pupil achievement .................................................................. 64 2.7.d. Teachers’ beliefs producing potentially dismissive attitudes
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