Please send The RE Podcast a Text Message!

To continue on our theme of making our schools and curriculum representative and inclusive, I speak to Dr U-wen Low from the University of Birmingham about how to read the stories in the new Testament without a colonial lens. We focus in this episode on Jesus and Phliemonand will do a further episode on the book of revelation.

The episode is going to take a hermeneutical look at specific texts and how they can be interpretted to either be pro or against colonisation and sometimes both. But don't worry, this isn't heavy and complicated. U-wen has a brilliant way of making things simple and accessible.

We focus our converstation on Mary's magnificat, the Great Commission, views on the Romans, the story of Zaccheaus and the letter of Philemon (with it's nuanced take on slavery).

It's a brilliant episode that I think will make you look at familiar stories in a new way which is something we love as RE teachers!

Support the show

Find out more;
Twitter: @TheREPodcast1
Insta: @TheREPodcast
Webiste: www.therepodcast.co.uk

Please send The RE Podcast a Text Message!

1st February was National Hijab Day! This episode is a detailed exploration of Islamophobia with Bismha Afzal, Schools Coordinator with Educate Against Islamophobia (EAI). We talk about what Islamophobia, what it looks like in modern Britain and how we as educators can tackle it. It is a whole school thing, not an RE thing so please share with your colleagues. Bismah referenced so many helpful resources. Here are the relevant links;

Islamophobia: Muhammd Vs Adam
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-38751307

IHRC
https://www.ihrc.org.uk/countering-islamophobia-through-the-development-of-counter-narratives/


Interesting leaflet by Tariq Modood about Islam
http://www.tariqmodood.com/uploads/1/2/3/9/12392325/muslims_in_bristol_and_britain.pdf

Muhammads last sermon
https://www.iium.edu.my/deed/articles/thelastsermon.html

Runnymede report (2017 one)
https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/61488f992b58e687f1108c7c/61bcd30e26cca7688f7a5808_Islamophobia%20Report%202018%20FINAL.pdf

EAI
https://eai.org.uk/

APPG: Islamophobia defined
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/599c3d2febbd1a90cffdd8a9/t/5bfd1ea3352f531a6170ceee/1543315109493/Islamophobia+Defined.pdf

IAM
https://www.islamophobia-awareness.org/

Role of educators in tackling islamophobia
https://www.osce.org/odihr/93497

RE Hubs - School speakers
https://www.re-hubs.uk/get-involved/school-speakers/

Support the show

Find out more;
Twitter: @TheREPodcast1
Insta: @TheREPodcast
Webiste: www.therepodcast.co.uk

Please send The RE Podcast a Text Message!

Have you heard of Don Cupitt? Of Big Ideas for RE? Or maybe you have used the In Converstations webinars! This only skims the surfaces of what the Sea Of Faith Network does to support the RE Community!
The Sofia publication, regional meetings, the Sea of Faith conference, Solarity...
We are so lucky to have this network who provides a space for people to have conversations about the human experiences free from the bias' of fundamentalist thinking.
My thaks for Dave Francis for talking to the RE Podcast and to the whole network for your work!

Below are all the links referred to in this episode;

https://www.sofn.uk/
https://bigideasforre.org/
https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/understanding-by-design/
https://www.solarity.org.uk/

Support the show

Find out more;
Twitter: @TheREPodcast1
Insta: @TheREPodcast
Webiste: www.therepodcast.co.uk

Please send The RE Podcast a Text Message!

Today's episode is a delightful chat with Stacey Burman and Carrie Alderton about all things interfaith. And when I say all things, I mean ALL THE THINGS!
The history and purpose of Interfaith Week and why it is so important.
How we can get involved as a community a school and a teacher.
Where we can go for resources.
But also, how this is part of a bigger picture of Interfaith Education which should permeate schools, communities and RE classrooms? (Linking brilliantly to last weeks episode on Freedom Of Religion or Belief.)
It's a really practical episode with lots of tips and ideas and places to go for support

As part of the epsiode we hear from Alice who talks about all the amazing things she does for Interfaith week to give us some inspiration - get a notebook and make sure you are sitting down!

Please let Carrie know anything you have done for Interfaith week and how it went, or maybe you have some ideas and want some support on this for future IFWs?
Similarly, if you have any stories about interfaith education you want to share, or need support / resources to improve how you do it, please get in touch
Either contact me @therepodcast1 on X or @therepodcast on insta and bluesky or visit my website www.therepodcast.co.uk.

For more information;
https://www.interfaithweek.org/

https://faithbeliefforum.org/

https://www.ifw4schools.co.uk/

Support the show

Find out more;
Twitter: @TheREPodcast1
Insta: @TheREPodcast
Webiste: www.therepodcast.co.uk

Please send The RE Podcast a Text Message!

This chat is just what we need to reinvigorate us as we start a new term, cold, exhausted from festive celebrations, still arriving and leaving in the dark, with depleted VItamin D reserves. This episode will give you an hour to be reignited and reinvigorated about the amazing work we all do and what is possible and help us start a new term with renewed energy.
We look at what FoRB is and what it isn't, trauma informed ways of dealing with violations, why it's so important in today's world.
My guest Josh Cass is as wise as he is humble, and will be the lift you need to see you through the last half of January.
A link to the REC article on The Toledo Principles
https://religiouseducationcouncil.org.uk/resource/toledo-guiding-principles/
https://religiouseducationcouncil.org.uk/rec/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toledo-article.pdf

A link to all the FoRB resources from Culham St Gabriel
https://www.cstg.org.uk/campaigns/promoting-freedom-of-religion-or-belief/

Support the show

Find out more;
Twitter: @TheREPodcast1
Insta: @TheREPodcast
Webiste: www.therepodcast.co.uk

Please send The RE Podcast a Text Message!

Happy New Year 2025 and the 5th year of The RE Podcast. And welcome to season 14 of The RE Podcast which is shaping up really nicely. The first half of the season will focus on how we embrace a multi-religious society looking at Islamophobia, Interfaith week, Freedom of Religion or belief and the Sea of Faith Network. Then I am going to explore some smaller religions like The Tao and Shinto. Can't wait to share all this with you. But first asn episode on the Ethics of AI.
Following the brilliant #REChatUK, last monday about how we use technology in the classroom, I wanted to share with you the thoughts of Henry Taylor.
We chatted about the history of AI, concept of consciousness and how you can test for this in Robots and the subsequent moral obligation towards them. We also looked at the ethics of using robots in the care of the elderly. Henry shares some ideas for film clips we can use in the classroom to support our teaching in this area.
We also chat briefly about the 'human fingertip' bias in programmes like ChatGTP and the questions we need to answer before this technology evolves.

Support the show

Find out more;
Twitter: @TheREPodcast1
Insta: @TheREPodcast
Webiste: www.therepodcast.co.uk

Please send The RE Podcast a Text Message!

To help you celebrate the end of the longest term of the year, to get you in the festive spirit, to shine a beacon to parents, particularly mothers, as we focus on the amazing story of Mary, the mother of Jesus and the central role she plays in the Christmas story, I bring you tidings of great joy!
This last episode of the season, and of 2024, is a spotlight on two RE teachers as they talk about juggling motherhood with their careers. Naila Missous, and Gemma Brown. They are connected through the amazing MTPT Project - The UK’s charity for parent-teachers. It provides support and entitlements for pregnant and expectant staff. And check out the festive name of its founder, Emma Sheppard (so much festive joy). Emma, also joined us to tell us why she made the journey from English Teacher to wanting to support parent teachers.
The conversation not only includes information about the project and how it supported Naila and Gemma, and what needs to happen in the political sphere to support parents in education, but also how we can include the role of mothers into our curriculums, and where we see the role of mothers in scriptures.
As you can imagine, it is an empowering and uplifting chat.

https://www.mtpt.org.uk/

To all my listeners' my seasonal message for you is from Mary's song because all teachers, but specifically parents are often so humble and they need to be lifted up;

He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.

I hope this episode lifts you up.

Support the show

Find out more;
Twitter: @TheREPodcast1
Insta: @TheREPodcast
Webiste: www.therepodcast.co.uk

Please send The RE Podcast a Text Message!

In a move towards multidisciplinary RE, I wonder if you are stuck on how to teach through a social sciences lens - particularly through a psychological lens. Maybe you are not sure what the psychology of religion is, or how to incorporate it into your lessons. Or maybe you have started to explore but have become overwhelmed. Dr Carissa Sharp is an associate professor of Psychology of Religion from The University of Birmingham and she came on to the podcast to guide us through how to do this.
For example, is this a psychological question – “Does God exist?” – and if not, how do we turn it into one?
For the answer and for much more, listen to this episode.
The links for this episodes are below;

Get in touch with Dr Carissa Sharp
https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/staff/profiles/tr/sharp-carissa
https://crosstrainingpsychologyandtheology.com/
https://crosstrainingpsychologyandtheology.com/resources/resources-for-re-teachers/

When Children Draw Gods by PY Brandt
https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-94429-2

Believing, Bonding, Behaving, and Belonging: The Big Four Religious Dimensions and Cultural Variation by Vassilis Saroglou
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0022022111412267#:~:text=Believing%2C%20Bonding%2C%20Behaving%2C%20and,Cultural%20Variation%20%2D%20Vassilis%20Saroglou%2C%202011

Experimenting with Religion by Jonathan Jong
https://global.oup.com/academic/product/experimenting-with-religion-9780190875541?cc=us&lang=en&

Cambridge Elements
https://www.cambridge.org/core/browse-subjects/psychology/psychology-of-religion

Lambi Scale RE Today resource
https://www.natre.org.uk/resources/termly-mailing/bqic-secondary-challenging-knowledge-in-re/studying-god/8-using-psychology-to-investigate-ideas-of-god/

Support the show

Find out more;
Twitter: @TheREPodcast1
Insta: @TheREPodcast
Webiste: www.therepodcast.co.uk