REbrand RE

Reform RE - HM Government e-petition by John Thompson (closed)
  • 1) All children are taught about all the major religions of the world along with stances such as agnosticism and atheism. 
  • 2) Teachers should endeavour to teach the facts about different religions trying to avoid any personal opinions they may have due to their own beliefs. 
  • 3) Time should be divided equally, removing any bias towards the religious standpoint (if any) of the school. 
  • 4) Parents should not be allowed to withdraw their children from these classes. This amounts to them trying to deliberately instil ignorance in them. Parents can obviously teach their children more about their own beliefs but will not be allowed to deny their children a grounding knowledge of other beliefs. 

.. one of the main reasons for our change of fortunes is a wholesale rebranding of the subject, which includes changing its name, content and our approach towards teaching and learning. We have done this in order to escape the negativity expressed towards RS in the past, especially as this negativity can be passed on to younger students by siblings and even parents.

Essentially, rebranding is a strategy used in marketing where a new name, logo and/or design are created to replace an established brand. The basic idea is to embed a new identity in the minds of consumers and investors that is radically alternative to the old identity. This will allow them to engage with the new brand as if it is a completely new company or product.

Of course, in schools the brand is the subject, the consumers are the students and the investors are, arguably, the senior leadership team. So, in terms of rebranding, we have given RS a new name – philosophy and ethics, a new logo and a new design by way of a change of GCSE syllabus to one more centred on religious ethics as opposed to religious worship.

In the case of rebranding a subject, the future benefits could be higher uptake, increased engagement with the subject and a sense that studying it is worthwhile, which could also lead to better attainment and increased life chances. Importantly, this must be sustained by good to outstanding teaching and learning in the long run; otherwise the brand will become tarnished.

Another issue with rebranding could be a perceived move away from the traditional subject area, which some may argue is evident by our renaming of RS.

Nevertheless, we still teach the key beliefs of the world's six major religions and follow Hertfordshire's Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education. All we have done is choose a curriculum that appeals more to our students; one that centres on ethical issues at key stage 4 and moral philosophy at key stage 5 and that allows students to be critical of religious belief (in an academic context) and/or compare those beliefs non-religious ideas. We still title it: RS – philosophy and ethics and we still refer to religious studies at key stage 3.

Subjects cannot take it for granted that they will continually exist as they are and may need to adapt and change at the whim of different education secretaries' priorities. Moreover, academies and free schools can pursue their own curriculum models and this means that traditional perceptions of subjects are not set in stone in those schools; they can be reimagined and rebranded. In fact, our experience is that rebranding can be positive and rewarding as it has raised the profile of our subject. (source: Guardian)


  •  TOWARDS A REDEFINITION OF RE. October 6, 2013 by galinskyspeak said:-
    • "those with an atheistic slant enjoy my lessons as much as anyone else – not because I am biased towards these views, but rather because they can see that their ideas are as important in the classroom as any of faith, and that the questions answered by religions must also be answered by atheists, in convincing ways."
For more see here.

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