Spoon Feeding or Critical Thinking A Level Higher to First Year Progression in Religious Studies and

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Spoon Feeding or Critical Thinking?A Level /
Higher to First Year Progression inReligious
Studies and Theology

• Subject Centre for Philosophical and Religious
  StudiesSt Anne's College, Oxford3rd - 4th July
  2008

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The Academic Integrity of Theology and Religious
StudiesTowards Long Term Solutions to the
Problem of Progression

• Andrew Wright
• Department of Education and Professional Studies
• Kings College London

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introduction

• Session Outline
• progression
• the fragmentation of liberal education
• the rehabilitation of liberal education
• progression and student motivation
• progression and social enhancement
• progression and critical thinking

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progression

• Problems Diversity and Fragmentation
• object of knowledge (domain of study)
• academic disciplines (method of study)
• student motivation
• teacher motivation
• justification
• curriculum development
• pedagogy

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progression

• Possibilities Academic Integrity
• the cycle of progression
• progression as a perennial problem
• surface solutions
• deep solutions
• the National Strategy for Religious Education
• towards a common framework

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liberal education fragmentation

• Contours of Liberal Education
• roots classical paideia
• truth the pursuit of knowledge
• truthfulness personal flourishing
• truthfulness social flourishing

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liberal education fragmentation

• The Modern / Postmodern Impasse
• Locke public facts v. private values
• Kant Conflict of the Faculties
• knowledge gt understanding gt evaluation
• constructivism
• dualism truth v. truthfulness
• learning about religion
• learning from religion

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liberal education rehabilitation

• Critical Realism
• Ontological Realism
• nature, minds, culture, transcendence
• empirical, actual, real
• ordered, stratified, dynamic, open
• Epistemic Relativity
• relational knowledge
• contingent knowledge
• inclusivity critical realism as
  under-labourer
• Judgemental Rationality
• some accounts of reality are more truthful than
  others
• informed judgements between conflicting truth
  claims
• post-foundational criteria congruence,
  coherence, fertility, simplicity, depth

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liberal education rehabilitation

• Critical Religious Education
• Non-dualistic Pursuit of Truth / Truthfulness
• truth contested secular/religious worldviews
• truthfulness personal flourishing sub species
  aeternitatis
• truthfulness social flourishing sub species
  aeternitatis
• Theological, Religious Spiritual Literacy
• the ability to think, feel, communicate and
  act wisely
• in relation to the contested nature of
  transcendent reality
• and personal/social flourishing sub species
  aeternitatis

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progression student motivation

• Curriculum Development
• plurality of student motivations
• extrinsic curriculum development feeding
  students interests
• intrinsic curriculum development challenging
  students interests
• teaching as an intentional activity
• the priority / integrity of the object of study
• the unavoidability / inclusion of students
  interests
• the variation theory of learning
• contested object contested interests
  religious literacy
• implications for progression

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progression social enhancement

• Curricular Justification
• plurality of social needs / expectation
• extrinsic curriculum justification feeding
  societies needs
• intrinsic curriculum development challenging
  societies needs
• teaching as an intentional activity
• the priority / integrity of the object of study
• the unavoidability / inclusion of societies
  interests
• the variation theory of learning
• contested object contested interests
  religious literacy
• implications for progression

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progression critical thinking

• Constructive Critical Thinking
• (relatively) arbitrary facts
• plurality of meanings
• modernity dislocation from tradition
  authority
• Kant the courage to think for oneself
• Kantian legacy active construction of meaning
• post-modernity (relatively) arbitrary
  constructs
• criteria originality, imagination, freedom
• implications for progression
• spoon feeding versus (autonomous) critical
  thinking

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progression critical thinking

• Realistic Critical Thinking
• unity of knowledge / understanding / evaluation
• contested meanings, contested reality
• realism rooted in tradition authority
• Anselm faith seeking understanding
• discernment of conflicting meanings via
  variation
• academic apprenticeship
• criteria depth breadth of discernment
• implications for progression
• spoon feeding grounded critical thinking

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conclusion

• Session Summary
• progression surface and deep responses
• shared framework rehabilitated liberal
  education
• ontological realism integrity of subject
• epistemic relativity contested world-views
• epistemic relativity student motivation
• epistemic relativity social enhancement
• judgemental rationality religious literacy
• progression shared search for truth
  truthfulness