Author Archives: robertabowie

COVID 19 has reversed our values and vices: Was Aristotle right and Plato wrong? Does morality need wealth?

Posted on April 23, 2020 by robertabowie

In my professional communities, certain words tend to be viewed as out and out goods (intrinsically good – good in and of themselves we would say in the ethics business). The pre Covid 19 virtues. These words include autonomy, diversity, … Continue reading →

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Videos on Liberation Theology for teachers

Posted on April 15, 2020 by robertabowie

Videos on Liberation Theology for Schools teaching A Level Religious Studies These videos introduce some of the key ideas around Liberation Theology. They have been made to help schools that teach Liberation Theology, a topic on some A Level Religious … Continue reading →

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From face to face to online in one weekend

Posted on March 23, 2020 by robertabowie

“Never has so much been done, so quickly, to educate so many. Big shout out for the half a million teachers who taught 9 million UK children online today in what will go down as the most extraordinary education evolution … Continue reading →

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The new context

Posted on March 23, 2020 by robertabowie

My household has a secondary Maths teacher, two children both of secondary age and me, a university researcher in Education. The schools closed on Friday and last week my research centre moved to virtual working. The children have been studying … Continue reading →

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Reposting Every child deserves an opportunity at school to discover the language for making sense of their world

Posted on September 12, 2018 by robertabowie

By Dr Robert A Bowie First posted here: https://blogs.canterbury.ac.uk/nicer/every-child-deserves-an-opportunity-at-school-to-discover-the-language-for-making-sense-of-their-world/ The Final Report of the Commission on Religious Education, which was established in 2016 to review the legal, educational and policy frameworks for Religious Education (RE) has now been published. This is … Continue reading →

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Reposting “A moment in English Religious Education history”

Posted on September 9, 2018 by robertabowie

A reposting of the blog I wrote recently on my university blog site The final report of the Commission for Religious Education is about to be published. The independent commission was established by the Religious Education Council, the lead organisation and … Continue reading →

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The quality of public debate in Religious Education – 8 questions

Posted on July 4, 2018 by robertabowie

  Should Religious Education (RE) debates begin with a generosity of spirit toward the contributors who may argue for quite opposing and diverse visions and conceptions of the subject? What makes someone who feels so strongly about a particular conception … Continue reading →

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Is it time for religious education to recognise religion is a bit quantum? An irreverent bit of Friday morning writing

Posted on June 15, 2018 by robertabowie

These days, if you are a secondary RE teacher doing GCSE, your language of learning will be filled with notions like ‘logical chains of reason” and a lot of stuff about what good evaluation looks like. This is a product … Continue reading →

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Doing RE Hermeneutically – Learning to become interpreters of religion

Posted on March 21, 2018 by robertabowie

Doing RE Hermeneutically – Learning to become interpreters of religion  Dr Robert A. Bowie bob.bowie@canterbury.ac.uk (Published in REToday, Autumn 2016, Vol. 34. No 1,Birmingham: RE Today, pp.60-62) This is an old piece I wrote a couple of years ago but I … Continue reading →

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WHAT CONSTITUTES EVIDENCE, REASONABLE REASON, AND THE VALUES OF EVALUATION IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

Posted on March 21, 2018 by robertabowie

 In GCSE Religious Studies exams, students are often asked to debate questions. The kind of question follows a rough formula: ‘If God were loving, there would be no suffering in the world.’ Evaluate this statement. In your answer you should: refer … Continue reading →

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