BIG QUESTIONS BIG ANSWERS: Vol 2: World Views

Welcome to the second book in our new curriculum series, Big Questions, Big Answers. This book focuses on worldviews.
I first became aware of this term about five years ago and, a bit like when you buy a different car you suddenly see lots of
people driving the same make, I now feel I hear the word more and more often. But what does this word mean and why might
we use it with our pupils?

The RE community is beginning to respond to the idea that the subject should examine worldviews,
but already substantial reports from Theos and the RE Council point out the complexity of the concept. In this book we try to introduce some ways of thinking about worldviews as part of your RE or for some Religion and Worldviews lessons. We hope
that the units and resources will prove practical and engaging in the classroom, increasing students’ knowledge and awareness of their own and others’ worldviews. Simple strategies have been used to increase pupil understanding of diversity within a
worldview looking at celebration of Diwali, Eid-ulFitr and, later in the book, Christmas. We also look at how worldviews affect how
you see things and, for many, how they choose to live their lives.

Our two multidisciplinary units introduce sociology and religious
studies, and relevant questions and methods, with our disciplinary experts Dr Rachael Shillitoe and Dr Chris Cotter. In these units pupils study the diversity of celebrations of Christmas and then what affects how people from different
groups dress.

We are really grateful to the teachers and pupils
who trialled the disciplinary units in the book, and we have adapted these resources as a result of these classroom trials. We continue to expand the digital offerings for our books – do go to the website and look for the many extras.Finally, we would love to see examples of pupil work to share with others – do send us some examples