Inspiring RE: Inspirational People

Inspirational people can be named as such because
of their actions, the effects they have had on their
locality, people or the wider world, or just because
of who they are. They are often motivated by
beliefs, religious or otherwise. The people featured
in this book are many and varied, religious and
non-religious, contemporary and from long ago.
When studying inspirational people we often look
at three categories. We have included people from
each of these categories in our book:

1. Religious figures (leaders, messengers or
   prophets) connected with the origin of the
   religion, such as Jesus, Guru Nanak and the
   Prophet Muhammad.

2. A religious leader – past or present, local,
   national or international, such as a local vicar,
   the Queen or Rabbi Julia Neuberger.

3. People who put their beliefs into action in the
   way they live, from small things such as thanking
   God for sporting talent to letting those beliefs
   affect the direction their whole life has taken.
   In this category we have included vignettes of
   contemporary people such as Jo Cox, Christine
   Ohuruogu and Malala Yousafzai, and longer
   units on others such as Dr Hany El Banna, who
   began the British charity Islamic Aid.

The units in this book provide resources for studying
people from a range of religions and non-religious
worldviews, with substantial teaching suggestions
for work in teaching about Christians, Sikhs,
Hindus, Muslims and Jewish people. In our new
section ‘Ready Steady RE’ we offer some starters
for teaching about inspirational people, and
vignettes of a variety of people you may want to
share with your pupils. At the end of the book we
also suggest dos and don’ts when teaching about
inspirational people. In putting together this book
we have tried hard to show diversity in the people
we have featured. Inevitably we have not managed
to represent all groups, but it is important to look at
the people you are suggesting who some find to be
inspirational to ensure that they are not only old,
white, male and dead!

Please note that members can now download an
electronic copy of each unit, allowing you to save
it in year group or module files on your school’s
internal electronic storage system