NOW SOLD OUT
Teaching Higher RMPS
A one-day conference specifically for teachers of Religious, Moral and Philosophical Studies for Scottish Highers with Dr. Peter Vardy (Heythrop College, University of London)
Jury's Inn Glasgow, Friday 5th June 2009
£175 per place (£150 for 2nd delegate from the same school)
Teaching Islam for Paper 2 Higher RMPS
Islam is always in the news and the need for better understanding of the fastest growing World Religion is obvious. The media has contributed in large part to the general misconception of Islam as a violent, backward religion; images of a car crashing into Glasgow airport fuel stereotypes. Recently there have been calls for universities to do more to educate people about the beliefs and customs of Muslims, but surely schools are in a better position to reach out to large numbers of people, to inform and promote engagement with other ways of living? Schools do teach about Islam of course, but few teachers feel very confident in their detailed subject-knowledge and published resources are rarely of a good quality, thus lessons tend to be focused on younger students, offering simplified accounts of the historical background and the five pillars rather than allowing older students to really engage with the principles of Islamic faith. This session will examine how teachers could use Islam as to teach for Paper 2 of Higher RMPS and to provide another religious perspective in other elements of the specification, providing a full editable PowerPoint and other resources (including video clips) to support them in so doing.
The Ethics of War
British troops are engaged in spiraling conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq and talk is still of intervening in conflicts from South Ossetia to Zimbabwe and of what might happen in Iran. Decisions to go to war are taken as a result of a so-called 'ethical foreign policy', arguably to defend human rights, yet tens of thousands die as a result and modern weapons ensure that the casualties 'collateral damage' are mostly limited to the poor and weak. The bomber-pilots and tank drivers (let alone those giving the orders) are often miles, sometimes thousands of miles, from the action. This session will reexamine the ethics of war in the light of recent developments and provide a basis of resources for teachers to use in teaching this issue for Morality in the Modern World for Paper 1 RMPS, including suggestions on how teaching of the topic can be enriched through the use of film.
Punishment and Forgiveness
Christianity is often portrayed as a religion of forgiveness but what does forgiveness actually mean? Jesus told the woman caught in adultery to 'go and don't sin again' yet the Church has sanctioned gruesome forms of capital punishment through the centuries and many of those campaigning for it in the USA are ordained ministers. Immanuel Kant and John Stuart Mill were both influenced by Christian teaching about the value of human life, yet both argued for the death penalty, albeit for very different reasons. This session will outline the ethical problems posed by crime and the need for punishment and will suggest how Christian perspectives on the issue can best be presented to students, unpacking the difficult concepts of redemption, atonement and grace and demonstrating the real diversity within the Church and the reasons for it. In particular the hope offered by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's use of the African principle of 'Ubuntu' will be examined. A basis of resources for teachers to use in teaching this issue for Morality in the Modern World for Paper 1 RMPS will be provided including suggestions on how teaching of the topic can be enriched through the use of film.
Science vs. Religion, Reason vs. Faith in the 21st Century
Protons are whizzing round the Large Hadron Collider beneath CERN, apparently bringing us ever closer to understanding the earliest moments of our universe, and yet in the same week as the Collider was switched on, rational people predicted that we would all be swallowed by a black hole (no evidence, yet hours of TV and Radio coverage) and Professor Michael Reiss, the Director of Education at the Royal Society, seriously suggested that creationism should be taught alongside the Big Bang Theory and the Theory of Evolution in Schools. This session will re-examine the relationship between revelation and scientific knowledge within Christian traditions and set out a balanced approach to teaching about this vexed issue.
Striving for Excellence: Ethical Theory for Paper 1 RMPS
Textbooks often present ethical theories as falling into one of three categories, those concerned with consequences, those concerned with actions in themselves and a third, ill defined category, those concerned with character or virtue. This session will attempt to show how such divisions in ethical theory are not always helpful, showing how a deeper reading of Philosophers like Kant and JS Mill shows that they were as concerned with striving for human excellence as Aristotle, Aquinas and modern virtue-ethicists, suggesting a different, more substantial approach to teaching Morality in the Modern World for Paper 1 RMPS. Full notes and a video, suitable for use in the classroom, will be provided to accompany the session.
Jury's Inn Glasgow, Friday 5th June 2009
£175 per place (£150 for 2nd delegate from the same school)
Teaching Islam for Paper 2 Higher RMPS
Islam is always in the news and the need for better understanding of the fastest growing World Religion is obvious. The media has contributed in large part to the general misconception of Islam as a violent, backward religion; images of a car crashing into Glasgow airport fuel stereotypes. Recently there have been calls for universities to do more to educate people about the beliefs and customs of Muslims, but surely schools are in a better position to reach out to large numbers of people, to inform and promote engagement with other ways of living? Schools do teach about Islam of course, but few teachers feel very confident in their detailed subject-knowledge and published resources are rarely of a good quality, thus lessons tend to be focused on younger students, offering simplified accounts of the historical background and the five pillars rather than allowing older students to really engage with the principles of Islamic faith. This session will examine how teachers could use Islam as to teach for Paper 2 of Higher RMPS and to provide another religious perspective in other elements of the specification, providing a full editable PowerPoint and other resources (including video clips) to support them in so doing.
The Ethics of War
British troops are engaged in spiraling conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq and talk is still of intervening in conflicts from South Ossetia to Zimbabwe and of what might happen in Iran. Decisions to go to war are taken as a result of a so-called 'ethical foreign policy', arguably to defend human rights, yet tens of thousands die as a result and modern weapons ensure that the casualties 'collateral damage' are mostly limited to the poor and weak. The bomber-pilots and tank drivers (let alone those giving the orders) are often miles, sometimes thousands of miles, from the action. This session will reexamine the ethics of war in the light of recent developments and provide a basis of resources for teachers to use in teaching this issue for Morality in the Modern World for Paper 1 RMPS, including suggestions on how teaching of the topic can be enriched through the use of film.
Punishment and Forgiveness
Christianity is often portrayed as a religion of forgiveness but what does forgiveness actually mean? Jesus told the woman caught in adultery to 'go and don't sin again' yet the Church has sanctioned gruesome forms of capital punishment through the centuries and many of those campaigning for it in the USA are ordained ministers. Immanuel Kant and John Stuart Mill were both influenced by Christian teaching about the value of human life, yet both argued for the death penalty, albeit for very different reasons. This session will outline the ethical problems posed by crime and the need for punishment and will suggest how Christian perspectives on the issue can best be presented to students, unpacking the difficult concepts of redemption, atonement and grace and demonstrating the real diversity within the Church and the reasons for it. In particular the hope offered by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's use of the African principle of 'Ubuntu' will be examined. A basis of resources for teachers to use in teaching this issue for Morality in the Modern World for Paper 1 RMPS will be provided including suggestions on how teaching of the topic can be enriched through the use of film.
Science vs. Religion, Reason vs. Faith in the 21st Century
Protons are whizzing round the Large Hadron Collider beneath CERN, apparently bringing us ever closer to understanding the earliest moments of our universe, and yet in the same week as the Collider was switched on, rational people predicted that we would all be swallowed by a black hole (no evidence, yet hours of TV and Radio coverage) and Professor Michael Reiss, the Director of Education at the Royal Society, seriously suggested that creationism should be taught alongside the Big Bang Theory and the Theory of Evolution in Schools. This session will re-examine the relationship between revelation and scientific knowledge within Christian traditions and set out a balanced approach to teaching about this vexed issue.
Striving for Excellence: Ethical Theory for Paper 1 RMPS
Textbooks often present ethical theories as falling into one of three categories, those concerned with consequences, those concerned with actions in themselves and a third, ill defined category, those concerned with character or virtue. This session will attempt to show how such divisions in ethical theory are not always helpful, showing how a deeper reading of Philosophers like Kant and JS Mill shows that they were as concerned with striving for human excellence as Aristotle, Aquinas and modern virtue-ethicists, suggesting a different, more substantial approach to teaching Morality in the Modern World for Paper 1 RMPS. Full notes and a video, suitable for use in the classroom, will be provided to accompany the session.
