Thread by @MrBchat

My summer school sessions for new year 7s was all about conceptualising Worldview, as we call RE ‘Religion and Worldviews’. I was nervous to do an hour on this. If you are too, read on to see how I tackled worldview with 11 y/o’s, their work, some advice and resources #TeamRE 🧵

We started by exploring what Worldview (WV) means, and how religions are WVs. I then explained how not everyone is religious, but everyone has a worldview. All of them in the room. I used Theos’ ‘Nobody Stands Nowhere’ video which is visually rich and sparks conversation.

I explained that WVs are lenses through which we make sense of Big Questions. I posed a set of different questions (below) and invited students to consider which are ‘big’ or ‘small’ & why. Responses including Big are not easy to answer, and people have different opinions on Big

I then developed their definitions, adding that answers to Big Questions are ones that influence how we shape our lives. I didn’t want students thinking that anything people have a different opinion on is a Big Question religion and WVs are concerned with, using this image below.

I took the question ‘How did the Earth get here?’ and using my magnifying glass ‘looked’ at the question (a mini performance!) first as a scientist, then as a theist, then humanist. I acted as three people, articulating my worldview and my answer as I ‘looked’ through the lens

Conceptualising done, students completed the ‘Worldviews Questionnaire’, I revealed how the letters they chose might say something about their current worldview. Many students, as expected, didn’t neatly fit into one category. I explained fluidity and ‘messiness’ of human views.

Finally, students designed a lens that represents their WV. Importantly I explained this isn’t things you ‘like’; Xbox is not part of your Worldview. I used a pre-planned, concise prompt: Include beliefs and values you think are important, that influence how you ‘see’ and live.

This last part was tricky, as the above is of course not a comprehensive definition of worldview. But for 11 y.o’s olds, I wanted to be clear as I have a tendency of over-explaining things, when really they needed clarity for the task especially after a very abstract first half.

Here’s the final product - a selection of year seven worldviews!

And a few more!

Credits:
📽@Theosthinktank Nobody Stands nowhere’ on YouTube
📖@missdcox Blog ‘Introducing worldviews as part of studying religion and belief’ and the lens analogy.
💭 @jamesdholt Is who I first learned the term ‘messiness’ from
👨🏻‍💻 @NATREupdate for their worldview questionnaire!