Argument in religious studies at GCSE: a collaborative developmental research project

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper describes a developmental research project that started from the desire amongst several religious education teachers across different schools to work collaboratively to improve their teaching of argumentation. It specifically focuses on GCSE religious studies examinations in England. We were particularly interested in how students express their own arguments in written examination essays, which have specific requirements. The intention was to think more deeply about what is meant by argument without resorting to pure philosophy, and thereby develop our pedagogy in teaching these skills through deeper reflection, learning and experiment in the classroom, as well as sharing our experience. Working with a researcher, we adopted a particular theory of argumentation, from Toulmin, and then heuristically developed techniques to refine our practice. Through collaborative self-study with a researcher, we draw on qualitative data to consider both what strategies were developed and how our collaboration supported our professional development. The strategies for teaching argumentation were through simplification and the use of metaphor. Collaboration was through inter-school support in developing and trying out new techniques. Significantly, we found that argumentation could be developed without explicitly teaching philosophy.