RE Northern Ireland

An article exploring religious segregation and teacher education in Northern Ireland has been published by James Nelson. The abstract from the article states: This paper surveys the extent of religious segregation in teacher education in Northern Ireland and notes that there are elements of separation within a general context of (increasing) common teacher education. With reference to liberal and communitarian theories the case for separate teacher education is considered. It is acknowledged that a case can be made for forms of separate teacher education in a liberal society but that certain limits or expectations should apply. A common teacher education is found to be desirable but it is suggested that in order to justify its dominant status in a plural environment it must be accommodating of religion, encourage dialogical engagement around concepts of shared fate and cultivate a sense of community. Full details of the paper can be found at journal's website: Research Papers i...

Darren Walker, Head of RE at Campbell College, recently completed a Farmington Fellowship term at Stranmillis working alongside James Nelson, David Armstrong and Norman Richardson in Religious Studies. Darren researched the potential of Web 2.0 tools to transform teaching and learning in RE and created an on-line directory of over 200 free tools for teachers to use. Darren explained: “Web 2.0 encourages pupils to become active participants on the Internet rather than passive consumers. A wide range of free tools which encourage greater creativity and make student collaboration much easier can now be accessed through a simple web browser such as Internet Explorer”. If you are interested in learning more about Web 2.0, the directory of free tools can be found at http://web2education.wetpaint.com . Darren’s Farmington presentation and research paper, ‘How many penguins does it take to sink an iceberg?’, can be accessed by going to http://dw10cw.glogster.com/web-2-in-education/ (requires ...