Publications by category
Books
Savini, H. Walshe, K. (2003). Biblos Secondary Teacher's Handbook. Norwich, RMEP, SCM Canterbury Press Ltd.
Walshe, K. (2003). Troubled People. Norwich, RMEP, SCM Canterbury Press Ltd.
Journal articles
Baumfield V, Bethel A, Dowek A, Walshe K, Mattick K (In Press). Characteristics of Research into Professional Learning across Professions: a mapping review.
Review of EducationAbstract:
Characteristics of Research into Professional Learning across Professions: a mapping review
Introduction: Given the importance of their roles in society, the education of professionals is a central concern for providers and recipients of public services. In this article we consider the contribution of research on professional learning to current debate on the form and content of professional education. This mapping review asked, “What does the research literature tell us about the characteristics of research into Professional Learning across professions?”
Methods:. We identified and synthesised primary research involving post-qualification professionals’ professional learning. We searched seven databases using terms such as “professional learning”, “professional development” and “continuing education” from 2000 to date. We carefully screened articles against agreed criteria, extracted data and mapped the findings.
Results:. After removing duplicates, 20,616 records remained. After full text screening, 356 articles were included: 266 from Teaching (75%), 77 from Healthcare (22%) and 13 from another profession or cross-professional (4%). Three included papers spanned professions. Only 6% articles studied the institution as the unit of analysis (rather than the individual). Around half of the included papers (49%) included an intervention. Most Teaching interventions were proximal to the workplace whereas most Healthcare/Other studies were distal to the workplace, perhaps reflecting stage of development of the research field.
Discussion:. Our study synthesised a heterogeneous literature to indicate the types or research that are needed to progress the debate. The clear differences in ‘style’ between professions suggested that collaboration could provide mutual benefit. Future research requires studies that report research in ways that lend themselves to evidence synthesis or replication.
Abstract.
Baumfield V, Bethel A, Dowek A, Walshe K, Mattick K (In Press). Characteristics of Research into Professional Learning across Professions: a mapping review.
Review of EducationAbstract:
Characteristics of Research into Professional Learning across Professions: a mapping review
Introduction: Given the importance of their roles in society, the education of professionals is a central concern for providers and recipients of public services. In this article we consider the contribution of research on professional learning to current debate on the form and content of professional education. This mapping review asked, “What does the research literature tell us about the characteristics of research into Professional Learning across professions?”
Methods:. We identified and synthesised primary research involving post-qualification professionals’ professional learning. We searched seven databases using terms such as “professional learning”, “professional development” and “continuing education” from 2000 to date. We carefully screened articles against agreed criteria, extracted data and mapped the findings.
Results:. After removing duplicates, 20,616 records remained. After full text screening, 356 articles were included: 266 from Teaching (75%), 77 from Healthcare (22%) and 13 from another profession or cross-professional (4%). Three included papers spanned professions. Only 6% articles studied the institution as the unit of analysis (rather than the individual). Around half of the included papers (49%) included an intervention. Most Teaching interventions were proximal to the workplace whereas most Healthcare/Other studies were distal to the workplace, perhaps reflecting stage of development of the research field.
Discussion:. Our study synthesised a heterogeneous literature to indicate the types or research that are needed to progress the debate. The clear differences in ‘style’ between professions suggested that collaboration could provide mutual benefit. Future research requires studies that report research in ways that lend themselves to evidence synthesis or replication.
Abstract.
Walshe K (2021). Introduction. British Journal of Religious Education, 43(2), 240-240.
Walshe K (2020). Seeing, grasping and constructing: pre-service teachers’ metaphors for ‘understanding’ in religious education.
British Journal of Religious Education,
42(4), 471-489.
Abstract:
Seeing, grasping and constructing: pre-service teachers’ metaphors for ‘understanding’ in religious education
Despite its centrality to most, if not all educational endeavours, what is meant by understanding is highly contested. Using Religious Education (RE) in England as a case subject this paper examines pre-service secondary school teachers’ construals of understanding. It does so by employing conceptual metaphor theory to analyse their linguistic discourse. Specifically, it examines the metaphors employed by participants in a series of focus group discussions (FGD) and provides important insights into how understanding is conceptualised by these pre-service teachers who are preparing to enter the RE profession. The metaphors employed by these pre-service teachers (‘understanding is SEEING’; ‘understanding is CONSTRUCTING’; ‘understanding is GRASPING’), focus on the dynamic and developmental nature of understanding (rather than on the outcomes) and reveal subject specific ways of thinking and practicing. This paper argues that each of the three conceptual metaphors employed by participants suggest particular ways of acting towards understanding with significant implications for teaching and learning in RE.
Abstract.
Walshe K (2020). ‘Ah, now I see!’ Why the metaphors we use for ‘understanding’ in RE matter. RE Today, 37, 3
Stern J, Matemba Y, Lundie D, Walshe K (2019). Editorial: Why knowing this matters. British Journal of Religious Education, 41(2), 121-123.
Freathy R, Doney J, Freathy G, Walshe K, Teece G (2017). Pedagogical Bricoleurs and Bricolage Researchers: the case of Religious Education.
British Journal of Educational Studies,
65(4), 425-443.
Abstract:
Pedagogical Bricoleurs and Bricolage Researchers: the case of Religious Education
This article reconceptualises school teachers and pupils respectively as ‘pedagogical bricoleurs’ and ‘bricolage researchers’ who utilise a multiplicity of theories, concepts, methodologies and pedagogies in teaching and/or researching. This reconceptualization is based on a coalescence of generic curricular and pedagogical principles promoting dialogic, critical and enquiry-based learning. Innovative proposals for reconceptualising the aims, contents and methods of multi-faith Religious Education in English state-maintained schools without a religious affiliation are described, so as to provide an instance of and occasion for the implications of these theories and concepts of learning. With the aim of initiating pupils into the communities of academic enquiry concerned with theology and religious studies, the ‘RE-searchers approach’ to multi-faith Religious Education in primary schools (5-11 year olds) is cited as a highly innovative means of converting these curricular and pedagogical principles and proposals into practical classroom procedures that are characterised by multi-, inter- and supra-disciplinarity; notions of eclecticism, emergence, flexibility and plurality; and theoretical and conceptual complexity, contestation and context-dependence.
Abstract.
Walshe KSJ (2016). What is meant by 'religious understanding'?. RE Today, 33, 58-60.
Larkin S, Freathy R, Walshe K, Doney J (2014). Creating metacognitive environments in primary school RE classrooms.
Journal of Beliefs and Values: studies in religion and education,
35(2), 175-186.
Abstract:
Creating metacognitive environments in primary school RE classrooms
Recent reports on Religious Education (RE) in England and Wales highlight the
need for guidance on pedagogy and learning. The RE-flect project addressed this
by promoting the creation of metacognitively oriented learning environments in
primary school RE classrooms. Six primary school teachers and 160 pupils
(eight to 10 years of age) took part in the second year of this two year project.
Meta-thinking, worldview and resources zones were created in each classroom.
Attainment in RE and pupil perceptions of the learning environment were
measured. Data from classroom observations, Worldview Profiles (WVP), and
pupil and teacher interviews were analysed qualitatively. Results show an overall
increase in attainment; a positive change in pupil perceptions of the learning
environment; and the ability of pupils to reflect on and articulate their
worldviews. Implications for RE curricular and pedagogy are discussed.
Abstract.
Walshe KSJ, Larkin S, Freathy RJK, Doney J (2014). Creating metacognitive environments in primary school RE classrooms. Journal of Beliefs and Values: studies in religion and education, 35(2), 175-186.
Walshe KSJ, Teece GM (2013). Understanding 'understanding' in Religious Education.
British Journal of Religious Education,
35(3), 313-325.
Abstract:
Understanding 'understanding' in Religious Education
This paper takes as its starting point, one of the explicit aims of religious education in England, namely, the development of students’ religious understanding. It shows how curriculum documentation, whilst stating that religious understanding is an aim of religious education fails to clearly outline what is meant by it. This paper draws upon long-standing and ongoing debates in the field and suggests that religious understanding may be best conceived as a spectrum of understanding. Approached in this way, religious understanding becomes not an all or nothing affair, but a lens through which the student of religion may regard the beliefs and practices before them. Finally, the paper proposes an interpretation of religious understanding, which focuses on the soteriological dimension of religion, thus providing the student with a particularly religious lens to understand religious traditions in religious education and concludes by outlining what such an approach might look like in practice.
Abstract.
Freathy R, Aylward K (2010). 'Everything is in parables': an exploration of pupils' difficulties in understanding Christian beliefs concerning Jesus.
Religious Education (USA),
105(1), 86-102.
Abstract:
'Everything is in parables': an exploration of pupils' difficulties in understanding Christian beliefs concerning Jesus
This article reports the findings of interviews conducted with students (aged 11-13) in four English secondary schools, examining reasons why young people find it difficult to understand Christian beliefs regarding Jesus’ miracles, resurrection and status as the Son of God. For the students in this sample, understanding and belief are closely related concepts. Many of them assume that belief is a necessary condition for understanding. The paper argues that greater attention should be paid in Religious Education (RE) to the relationship between belief and understanding and to the ways in which young people experience and conceptualise their learning in RE.
Abstract.
Aylward K, Freathy, R. (2008). Children's conceptions of Jesus.
Journal of Beliefs and Values,
29(3), 297-304.
Abstract:
Children's conceptions of Jesus
This paper presents findings from a recent study investigating young children’s (aged 10-11) conceptions of Jesus in England. The overall picture revealed by the study is that whilst there was a general assent amongst pupils in our sample towards an ethical and humanistic conception of the historical Jesus, there was less of a consensus about those issues which previous research claims children find difficult to understand, namely: the divinity of Jesus; the miracles of Jesus; and Christian beliefs pertaining to Jesus’ continued presence in people’s lives today. The paper concludes by arguing that the variety of conceptions of Jesus which are encountered in RE may be seen by children as a barrier to learning rather than an opportunity to grow in understanding and highlights the need for further research into the relationship between children’s hermeneutical horizons and RE curriculum content.
Abstract.
Walshe, K. (2006). PSHE and the Whole Person. Into Teaching, 8, 15-17.
Walshe, K. (2006). Promoting the Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils. Into Teaching, 6, 21-22.
Walshe, K. (2006). The problem of Bullying. Into Teaching, 9, 5-7.
Aylward, K. (2006). Who do you say I am? Young people's conceptualisations of Jesus. Journal of Religious Education (Australia), 54(4), 27-36.
Walshe, K. (2005). Caring and Tutoring. Into Teaching, 3, 17-18.
Walshe, K. (2005). Pastoral Care. Into Teaching, 1, 6-7.
Walshe, K. (2005). Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Into Teaching, 5, 23-24.
Walshe, K. (2005). The Whole Person. Into Teaching, Introduction, 8-10.
Walshe, K. (2005). What do young people really think about Jesus?. British Journal of Religious Education, 27(1), 65-78.
Loucaides, C., Chedzoy SM, Bennett, N. Walshe, K. (2004). Correlates of Physical Activity in a Cypriot Sample of Sixth Grade children. Pediatric Exercise Science, 16(1), 25-36.
Walshe, K. (2003). The Jesus Factor. Teaching Thinking, 11, 24-25.
Copley, T. (2001). The Jesus of Agreed Syllabuses in Key Stage 1 and the Jesus of Theology and Religious Studies. British Journal of Religious Education, 24(1), 32-40.
Walshe, K. (2000). The Bible in Upper Secondary School: Not always more boring than 'watching paint dry'. Resource, 23(1), 6-8.
Chapters
Baumfield V, Walshe K (2023). Developing Religious Education teachers’ orientative knowledge: an analysis of provision for professional knowledge formation in England. In Schweitzer F, Freathy R, Parker SG, Simojoki H (Eds.) Improving Religious Education Through Teacher Training: Experiences and Insights from European Countries, Munster. New York: Waxmann, 185-200.
Walshe KSJ (2017). Lesson Planning. In Barnes LP (Ed)
Learning to Teach Religious Education in the Secondary School a Companion to School Experience, Routledge, 33-55.
Abstract:
Lesson Planning
Abstract.
Walshe KSJ, Teece G (2017). Understanding ‘Religious Understanding’ in Religious Education’. In James A, Barnes P (Eds.) Education and Religion, Routledge.
Larkin S, Freathy R, Walshe KSJ, Doney J (2016). Creating metacognitive environments in primary school RE classrooms. In Kuusisto A, Lovat T (Eds.) Contemporary Challenges for Religious and Spiritual Education, Abingdon: Routledge, 45-56.
Reports
Walshe K, Teece G (2019).
PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS' UNDERSTANDING OF UNDERSTANDING IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. 20 pages.
Abstract:
PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS' UNDERSTANDING OF UNDERSTANDING IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION
Abstract.
Freathy G, Freathy R, Doney J, Walshe K, Teece G (2015). The RE-searchers: a New Approach to Primary Religious Education. Exeter, University of Exeter.
Copley, T. Freathy, R. (2006). Biblos in New Zealand: the 4th Report of the Biblos project. Exeter, School of Education and Lifelong Learning, University of Exeter.
Allen G, Copley, T. Freathy, R. Jones, S. Walshe K (2006). Teaching about Jesus in Religious Education: Improving Children's learning. Exeter, University of Exeter.
Allen, G. Copley, T. Freathy, R. (2006). Teaching about Jesus in Religious Education: Improving Children's learning. Exeter, School of Education and Lifelong Learning, University of Exeter.
Copley, T. Freathy, R. Lane, S. (2006). The Speech of Angels: an extension to the third report of the Biblos Project. Exeter, School of Education & Lifelong Learning, University of Exeter/Scope/DfES.
Copley, T. Freathy, R. Walshe K (2005). Teaching Biblical Narrative: a summary of the main findings of the Biblos Project, 1996-2004. University of Exeter, School of Education and Lifelong Learning.
Copley, T. Freathy, R, Lane, S. (2004). On the side of the Angels: the third report of the Biblos Project. Exeter, University of Exeter, School of Education and Lifelong Learning.
Copley, T.D (2002). The Figure of Jesus in Religious Education, the report of the Teaching about Jesus in Religious Education Project. Exeter, School of Education and Lifelong Learning, University of Exeter.
Lane, S. Savini, H. Walshe, K. (2001). Where Angels Fear to Tread: the second report of the Biblos Project. University of Exeter, School of Education and Lifelong Learning.
Walshe, K. (2000). Teaching about Jesus in Religious Education. Exeter. School of Education and Lifelong Learning.
Walshe, K. (Eds) (1999). Teaching the Bible. Exeter, School of Education and Lifelong Learning, University of Exeter.
Publications by year
In Press
Baumfield V, Bethel A, Dowek A, Walshe K, Mattick K (In Press). Characteristics of Research into Professional Learning across Professions: a mapping review.
Review of EducationAbstract:
Characteristics of Research into Professional Learning across Professions: a mapping review
Introduction: Given the importance of their roles in society, the education of professionals is a central concern for providers and recipients of public services. In this article we consider the contribution of research on professional learning to current debate on the form and content of professional education. This mapping review asked, “What does the research literature tell us about the characteristics of research into Professional Learning across professions?”
Methods:. We identified and synthesised primary research involving post-qualification professionals’ professional learning. We searched seven databases using terms such as “professional learning”, “professional development” and “continuing education” from 2000 to date. We carefully screened articles against agreed criteria, extracted data and mapped the findings.
Results:. After removing duplicates, 20,616 records remained. After full text screening, 356 articles were included: 266 from Teaching (75%), 77 from Healthcare (22%) and 13 from another profession or cross-professional (4%). Three included papers spanned professions. Only 6% articles studied the institution as the unit of analysis (rather than the individual). Around half of the included papers (49%) included an intervention. Most Teaching interventions were proximal to the workplace whereas most Healthcare/Other studies were distal to the workplace, perhaps reflecting stage of development of the research field.
Discussion:. Our study synthesised a heterogeneous literature to indicate the types or research that are needed to progress the debate. The clear differences in ‘style’ between professions suggested that collaboration could provide mutual benefit. Future research requires studies that report research in ways that lend themselves to evidence synthesis or replication.
Abstract.
Baumfield V, Bethel A, Dowek A, Walshe K, Mattick K (In Press). Characteristics of Research into Professional Learning across Professions: a mapping review.
Review of EducationAbstract:
Characteristics of Research into Professional Learning across Professions: a mapping review
Introduction: Given the importance of their roles in society, the education of professionals is a central concern for providers and recipients of public services. In this article we consider the contribution of research on professional learning to current debate on the form and content of professional education. This mapping review asked, “What does the research literature tell us about the characteristics of research into Professional Learning across professions?”
Methods:. We identified and synthesised primary research involving post-qualification professionals’ professional learning. We searched seven databases using terms such as “professional learning”, “professional development” and “continuing education” from 2000 to date. We carefully screened articles against agreed criteria, extracted data and mapped the findings.
Results:. After removing duplicates, 20,616 records remained. After full text screening, 356 articles were included: 266 from Teaching (75%), 77 from Healthcare (22%) and 13 from another profession or cross-professional (4%). Three included papers spanned professions. Only 6% articles studied the institution as the unit of analysis (rather than the individual). Around half of the included papers (49%) included an intervention. Most Teaching interventions were proximal to the workplace whereas most Healthcare/Other studies were distal to the workplace, perhaps reflecting stage of development of the research field.
Discussion:. Our study synthesised a heterogeneous literature to indicate the types or research that are needed to progress the debate. The clear differences in ‘style’ between professions suggested that collaboration could provide mutual benefit. Future research requires studies that report research in ways that lend themselves to evidence synthesis or replication.
Abstract.
2023
Baumfield V, Walshe K (2023). Developing Religious Education teachers’ orientative knowledge: an analysis of provision for professional knowledge formation in England. In Schweitzer F, Freathy R, Parker SG, Simojoki H (Eds.) Improving Religious Education Through Teacher Training: Experiences and Insights from European Countries, Munster. New York: Waxmann, 185-200.
2022
Sepúlveda Escobar P (2022). Designing a Professional Learning Community to foster professional growth: the case of ESOL teacher educators.
Abstract:
Designing a Professional Learning Community to foster professional growth: the case of ESOL teacher educators
While much of the educational literature is inundated with studies that examine school-teachers’ Professional Development and Learning (PDL), less attention has been given to teacher educators and their own professional learning. Recently, this group of professionals has been internationally described as an under-researched and under-represented group in teacher education since attention to them and their professional learning is still in its infancy. Much of the flourishing research comes from a generic perspective without addressing the uniqueness of the specific disciplines teacher educators teach, which might influence and shape their PDL engagement. Motivated by this global research and my own local experience as a teacher educator in Chile, this study aims to examine how a Professional Learning Community (PLC) could contribute to fostering English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) teacher educators’ PDL in Chile, bringing to light their pivotal role in the education of language teachers.
Drawing on a critical paradigm that challenges the marginalization of teacher educators, this study used a Design-Based Research (DBR) methodology to design, implement and evaluate a PLC. This methodology involved three phases. For the first exploratory phase, data were collected from a national web-based survey and a focus group with eight ESOL teacher educators working in a private university. These data enabled the confirmation of the lack of attention to teacher educators and their PDL in Chile, providing the theoretical and empirical foundation for the following phase.
In the second prototyping phase, the participants (6 in the first iteration and 5 in the second) and I outlined an initial design framework to guide the development of the PLC using the analysed data from the previous phase. This design was implemented, evaluated and refined in two iterations where focus groups and individual semi-structured interviews were used to gather the participants’ insights into the PLC experience. For the final evaluation and reflection phase, the evolution of the PLC design was revisited and refined which resulted in the finalised design framework which includes design principles and implementation strategies to build a PLC.
Since the development of this project concurred with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the discussion of the findings for each iteration and the finalised design framework revolve around how a PLC is used to promote teacher educators’ PDL, particularly during times of change and uncertainty. The findings revealed the importance of studying these professionals from a perspective on the subject-area they work in as it certainly influences their professional learning engagement. Indeed, addressing it from a discipline-related approach could disclose aspects that have not been addressed in studies about teacher educators in general. For example, ESOL teacher educators identified the need to learn about teaching English in a diverse classroom and how to prepare (future) language teachers to face these complexities.
This study also confirmed generally-recognised PLC characteristics as necessary to enact a PLC. However, other features, typically mentioned as conditions or supportive structures, are required to be brought to the surface as equally fundamental and intertwined aspects for PLC building. This calls for the need to stop segregating supportive conditions and structures from the so-called main PLC characteristics as they are equally important for the success of the community. Indeed, if these supportive structures were absent, none of those features that typically characterize a PLC (e.g. shared vision, reflective inquiry) would be developed. This study also adds to the literature on PLC providing a fine-grained account on the building and evolution of a PLC. Finally, this study also highlights the relevance of focusing on teacher educators’ self as an integral baseline to promote professional learning which would potentially stop detaching teachers as professionals from their individual selves. When PDL initiatives find the balance between the personal and the professional, teachers’ professionalism will undoubtedly be enhanced. Implications of the PLC design framework and its contribution to professional learning are discussed alongside limitations of the study and recommendation for further research.
Abstract.
Pearson A (2022). Teacher resilience: Long-serving. teachers' perspectives on factors. which have sustained them in. their careers.
Abstract:
Teacher resilience: Long-serving. teachers' perspectives on factors. which have sustained them in. their careers
Concerns have been raised over many years about both the number of teachers leaving the profession and those suffering from physical or mental ill-health, and the impact of this on students and schools as well as on teachers themselves. “Resilience” is a concept which has been used in many disciplines to explain why some people appear to have successfully navigated challenging situations, and teacher resilience has become the focus of a growing body of international research. Whilst it is often presented as a critical factor for teacher retention, student achievement and teacher wellbeing, there is no universal definition for teacher resilience, and relatively few recent empirical studies which seek the views of teachers on this concept.
This thesis investigates the experiences of eight long-serving teachers in England (with careers ranging from 14 to 25 years) to gain a better understanding of what has sustained them through their teaching career, as well as the challenges they have experienced, and how this relates to current conceptualisations of teacher resilience. Teacher-created visual timelines were used to support in-depth interviews, where participants provided considerable detail about the complexities of their journeys as they navigated their careers. Interview and timeline data were analysed using a dual analysis approach to create detailed, complex and nuanced findings.
Findings from this study indicate that teachers face multiple challenges throughout their careers, and these challenges are greatest when they involve more than one dimension of teachers’ practical, cognitive and emotional workload. Teachers are sustained by a combination of environment-centred, role-centred and person-centred factors, with this mix of factors depending on context at different points in time. Findings highlight the impact of school leadership on multiple environmental factors within the school culture and conditions, whilst person-centred factors include teachers’ approach to the role, encompassing agency, acceptance, hope and perseverance.
This research also identifies the significance of transitions between schools as a critical moment of vulnerability, which has not previously received attention in the educational research literature.
Findings also illustrate the individual nature of the relationship between teachers and their environments, and the temporal nature of the balance between challenges and supporting factors. By suggesting teacher resilience is both idiosyncratic and dynamic, this research indicates that both teachers and schools may benefit from better understanding the factors which have the greatest impact on individual teachers at a particular moment in time. Other implications are also proposed for teacher trainers, schools and policymakers, and future directions for research are recommended.
Abstract.
2021
Alnefaie SK (2021). EFL Teachers’ Perceptions in Saudi Arabia of the role of Self- Directed Learning in their Professional Development.
Abstract:
EFL Teachers’ Perceptions in Saudi Arabia of the role of Self- Directed Learning in their Professional Development
The central aim of this study is to explore how Saudi English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers perceive self-directed learning (SDL) in the context of their professional development (PD) to view the potential of teachers to take the initiative in pursuing their own professional development and whether this is possible in the context of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). SDL has been proposed as a means of achieving the aims of teachers’ PD, but it can be difficult to reach an agreed definition of the concept. However, the literature review suggests a paucity of research on the topic of SDL as a means of teachers’ PD, and research on teachers’ PD tends to focus on central PD provided by teachers’ institutions.
Therefore, this study seeks to address the gap in knowledge regarding the potential of SDL for professional development through a review of current research on the concept and an exploration of the perspectives of EFL teachers in the KSA. The study utilised semi-structured interviews to collect data from twenty Saudi EFL teachers, and the data were thematically analysed.
Whilst the majority of the participants in this study recognised the benefit of SDL for PD, arguing that it can be a cornerstone of PD, they did not consider it to be encouraged institutionally or societally in a broader sense. In addition, the data revealed that the participants usually linked responsibility for the provision for PD with the MoE that they considered responsible for this aspect. Also, the data revealed that teachers perceived that they required the help of the MoE in supporting their learning through the provision of effective PD.
Despite the participants’ belief in the benefits of SDL, the data analysis showed that some teachers do not self-direct their learning for their PD and those that do, tend to discontinue to engage in SDL activities due to several demotivating factors. Furthermore, certain teachers explained that they started to engage in SDL later, after several years of teaching while others expressed the view that they do self-direct their learning, but in an intermittent manner. The common denominator or characteristic of teachers’ SDL is that it is unplanned and difficult to sustain.
As far as the factors impacting positively or negatively on the participants’ SDL are concerned, the data suggest that a number of factors encourage teachers to learn while other factors tend to discourage them. Most of these encouraging and discouraging factors are external factors which relate to the MoE policy or the workplace environment, and a few relate to teachers’ personal factors. With regard to the SDL sources, the data showed multiple sources teachers learn from, and it was indicated that most of these sources are outside teachers’ workplaces. Finally, the study concluded with a number of implications and recommendations.
Abstract.
Walshe K (2021). Introduction. British Journal of Religious Education, 43(2), 240-240.
2020
Schmidt A (2020). Discovering Views of the Divine: an Interreligious, Transcendence-Orientated Approach to Theological Content in Religious Education.
Abstract:
Discovering Views of the Divine: an Interreligious, Transcendence-Orientated Approach to Theological Content in Religious Education
The development of students’ theological understanding(s) in British multi-faith Religious Education (RE), specifically in schools without a religious affiliation, has been much debated (Astley and Francis, 1996; Cush, 1999; Copley, 2001, 2005; Reed et al. 2013; Chipperton et al. 2016; Freathy and Davis, 2019). Critical views on the use of theological approaches aimed at furthering such understanding(s) are often based on the assumption of a general incompatibility between the discipline of Theology – especially if interpreted in the sense of ‘faith seeking understanding’ – and certain values of non-confessional, multi-faith RE such as impartiality and tolerance of a plurality of perspectives (Smart, 1983; Netto, 1989; Brine, 2016a, 2016b). Herein, theology is generally described as presenting a risk of religious indoctrination (see Parsons 1994; Hull, 2004; Copley, 2005; Cooling, 2010). Yet, what has not been sufficiently explored is whether or not, and if so, on what argumentative grounds, this theory is tenable – by clarifying, for instance, what conditions theological approaches would have to fulfil to be adequate for schools without a religious affiliation.
Using the method of critical analysis of selected literature in a process of dialogic philosophical argumentation, this thesis seeks, first, to reveal that the (perceived) compatibility problem described above is unnecessary, only occurring if Theology and RE, and the relationship between them, are defined in mutually irreconcilable ways; and second, to propose an alternative theologically orientated approach to RE designed, specifically, for the study of multiple theistic religions in religiously unaffiliated schools. The thesis draws the following main conclusions: to ensure that approaches aimed at furthering theological understanding(s) are suitable for non-confessional, multi-faith RE, they must never presuppose faith in the divine on the part of the students (or teachers) and should be applicable to all monotheistic and polytheistic religions studied in RE, thereby offering opportunities for interreligious investigation. Moreover, in an attempt to propose an approach that meets these requirements in a way that maximises the distinctive contribution Theology can make to non-confessional RE, alongside other disciplines, the thesis promotes the view that, in this particular educational context, theology should be defined primarily, but not exclusively so, by its objects of study (rather than methods), that is the key concepts, beliefs and doctrines relating to the divine found in these traditions. and finally, this content-based and (potentially) interreligious view of theology should, in turn, be embedded in a broader hermeneutical framework within which theistic religions are explored through an interpretive lens that assumes the centrality of transcendence in religious belief, which – for theists – arguably manifests itself in an orientation towards the divine in their personal and communal lives. This is in order to balance philosophical focal points in the conceptualisation of religion(s), e.g. emphasising conceptual/doctrinal aspects, with a more life-centred view of theistic faith that defines being religious in this context as standing in a meaningful relationship with the divine.
Advantages of choosing this combined content-based/life-centred approach to furthering theological understanding(s) (e.g. as one element in a broader multi-methodological, interdisciplinary approach to RE) are that it enables students to explore the complexity of theistic belief, systematically and with the potential for careful interreligious comparison, which neither crosses the line to confessionalism, nor disregards the self-understandings and specificities of individual theistic traditions, revealed in their various ways of ‘God-centredness’. This discussion is particularly important today because current literacy-focused propositions for RE (see Clarke and Woodhead, 2015; Dinham and Shaw, 2016; CoRE, 2018) pay little attention to the role theological understanding(s) may play in developing religious literacy as a broader aim of RE.
Abstract.
Walshe K (2020). Seeing, grasping and constructing: pre-service teachers’ metaphors for ‘understanding’ in religious education.
British Journal of Religious Education,
42(4), 471-489.
Abstract:
Seeing, grasping and constructing: pre-service teachers’ metaphors for ‘understanding’ in religious education
Despite its centrality to most, if not all educational endeavours, what is meant by understanding is highly contested. Using Religious Education (RE) in England as a case subject this paper examines pre-service secondary school teachers’ construals of understanding. It does so by employing conceptual metaphor theory to analyse their linguistic discourse. Specifically, it examines the metaphors employed by participants in a series of focus group discussions (FGD) and provides important insights into how understanding is conceptualised by these pre-service teachers who are preparing to enter the RE profession. The metaphors employed by these pre-service teachers (‘understanding is SEEING’; ‘understanding is CONSTRUCTING’; ‘understanding is GRASPING’), focus on the dynamic and developmental nature of understanding (rather than on the outcomes) and reveal subject specific ways of thinking and practicing. This paper argues that each of the three conceptual metaphors employed by participants suggest particular ways of acting towards understanding with significant implications for teaching and learning in RE.
Abstract.
Walshe K (2020). ‘Ah, now I see!’ Why the metaphors we use for ‘understanding’ in RE matter. RE Today, 37, 3
2019
Stern J, Matemba Y, Lundie D, Walshe K (2019). Editorial: Why knowing this matters. British Journal of Religious Education, 41(2), 121-123.
Walshe K, Teece G (2019).
PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS' UNDERSTANDING OF UNDERSTANDING IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. 20 pages.
Abstract:
PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS' UNDERSTANDING OF UNDERSTANDING IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION
Abstract.
2017
Walshe KSJ (2017). Lesson Planning. In Barnes LP (Ed)
Learning to Teach Religious Education in the Secondary School a Companion to School Experience, Routledge, 33-55.
Abstract:
Lesson Planning
Abstract.
Freathy R, Doney J, Freathy G, Walshe K, Teece G (2017). Pedagogical Bricoleurs and Bricolage Researchers: the case of Religious Education.
British Journal of Educational Studies,
65(4), 425-443.
Abstract:
Pedagogical Bricoleurs and Bricolage Researchers: the case of Religious Education
This article reconceptualises school teachers and pupils respectively as ‘pedagogical bricoleurs’ and ‘bricolage researchers’ who utilise a multiplicity of theories, concepts, methodologies and pedagogies in teaching and/or researching. This reconceptualization is based on a coalescence of generic curricular and pedagogical principles promoting dialogic, critical and enquiry-based learning. Innovative proposals for reconceptualising the aims, contents and methods of multi-faith Religious Education in English state-maintained schools without a religious affiliation are described, so as to provide an instance of and occasion for the implications of these theories and concepts of learning. With the aim of initiating pupils into the communities of academic enquiry concerned with theology and religious studies, the ‘RE-searchers approach’ to multi-faith Religious Education in primary schools (5-11 year olds) is cited as a highly innovative means of converting these curricular and pedagogical principles and proposals into practical classroom procedures that are characterised by multi-, inter- and supra-disciplinarity; notions of eclecticism, emergence, flexibility and plurality; and theoretical and conceptual complexity, contestation and context-dependence.
Abstract.
Walshe KSJ, Teece G (2017). Understanding ‘Religious Understanding’ in Religious Education’. In James A, Barnes P (Eds.) Education and Religion, Routledge.
2016
Larkin S, Freathy R, Walshe KSJ, Doney J (2016). Creating metacognitive environments in primary school RE classrooms. In Kuusisto A, Lovat T (Eds.) Contemporary Challenges for Religious and Spiritual Education, Abingdon: Routledge, 45-56.
Walshe KSJ (2016). What is meant by 'religious understanding'?. RE Today, 33, 58-60.
2015
Freathy G, Freathy R, Doney J, Walshe K, Teece G (2015). The RE-searchers: a New Approach to Primary Religious Education. Exeter, University of Exeter.
2014
Larkin S, Freathy R, Walshe K, Doney J (2014). Creating metacognitive environments in primary school RE classrooms.
Journal of Beliefs and Values: studies in religion and education,
35(2), 175-186.
Abstract:
Creating metacognitive environments in primary school RE classrooms
Recent reports on Religious Education (RE) in England and Wales highlight the
need for guidance on pedagogy and learning. The RE-flect project addressed this
by promoting the creation of metacognitively oriented learning environments in
primary school RE classrooms. Six primary school teachers and 160 pupils
(eight to 10 years of age) took part in the second year of this two year project.
Meta-thinking, worldview and resources zones were created in each classroom.
Attainment in RE and pupil perceptions of the learning environment were
measured. Data from classroom observations, Worldview Profiles (WVP), and
pupil and teacher interviews were analysed qualitatively. Results show an overall
increase in attainment; a positive change in pupil perceptions of the learning
environment; and the ability of pupils to reflect on and articulate their
worldviews. Implications for RE curricular and pedagogy are discussed.
Abstract.
Walshe KSJ, Larkin S, Freathy RJK, Doney J (2014). Creating metacognitive environments in primary school RE classrooms. Journal of Beliefs and Values: studies in religion and education, 35(2), 175-186.
2013
Walshe KSJ, Teece GM (2013). Understanding 'understanding' in Religious Education.
British Journal of Religious Education,
35(3), 313-325.
Abstract:
Understanding 'understanding' in Religious Education
This paper takes as its starting point, one of the explicit aims of religious education in England, namely, the development of students’ religious understanding. It shows how curriculum documentation, whilst stating that religious understanding is an aim of religious education fails to clearly outline what is meant by it. This paper draws upon long-standing and ongoing debates in the field and suggests that religious understanding may be best conceived as a spectrum of understanding. Approached in this way, religious understanding becomes not an all or nothing affair, but a lens through which the student of religion may regard the beliefs and practices before them. Finally, the paper proposes an interpretation of religious understanding, which focuses on the soteriological dimension of religion, thus providing the student with a particularly religious lens to understand religious traditions in religious education and concludes by outlining what such an approach might look like in practice.
Abstract.
2010
Freathy R, Aylward K (2010). 'Everything is in parables': an exploration of pupils' difficulties in understanding Christian beliefs concerning Jesus.
Religious Education (USA),
105(1), 86-102.
Abstract:
'Everything is in parables': an exploration of pupils' difficulties in understanding Christian beliefs concerning Jesus
This article reports the findings of interviews conducted with students (aged 11-13) in four English secondary schools, examining reasons why young people find it difficult to understand Christian beliefs regarding Jesus’ miracles, resurrection and status as the Son of God. For the students in this sample, understanding and belief are closely related concepts. Many of them assume that belief is a necessary condition for understanding. The paper argues that greater attention should be paid in Religious Education (RE) to the relationship between belief and understanding and to the ways in which young people experience and conceptualise their learning in RE.
Abstract.
2008
Aylward K, Freathy, R. (2008). Children's conceptions of Jesus.
Journal of Beliefs and Values,
29(3), 297-304.
Abstract:
Children's conceptions of Jesus
This paper presents findings from a recent study investigating young children’s (aged 10-11) conceptions of Jesus in England. The overall picture revealed by the study is that whilst there was a general assent amongst pupils in our sample towards an ethical and humanistic conception of the historical Jesus, there was less of a consensus about those issues which previous research claims children find difficult to understand, namely: the divinity of Jesus; the miracles of Jesus; and Christian beliefs pertaining to Jesus’ continued presence in people’s lives today. The paper concludes by arguing that the variety of conceptions of Jesus which are encountered in RE may be seen by children as a barrier to learning rather than an opportunity to grow in understanding and highlights the need for further research into the relationship between children’s hermeneutical horizons and RE curriculum content.
Abstract.
2006
Copley, T. Freathy, R. (2006). Biblos in New Zealand: the 4th Report of the Biblos project. Exeter, School of Education and Lifelong Learning, University of Exeter.
Walshe, K. (2006). PSHE and the Whole Person. Into Teaching, 8, 15-17.
Walshe, K. (2006). Promoting the Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils. Into Teaching, 6, 21-22.
Allen G, Copley, T. Freathy, R. Jones, S. Walshe K (2006). Teaching about Jesus in Religious Education: Improving Children's learning. Exeter, University of Exeter.
Allen, G. Copley, T. Freathy, R. (2006). Teaching about Jesus in Religious Education: Improving Children's learning. Exeter, School of Education and Lifelong Learning, University of Exeter.
Copley, T. Freathy, R. Lane, S. (2006). The Speech of Angels: an extension to the third report of the Biblos Project. Exeter, School of Education & Lifelong Learning, University of Exeter/Scope/DfES.
Walshe, K. (2006). The problem of Bullying. Into Teaching, 9, 5-7.
Aylward, K. (2006). Who do you say I am? Young people's conceptualisations of Jesus. Journal of Religious Education (Australia), 54(4), 27-36.
2005
Walshe, K. (2005). Caring and Tutoring. Into Teaching, 3, 17-18.
Walshe, K. (2005). Pastoral Care. Into Teaching, 1, 6-7.
Walshe, K. (2005). Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Into Teaching, 5, 23-24.
Copley, T. Freathy, R. Walshe K (2005). Teaching Biblical Narrative: a summary of the main findings of the Biblos Project, 1996-2004. University of Exeter, School of Education and Lifelong Learning.
Walshe, K. (2005). The Whole Person. Into Teaching, Introduction, 8-10.
Walshe, K. (2005). What do young people really think about Jesus?. British Journal of Religious Education, 27(1), 65-78.
2004
Loucaides, C., Chedzoy SM, Bennett, N. Walshe, K. (2004). Correlates of Physical Activity in a Cypriot Sample of Sixth Grade children. Pediatric Exercise Science, 16(1), 25-36.
Copley, T. Freathy, R, Lane, S. (2004). On the side of the Angels: the third report of the Biblos Project. Exeter, University of Exeter, School of Education and Lifelong Learning.
2003
Savini, H. Walshe, K. (2003). Biblos Secondary Teacher's Handbook. Norwich, RMEP, SCM Canterbury Press Ltd.
Walshe, K. (2003). The Jesus Factor. Teaching Thinking, 11, 24-25.
Walshe, K. (2003). Troubled People. Norwich, RMEP, SCM Canterbury Press Ltd.
2002
Copley, T.D (2002). The Figure of Jesus in Religious Education, the report of the Teaching about Jesus in Religious Education Project. Exeter, School of Education and Lifelong Learning, University of Exeter.
2001
Copley, T. (2001). The Jesus of Agreed Syllabuses in Key Stage 1 and the Jesus of Theology and Religious Studies. British Journal of Religious Education, 24(1), 32-40.
Lane, S. Savini, H. Walshe, K. (2001). Where Angels Fear to Tread: the second report of the Biblos Project. University of Exeter, School of Education and Lifelong Learning.
2000
Walshe, K. (2000). Teaching about Jesus in Religious Education. Exeter. School of Education and Lifelong Learning.
Walshe, K. (2000). The Bible in Upper Secondary School: Not always more boring than 'watching paint dry'. Resource, 23(1), 6-8.
1999
Walshe, K. (Eds) (1999). Teaching the Bible. Exeter, School of Education and Lifelong Learning, University of Exeter.