Cornwall Religious Education Survey 2004
Year 9 and Year 10 students
Final Report
Introduction
21 of the 31 community secondary schools in Cornwall permitted their Year 9 and/or Year 10 students to complete questionnaires during the summer term of 2004, with a further 3 schools’ students completing questionnaires during the autumn term. The questionnaires examine student attitudes toward religious education (RE) and a wide range of spiritual and moral issues. Since Christianity is required to be taught ‘in the main’, and is therefore the religion about which students are likely to be the most knowledgeable, a major focus of the survey is on student attitudes toward Christian spiritual and moral issues.
Composition of the sample
This report provides an analysis of the data from 24 schools, over three-quarters of the total number. The schools are fully representative of all Cornwall’s secondary schools, being located respectively in rural, coastal and urban areas, and ranging in size from having around 500 to around 1600 students.
The questionnaires were completed by 3826 students, 1962 from Year 9 and 1861 from Year 10. Some teachers offered Year 9 students, some Year 10, and some both. Teachers were asked to involve whole year groups to ensure fair representation of all students’ views and to make possible generalisations. Some teachers offered relatively small student numbers, reasons given being that teachers were away, or that less able students were considered unlikely to be able to complete the questionnaire. Overall, the percentages of students completing questionnaires ranged from 12% of a whole year group to 92%, and averaged 60%. The views of these students can therefore be considered representative of the views of the majority of Year 9 and Year 10 students across the 24 schools.
Sample profile
The sample is divided equally between males and females, and with slightly more students in Year 9 (51%) than in Year 10 (49%).
Academic expectations
Since research has identified correlations between intelligence and spiritual and moral attitudes, a question defining intelligence in terms of academic ability was included. Just 14% of the students expect to gain fewer than 1-4 GCSE grades A to C. Just over a quarter (27%) expect to gain 1-4 GCSE grades A to C, whilst 32% expect to gain 5 or more GCSE grades A to C. Additionally, 28% expect to gain a number of A/AS levels. The sample consists, therefore, of students of medium to high academic ability.
Television viewing
Since research studies have identified correlations between high levels of television viewing and negative attitudes toward school, academic achievement, and moral issues, a question relating to television viewing was also included. Over half (53%) of the students watched television for less than 2 hours on the Wednesday before the survey, 19% more than 3 hours. Around one in five students may therefore acquire negative attitudes through high levels of television viewing.
Religious affiliation and practice
A considerable body of research has identified correlations between religious affiliation and practice, and spiritual and moral attitudes. The questionnaire therefore included questions in these areas. Almost three-quarters of the students (73%) claim not to belong to any religious group. Yet just over half (55%) of the students were baptised as children. Whilst this last figure might relate to parental churchgoing, students indicate that only 5% of mothers and 4% of fathers are now frequent attenders at a place of worship. Just 6% of the students have been formally admitted to adult membership of their church. Of the students that claim religious affiliation, the highest numbers belong to the Church of England (12%), then 4% Methodist, 4% Roman Catholic, and 2% Baptist and 2% Community/House Church. Of the very tiny numbers of those who claim to belong to another religious group, the largest number (0.6%) claim to be Jedi!
In the context of regular church-going, almost three-quarters of the students (70%) never attend a place of worship, and a quarter attend occasionally. Only 5% attend at least once a month or most weeks. In the context of special occasions, fewer than 10% of students have attended a Christian church within the last year for school carols, an Easter service, harvest festival or Mothering Sunday. Just 12% have attended for a Christmas service, but the figures rise with respect to christenings/baptisms (19%), funerals (22%) and weddings (28%).
As for private religious observances, 87% of students never read the Bible on their own compared with 10% who read it occasionally, and 71% never pray on their own compared with 20% who occasionally pray alone. Whilst these statistics suggest that religious practice is irrelevant to the large majority of students, over two fifths (43%) pray in times of special need.
Personality
The short-form Revised Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQR-A) is used to provide a psychological profile of the students. Personality is assessed in terms of extraversion, neuroticism and psychoticism, each personality dimension being assessed by the responses to a set of six questions. The mean extraversion score suggests that the majority of the students (61%) score highly as extraverts, that is, they are sociable, prefer talking to reading or studying, generally enjoy change, activity, and acting on impulse. The mean neuroticism score suggests that the sample is equally balanced in this area. Half the students tend to be anxious, moody, emotional, sometimes irrational. The other half tend to be calm, even-tempered, unworried, controlled. The mean psychoticism score suggests that the majority of the students (56%) record low scores in this area, that is, they are warm-hearted, unselfish, sensitive to others, and generally socially conforming. However, a significant number of students (44%) record high scores on the psychoticism scale, tending to disregard others’ feelings and preferring to go their own way rather than act by the rules.
Assessing students’ spiritual attitudes
The questionnaire assesses students’ spiritual attitudes in terms of attitude toward self, religious education, religious and non-religious spiritual experience, and Christianity. An index of Christian belief is also included. Moral attitudes are assessed in terms of general moral issues and attitudes toward sex, drugs, property and environmental issues.
Attitude toward self
In government documentation self-esteem has been identified as an indicator of both moral and spiritual development. In this survey it is measured by the short-form Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory, which requires simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ answers. The mean score of students’ responses suggests that the sample is almost evenly divided, just under half of the students (48%) having have high self-esteem, just over half (52%) having low self-esteem. Some students are in the main happy with themselves, and feel that they have good relationships with their peers and with their parents, others are not so happy. Sadly, three-quarters of all students state that they often feel upset and discouraged in school.
Attitude toward religious education
A number of research studies have found that religious education is one of the least favoured subjects in the curriculum. The present study has not compared religious education with other subjects, but has examined students’ attitudes toward different aspects of the subject.
Note: In the following tables not all columns add up to 100%, since each 0.5% has been rounded up to the nearest whole number.
Table 1: Attitude toward RE
| item | Yes% | ?% | No% |
| RE is usually interestingRE is a waste of time
RE helps me to understand what God is really like I enjoy learning about different religions RE helps me to make sense of my life RE is enjoyable when not a GCSE subject RE is boring RE wastes time I could spend on exam subjects RE helps me to find rules to live by It is interesting to learn about life after death RE helps me to choose a faith to live by RE helps me to sort out my problems RE provides relaxation in a busy timetable I enjoy discussing moral problems in RE RE helps me to think about who I really am RE is fun RE helps me to lead a better life It is important to know what people of other faiths believe I like my RE teacher I enjoy debates in RE Studying the Bible in RE is boring RE helps me to think about why I am here RE helps me to believe in God |
2937
21 27 15 23 53 50 14 41 9 8 21 28 16 17 9 47 48 44 63 23 11 |
2422
27 22 22 30 18 23 26 21 22 19 19 21 21 23 23 22 24 19 21 27 21 |
4841
51 51 63 47 29 27 60 38 69 73 60 52 62 60 68 31 28 37 16 50 68 |
Table 1 shows that when RE is presented from the positive perspective of ‘usually interesting’ only 29% of students agree, and when presented from the negative perspective of ‘boring’, over half (53%) agree. For all except 5 items negative attitudes outweigh positive attitudes. What is most evident is the fact that the majority of the students do not feel that RE is relevant to their own spiritual or moral development. Where personal application is involved, the majority of students respond negatively. And whilst more students (44%) enjoy debates in RE than those who do not (37%), a greater majority (52%) do not enjoy discussing moral issues in RE. However, more students do not find RE a waste of time than those that do, similarly more students find it interesting to learn about life after death, and more students (almost half) think it important to know what people of other faiths believe.
Attitude toward spiritual experience
Government-sponsored documents have described spiritual development largely in terms of attitude toward non-religious spiritual experience, but allow that spirituality can also be understood in a religious context. Tables 2 and 3 present attitudes toward possible indicators, as suggested in government publications and Christian literature, of spiritual development.
Table 2: Attitude toward non-religious spiritual experience
| item | Yes% | ?% | No% |
| I have felt close to some power beyond myself when I have
been out walking alone watched a beautiful sunset looked up at the stars on a clear night sat on a moonlit beach listened to my favourite piece of music produced a good painting/sculpture/tapestry, etc. enjoyed my favourite hobby done well at my favourite sport looked at a tiny baby helped someone in need |
17 17 25 13 15 7 14 14 23 24 |
20 20 18 22 20 21 19 20 21 22 |
63 63 57 64 66 72 67 66 56 54 |
Table 3: Attitude toward spiritual experience in a Christian context
| item | Yes% | ?% | No% |
| I have felt close to some power beyond myself when I have
visited a beautiful church or cathedral listened to church music sung a favourite hymn or chorus in church received communion been to a wedding been to a funeral cried to God to help me in times of trouble prayed with a friend about a problem |
21 11 11 9 18 26 18 9 |
22 20 20 23 23 23 20 21 |
57 70 69 69 59 52 62 70 |
Tables 2 and 3 suggest that few students have any sense of something beyond the material world in which they live. The kinds of experiences that in the mid-1990s were thought would indicate spiritual awareness appear to have little such significance for today’s young people. Overall, tables 2 and 3 suggest that for the majority of students the beauties of nature, or their own creative/artistic achievements, or the rituals of a church service, are unlikely to inspire a sense of the presence of a ‘power beyond themselves’.
Attitude toward Christianity
Traditionally, ‘spiritual development’ has been understood in terms of development in Christian understanding, belief and practice. The widely used Francis scale of attitude toward Christianity measures response to five key areas of the Christian tradition, namely, God, Jesus, the Bible, prayer and the Church. Using negative and positive statements minimises the possibility of response ‘sets’, where students do not consider each individual question.
Table 4: Attitude toward Christianity
| item | Yes% | ?% | No% |
| I find it boring to listen to the BibleI know that Jesus helps me
Saying my prayers helps me a lot The Church is very important to me I think going to Church is a waste of my time I want to love Jesus I think Church services are boring I think people who pray are stupid God helps me to lead a better life I like to learn about God very much God means a lot to me I believe that God helps people Prayer helps me a lot I know that Jesus is very close to me I think praying is a good thing I think the Bible is out of date I believe that God listens to prayers Jesus doesn’t mean anything to me God is very real to me I think saying prayers does no good The idea of God means much to me I believe that Jesus still helps people I know that God helps me I find it hard to believe in God |
2912
15 8 35 11 25 53 11 10 12 21 14 8 24 44 19 43 13 45 13 15 13 31 |
2630
23 19 23 22 31 4 29 23 23 29 22 25 32 18 31 19 28 16 31 32 28 28 |
4559
63 74 42 67 44 43 60 67 66 50 64 67 44 50 50 38 59 38 56 54 59 41 |
Table 4 shows that whilst there is quite a high level of uncertainty amongst students, the negative attitudes outweigh the positive attitudes, with five exceptions. Again, where personal involvement is the issue, responses are overwhelmingly negative. It appears that God, Jesus and prayer are of no relevance to the way these young people live their lives. Yet 41% of students claim that they do not find it hard to believe in God. Around half of the students have positive attitudes toward the Bible, and only slightly smaller numbers have positive attitudes toward the Church and Church services. These findings may be attributed to the fact that substantial numbers of students have attended weddings, funerals and baptisms, and presumably have found them enjoyable occasions.
Index of Christian belief
The questionnaire includes 27 items relating to Bible-based and credal statements of Christian belief. Table 5 shows just those items that form into a scale – items that correlate most closely one with another and with all items, and can therefore be considered to be representative of students’ Christian beliefs.
Table 5: Index of Christian belief
| Scale items | Yes% | ?% | No% |
| I believe in heavenI believe in hell
God has a plan for my life God created the world God made the world in six days and rested on the seventh The Bible is the word of God Jesus was born of a virgin Jesus will return to earth some day God judges what I do and say Jesus died to save me Jesus changed real water into real wine Jesus walked on water Jesus Christ is the Son of God Jesus really rose from the dead The Devil tempts people to do wrong |
3530
14 18 12 20 21 9 14 14 10 10 24 12 21 |
3133
25 33 31 32 31 29 27 28 31 30 31 31 29 |
3437
61 50 57 49 49 62 60 58 60 60 45 57 50 |
Table 5 shows that at least half the students respond negatively to 12 of the 15 statements of belief. Overall, the data show that students find it the most difficult to believe in Jesus’ miracles, or in the notion that the God of the Christian faith might be involved in their personal lives.
Note: the above items are drawn statistically from a larger pool of items to form a scale. This means that they ‘hang together’ statistically to form a fairly coherent picture, and this will enable comparisons to be made between groups of schools with different teaching approaches. The items in the next table do not fit into the scale – you may see why!
Table 5.1: Index of Christian belief: non-scale items
| Non-scale items | Yes% | ?% | No% |
| I believe in God | 22 | 29 | 49 |
| I have a religious faith | 19 | 21 | 60 |
| I regard myself as a Christian | 28 | 21 | 53 |
| I should obey the ten commandments | 20 | 29 | 52 |
| I should try to follow Jesus’ teaching | 13 | 26 | 62 |
| God is my heavenly Father | 12 | 24 | 64 |
| Jesus was a real person | 28 | 39 | 33 |
| The Holy Spirit gives me joy and peace in my life | 10 | 26 | 64 |
| God is controlling every bit of our lives | 9 | 26 | 65 |
| Jesus still heals people | 15 | 30 | 56 |
| I believe in life after death | 38 | 31 | 31 |
| When we die we go to heaven | 24 | 39 | 37 |
The index of Christian belief, when shown in its entirety, raises many questions, since there are so many inconsistencies in students’ responses. For example, why do 22% of students claim to believe in God, yet only 19% say they have a religious faith – and 28% regard themselves as Christians? Why do only 22% of students claim to believe in God yet 24% believe that Jesus is the Son of God. Why do 35% of students believe in heaven, yet many of these do not believe in God?
As is the case with some of the moral questions that follow, students’ responses may be contextual. A decision made in one lesson may be overturned by what is studied and discussed in the next. The relatively high percentages of pupils who express uncertainty throughout tend to support this view. This suggests that care needs to be taken to present belief systems as coherent wholes.
Assessing students’ moral attitudes
Government documentation has consistently, in the context of religious education, linked spiritual development and moral development. The questionnaire therefore includes 56 statements relating to moral issues. In the following analyses the statements are grouped together to fit into five main categories of moral issues, namely, general questions of ‘right’ or ‘wrong’, sex and human relationships, drug abuse, others’ property, and environmental issues. The following tables include items identified by SCAA (1995) as moral absolutes, and items relating to traditional Christian moral beliefs. In order to simplify statistical analyses a uniform approach throughout is ensured by beginning most statements with the stem ‘It is wrong to …’.
Moral attitude toward general issues
Table 6 deals with students’ attitudes toward the moral values of the wider society in which they live. In most cases these are matters of personal choice, in some they are legal issues.
Table 6: Moral attitude toward general issues
| item | Yes% | ?% | No% |
| It is wrong to tell lies | 49 | 29 | 22 |
| It is wrong to disobey your parents | 41 | 31 | 29 |
| It is wrong to play truant from school | 54 | 25 | 21 |
| It is wrong to swear | 16 | 25 | 59 |
| It is wrong to use Christ’s name as a swear word | 25 | 31 | 44 |
| It is wrong to work on a Sunday | 20 | 18 | 62 |
| It is wrong to drive without a licence | 67 | 16 | 17 |
| It is wrong to drink and drive | 84 | 8 | 9 |
| It is wrong for drivers to break speed limits | 52 | 25 | 23 |
| It is wrong to put money on horses | 18 | 28 | 54 |
| It is wrong to buy lottery tickets | 7 | 18 | 76 |
| Gambling is wrong | 21 | 28 | 51 |
| It is wrong to take a bribe | 26 | 34 | 40 |
| It is wrong to commit suicide | 30 | 28 | 42 |
| It is wrong to help a very sick person to die | 19 | 30 | 50 |
| Mugging is wrong | 83 | 10 | 8 |
| Bullying is wrong | 82 | 9 | 9 |
| Child abuse is wrong | 89 | 6 | 5 |
| Racism is wrong | 85 | 8 | 7 |
Table 6 shows that just under half the pupils consider it wrong to tell lies. With regard to respect for those in authority, just over half think it wrong to play truant from school, yet well under half think it wrong to disobey parents. A number of pupils wrote in relation to many of the moral questions that their response would depend on the circumstances. For example, there might be instances where ‘white lies’ would be acceptable, or parents might be ‘bad parents’. Interestingly, 21% of students consider gambling to be wrong, yet only 18% consider betting on horses wrong and only 7% buying lottery tickets wrong. Clearly many of students’ moral judgements are contextual. To be noted is the fact that very high percentages of students consider bullying, mugging, racism and child abuse to be wrong. A subject for concern must be, however, that a very small number of students see no wrong in these things. Equally of concern, although attitude does not inevitably affect behaviour, only 30% of students consider it wrong to commit suicide.
Moral attitude toward sex and human relationships
Research has shown that social trends throughout Western Europe show an increase in cohabitation rather than marriage, in divorce rates, and in the number of terminations of teenage pregnancies. Table 7 presents student attitudes toward these and related issues.
Table 7: Moral attitude toward sex and human relationships
item |
Yes% | ?% | No% |
| It is wrong for a married woman to have sex with another man | 65 | 16 | 18 |
| It is wrong for a married man to have sex with another woman | 64 | 16 | 20 |
| It is wrong to have sex under the legal age (16 years) | 25 | 23 | 53 |
| It is wrong to have sex with a casual acquaintance | 19 | 32 | 49 |
| It is wrong to have sex with lots of partners | 26 | 26 | 49 |
| It is wrong to have an abortion | 20 | 28 | 53 |
| It is wrong to have sex before marriage | 5 | 12 | 83 |
| It is wrong to have sex with a member of the same sex | 36 | 23 | 41 |
| Prostitution is wrong | 45 | 29 | 26 |
| Divorce is wrong | 17 | 31 | 52 |
| Pornography is wrong | 29 | 26 | 45 |
| Contraception is wrong | 9 | 17 | 74 |
On issues of sexual/relational morality, adultery is the issue that attracts the highest number of conservative views, with very little gender bias in the responses. On issues that are likely to affect students directly, attitudes are mainly liberal (as opposed to conservative), with only 5% of students considering sex before marriage to be wrong. Half of the students consider it morally acceptable to have sex with a casual acquaintance, with lots of partners, and regardless of the ‘under-age’ legal prohibition. Just over half of the students consider it morally acceptable to have an abortion, and only 9% consider contraception to be morally wrong. Such widespread support for abortion and contraception, together with predominantly liberal attitudes toward multiple sexual partnerships may account for the fact that, according to a government report in 1999, the UK has the highest number of teenage pregnancies in Europe.
Moral attitude toward drugs
Numerous research studies have examined the use and abuse of substances by teenagers, most showing that substantial numbers of teenagers smoke cigarettes and drink alcohol on a fairly frequent basis, and regardless of the legally permissable age for such activities. Research suggests that the use of the more dangerous drugs, although present, is not so widespread among teenagers. Table 8 (see over) presents student attitudes toward such activities.
The data show that the more dangerous the drug, the more support for considering it wrong to use it. It can safely be assumed that students have been warned about the dangers of taking drugs and of the long-term damage to health by individual drugs. Yet almost half of the students find smoking cigarettes morally acceptable, and almost three-quarters find drunkenness acceptable. Since alcohol is generally considered socially acceptable, drunkenness may be considered in the same light. Overall, it may also be the case that drug-taking is seen merely as a health issue, and for many students has no moral implications.
Table 8: Moral attitude toward drugs
| item | Yes% | ?% | No% |
| It is wrong to buy cigarettes under the legal age | 52 | 19 | 29 |
| It is wrong to smoke cigarettes | 32 | 21 | 46 |
| It is wrong to smoke marijuana | 37 | 22 | 41 |
| It is wrong to buy alcoholic drinks under the legal age | 35 | 21 | 44 |
| It is wrong to drink alcohol | 5 | 10 | 85 |
| It is wrong to become drunk | 13 | 18 | 70 |
| It is wrong to sniff glue | 51 | 25 | 24 |
| It is wrong to sniff butane gas | 56 | 25 | 18 |
| It is wrong to use heroin | 66 | 17 | 17 |
Moral attitude toward property
Government documentation has presented respect for others’ rights and property as a major aspect of students’ moral development. Table 9 sets out students’ attitudes toward situations that exemplify this concept.
Table 9: Moral attitude toward property
| item | Yes% | ?% | No% |
| It is wrong to stealIt is wrong to keep money you find
It is wrong to borrow money you can’t pay back It is wrong to buy stolen goods It is wrong to travel without a ticket It is wrong to write graffiti wherever you like Shop lifting is wrong Joy riding is wrong Vandalism is wrong |
8025
60 55 42 61 73 58 73 |
1132
23 24 29 20 14 21 16 |
943
17 22 29 19 13 21 11 |
In response to the general statement that stealing is wrong, four in every five students (80%) agree. Yet when the generalised activity of stealing is put into specific contexts, the percentages of students expressing disapproval are much smaller. For example, 73% of the students think that shop lifting is wrong, 60% think it wrong to borrow money that can’t be paid back, and only 42% think it wrong to travel without a ticket. It seems that students have their own code of values, perhaps relating to what they perceive to be the possible outcomes of their actions, whether for themselves if they are found out, or for other people.
Moral attitude toward environmental issues
Pre-2004 government documentation included concern for environmental issues in lists of issues that should feature, in the context of religious education, in students’ moral development. Yet no particular topics were suggested. The statements in Table 10 are therefore drawn from the most commonly discussed topics in RE text-books dealing with Christian ethics.
Moral attitude toward environmental issues
| item | Yes% | ?% | No% |
| It is wrong to use animals for experiments | 68 | 17 | 15 |
| It is wrong to hunt animals for sport | 65 | 16 | 19 |
| It is wrong to let the poor countries starve | 66 | 19 | 15 |
| It is wrong to destroy the rain forests | 73 | 17 | 10 |
| It is wrong to pollute the atmosphere | 70 | 20 | 10 |
| It is wrong to waste the earth’s resources | 65 | 24 | 11 |
| It is wrong to kill animals for food | 19 | 24 | 58 |
Table 10 shows a higher proportion of positive responses than does any other table relating to moral issues. At least two-thirds of the students score positively on all issues except for the question of killing animals for food. The majority of students clearly care about global issues and are concerned to protect the physical environment in which they live. The data in this table contrast sharply with the data in tables which show student attitudes toward activities that might provide care for their own bodies.
Summary
The present survey has shown that the majority of Year 9 and Year 10 students who completed questionnaires are the more academically able of the schools’ students, watch television for no more than 2 hours on a mid-week evening, and have little contact with church. The majority of students are extraverts, sociable, talkative and impulsive. Students are fairly equally distributed in terms of neuroticism, some tending to be anxious, emotional types, others more inclined to be calm and generally unruffled, similarly in terms of psychoticism, some being warm-hearted and generally socially conforming, others thoughtless toward others and generally choosing to go their own way.
With regard to spiritual attitudes, students divide almost equally into those with high self-esteem and those with low self-esteem. The majority do not feel that religious education helps them to make spiritual or moral progress, yet do not find it a waste of time, and think it important to know what people of other faiths believe. Most students have little awareness of any kind of spiritual experience, are unsympathetic or indifferent toward most aspects of Christian belief and practice, and disbelieving of the biblical accounts of miraculous or supernatural events.
With regard to moral attitudes, the majority of students have liberal attitudes toward swearing and gambling, and toward sexual issues with the exception of adultery, which they consider wrong. Regarding the use of drugs, the majority of students consider it wrong to buy cigarettes under the legal age, sniff glue or butane gas, or use heroin. The majority of students also think it wrong to steal, to damage other people’s property, to use animals for anything other than food, or to abuse or misuse the environment.
Students’ comments
The back page of the questionnaire was left blank, and students were asked ‘Have you any helpful comments to make about this survey?’
Of the 3,826 students who completed the questionnaire, 1,097 (28%) added comments, providing some qualitative data. Most related to the questionnaire itself. The most common comments were that the questionnaire was too long. Small numbers of students (less than 10% in each of the following cases) thought the questionnaire was a waste of their time, found some questions too personal, or found them difficult to understand. Some students thought there were too many questions about God/religion, whilst other students questioned the inclusion of questions that didn’t relate directly to religion. Some students thought they learned too much about Christianity in RE, others too much about other religions.
Around one in seven students expressed appreciation of the questionnaire. A number valued the opportunity to express their views honestly and in confidence, some found the survey helped them to learn about themselves, think about life, ‘think about questions I haven’t ever thought of before’, ‘make decisions I’ve never made’, ‘let out my feelings’.
Conclusion
This research provides an overview of students’ attitudes toward religious education and spiritual and moral issues. Knowledge of pupil attitudes can provide a starting point for those who wish to improve religious education.
The main observation must be that the majority of students do not consider religious education a help to them in deciding their own spiritual stance, nor in deciding their own moral values. This suggests that some teachers may be experiencing difficulties in teaching for Attainment Target 2, ‘Learning from Religion’. Are teachers finding it difficult to enable students to ‘reflect on meaning’; to, for example, ‘reflect on the experiences of others, which might be described as spiritual in relation to their own experiences’?; or to ‘evaluate religious responses to ultimate questions and ethical issues in relation to their own beliefs and values’? (Cornwall’s agreed syllabus 2000-2005, p.28 – my italics). Are students unwilling to reveal their own views on spiritual and moral issues in class? Do students feel that attempts to link their own views with religious material are subversive attempts on the part of their teacher to impose religious beliefs/moral stances upon them? Should Attainment Target 2 be approached in new ways – or even disregarded? Should moral issues be discussed in the context of religious education, or left to PSHE or Citizenship lessons? Or can RE give to students a deeper understanding of the moral issues dealt with in another areas of the curriculum?
The preceding paragraph has offered a reflection on one issue raised by the data provided by this survey. It is hoped that further reflection will enable interested parties to consider new ways of supporting RE teachers across the county as they seek to teach a complex subject to ever more complex and materially sophisticated groups of young people. Teachers themselves may find the data useful in locating the kinds of problems some of their less vocal students may be experiencing with the subject, or may use the data for bench-marking. The aim of this survey has been to give all students the opportunity to express some of their feelings and needs. It remains for teachers and other stakeholders to make use of the data in seeking to respond to those feelings and needs.