EDU029050 Archives

Teaching with Art for History and Religious Education

In an age where our emerging global society is increasingly visual, Teaching with Art for History and Religious Education invites a fresh approach to the use of artwork and other visual materials when teaching about religion, history and the stories of art. Visual sources can be illuminating, paradoxical, subversive and disruptive; they can stimulate new ways of thinking about how we understand the past, faith and belief, and what this means for us in the present.

Drawing on new research and practice in schools, museums, galleries and public spaces, the book explores generative ways that visual sources are experienced by young people and educators, as routes for investigating contested pasts, truth claims and traditions, or as provocations and protest. Running through the book is an exploration of theory and practice for using art in education and its potential for prompting interdisciplinary approaches to both RE and history. A ‘manifesto for using art in the curriculum’ offers principles for how art can act as a key pivot for student learning, and a section on the ethics of teaching with images guides teachers through tricky conversations. Ultimately, the book invites educators to use visual sources with young people not as mere adjuncts to text, but as unique, rich, complex, engaging and distinct forms of knowledge in their own right.

Knowledge and Knowing in Media and Film Studies

For traditional subjects such as History, Art and Science, debate about the nature of knowledge in the school curriculum has produced a growing literature on the relationship between disciplinary knowledge and what is taught in schools. For newer subjects, however, the path is less clear.

Knowledge and Knowing in Media and Film Studies is the first book to grapple with the question for these two related subjects. Steve Connolly argues that, while Media and Film Studies each have a clear epistemological base, consideration of craft skills alongside factual knowledge and criticality has led to the development of different criteria for what constitutes valuable knowledge than in traditional school subjects. The book problematises this difference through a genealogy of both subjects as they appear in the English school curriculum, charting their historical and disciplinary origins within that system. In so doing it finds that, far from being ‘new’ subjects, Media and Film Studies have parallel histories with more established subjects. Using a range of primary and secondary data, including interviews with media and film teachers, case studies and historical sources, the book provides an account of knowledge and knowing in school Media Studies and Film Studies, which both consolidates existing views and proposes some new perspectives.

Teaching India–Pakistan Relations

The rivalry between India and Pakistan began on British withdrawal from the British Indian Empire in 1947, and with the sudden partition of India immediately afterwards. It has proven remarkably resilient. While the countries share a long history and have considerable social–cultural affinity, relations since Partition have been marked by three wars, constant border skirmishes and a deep distrust that permeates both societies. In each, teaching about those relations is weighted with political and cultural significance, and research shows that curriculums have been used to shape the mindset of new generations with regard to their neighbouring state.

This book explores the attitudes and pedagogical decision-making of teachers in India and Pakistan when teaching India–Pakistan relations. Situating teachers in the context of reformed textbooks and curriculums in both countries that explicitly advocate critical thinking and social cohesion, Kusha Anand explores how far teachers have enacted these changes in their classrooms. Based on data collected from teachers via semi-structured interviews and classroom observations in India and Pakistan she argues that, despite whole-nation policies and texts, teaching of India–Pakistan relations is dependent on the socio-economic status of schools. While there is progress towards the stated goals, teachers in both countries face pressures from the interests of school and state, and often miss opportunities to engage with multiple perspectives and stereotypes in their classrooms.