Publication date: 1 October 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.14324/111.9781806551538
Number of illustrations: 50
Teaching with Art for History and Religious Education
Seeing, knowing, feeling
Tom Haward (Author), Alexis Stones (Author)
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.
List of figures
List of tables
Acronyms
Introduction
Part I: Foundations
1 Visual disruption: a manifesto for using art in the curriculum
2 Thinking through art: theory for practice
Part II: Building the power of art for teaching History and Religious Education
3 The Art of Seeing, the Seeing of Art: Encouraging deeper looking
4 Power and Persuasion: How images work
5 Interpretations: Making meaning with art
6 ‘It makes it more real’: Images, narrative and truth
7 Intertextuality: Pictures in conversation
8 Art in public: Curating the space
9 Materiality and Technology: Choices, histories and the ineffable
10 Images as Provocation: Controversies, sensitivities, protest
Contributing authors and artists
Picture credits
Index
DOI: 10.14324/111.9781806551538
Number of illustrations: 50
Publication date: 01 October 2026
PDF ISBN: 9781806551538
EPUB ISBN: 9781806551545
Hardback ISBN: 9781806551514
Paperback ISBN: 9781806551521
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Teaching with Art for History and Religious Education
Seeing, knowing, feeling
Publication date: October 1, 2026
Open Access PDF ISBN: 9781806551538
Paperback ISBN: 9781806551521
Hardback ISBN: 9781806551514
Trim size (hardback): 23.4cm x 15.6cm
Trim size (paperback): 23.4cm x 15.6cm
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.
