How a process of subjectification in ITE can challenge the paradigm of the expert teacher in primary religious education

Yeomans, E ORCID: 0009-0007-6374-1067 (2025) How a process of subjectification in ITE can challenge the paradigm of the expert teacher in primary religious education. Journal of Religious Education. ISSN 1442-018X

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Abstract

This longitudinal study challenges the assumption that an expert teacher with strong subject knowledge is the best solution to a lack of what the inspection agency Ofsted refer to as ‘deep and meaningful RE’ in England. The first cycle was a small-scale participatory action research project with five student teachers on an initial primary education (ITE) postgraduate degree course in the North-West of England. The concept of an expert teacher in primary religious education (RE) was explored by critiquing an image which had colonial connotations from the 2024 RE Council’s Handbook. The participants engaged in group discussions, beginning a process of Freire’s notion of conscientisation, by exploring what Biesta might call their own ‘subject-ness’. The result of the discussion was a co-created image designed to replace the image in the Handbook. The co-created image presents a pedagogical approach for use not just in the primary RE classroom but in primary ITE to encourage aspects of reflexivity and subjectivity through a Freirean dialogic approach. A new iteration of the image has been developed through a second cycle of action research, which consists of three loops: input from a new cohort; reflections from one member of the original group, now an early career teacher; and a meeting with the author of the Handbook, which demonstrates the significance of this project as it resulted in the removal of the original image.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	1302 Curriculum and Pedagogy; 1303 Specialist Studies in Education; 1608 Sociology; 3901 Curriculum and pedagogy; 3903 Education systems; 3904 Specialist studies in education
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BL Religion L Education > L Education (General) L Education > LB Theory and practice of education > LB1501 Primary Education
Divisions:	Education
Publisher:	Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date of acceptance:	17 September 2025
Date of first compliant Open Access:	26 November 2025
Date Deposited:	26 Nov 2025 11:46
Last Modified:	26 Nov 2025 11:46
DOI or ID number:	10.1007/s40839-025-00278-z
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/27627

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