Help in dealing with potentially difficult questions and situations

Dealing with pupils’ questions and disclosure

The nature of RE, particularly the second attainment target, learning from religion, may lead to pupils asking difficult questions or even making personal disclosures.  Understandably, teachers can find such situation difficult to handle; it seems easy to say the wrong thing.  This leads to a temptation to focus on the first attainment target, learning about religious, avoiding potentially difficult situations.  However, this denies pupils access to those aspects of RE that are the most educationally rewarding.

Examples of difficult situations include pupils:
•    asking questions to which the religions have no agreed answer, eg ‘Was Jesus the son of God?’;
•    asking questions that raise difficult philosophical or theological issues, eg ‘Why does a supposedly good God allow suffering?’ (or more concrete and personal versions);
•    asking what the teacher believes, eg ‘Do you believe in God?’;
•    making comments or asking questions that reflect an offensive or unreflective approach to religion, eg ‘Are you one of the God squad?’;
•    making disclosures that reveal personal faith commitments, eg ‘I believe that the Qur’an is the absolute word of God’;
•    making disclosures that are personal, eg ‘My grandma died yesterday’;
•    making inappropriate value judgements on the faith of other people, eg ‘People who believe that are stupid!’

Such situations may be difficult for one or more reasons:
•    they may cause upset or offence to other pupils;
•    they may expose the pupil to upsetting comments;
•    they may reveal misunderstandings that seem in need of correction;
•    they may be no straightforward answer to the question;
•    they may reveal an inability to cope with differences of opinion;
•    they may be embarrassing;
•    there may not be time to deal with them;
•    the teacher may not have the training or knowledge needed to deal with them.

There are no ‘off-the-shelf’ ways of dealing with such classroom incidents.  Teachers will need to use their professional judgement and sensitivity.  The ethos of the school, and the contribution of RE to it, will be important in establishing the right climate for dealing with such questions and incidents.  The following practical guidelines may be of help.

Practical guidelines

1. Encourage the use of ‘owning and grounding’ language such as ‘in my opinion’ or ‘some Hindus would say’.  This allows belief statements to be made in the classroom without everyone feeling they have to agree.

2. Treat the question or incident as a positive rather than negative event, wherever possible.  Remember that it is the way the incident is dealt with and how the class response is managed that matters most.

3. Affirm the importance of the pupils’ contribution, even if you don’t agree with it, with phrases like ‘I’ve often wondered about that too, that is an excellent question’, ‘You’re not the only one who doesn’t know the answer to that.’

4. Help pupils to understand that diversity of opinion and the existence of unanswerable questions are aspects of life that we all have to learn to live with.  Education, age or intelligence will not eliminate all of these aspects.

5. Allow for the possibility of a range of answers or opinions.  For example, use ‘most Christians would probably say ..., but some Muslims would think differently, saying ...’.  Encourage an awareness of diversity without undermining the pupil’s own beliefs.

6. Use the situation to open up rather than close down conversation or thinking.  Encourage a ‘let’s explore this together’ approach in which the teacher is a participant, not simply an expert.

7. Explore further exploration by suggesting other people that pupils could ask, eg faith community leaders, or places where they might find help, eg resource centre.  In particular, affirm the importance of people close to the pupil, such as their family, their faith community, their friends.

8. Correct factual misinformation, wherever possible, without confrontation.  But always respect the right of the pupils, their families and the members of the communities to which they belong to hold their own beliefs.

9. In the case of personal disclosure, the prime need may be for comfort rather than abstract discussion of any concepts involved.  With some pupils it may be possible to suggest a follow-up to the pupil’s disclosure (eg personal tutor), but without ‘fobbing-off’ the importance of it.  If this is not possible, set the class an activity that provides time to attend to the pupil or allows the pupil some personal space.

10. Throw questions back for further clarification with phrases like ‘What do you think?’, ‘Can you clarify ...?’, ‘What would happen if ...?’.  Aim to keep the pupil pondering, rather than giving closed answers that seem clear cut when the issue is anything but clear cut.

11.  Be as honest as possible without being ruthless.  For example, it does not help to tell a pupil that her granddad has gone to heaven if the teacher does not believe that, or if it would be offensive to the pupil.  But a teacher could tell the pupil that many religious people believe that.  In these circumstances a teacher should not normally challenge a pupil’s belief.  Keeping one’s integrity with sensitivity is important.

12. Let a discussion develop if it is being taken seriously by the class.  But have a quiet or reflective technique ready to provide a suitable close to the discussion, eg a chance for the pupils to make a private diary entry or to make a personal resolution based on the lesson.

13. Never intrude into a pupil’s personal life.  There should always be the freedom to remain silent in lessons where the discussion is intimate or deep.  Teaching the whole class rather than small groups may reduce the risk or particular pupils being exposed to such intrusions.

14. Establish ground rules with the class for discussing controversial issues.

15. If a difficult issue arises which is impossible to handle properly, return to it later when it can be dealt with in a more considered way.

Religious Education: Non-statutory Guidance (2000), Qualifications and Curriculum Authority