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BPRI110 Religion for the Primary Classroom
Religious Education is an adventurous field to be explored by Primary teachers. This module intends to instil in Primary teachers the urge to assimilate, love, possess and own the subject content in a way that they can’t refrain from passing on the validity of the subject to future generations. The Primary teacher of all years must acquire the right knowledge, skills, attitudes and competences to transmit the love for the subject using the appropriate pedagogical and methodological methods. These, in turn, should lead the teacher to have a clear picture of each student’s achievement. Thus, participants should be given sound knowledge of the subject content and should be trained to apply it according to the needs and abilities of the students whom they teach. They should also be given the opportunity to expand their knowledge of the fields in question. As future Primary teachers, participants should be given the opportunities to explore ways in which they can embed RE as part of the formation delivered during the Primary Sector years of the students’ education.
By the end of this programme, participants should be able to:
a. Systematically comprehend the information acquired in a way that learning is engaging, reachable and accessible to all, thus being able to devise and formulate ways and means to help his/her students to develop their cognitive and non-cognitive aspects for learning to take place;
b. Possess the learning skill to allow himself/herself to deepen his/her knowledge, skills and competences to study further the material at hand as regards Religious Education;
c. Enhance ways and means to relate and apply the subject content of Religious Education with the experiences of his/her students and their worldview;
d. Create an action research about his/her own situation in the classroom that he/she teaches and manages, thus investigating the effectiveness and meaningful application of the various themes of the Religious Education subject content;
e. Initiate projects, modes of research, and hands-on activities so as to show his/her ability to explore the grounds of embedded teaching in RE.
a. Evaluate the subject content of Religious Education of the Maltese Primary Sector in a way that he/she can point out the strengths and weaknesses of the Learning Outcomes Curriculum;
b. Implement the ability to adapt the subject content of the year he/she teaches to the different levels of abilities and potentials, and the different social backgrounds of his/her students;
c. Identify the development and formulation of ways and means of how the RE subject content can be passed on through 21st century pedagogy, that is, the pedagogy that gives learners the skills to face the future and to live within a socio-critical context and world;
d. Comprehend the different methods of assessment and their corresponding purposes, which cater for both the summative and the formative assessments, which complement the learning process;
e. Broaden the accomplishment of creating different resources along the learning process, in a way that embedded teaching is experienced and its benefits are strongly appreciated by the learner.
a. Develop his/her thinking skills in a way in which he/she shows that he/she has managed to take hold of what he/she has learned;
b. Formulate ways and means through which the subject content of RE is reflected in everyday practices of Christian life;
c. Develop new insights in order for the learner to be able to answer his/her students’ human, moral and spiritual questions in a way to help and encourage them acquire a holistic and inclusive perspective of the world around them, and respect for all adherents of all World Religions;
d. Create innovative ways and means by which, interlinking of subjects including RE, can take place through the cross-curricular themes, as presented in the National Curriculum Framework;
e. derive and sustain arguments as corresponding to the subject content at hand, about the effectiveness of the various modes of assessment, reflecting the needs and the potentials of the students.
This programme adopts continuous and summative methods of assessment including assignments, online tasks, reflective journals, projects and video presentations. For further details, kindly refer to the Teaching, Learning and Assessment Policy and Procedures.
1. Benedict 16, Pope, (2007), Jesus of Nazareth. Bloomsbury Publishing, London.
2. Catechism of the Catholic Church. (1995). New York, United States: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group Inc.
3. Cavalletti, S., (2002). The Religious Potential of the Child, 6 to 12 Years Old. Liturgy Training Publications.
4. Erricker, C., Lowndes, J. and Bellchambers, E., (2010). Primary Religious Education–A New Approach: Conceptual Enquiry in Primary RE. Routledge.
5. Fontana, D. (1995). Psychology for Teachers. 3rd ed. New York: Palgrave.
6. Grimmitt, M., (2000). Constructivist pedagogies of religious education project: Rethinking knowledge, teaching and learning in religious education. Pedagogies of religious education, pp.189-207.
7. Harlen, W. (2014). Assessment, standards and quality of Learning in Primary Education. W. Harlen. York: Cambridge Primary Review Trust, pp.40.
8. Grudem, W. (2000). Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine. London: Inter-varsity Press.
9. Learning Outcomes Framework, (2015). Religion. [online] Available at: http://www.schoolslearningoutcomes.edu.mt/en/dashboard
[Accessed 4 January 2018].
10. Ministry for Education and Employment. The Fronter Platform for Primary schools – Year 1 – Year 6. Available at: https://ilearn.edu.mt/malta/main.phtml [Accessed 4 January2018]
11. Scott, C. L. (2015). Cynthia Luna Scott. The Future of Learning 3: What kind of pedagogies for the 21st century? UNESCO Education Research and Foresight, Paris. [ERF Working Papers Series, No. 15].
1. Davies, G. (2004). Religious Education in the Primary School. School of Education. [online] Bangor: University of Wales. Available at:
https://www.bangor.ac.uk/addysg/publications/Trafodion4s.pdf. [Accessed 4 January 2018]
2. Fancourt, N. – Teaching about Christianity in religious education: a review of research, [online] University of Oxford. Available at: http://www.education.ox.ac.uk/wordpress/wpcontent/uploads/2011/10/Teaching-about-Christianity-in-religious-education.pdf.
[Accessed 4 January 2018]
1. Archdiocese of Brisbane. (2016). Religious Education Planning and Assessing in
Religious Education. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQFUfRHwVc0 [Accessed 4 January 2018].
2. Elements of the Catholic Mass. (2015). The Meaning of the Liturgy. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6g-zSAgnxxk
[Accessed 4 January 2018].
3. Loyola Publications, Inc. (2009). Who cares about the saints? Available at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8WkZblkeNo&list=PLMAWECE3ntbqodeOclqKQIwFkR1t4zI5
[Accessed 4 January 2018].
4. Hand, M. (2012). On Religious Education. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPzCMJ_N4y8 [Accessed 4 January 2018].
5. The Two Preachers. (2014). The Acts of the Apostles. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRXNp6K5-JI [Accessed 7 January 2018].
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