For some time I’ve been thinking a lot about how to reach sixth formers with the Christian faith. We are talking about 17 and 18 year olds who dislike ‘religion’. I am reflecting on what I learned when I taught Religious Education (RE) and Philosophy A level in a high Read more…
Yesterday I delivered my conference on Lottery Winners, Money and Religious Faith in a school in Doncaster. I was delighted that Joel Cribbin, a gifted youthworker came with me to observe the conference. I had to squeeze a 90 minute conference into 55 minutes which was very challenging. During the Read more…
Image: my laptop – I’ve been spending a lot of time here lately… Over the past term, I have been joining educators around the country in getting to grips with new ways of teaching. I’ve been learning the skills of video-editing and web design, finding out about theories of e-learning, Read more…
Trying to redeem the humble ‘tract’: saying something important in just 400 words. How do you Make Sense of Evil and Suffering? I’m sure you’ve noticed all the evil and suffering in the world. Ponder the wars, rapes and murders that we hear about on a daily basis. It’s probably Read more…
I want to share some experiences from inviting Christian friends to contribute to a course on “the values of nature”, and my own shifting position on one of the major ethical issues of our age. Until recently I tried to steer clear of academic treatment of ethics and values. I was Read more…
Looking outside as I write this, I see that the nights are drawing in and there’s the beginnings of a chill in the air, which can mean only one thing: autumn term is nearly upon us. Inevitably, then, the minds of many academics will fast be turning away from ongoing Read more…
Last term I had the opportunity to teach undergraduates for the first time, and alongside that I completed the teaching development course offered by the Humanities division here in Oxford. Part of the course involved writing a teaching philosophy, and so I had to consider: what do I think good Read more…
Reflecting on what Advent might mean for my work, I ended up looking at the connection between teaching and research. About half of this Advent wraps up my first semester of teaching (in a job I recently began), and the other half will give a little more time to pursue research tasks until Christmas is fully Read more…
A friend of mine who is a primary school teacher recently remarked that she loves working at a Christian school because she can teach children not only how to learn, but why to learn. Creation is a reflection of God’s glory and power and it is worth studying because it boldly declares the glory Read more…
J.S. Bach often scribbled Soli Deo Gloria at the end of his music: glory to God alone. His humble dedications are beautiful—and striking because of his genius—but they have always left me with niggling questions. We are all called to dedicate our work to the glory of God, but what if we Read more…