According to recent research 1 more than 70% of UK young people aged 15-plus have no formal religious affiliation, with most embracing a secular humanist worldview 2.
Windows on Worldviews is an innovative video resource designed to support GCSE and A-Level Philosophy, Ethics and Religious Studies students and their teachers to explore this.
This free resource comprises six accessible short videos, based on true stories, that look at popular aspects of non-religious beliefs. To go with the stories, six short ‘boffin slots’ open up and critique the philosophical roots of the commonly-held beliefs under exploration.
An accompanying written teacher’s guide includes suggested discussion starters for class use and useful links to further resources.
The materials
All videos are hosted on YouTube and open in a new tab.
The short films
View the full short film playlist on YouTube.
The ‘boffin slot’ explanatory videos
- The Boffin: Million Dollar Virgin
- The Boffin: The Beast
- The Boffin: The Woo-Woo Crew
- The Boffin: That Spell is Pants
- The Boffin: What Goes Around Comes Around?
- The Boffin: Mars Will Save Us
View the full boffin slot playlist on YouTube.
Teachers’ pack
More about the resource
This free resource from RealityBites complements curriculum materials and will fascinate teachers and students studying aspects of humanism such as secularism, materialism, consumerism, scientism, atheism, ‘new-age’ ideas and religious syncretism as part of their examination studies. The five-minute films are firmly rooted in popular culture, using narratives from football, celebrity news, love and relationships, technology and pop festivals. With diverse storylines relevant to young people aged 15-18 they can be used in any order, individually or as a series. The ‘boffin slots’ undergird the learning points in the stories and will help teachers and students discuss and compare aspects of humanism with traditional Christian beliefs.
To help busy teachers Windows on Worldviews also includes a written guide, suggested discussion starters for class use and useful links to further resources. The discussion starters can be adjusted as preferred.
Producer, Patricia Gray said: “With these short films RealityBites aims to address some of the fundamental worldview questions in a way that particularly speaks to young people at a time when their studies and beliefs are a major influence on their identity. The stories are non-preachy, appealing and up-to-the minute. Humour and, occasionally, a gently ironic approach will stimulate thinking and discussion.”
Writer Mark Roques said “I wrote this resource, with its stand-alone and complementary parts to engage and challenge critical thinking, something students badly need to develop in our complex social media-driven world. However, it can be used at different learning levels as the teacher wishes and will complement philosophy, ethics and religious studies at both GCSE and A-levels. As a former RE teacher myself, I would have found a resource like this an absolute boon in the classroom.”
A selection of behind the scenes photographs
RealityBites is the schools- and youth-focused activity strand of the Thinking Faith Network charity, and has been producing educational resources for over twenty years including books, courses, events and videos exploring non-traditional, non-religious ideas and beliefs. RealityBites is led by Honorary Director Mark Roques (‘The Boffin’), a former RE teacher who is the author of four books, including Curriculum Unmasked and The Spy, The Rat and the Bed of Nails.
Footnotes:
1) See https://www.theosthinktank.co.uk/comment/2018/04/06/generation-noreligion-what-the-data-really-shows-about-youth-religiosity and https://humanists.uk/2018/03/21/7-in-10-young-people-in-the-uk-are-non-religious-new-research-finds/
2) While recognising that the concept of worldview is used in different ways by different authors, we use the definition of worldviews offered in the Report of the Commission on RE (2018) which, in brief, defines worldview as: “A person’s way of understanding, experiencing and responding to the world. https://www.commissiononre.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Final-Report-of-the-Commission-on-RE.pdf
That Report also distinguishes between an individual’s worldview and ‘organised worldviews’ where a set of beliefs is accepted by either an informal or formal group or community. In this resource we aim to help students explore how both personal belief and the influence of groups (including social media and popular cultural communities) help to form and reinforce an individual’s understanding of their place in the world and the ways in which their values and beliefs might be lived out in everyday experience.