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Using the pedagogy of thinking skills in Christian studies lessons in primary school years 4–6: the teacher’s perspective

• Published: 09 February 2021
• Volume 69 , pages 145–160, ( 2021 )

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• Kerrin Huth   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-9448-5771 1  

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The inclusion of thinking skills in Religious Education as an intentional pedagogical emphasis encourages depth of understanding as students explore theological concepts in the curriculum. The aim of this research was to investigate the ways in which teachers of Years 4–6 incorporate a pedagogy of thinking skills into Christian Studies lessons, and explore their perceptions of the intended and unintended outcomes. Therefore, the literature review focused on research into the nature of thinking skills and their application in the classroom. Using a constructivist paradigm, the investigation involved interviewing four teachers in Australian Lutheran schools about their understanding of the skills involved in thinking, which in turn, provided insights on their practice. Responses to questions were analysed in terms of language specific to pedagogy of thinking skills [skills and strategies]. The findings suggest that teachers found benefits from the intentional inclusion of a pedagogy of thinking skills in Religious Education lessons as a way of building empathy and developing a deeper understanding of the curriculum. Whole school practices and professional development supported the inclusion of these initiatives across key learning areas. The findings in this paper provide an opportunity for collegial discussion and reflection on current teaching practice with the recommendation of intentional use of a pedagogy of thinking skills in Religious Education in a Lutheran setting, with possible application in other contexts.

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Huth, K. Using the pedagogy of thinking skills in Christian studies lessons in primary school years 4–6: the teacher’s perspective. j. relig. educ. 69 , 145–160 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40839-020-00130-6

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Accepted : 04 December 2020

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Critical thinking and catholic religious education: an empirical research report from the philippines.

Johnny C. Go SJ , Ateneo de Manila University Follow

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While critical rationality is an explicit goal of Catholic education, its practice in confessional Catholic religious education can be problematic for epistemological reasons: the prevailing Catholic religious epistemology may not be conducive to critical thinking in the RE classroom. A survey among 1068 teachers conducted in fifteen Catholic schools in the Philippines confirmed that a significant percentage of the respondents – especially religious educators – exhibited epistemologies considered incompatible with critical thinking specifically in the domains of religious beliefs and value judgements – the two areas covered by the Philippine Catholic RE curriculum. An examination of Catholic religious and moral epistemologies is recommended to determine the possibility and necessity of critical thinking in matters of faith and morals.

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Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

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Critical Thinking in Religious Education

Shayne Anderson Follow

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A common argument in an increasingly secular world today is that religion poses a threat to world peace and human well-being. Concerning the field of religious education, Andrew Davis, an honorary research fellow at Durham University, argues that religious adherents tend to treat others who do not agree with them with disrespect and hostility and states that efforts to persuade them to behave otherwise would be “profoundly difficult to realize.” Consequently, he believes that religious education should consist only of a moderate form of pluralism. Religious education classes, in his view, should not make claims of one religion having exclusive access to the truth.

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Anderson, Shayne. "Critical Thinking in Religious Education." Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel 18, no. 3 (2017): 69-81. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/re/vol18/iss3/6

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How Critical Thinkers Lose Their Faith in God

Religious belief drops when analytical thinking rises

By Daisy Grewal

Why are some people more religious than others? Answers to this question often focus on the role of culture or upbringing.  While these influences are important, new research suggests that whether we believe may also have to do with how much we rely on intuition versus analytical thinking. In 2011 Amitai Shenhav, David Rand and Joshua Greene of Harvard University published a paper showing that people who have a tendency to rely on their intuition are more likely to believe in God.  They also showed that encouraging people to think intuitively increased people’s belief in God. Building on these findings, in a recent paper published in Science , Will Gervais and Ara Norenzayan of the University of British Columbia found that encouraging people to think analytically reduced their tendency to believe in God. Together these findings suggest that belief may at least partly stem from our thinking styles.

Gervais and Norenzayan’s research is based on the idea that we possess two different ways of thinking that are distinct yet related. Understanding these two ways, which are often referred to as System 1 and System 2, may be important for understanding our tendency towards having religious faith. System 1 thinking relies on shortcuts and other rules-of-thumb while System 2 relies on analytic thinking and tends to be slower and require more effort. Solving logical and analytical problems may require that we override our System 1 thinking processes in order to engage System 2. Psychologists have developed a number of clever techniques that encourage us to do this. Using some of these techniques, Gervais and Norenzayan examined whether engaging System 2 leads people away from believing in God and religion.

For example, they had participants view images of artwork that are associated with reflective thinking (Rodin’s The Thinker) or more neutral images (Discobulus of Myron). Participants who viewed The Thinker reported weaker religious beliefs on a subsequent survey. However, Gervais and Norenzayan wondered if showing people artwork might have made the connection between thinking and religion too obvious. In their next two studies, they created a task that more subtly primed analytic thinking. Participants received sets of five randomly arranged words (e.g. “high winds the flies plane”) and were asked to drop one word and rearrange the others in order to create a more meaningful sentence (e.g. “the plane flies high”). Some of their participants were given scrambled sentences containing words associated with analytic thinking (e.g. “analyze,” “reason”) and other participants were given sentences that featured neutral words (e.g. “hammer,” “shoes”). After unscrambling the sentences, participants filled out a survey about their religious beliefs. In both studies, this subtle reminder of analytic thinking caused participants to express less belief in God and religion. The researchers found no relationship between participants’ prior religious beliefs and their performance in the study. Analytic thinking reduced religious belief regardless of how religious people were to begin with.

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In a final study, Gervais and Norenzayan used an even more subtle way of activating analytic thinking: by having participants fill out a survey measuring their religious beliefs that was printed in either clear font or font that was difficult to read. Prior research has shown that difficult-to-read font promotes analytic thinking by forcing participants to slow down and think more carefully about the meaning of what they are reading. The researchers found that participants who filled out a survey that was printed in unclear font expressed less belief as compared to those who filled out the same survey in the clear font.

These studies demonstrate yet another way in which our thinking tendencies, many of which may be innate, have contributed to religious faith. It may also help explain why the vast majority of Americans tend to believe in God. Since System 2 thinking requires a lot of effort , the majority of us tend to rely on our System 1 thinking processes when possible. Evidence suggests that the majority of us are more prone to believing than being skeptical. According to a 2005 poll by Gallup, 3 out of every 4 Americans hold at least one belief in the paranormal. The most popular of these beliefs are extrasensory perception (ESP), haunted houses, and ghosts. In addition, the results help explain why some of us are more prone to believe that others. Previous research has found that people differ in their tendency to see intentions and causes in the world. These differences in thinking styles could help explain why some of us are more likely to become believers.

Why and how might analytic thinking reduce religious belief? Although more research is needed to answer this question, Gervais and Norenzayan speculate on a few possibilities. For example, analytic thinking may inhibit our natural intuition to believe in supernatural agents that influence the world. Alternatively, analytic thinking may simply cause us to override our intuition to believe and pay less attention to it. It’s important to note that across studies, participants ranged widely in their religious affiliation, gender, and race. None of these variables were found to significantly relate to people’s behavior in the studies.

Gervais and Norenzayan point out that analytic thinking is just one reason out of many why people may or may not hold religious beliefs. In addition, these findings do not say anything about the inherent value or truth of religious beliefs—they simply speak to the psychology of when and why we are prone to believe. Most importantly, they provide evidence that rather than being static, our beliefs can change drastically from situation to situation, without us knowing exactly why.

Are you a scientist who specializes in neuroscience, cognitive science, or psychology? And have you read a recent peer-reviewed paper that you would like to write about? Please send suggestions to Mind Matters editor Gareth Cook, a Pulitzer prize-winning journalist at the Boston Globe. He can be reached at garethideas AT gmail.com or Twitter @garethideas .

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Religious Education from a Critical Realist Perspective

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This book examines the possibility and necessity of critical thinking in religious education through the lenses of critical realism and the Christian doctrine of sensus fidei (‘sense of faith’). Drawing on Bhaskar’s original critical realism and data from a survey of over a thousand teachers in the Philippines, the author argues for a view of critical thinking based on components of ‘disposition’ and ‘competence’. As such, critical thinking becomes the expression of a commitment to judgemental rationality and, in a Christian religious education, is guided by the individual’s sensus fidei . A philosophical and theological discussion of the process of coming to know in the religious domain, Religious Education from a Critical Realist Perspective also offers concrete recommendations on how to promote the practice of religious critical thinking in confessional religious education classrooms. As such, it will appeal to scholars of philosophy, theology and pedagogy with interests in religious education and curriculum development.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 1 | 20  pages, critical thinking in catholic religious education, chapter 2 | 19  pages, critical realism and catholic christianity, chapter 3 | 18  pages, a critical realist account of critical thinking, chapter 4 | 11  pages, an empirical investigation of teacher epistemologies, chapter 5 | 24  pages, a case for a critical realist catholic religious epistemology, chapter 6 | 18  pages, catholic religious critical thinking as the exercise of sensus fidei, chapter | 2  pages.

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Critical Religious Education in Practice A Teacher's Guide for the Secondary Classroom

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Critical Religious Education in Practice  serves as an accessible handbook to help teachers put Critical Religious Education (CRE) into practice. The book offers straightforward guidance, unpicking some of the key difficulties that teachers encounter when implementing this high-profile pedagogical approach. In-depth explanations of CRE pedagogy, accompanied by detailed lesson plans and activities, will give teachers the confidence they need to inspire debate in the classroom, tackling issues as controversial as the authority of the Qur’an and the relationship between science and religion. The lesson plans and schemes of work exemplify CRE in practice and are aimed at empowering teachers to implement CRE pedagogy across their curriculum. Additional chapters cover essential issues such as differentiation, assessment, the importance of subject knowledge and tips for tackling tricky topics. The accompanying resources, including PowerPoint presentations and worksheets, are available via the book’s companion website. Key to developing a positive classroom culture and promoting constructive attitudes towards Religious Education, this text is essential reading for all practising and future teachers of Religious Education in secondary schools.

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Christina Easton is undertaking a Philosophy PhD at the London School of Economics, UK. She has eight years of experience teaching Religious Education, including as a Head of Department. Angela Goodman is undertaking a PhD focusing on Critical Religious Education. She contributes to Initial Teacher Training in Religious Education at King’s College London, UK, and has taught Religious Education at secondary level for seven years. Andrew Wright is Professor of Religious and Theological Education at the Institute of Education, University College London, UK. Angela Wright directs the Secondary Religious Education PGCE at King’s College London, UK. She has worked in Initial Teacher Training for over twenty years.

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EXPLORING CRITICAL THINKING IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION:AN EMPIRICAL RESEARCHFOR HAFAZAN (MEMORISATION) CONTEXT

• Azmil Hashim , N. Samsudin , M. Huda
• Published 2021

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Introducing Critical Thinking in Religious Education Classroom

So many people may wonder what role critical thinking will play in the religious education classroom. By a way of clarification, critical thinking is a tool in the milieu of knowledge which helps to acquire knowledge, skeptically improve our theories and confidently strengthen arguments. Critical thinking therefore improves and enhances. The introduction of critical thinking to religious education classroom is to acquire more knowledge (i.e. filling our basket with good apples), improving our theories and beliefs and also to argue correctly (i.e. with facts and reasons). Religious education is something that should be faced with adequate measures so as not to get people misled. Religion is more of faith than reason. This implies that fewer questions are asked. Most people swallow the fish hook, line and sinker because of the religiosity of man. Critical thinking will be a very advantageous tool in the religious education classroom because it tends toward the perfect, the good which means striking the balance.  This is in concomitance with virtue which according to Aristotle lies in the mean/middle. Not just the classroom/school curriculum, also the government as well as the parents have roles to play toward achieving the practicality of introducing critical thinking in the religious education classroom for effective results.

Keywords: Critical Thinking, Religious Education, Classroom.

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The CSU schools are committed to delivering quality and equitable education for all, which includes closing the digital divide to give its 130,000 yearly graduates the technical and digital skills required to succeed in modern workplaces.“People worldwide equate the Adobe brand with quality, creativity and innovation,” said Cynthia Teniente-Matson, President of SJSU. “By bringing Adobe Creative Cloud apps like Adobe Express into classrooms, we’ve reimagined how we serve historically underrepresented student populations. They now have easier and quicker access to tools to learn skills that set them up for future success.”

Both Penn State and CSUs are Adobe Creative Campus partners, a growing community of higher education institutions across North America, Europe, Asia and Japan committed to boosting student outcomes and career success through equitable access to Adobe Creative Cloud and Adobe Express. 

Kent State University in Ohio, Sheridan College in Canada, Marshall University in West Virginia, Northern Arizona University, Sheridan College in Canada and the State University of New York (SUNY) College of Environmental Science & Forestry (ESF) in New York are all new Adobe Creative Campuses. “This is a terrific benefit to ESF’s students, who now have additional access to creative tools and the opportunity to boost their digital skills. Our Adobe Creative Campus status is the perfect complement to ESF’s,” said SUNY ESF President Joanie Mahoney. “As our world becomes increasingly digital, we are excited to extend these new tools to all students so they can learn to sharpen their skills and stand out after graduation.” 

Adobe has also seen significant year-over-year growth in Asia, including the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) that will bring Adobe Express to more than 10,000 technical institutions across India and a new Adobe Creative Campus in New Zealand and Japan. Torrens University , Think Education and Media Design School is a leading post-secondary education network offering undergraduate, graduate and technical vocational credentials across Australia and New Zealand and The Ritsumeikan Trust, which includes two universities in Japan. 

“Ritsumekan aims to become a next-generation research university, promoting the expanded recombination of research and education and the cultivation of innovation and emerging talent,” said Yoshio Nakatani, President. “As an Adobe Creative Campus, Ritsumeikan will strive to raise the level of creative skills throughout the university by enhancing hands-on training opportunities for students, faculty and staff, enhancing university-wide skill development opportunities using on-demand materials and demonstrating our commitment to the latest technologies, such as generative AI.”

Naomi Cocks, associate professor in the School of Allied Health at Curtin University in Australia, aims to help her students become capable problem-solvers whether they eventually seek jobs in the city or across the globe. Using Adobe Express, Cocks asks students to take a creative approach to synthesizing and sharing their learnings with peers and the broader community. “Adobe Express supports a teaching methodology that emphasizes active and playful learning,” she said. “Some typically quiet students really shine in this task because it’s a different way of tapping into their creativity.”

A Global K-12 Education Ecosystem

Adobe Express for Education is free for K-12 and empowers student expression, critical thinking, communication and collaboration skills for tens of millions of teachers and students globally. With Adobe Express, K-12 students can apply new technology and creativity skills to make presentations, infographics, GIFs, videos, animations, web pages and more with unique capabilities like Animate Characters, drawing and PDF editing. 

The New South Wales Department of Education in Australia is one example of an institution committed to enabling equitable, inclusive access to essential digital tools and provides Adobe Express and Adobe Creative Cloud applications to all K-12 students. According to the institution’s CFO Charlie Sukkar: “I have witnessed first-hand the positive impact of Adobe's products in our Schools. Especially in high schools.”

New K-12 partnerships with MagicSchool and NBC Universal News Group’s education initiative NBCU Academy are bringing Adobe’s creative technologies to even more K-12 students and teachers globally . MagicSchool describes their platform as the “award-winning, most used and most loved AI platform for schools in the world.” Educators use MagicSchool to help create lesson plans, differentiate, write assessments, write IEPs, communicate clearly and more. MagicSchoolis integrating Adobe’s Firefly-powered Text to Image features into the context of the MagicSchool experience, making Firefly the only generative AI feature on the platform and helping empower student expression and critical thinking skills with responsible generative AI that is designed to be safe for the classroom. Intuitive Adobe generative AI features like Text-to-Image, Text Effects, Generative Insert and Generative Remove are accompanied by Adobe guardrails on generative AI prompts and outputs, encouraging appropriate use. Adobe also gives districts control over whether generative AI features are turned on or off and does not include student projects in training datasets for generative AI.

“We're excited to bring Adobe Express' AI image generation capabilities to educators and students in the MagicSchool platform,” said Adeel Khan, CEO & Founder of MagicSchool.ai. “We've known that generating images with AI sparks curiosity and creativity in schools – but we wanted to put safety and responsibility first in launching it to our millions of users. Adobe is the perfect partner because they've built their tools responsibly from the ground up for the safety needs of schools in mind.”

In April, Adobe and NBCUniversal News Group’s education initiative NBCU Academy launched The Edit , a first-of-its-kind program in the United States aimed at helping students build key digital media and literacy skills Students use tutorials and guidance on how to script, record and publish news reports using Adobe Express. This week, Adobe and NBCU Academy announced the winners of the competition. Read more about it here . 

Adobe also announced a prestigious partnership with the Ministry of Education in India for K-12 and highereducation to bring Adobe Express into schools to help develop skills and enhance learning outcomes. India’s national education policy emphasizes the use of digital tools and AI to help build creativity skills for future readiness. Adobe is working with schools in India’s Central Board of Secondary Education as well as the Indian government’s Pradhan Mantri Schools for Rising India (PM SHRI) program to build digital creativity skills and upskill educators to support integrating Adobe Express into their curriculum. In addition, Adobe recently collaborated with India’s National Council of Education Research and Training (NCERT) to host Adobe Express and Adobe Acrobat content on their national platform.

• About Adobe

Adobe is changing the world through digital experiences. For more information, visit  www.adobe.com .

© 2024 Adobe. All rights reserved. Adobe and the Adobe logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Adobe Express for Education is the all-in-one AI creativity app that makes creative skill building easy. It is designed to be classroom safe with responsible generative AI features that are collaborative, easy and improve student engagement and impact communication skills. With Adobe Express for Education, students and teachers can easily design flyers, posters, resumes, presentations, reports, videos, animations, websites and PDFs.

“As we head toward back-to-school season we’re incredibly excited to see so much momentum and growth for Adobe Express among tens of millions of students and teachers around the world,” said Mala Sharma, VP and general manager, creators and education for Adobe’s Digital Media Business. “We look forward to introducing new innovations in Adobe Express that will provide our global teacher and student community with even more easy and fun ways learn, create and collaborate with responsible AI.”

Adobe Express for Education is free for K-12 and is empowering student expression critical thinking, communication and collaboration skills for tens of millions of teachers and students globally. With Adobe Express, K-12 students can apply new technology and creativity skills to make presentations, infographics, GIFs, videos, animations, web pages and more with unique capabilities like Animate Characters, drawing and PDF editing.

The New South Wales Department of Education in Australia is committed to enabling equitable, inclusive access to essential digital tools and provides Adobe Express and Adobe Creative Cloud applications to all K-12 students. According to the institution’s CFO Charlie Sukkar: “I have witnessed first-hand the positive impact of Adobe's products in our Schools. Especially in high schools.”

New K-12 partnerships with MagicSchool and NBC Universal News Group’s education initiative NBCU Academy are bringing Adobe’s creative technologies to even more K-12 students and teachers globally . MagicSchool is integrating Adobe’s Firefly-powered Text to Image features into the context of the MagicSchool experience, making Firefly the only generative AI feature on the platform. MagicSchool, describes their platform as the “award- winning, most used and most loved AI platform for schools in the world.” Educators use MagicSchool to help create lesson plans, differentiate, write assessments, write IEPs, communicate clearly and more. This partnership is part of Adobe ‘s commitment to empowering student expression and critical thinking skills with responsible generative AI that is designed to be safe for the classroom. Intuitive Adobe generative AI features like Text-to- Image, Text Effects, Generative Insert and Generative Remove empower students to express their creativity, think critically and encourage them to exercise voice and choice in their learning. Adobe guardrails on generative AI prompts and outputs encourage appropriate use and give districts control over whether generative AI features are turned on or off. Adobe does not include student projects in training datasets for generative AI.

In April, Adobe and NBCUniversal News Group’s education initiative NBCU Academy launched The Edit , a first-of- its-kind program in the United States aimed at helping students build key digital media and literacy skills Students use tutorials and guidance on how to script, record and publish news reports using Adobe Express. Monday, Adobe and NBCU Academy announced the winners of the competition. Read more about it here.

Adobe also announced a prestigious partnership with the Ministry of Education in India for K-12 and higher education to bring Adobe Express into schools to help develop skills and enhance learning outcomes. India’s national education policy emphasizes the use of digital tools and AI to help build creativity skills for future readiness. Adobe is working with schools in India’s Central Board of Secondary Education as well as the Indian government’s Pradhan Mantri Schools for Rising India (PM SHRI) program to build digital creativity skills and upskill educators to support integrating Adobe Express into their curriculum. In addition, Adobe recently collaborated with India’s National Council of Education Research and Training (NCERT) to host Adobe Express and Adobe Acrobat content on their national platform.

Equipping Students with Next-Gen Work Skills

Adobe has a long-standing partnership with higher education institutions around the world to help ensure that every student is equipped with the skills employers seek in today’s workplace: creative problem solving, visual communication, collaboration, creativity, and the responsible use of AI. Today, nearly 6 million higher education students globally can access Adobe creative apps through their campuses.

In the United States, institutions including Penn State, a world-class public research university that spans 25 campuses throughout Pennsylvania and four campuses within the California State University (CSU) system, the largest and most diverse four-year public university system in the country, now have access to Adobe creative tools. More than half of the students come from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds, and nearly one-third of undergraduates are the first in their families to attend college.

The CSU schools are committed to delivering quality and equitable education for all, which includes closing the digital divide to give its 130,000 yearly graduates the technical and digital skills required to succeed in modern workplaces. “People worldwide equate the Adobe brand with quality, creativity, and innovation,” said Cynthia Teniente-Matson, President of SJSU. “By bringing Adobe Creative Cloud apps like Adobe Express into classrooms, we’ve reimagined how we serve historically underrepresented student populations. They now have easier and quicker access to tools to learn skills that set them up for future success.”

Both Penn State and CSUs are Adobe Creative Campus partners, a growing community of higher education institutions across North America, Europe, Asia and Japan committed to boosting student outcomes and career success through equitable access to Adobe Creative Cloud and Adobe Express.

Kent State University in Ohio, Sheridan College in Canada, Marshall University in West Virginia, Northern Arizona University, Sheridan College in Canada and the State University of New York (SUNY) College of Environmental Science & Forestry (ESF) in New York are all new Adobe Creative Campuses. “This is a terrific benefit to ESF’s students, who now have additional access to creative tools and the opportunity to boost their digital skills. Our Adobe Creative Campus status is the perfect complement to ESF’s,“ said SUNY ESF President Joanie Mahoney. “As our world becomes increasingly digital, we are excited to extend these new tools to all students so they can learn to sharpen their skills and stand out after graduation.”

Adobe has also seen significant year-over-year growth in Asia, including the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) that will bring Adobe Express to more than 10,000 technical institutions across India and a new Adobe Creative Campus in New Zealand and Japan. Torrens University, Think Education and Media Design School, is a leading post-secondary education network offering undergraduate, graduate, and technical vocational credentials across Australia and New Zealand and The Ritsumeikan Trust, which includes two universities in Japan.

“Ritsumekan aims to become a next-generation research university, promoting the expanded recombination of research and education and the cultivation of innovation and emerging talent,” said Yoshio Nakatani, President. “As an Adobe Creative Campus, Ritsumeikan will strive to raise the level of creative skills throughout the university by enhancing hands-on training opportunities for students, faculty, and staff, enhancing university-wide skill development opportunities using on-demand materials, and demonstrating our commitment to the latest technologies, such as generative AI.”

Adobe is changing the world through digital experiences. For more information, visit www.adobe.com.

PR Contact Marlee Bever Adobe [email protected]

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