RE for TWOS: teachers with other specialisms

Was it one of Shakespeare's characters who said, 'Some are born to teach great RE, some achieve great RE teaching, and some just have RE teaching thrust upon them'?

Probably not, but there are many routes and reasons for teachers who have not trained in religious education to have RE on their teaching timetable. For a start, it will usually be part of every primary teacher's responsibility to teach a lesson of RE every week. And there is such a national shortage of RE specialists at secondary level, that there are many RE classes being taught by so-called 'non-specialists', or as we prefer to say here, 'teachers with other specialisms' (TWOS).

Of course, this doesn't necessarily mean that children are getting a bad deal. In fact, teachers who USE their own interests and expertise, plus their general teaching skills, can and do teach some great RE lessons.

This section of Better RE aims to help those of you who have arrived at RE without specific training to find your way through the maze of syllabuses, attainment targets, religions, denominations, sects, cults and schools of thought, to a better understanding of what counts as 'good RE'. It also points the way for further development, enabling you to increase your expertise in the subject and hopefully, your enthusiasm for the subject!

Two paths are prepared, one for Primary TWOS>> and one for Secondary TWOS>>.