It’s another exciting podcast epsiode, to me they are all exciting, but I really enjoyed this one. We are joined by Dr James Holt, University of Chester. James is a teacher Educator and completes research in Religious Studies, as well as publishign books to help improve subject knowledge.
This was something we talked a lot about, how to choose religions to teach and how to teach them properly. I used James book, Beyond the Big Six Religions: Expanding the Boundaries in the Teaching of Religion and Worldviews *, recently when developing a few lessons on Rastafari but I found the introduction of the book really interesting when James discusses how do we select what religions to teach.
This is why I recently changed to teaching Sikhism as part of our Higher Course after getting the Census data from our local area and the Seemis census results. It is really important that our community is reflected in our classrooms.
We also talk about often there is a tendancy to teach ‘the sexy’ bits of religion. The hooks to get the pupils attention without giving justice to the wider beliefs and practices surrounding that. An example; being focusing on teaching Reggae Music and Marijuana when teaching Rastafari without looking at any other beliefs, practices and traditions. James has a free CPD resource on his website for those interested in teaching Rastafari.
As the name of the podcast suggests we discuss “What is RME?” or more importantly what isn’t RME. We discuss whether it is appropriate to consider mythology or ancient religions in an RME classroom.
Non religious views are a topic of discussion, and we discuss the naunce and diversity that can come with non religious views and how an RME teacher might teach this. James recommends the Theos Think Tank Report – The Nones.
Suggested places to look for resources come up. James has written in depth “Understanding” books to help with subject knowledge.
- Understanding Sikhism*
- Understanding Buddhism*
- Understanding Hinduism*
- Understanding Judaism (Released May 2026)*
His website is also packed with resources for increasing subject knowledge including resources for teaching about Latter Day Saints and Philosophy of Religion.
Furthermore he also recommended the resources found on the Bahai website, Humanism UK
James can be contacted on james.holt@chester.ac.uk and can be found on TikTok @drjamesdholt
There is so much to unpack and discuss from this episode and I would love to carry on the conversation. You can email learningrmps@gmail.com or find me on Social Media @LearningRMPS (Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Bluesky)
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