In 2007, I gained a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) from Roehampton University, qualifying as a Religious Education specialist and subsequently working as a secondary school teacher in Sheffield.
One of my mentors during my training combined her role in the R.E. department with a separate responsibility as “Head of LIFE”. This was the name given to the package of knowledge and skills specified in curriculum requirements for Citizenship and Personal, Social and Health Education. It was also a rather fine job title.
As a teacher, I took particular pleasure in leading the A-level classes. Their Philosophy and Ethics course took me back to rich materials first encountered early in my BA degree. In revision season, I enjoyed requiring my students to reprocess their learning with play dough (as Michael Ramsey’s more complete work demonstrates, the kinaesthetics of Plato’s Cave were among the easier concepts to reproduce).
Although I left secondary school teaching, I have continued my interest in religious education in my work on biblical literacy and the curriculum.