NEW SPECIFICATIONS IN GCSE RS A GUIDE ONE OF

 1997 CRA FILE SPECIFICATIONS (MAGNETIC TAPE AND DISKETTES)
017 SOUTHWEST ALUMINUM SYSTEMS CHANDLER ARIZONA PHONE 8005444044 SPECIFICATIONS
1 SPECIFICATIONS FOR DESKTOP COMPUTERSM90Z PROCESSORS INTEL® CORE™

2016IQDK006CTMETAL MINIMUM METAL SPECIFICATIONS THE PROJECT ENVISAGES CONSTRUCTING HIGHQUALITY
20212022 RAINBOW ROLLERS BYLAWS 1 GENERAL LEAGUE SPECIFICATIONS A
31303 MAILBOX INSTALLATIONS THE STANDARD SPECIFICATIONS ARE REVISED AS

New Specifications in GCSE RE

NEW SPECIFICATIONS IN GCSE RS


A Guide:


One of the most significant features of RE in recent years has been the enormous rise in young people taking full and or short course RE / RS. 2009 marks a significant step forward with new specifications and criteria for the subject. The following charts set out the key content for the various awarding bodies and highlight the key criteria.


The new criteria for RE:


The two central assessment objectives are :-

AO1:- describe, explain and analyse using knowledge and understanding (50%)
AO2:- use evidence and reasoned argument to express and evaluate personal
responses, informed insights and differing viewpoints (50%)


A key concern for many RE teachers has been the sheer volume of content to be covered (especially in short course) and some specifications have reduced content. It is also noticeable that the most popular options (build around ultimate questions /philosophy of religion and ethical issues) dominate curriculum content. Overall there are not many new innovations( with one noticeable exception) in terms of curriculum content but there remains a significant breadth of choice. All four major awarding bodies (AQA, Edexcel, OCR and WJEC) do provide extensive back up support materials to the specifications, some of which are tied in with student / teacher books and CD-ROM presentations. There are also strong correlations between the short and full course options in most specifications.


A Guide to Individual Specifications:


AQA - Two central specifications


A - Religious Beliefs and Lifestyles

B - Ethics, Philosophy and Religion in Society


AQA - A

Religions studied - 1 / 2 (from the 6 major religions )plus units on Philosophy of Religion, study of St Mark’s, St Luke’s Gospel, Roman Catholicism.

14 units available in total (1 must be studied for short course, 2 for full course)


The individual religions studied contain quite traditional material (beliefs, sources of authority, religious leaders, places of worship, celebrations and festivals). The Ethics option (available for Christianity, Roman Catholicism, Islam and Judaism) focus on medical ethics, sex and drugs (sadly rock ‘n roll is missing), marriage, prejudice and discrimination, the environment, world poverty, war and peace and finally crime and punishment (as one 16 year-old succinctly expressed ‘I quite like RE but sometimes it just seems one damn big problem after another’). The unit on the philosophy of religion covers traditional areas such as the existence of God, characteristics of God, revelation, problem of evil and the compatibility of religion and science.

Examination: 1hr 30mins paper per unit, featuring 4 compulsory short-answer stimulus response questions and two optional extended response questions; candidates choose one.


AQA - B


Six units in total, from which one unit equals short course two equals full course.


Unit titles:

Religion and Citizenship

Religion and Life Issues

Religion and Morality

Religious Philosophy and Ultimate Questions

Religious Expression in Society

Worship and Key Beliefs


Each unit is then broken down into six topics (e.g. unit 1 has topics on religion and relationships, sport and leisure work, multi-cultural society, identity, human rights) with four questions to be answered in the examination. AQA B is more modular in contrast to the systematic study of individual religions in Specification A. Unit 5 Religious Expression contains interesting material such as Religion and Art, Literature, the Media and Music.


EDEXCEL: has one central specification with 16 unit choices. The first 7 units are entitled:- Religion and Life (based on a study of either individual religions or Christianity plus one other religion) The list of topics initially is very familiar (Believing in God, Matters of Life and Death, Marriage and the Family) but the final unit Religion and Community Cohesion has a more contemporary resonance looking at issues of religion in a multi-faith society.


Unit 8- Religion and Society sub-divides into the key topics of rights and responsibilities, environmental and medical issues, peace and conflict and crime and punishment.


The remaining units are more traditional and focus on individual religions.



ASSESSMENT:

Each unit is a 1½ hour examination, divided into 4 sections where students choose one of two questions set for each questions i.e. four questions in total.


EdExcel has maintained its tradition of very comprehensive support materials and teachers guidance which is very clear on what is new and what has been deleted from previous specifications.


OCR initially had two specifications but has recently added a much more radical and innovative third specification (RS: C entitled Religion and Belief in Today’s World; significantly based on the Ofsted report ‘Making Sense of Religion‘).


Specification A is largely concerned with the study of individual religions and is fairly traditional in content and covers the six major religions with one unit based on relationships, medical ethics, poverty and wealth.


Specification B is mainly focused on Philosophy and / or Applied Ethics. There are four units in total (two for short course, four for full course).


The units cover topics such as:-




ASSESSMENT:

Each unit (four in total for full course, 2 for short course) is assessed by a 1hr written paper.



Specification C: Religion and Belief in Today’s World is a significant and welcome addition to the GCSE RE options. Based very clearly on the Ofsted report ‘Making Sense of Religion’ the course has 4 units (2 for short course) namely:-




Within these units there are some fascinating topics such as the Influence of Christianity on British Politics, the Impact of Religion on Everyday Life and the Rise and Interest in Religious Movements. This spec is clearly a challenge and unlikely to have an immediate textbook support but is lively and highly relevant to the current focus on Community Cohesion.



ASSESSMENT:

Each unit has three questions and is an hour long. Candidates are required to answer 2 of the 3 questions



WJEC has 2 main specifications:


Specification A has 8 units on individual religions plus further options in studying Christianity including Christian Philosophy and Ethics. What is unusual about these units are that the areas studied directly correlate with the areas of learning/strands in the national RE framework e.g. beliefs, teachings and sources, meaning, purpose and truth which give the content a sharper edge.


Specification B is more thematic and has 2 central units ‘Religion and Life Issues’ and Religion and Human Experience (1 unit for short course, both for full). As with other specifications these are then broken down into topics. Religion and Life has some interesting material on relationships, justice and equality and the environment. In religion and human experience the material on religion and conflict and authority is lively and challenging



ASSESSMENT:

Each unit has a written paper of 1 hour 45minutes with four structured questions



SUMMARY:

In some cases little appears to have changed from previous specifications which may be good in terms of familiarity but there are missed opportunities to really build on the national RE framework and in particular the KS3 position. The real innovation is the OCR Specification C which offers a significantly different kind of RE content and directly engages with Community Cohesion issues and the place of religion in today’s world. It is also interesting to note the irony that is the Welsh Board who has made the clearest use of the English national RE framework! It does seem difficult to continue a justification of death by festival at GCSE level but with some thoughtful choices there are some lively and engaging options here. It will be fascinating to see how the increase to 50% evaluation impacts on student performance.


4



369 GUIDEFORM SPECIFICATIONS SEPTEMBER 2006 NOTE TO SPECIFIER FOR
41206 LINEAR GRADING THE STANDARD SPECIFICATIONS ARE REVISED AS
5 ALUMINUM STRUCTURAL PLATE SPECIFICATIONS 10 GENERAL 11 THIS


Tags: guide to, specifications, guide