There is an excellent article in Schools Week by Dr John Taylor on the benefits of a GCSE in philosophy. It can be found here: bit.ly/15n0LKc. As someone who came to RE teaching via studying philosophy (rather than religion), I would be inclined to agree with him. Here is why I think a GCSE in philosophy could be a benefit to philosophy, and to RE.
Philosophy is not RE; RE is not philosophy
This, for me, is the main argument for introducing a GCSE in philosophy. There is a huge amount that can be gained by students studying the subject, and doing so without the constant link back to religion and religious teaching. Moral philosophy, for example, is a wonderful, rich area of study which does engage students when it appears in RE – but the constant need to then link back to ‘what do Christians say about this’…
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The Echo Chamber 