A Modular Semantic Annotation Framework: CellML Metadata Specifications 2.0

In the last decade or so, model encoding efforts such as CellML and SBML have greatly facilitated model availability. But, as the complexity of models increases, the utility of these models can vary. The addition of semantic information is crucial to transforming mathematical models from esoteric to informative resources. 

We have developed a metadata specification framework to better enable the annotation of CellML models with metadata. The framework consists of a core specification describing, in general terms, how annotations should be attached using RDF/XML, and satellite specifications covering several domains of immediate interest, using elements from the Dublin Core, FOAF (Friend-Of-A-Friend), BIBO (Bibliographic Ontology), MIRIAM URNs and Biomodels Qualifiers.

We also describe what we see as several emerging challenges in the field, uncovered during the application of this annotation scheme to mathematical models

Editorial: the return to worldview - reflections from the UK

An exploration of the significance of the use of the term worldview in the recent report from the Commission on Religious Education (England)

Knowledge in a religion and worldviews approach in English schools

The Final Report of the Commission on Religious Education (CoRE) in England published in 2018 advocated what it called a religion and worldviews approach. One of the significant questions it provoked was the approach to knowledge that it took. This article explores this question. It first explains the background to the Commission Report and then the subsequent interpretative work undertaken by the Religious Education Council of England and Wales to develop its recommendations. It then focuses on the vision lying behind the religion and worldviews approach that draws on CoRE’s claim that ‘everyone has a worldview’, and reviews the debate that resulted around that claim. A detailed consideration of the approach to worldview taken in the subsequent REC work and its exemplification in a revised Statement of Entitlement follows. Finally, it is argued that the understanding of knowledge taken in this literature resonates with that of Michael Polanyi in his development of the idea of personal knowledge and that of Andrew and Elina Wright’s exposition of critical realism. The article advocates that this results in an approach to RE that puts learning to make scholarly and reflexive judgments at the heart of knowledge-rich RE

Everyone has a worldview?

A reflection on the notion of worldview as introduced in the Commission on RE Report published in September 2018

Worldview in religious education: autobiographical reflections on The Commission on Religious Education in England final report

The notion of worldview figures prominently in the recent discourse surrounding Religious Education (RE) in English schools following the publication of the final report of the Commission on Religious Education (CoRE) in 2018. This article reflects on the veracity of this initiative. It begins with an autobiographical reflection on the impact of worldview on the author’s development as a scholar. Then, the work of several critics of CoRE is discussed and a more nuanced understanding of worldview is developed as a result. Finally, the pedagogical implications of the shift to worldview are explored by drawing on the personal development approach of Michael Grimmitt and the responsible hermeneutics approach of Anthony Thiselton

The Commission on Religious Education – A response to L. Philip Barnes

In a recent article, L. Philip Barnes critiques the Commission on Religious Education (CoRE) Final Report by scrutinising its text and by responding to my interpretation of that text. His particular, but not exclusive, focus is CoRE’s proposal that the idea of worldview should be central to RE. His conclusion is that: ‘The collective force of these criticisms counsels against implementing the proposals of CoRE. Religious education needs to look elsewhere than to a worldview curriculum to overcome its current travails’. This article responds by arguing that Barnes fails to justify his conclusion because his critique does not meet the standards of a fair and responsible treatment of his chosen focal texts. In particular, it misrepresents and misinterprets the CoRE Report and overlooks the alternative interpretation that I and others offered

Gert Biesta and Patricia Hannam (Eds.), Religion and Education: The Forgotten Dimensions of Religious Education? (Brill/Sense, 2021)

Book review

What if learning character development project : final report

The report of the DfE funded research project on character development in Church of England schools conducted by the National Institute for Christian Education Research

Understanding Christianity: exploring a hermeneutical pedagogy for teaching Christianity

Disagreements about how Christianity should be taught in state-funded school RE have a long history. In this article we take England as a case study and examine the debates that have arisen about the legitimacy of a theologically-based pedagogy following the publication of Understanding Christianity, a resource inspired by recent developments in academic theological hermeneutics. We particularly focus on the question whether or not pupils should be treated as insiders or outsiders. Drawing on Anthony Thiselton’s notion of responsible hermeneutics, we argue that this offers a robust model for an academically rigorous approach to teaching Christianity in schools that enables pupils to be both insiders and outsiders in the hermeneutical process. We then illustrate how Understanding Christianity has attempted to embody this aspiration