Help in teaching 11-12 Year olds (RE (Religious Education) in the UK)

I'm sorry, but I would have to disagree. My main reason would have to be that "adversarial techniques" typically create a false dichotomy. Without surprise, it seems this is what your OP creates, in it's omission of other options.The very fact that you stated to have taught "THE Creation Story" belies this omission of other options, in that there are countless Creation Stories throughout all the cultures in this world. The issue here though is you really are telling them what to think in your very omission of alternatives. This is a common strategy in diplomacy, war, and various board games. You limit your opponents options so you can more effectively control him/her.When you do that with children, it is the same effect. How many of your students are aware of the Annunaki, and Sumerian belief structures? How many are aware of the Code of Hammurabi which predates the possibly plagiarized "Commandments". Your surprise is unwarranted. Two sides is not all sides, and to pretend it to be is downright silly or misinformed on your part. That's just the problem though, isn't it? The children have to take the two scenarios (out of many) that you are telling them, and make a decision off those TWO SCENARIOS. So essentially, they aren't really choosing at all.It's like a reply I made to one of my buddies statements. He said one day when things got really bad: "We're either going to die cowards, or men!" to which I replied "I choose cake!".___________________________________In all seriousness, teaching children is one of the most important tasks one can have, as it directly influences a child for the rest of their life.I would highly recommend that you stick to religious explanations within your classroom, and go over each and every creation story of each major (historical and present) culture. Take those stories and have your students correlate what similarities and differences each story has. Then allow the class to discuss why they think these differences and similarities exist.They will learn plenty about the facts of evolution in biology class.Edited by Michamus, : typo

I don't think I have read a single reply doing this.The only thing I can think of as a cause for these feelings is our reply to your cry for help on the topic of religion and evolution. It appears you have taken some of the more critical of posts to heart (mine included) when really there was no personal attack at all. Awww, gone so soon? We didn't even get a chance to really discuss anything. I hope this isn't a result of a defensive mechanism recoiling at the sight of adversity. Excellent to hear. So when you said you taught "THE creation story" what you really meant was "I taught all the various creation stories". And what intentions are those exactly? The why do you use adversarial tactics? Do you not realize the very control this creates? I can't really explain it much more than I already have, but here's another try.Banker A says to Man B, you can either transfer your money to another account within our bank, leave the money in the bank account, or give us the money in the account.Now assuming the man's ignorance to all other options (Much like a child) what options does he not know, that may benefit him more than the options provided him? I'd say Option D, withdraw his money from the account, and ditch the bank. Maybe where you teach RE it is, but when I was in grade school RE class, I was taught all the abundance of religious views there are out there. Not once was I educated on scientific priniciples. I even recall one student asking about the contradiction between evolution and most religions. (I grew up in a more fundamentalist part of the country, and the student didn't put it so eloquently)The teacher's response was excellent in hindsight, but horribly strayed to my young fundamentalist self. His response was "I'm sorry, but this is a religious class, you can get all the answers about evolution and it's validity in biology class." (He had to define validity for most of us youngsters) Not so fast there. I was explicit in qualifying my statements. Apparently that isn't working, so I will do a direct comparison.You - Think that Religion A (Chrisitianity it seems) should be compared to Science B (Evolution) and they should be squared off in a battle royal for the young students to see.I - Think you are teaching a religious education class and should be teaching about the various religions throughout the world, and how they compare to each other (imagine that).Who is limiting the options beyond the already present limiting factors of the class topic? The answer is obvious. You shouldn't ask for criticism if you aren't ready/willing to receive it. I have seen no personal attacks on your character.I have seen excellent recommendations from educated individuals (like yourself) on what teaching styles should be employed. These responses are a direct response to your request for help on the very subject they are responding to.A word of advice. Next time you come for advice, check your ego at the door.