Articles by Bill Gent

On reflection

This article is for paying subscribers

Commonplace reflections: The proof is in the meaning

For generations, particular people – for a variety of reasons – have kept notebooks in which they write and record poems, thoughts, proverbs and sayings, etc. Anything, in fact, that takes their fancy. Some of...

Published in: Volume 38, Number 1
Tagged: RE

Reviews

This article is for paying subscribers

Review – Eve Harris, The Marrying of Chani Kaufman

(Sandstone 2013), 371pp, paperback, £8.99, ISBN 978-1-908737-43-4. Reading this first novel by Eve Harris took me back to the time when, as a youngish teacher, I began to be interested in the world of Hassidic Jewry and...

Published in: Volume 32, Number 1
Tagged: Judaism

Editorial

This article is for paying subscribers

Teachers as persons

It was during a recent school half- term break, when my five year-old granddaughter began to cry because she was missing her class teacher, that I was reminded, once again, of the significance of the teacher as a person...

Published in: Volume 32, Number 1

On reflection

This article is for paying subscribers

Commonplace reflections: ‘Do we need a table glove?’ The glorious world of misheard and mispronounced words

For generations, particular people – for a variety of reasons – have kept notebooks in which they write and record poems, thoughts, proverbs and sayings etc. Anything, in fact, that takes their fancy. Some of these...

Published in: Volume 37, Number 3

On reflection

This article is for paying subscribers

Commonplace reflections: the tragi-comical life of a stammerer

Published in: Volume 37, Number 2

On reflection

This article is for paying subscribers

The mystery of the empty chair in the hollow square off from RE

In the first of a new occasional series of REflections, our previous and much-loved editor, Bill Gent, recounts, in a way that only he can, a memorable day at an ancient Cambridge college. I recently attended a day-long...

Published in: Volume 36, Number 1

Last word

This article is for paying subscribers

Shredded Wheat, funny zebras and Greek earthquakes

It is hardly a startlingly new insight to say that the process of learning is intrinsically bound up with memory and memorisation. We know this now, as have human beings and societies since the dawn of time (but how...

Published in: Volume 36, Number 2

On reflection

This article is for paying subscribers

Tales from school: a foot in the mouth

The scene: as a local authority education adviser, being invited to a girls’ grammar school in order to assist at the interview for the head of sixth form.

Published in: Volume 36, Number 2

Editorial

This article is for paying subscribers

Oh, for serendipity and happenstance!

My brain seems to be hard-wired to notice fine details, particularly regarding word use. I can remember, for instance, the exact circumstances when I first came across specific words such as ‘pact’,...

Published in: Volume 33, Number 3
Tagged: RE teachers, teaching, Planning

Reviews

This article is for paying subscribers

Reviews – My way: A Muslim Woman’s Journey

Mona Siddiqui, My Way: A Muslim Woman’s Journey (I B Taurus 2015), 222pp, hardback, £20.00, ISBN 9781780769349. This fine book, one of a large number written by this well-known British Muslim scholar and...

Published in: Volume 33, Number 1
Tagged: Islam, Muslim

Reviews

This article is for paying subscribers

Reviews

Janet Dyson, Reviews Editor As so often happens, I found both of these reviews made me want to know more about the books and their authors. Bill Gent’s wide-ranging reading frequently introduces us to books we might...

Published in: Volume 33, Number 2
Tagged: Religions of the World, teaching

Editorial

This article is for paying subscribers

Standing on the shoulders of giants

The saying ‘standing on the shoulders of giants’ is commonly attributed to Isaac Newton, though he borrowed the imagery from earlier writers. Its meaning is usually said to be that, if we can see further than former...

Published in: Volume 33, Number 1

Editorial

This article is for paying subscribers

Memorable experiences in RE

So there we were, some 30 or so years ago: the Gent family (me, my wife and two small children), our heads covered, bare-footed, standing on the cold roof of a newly built two-storey Sikh gurdwara in West Bromwich. As a...

Published in: Volume 33, Number 2
Tagged: Sikhism, Islam

Theory and practice

This article is for paying subscribers

MOOCs: the teacher’s flexible friend?

There has always been (and never more so than in today’s climate) the urgent need for accessible professional development for teachers in order to provide them with greater knowledge, deeper understanding and growing...

Published in: Volume 34, Number 2
Tagged: online course

Reviews

This article is for paying subscribers

Reviews

Janet Dyson, Reviews Editor The two books reviewed below deal with very different subject matter but both are highly relevant for teachers and school leaders. Mark Plater reviews the findings of an important research...

Published in: Volume 34, Number 3
Tagged: diversity, British Values, Leadership

Theory and practice

This article is for paying subscribers

Believing, belonging and behaving: some considerations when teaching about Islam

Even for teachers who have acquired specialised knowledge about religions, teaching about particular traditions can be daunting: I don’t think I know enough. What happens if I get things ‘wrong’? Am I up to...

Published in: Volume 34, Number 3
Tagged: Islam, beliefs, diversity, Muslim

Theory and practice

This article is for paying subscribers

Believing, belonging and behaving: some considerations when teaching about Islam

Part 2: belonging and behaving Doctor Jenny Berglund is an Associate Professor at the department of the Study of Religions, Södertörn University, Stockholm, and a Visiting Associate Professor at the Warwick Religions...

Published in: Volume 35, Number 1
Tagged: Islam, Muslim

Reviews

This article is for paying subscribers

Reviews

As I read the reviews below I was reminded of the writings of philosopher Maria Lugones¹ and her use of the metaphor of ‘worldtravelling’. She describes how by travelling to the ‘worlds’ of others we can...

Published in: Volume 35, Number 3
Tagged: Islam, Christianity, Muslim, christian

Editorial

This article is for paying subscribers

So long, it’s been good to know you

Most of us who have been professionally involved in RE must realise, I think, that constant reference to the ways and wisdom of the various religious traditions does rub off on us. So, when I decided to relinquish the...

Published in: Volume 34, Number 1

Editorial

This article is for paying subscribers

Worldview analysis

Ninian Smart (1927–2001), that doyen of phenomenological religious studies, had a reputation as a raconteur. One tale that he told related to travelling in compartmentalised trains when a young university lecturer. As...

Published in: Volume 32, Number 3

Editorial

This article is for paying subscribers

Commonplace thoughts

It was reported that the sixteenth-century French writer and inventor of the essay form – Montaigne – inscribed favourite sayings and quotations on his study ceiling. But there were others, too, who collected notable...

Published in: Volume 32, Number 2

Opinion

This article is for paying subscribers

Words of wisdom over time

Dr Bill Gent edits the Professional REflection section of REtoday. He is an associate fellow of the Warwick Religions and Education Research Unit at the University of Warwick. [email protected]

Published in: Volume 32, Number 2