Linda Woodhead's exploration of the 'nones' - agnosticism
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can explain why some of the ‘nones’ may be agnostics and use survey data to better understand this.
Key learning points
- Agnosticism means believing we cannot know if there is a God or not.
- A person may be religious and agnostic.
- Using surveys can be a useful way to find out what people believe.
- The Understanding Unbelief Project surveyed agnostics and athiests across various countries in the world.
Keywords
Agnosticism - the belief that it is unknown or unknowable whether any deities exist
Nones - individuals who identify as having 'no religion', a term explored in-depth by Linda Woodhead
Understanding Unbelief Project - a global study used to assess agnosticism and related beliefs through survey data
Common misconception
That agnostics have 'nothing in common' with religious people.
Agnostics have much in common with religious people and some people who have an agnostic faith stance identify as religious.
Teacher tip
Students can list reasons why people may believe that God exists and reasons why God may not exist and consider how this could influence an agnostic's belief position.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
5 Questions
Q1.Both the census and the British Social Attitudes survey show a rising rate of people identifying as ‘ religion.’
Q2.Why is ‘no religion’ a broad category?
Q3.The academic who studied the 'nones' is Woodhead.
Q4.One of Linda Woodhead's reasons for a rise in the ‘nones’ is of belief.
Q5.Another reason for a rise in the 'nones' is a pluralist society. What is this?
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.What is an agnostic?
Q2.Some people identify as ‘no religion’ yet still align with a .
Q3.According to the Understanding Unbelief Project, some people don't identify as agnostic even if:
Q4.Someone may have an agnostic stance yet still identify as culturally or personally.
Q5.What helps explain a person to be both religious and agnostic?
Q6.Which of these values do agnostics commonly share with religious people?
To help you plan your 9 religious education lesson on: Linda Woodhead's exploration of the 'nones' - agnosticism, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 9 religious education lesson on: Linda Woodhead's exploration of the 'nones' - agnosticism, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
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The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 3 religious education lessons from the Census: How has the landscape of belief changed in Britain? unit, dive into the full secondary religious education curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.