Secularism: a desirable way of life?
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can define secularism and describe advantages and disadvantages of secularism.
Key learning points
- In a secular society, religion and belief do not impact how society is run.
- The principle is that everybody is equal and free to believe or not believe as they wish.
- Secularism is not opposed to religion, though many secularists are atheists.
- Secularists do not think there should be allowances or distinctions made based on religion.
- This could be a contradiction in practice, as freedom of religion implies that religious needs are able to be met.
Keywords
Atheist - someone who does not believe in God or any gods
Freedom of religion - the right to practise a religion, change religion, or have no religion without interference
Pluralism - the belief that many different religions, beliefs, and ways of life can coexist equally in one society
Secularism - the principle that religion and belief should not influence how society or government is run
Common misconception
That only atheists support secularism.
Many religious people support secularism as it allows for all religions to be treated equally within a state.
Teacher tip
Students could research how the principles of secularism have been applied in other countries and create a table to compare the approaches. Countries such as Turkey and the United States could be compared.
Content guidance
Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
5 Questions
Q1.Who is the head of the Church of England?
Q2.Some people identify as Christian rather than religious.
Q3.Non-practising Christians may still believe in ...
Q4.What does ethno-religious mean?
Q5.Which Jewish festival is connected with heritage?
Assessment exit quiz
5 Questions
Q1.Match each keyword to its correct meaning:
Q2.What does secularism protect?
Q3.Who can support secularism?
Q4.Secularism supports equality before the ...
Q5.Why might secularism be contradictory?
To help you plan your 10 religious education lesson on: Secularism: a desirable way of life?, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 10 religious education lesson on: Secularism: a desirable way of life?, 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.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
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 4 religious education lessons from the Identity: how does religion or belief look now and what might the future bring? unit, dive into the full secondary religious education curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.