Values as the new religion
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can explain what Linda Woodhead means by values as the new religion and state to what extent I agree or disagree.
Key learning points
- Linda Woodhead is a British sociologist of religion.
- Her work includes tracking changes and trends and considering their implications for religion and society.
- She has determined that people are now aligning by values more than organised religion.
- Organised religion contains a way of living that may also mean followers are aligned by value as well as religion.
Keywords
Function - what something does; in sociology what does the institution do for members of that society
Linda Woodhead - British sociologist of religion
Nones - people who say they have “no religion” on surveys such as the England and Wales census
Values - principles or beliefs that guide how a person thinks, behaves, and understand what matters in life
Common misconception
That Linda Woodhead argues values are a new religion, and the same as a religion.
Linda Woodhead argues that values are replacing the function of religion by giving purpose, meaning, guidance and community to people, but not that they are becoming 'religions'.
Teacher tip
Students could conduct a wider survey of their friendship groups beyond the classroom to see if they align on certain values together.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
5 Questions
Q1.Which of the following is most likely an unchanging characteristic?
Q2.A person’s date of birth is a fact about them.
Q3.Which example shows others perceiving someone based on their characteristics?
Q4.Life often shape the causes someone supports.
Q5.What can identifying with a cause reveal?
Assessment exit quiz
5 Questions
Q1.Match each keyword to its meaning:
what something does
people who say they have “no religion” on surveys
principles or beliefs that guide how a person thinks and behaves
Q2.Linda Woodhead is a British of religion.
Q3.Which example shows religion losing influence?
Q4.Linda Woodhead argues that have become a new religion for some people.
Q5.Which function of religion might values struggle to replace?
To help you plan your 10 religious education lesson on: Values as the new religion, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 10 religious education lesson on: Values as the new religion, 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.