The science and RE curricula contain many opportunities, and mandates, for discussing interdisciplinary topics - for example, science educators are encouraged to explore the nature of science and how the science content knowledge being taught might link to ethics, philosophy and the wider societal context of science; RE teachers cover many scientific topics in relation to religious values and ideas about justice, ethics and wisdom; and primary teachers are being encouraged to link science education with other disciplines. Teachers in Wales have an even more explicit mandate towards interdisciplinary education. However, teacher training programmes and resources tend to mirror the siloed, subject-specific nature of school teaching, leaving educators in need of further support to facilitate rich, confident interdisciplinary education, especially between science and religious education.

The youth and schools (Y&S) team at The Faraday Institute for Science and Religion has established a strong foundation and reputation for training and resources that support educators to engage confidently with interdisciplinary education and questioning between science and religious education (RE) in England and Wales. At a time when Y&S funding for teacher training is ending, and schools and training providers face severe financial constraints, recent developments in UK education policy are making teachers even more open to the fresh ideas we can offer, creating a timely opportunity for The Faraday Institute’s approach and impact to build upon growing momentum and to expand, to meet needs across England and Wales.

This project will:
- Expand and diversify teacher training sessions - delivering 160 training sessions in training workshop settings to inspire and equip trainee and in-service teachers to confidently facilitate relevant, interdisciplinary science-religion discussions. This will include the development of 5 new sessions to address evolving teacher needs, timely topics and new resources.
- Develop and produce a suite of at least 3 new classroom resources, incorporating a range of new themes and ideas highlighted by teachers as areas of need. These resources will give busy teachers accessible, curriculum linked lesson plans that have been reviewed by relevant experts and other teachers, and which encourage rich, nuanced learning, enhanced critical thinking and better understanding of different ways of knowing, and interdisciplinary communication in general. These resources are each tailored for the science classroom, RE classroom or primary classroom, so provide the necessary knowledge, summaries and activities to support helpful science-RE discussions with a teacher who may be specialised in only one, or neither of, the subjects. Two of the resources will make use of experts in our network to meet a growing desire for resources on the emerging topics of neurodiversity, and AI & ethics; we have yet to identify the third topic but will do so through discussions with advisors and teachers. In addition to the 3 new topics, the project will also adapt current resources created for RE teachers on bioethics, climate change, challenging racism, and spirituality, for use by science teachers, as there is a new openness to exploring these topics in the science classroom (as demonstrated by the Association for Science Education (ASE) asking us to partner with them in this) and we aim to revisit existing resources (e.g. on cosmology) to ensure they are updated as appropriate, and all resources are adapted to be multi-faith, where possible.
- We will aim to write three articles for educational journals, to follow others we have written for the ASE, which have been well received.
- In addition to developing and delivering teacher training and resources, we will increase top-down impact by strengthening our existing collaborations with 6 strategic partnerships (including Ely diocese, the ASE and Welsh school improvement agencies) and developing strategic partnerships with at least 5 new educational stakeholders who are well placed to amplify and increase the impact of our work – for example, teacher training programme leaders, school improvement advisors, head teachers and diocesan educational directors. We aim to invest significant time and effort into developing strong strategic partnerships to establish trust and demonstrate that our work is relevant, helpful and well informed. This then means our training, resources and expertise goes on to have greater impact through new opportunities and wider audiences e.g. conferences, policy discussions, and guidance documents and exposure to wider networks of educators and decision-makers. Forming working relationships with school leaders and decision-makers also offers a top-down way to support teachers, making uptake more likely as leadership are on-board and enabling follow-through.
- We will multiply the impact of one-off workshops through the awarding of 6 teacher scholarships of £1000 each, through our strategic partners. These awards will allow teachers to trial various science and religion activities in their school setting, which they would not otherwise be able to do. These case studies can act as proof of concept and benefit within their school, and beyond, and bring about lasting change in their teaching practice.
- Support schools in their interdisciplinary science-religion initiatives, through gifting books to state schools, which are increasingly short of funding but welcome such resources for the enrichment of their teaching.

Over 700 educators will be more confident to use fresh ideas based on science and religion interdisciplinary thinking because of educational leaders making it a priority, attending training workshops and using teaching resources. This will result in increased interdisciplinary dialogue between science and religious education at policy and practice levels to address big questions facing society today. This project will also build on the Faraday Institute’s past work, engaging with young people and their educators, and communicating the work of a vast network of academics within science, theology and philosophy, as well as 5 years of concentrated effort building strong networks and partnerships amongst educators and key ‘gate keepers’.