S3 Religious Moral and Philosophical Studies

Course Overview

All pupils will receive one hour of RMPS a week. During this hour you will be learning about the following units of work: 

Philosophy

· Does Freewill truly exist?

· Philosophy of Language

· Moral dilemmas

· Materialism

· Plato’s Cave

· What are thoughts?

· Paradox of motion

· Creation stories

As part of their 3rd year of RMPS pupils will vote as classes on which of the religious and moral topics they wish to cover. Their options are:

Ancient Religion: 

· Celtic

· Egyptian

· Greek

· Iranian

· Roman

Modern Religions:

· Buddhism 

· Christianity

· Hunduism

· Islam

· Judaism

· Shintoism 

· Sikhi

Morality:

· Life after death

· Ethics of embryos

· Relationships

· Animal Ethics

· Crime and punishment

· Conflict

Through these units we hope to ensure that through understanding different perspectives pupils will learn to become more empathetic, open and peace-seeking in an ever more complex and interconnected world. These units will help pupils to further develop their ability to articulate their own views confidently, critical thinking and autonomy. 

Learning and Teaching Approaches

RMPS covers a huge range of topics, from is the cost of war too much? To is this reality real? Throughout the course you will be involved in activities such as evaluating different opinions and beliefs, individual and group work, group and classroom debates, debating moral issues and participating in survival-style games. There will be clear targets set for you to complete during class and it will be at an appropriate level for you.

Homework

You will receive homework on a more regular basis. This might involve finishing off class work, or undertaking research into a chosen moral theory/philosophical issue. 

Assessment Approaches

Assessment will take place both formally and informally throughout the course. This can be done through creating a sceptical mind map, imitating the ones found in criminology, to evaluative posters about moral theories and one-pagers examining different viewpoints of your peers.