‘Going boldly’ in RE: fellowships strengthening teaching in challenging times in England

In this paper, we highlight the transformative potential of a sustained, subject-specific professional development model for religious education (RE) teachers’ ‘pedagogical and subject knowledge’ in the form of a Teacher Fellowship, based on key aspects of an earlier model offered by the Historical Association, and grounded in academic theology, dialogical pedagogy and collaborative inquiry. Through a pilot study, we demonstrate its potential to enhance teachers’ subject confidence, promote deeper curricular reflection, and generate a renewed sense of professional purpose. While limited in scale, the findings support a replicable and scalable solution which addresses critical challenges in RE—particularly the growing reliance on non-specialist teachers and the subject's marginalisation in national educational priorities.