Religious toleration, peace and the docutube method: integrating filmmaking in religious and moral education

This article explores an example of how filmmaking can be used as a pedagogic tool in religious and moral education. Considering changing ways in which young people use digital technology to learn and communicate, this article introduces and critically evaluates a pedagogic method and resources developed as part of the RETOPEA (‘Religious Toleration and Peace’) project. This aims to support young people’s active learning about religious diversity in the past and present through the process of making short documentary-style films (so-called ‘docutubes’). This article discusses the findings of the evaluation of this method in a range of formal and informal educational settings in the UK as well as eight other European countries and Jordan. Taking into account practical and ethical considerations, it investigates how the multisensory and collaborative process of filmmaking can actively and critically engage young people in thinking about religious diversity, toleration and peace in the past and present. It explores how educational approaches involving filmmaking can support the development of key skills, including critical thinking, team-working and communication skills, needed to navigate a world in which the way information is shared is increasingly dominated by digital technology.