AB from Cardiff writes:
Although I've been teaching RE for five years, I still find it
difficult to get the balance right between sanitising religions on the one hand
and, on the other hand, presenting them so strongly that students are at risk of
being overwhelmed and perhaps indoctrinated. What do you advise?
Terence Copley replies:
This is a real difficulty for good RE and you aren't alone in this. We don't
want children to see religions as tame hobbies. That sort of teaching leaves
them unable to understand how anyone can live for a religion, let alone die for
one. How can children understand religion as a complete way of life if it's
presented as an optional set of beliefs in the attic of the mind? At the same
time we have a long honourable tradition in UK RE of not wanting to present
religions so forcefully that the child is overcome by a sort of religious
tornado and just swept into whatever religion we happen to be studying at the
time.
I think that the key question with which to audit our classroom presentation of a religion or a non-theistic life stance such as humanism is:
Does the unit of work provide
- the 'voice of experience'
- a distancing device
- opportunity to reflect?
What do these mean in practice?
The voice of experience is an insider view of the religion being studied, unashamedly from the perspective of that faith. Of course, it is always 'a Hindu view' not 'the Hindu view'. The obvious example is derived from a visitor to the classroom, interviewed by the class, using questions they have prepared in advance and ending with the visitor reading a piece of writing from their religion that means a great deal to them. Or the voice of experience might be a video/DVD clip of a member of a faith talking about their views. Or it might be an audio CD interview (produced by older children as part of previous RE project work or derived from a field work visit?) or of volunteer anonymous children from another class talking as interview subjects and not interviewers. Or of volunteer parents willing to help the RE department from a faith community represented in the school. The voice of experience does not always have to be the 'religious professional'.
Distancing devices were used by the excellent Birmingham-originated RISC (Religion in the Service of the Child) project. This project demonstrated how world religions RE could be handled with nursery and infant children. It was felt that a small child, hearing, say, Lakshmi's story, might easily be caught up into a religion which was not that of their home or upbringing and that they could not exercise any real 'choice' in that situation. So the teacher encouraged them to stand back and distance themselves by means of questions such as 'This is Lakshmi's story... but whose story do I know that talks about... What does my story say about...?' In the secondary classroom 'That's how it is for her/him. How might it be for someone of a different religion or life stance?' can be a useful distancing tool. 'How does it square with my experience?' enables proximity and distance at the same time. It draws the student closer to the subject in that they are engaging with it and not merely learning about it, but it makes no assumption that the view put forward in the religion being studied will necessarily be shared by the student.
Opportunity to reflect is sometimes difficult to provide in the - at least potentially - boisterous atmosphere of some classrooms. A few prompt questions, not intended for class discussion or 'hands up' answer, but for individual students to think about, can help the first stages of reflection. Students used to stilling exercises will find reflection in class easier to undertake. Journaling can also be used as a device to encourage reflection. Written reflection is sometimes easier for students and can lead into deeper understanding than can be achieved in a few minutes of classroom silence. Poetry is another way into reflection. Rather than spend all the night before the lesson on a frantic internet search for a poem on the theme in question, it can be easier for the teacher to write a short poem herself and deliver it (anonymously!) as part of the lesson.
Honing one's own teaching skills in addressing these audit questions can go a long way along the tightrope between sanitising religions or zapping children with them and, let's face it, writing poetry is more creative than some activities teachers are currently required to undertake!
