Connections and convergences
Sunita Biswas
True learning happens when you can see the big picture. No knowledge, to paraphrase John Donne, is an island, entire of itself. Every little fact connects with another and then another. Educators are well aware of this and the framers of curricula generally follow this aphorism. Yet, when teachers get busy with the task of ‘completing the syllabus’, learning becomes a super fast train hurtling through a tunnel. In at one end and out through the other – missing the vastness and beauty of the landscape that lies beyond.
To avoid the ‘tunnel vision’ trap, teachers need to keep the larger landscape in mind. They need to go beyond the textbook to encourage students to discover the interconnectedness of things. And wherever possible relate it to our everyday lives. Of course there are the unavoidable constraints of time, resources and numbers. But where there’s a will there’s always a way to work around these hurdles. The exceptional teacher has time and again proved this rule.
This article looks at a multi-disciplinary approach to a very standard topic in the middle school history syllabus – the study of major world religions. We find ourselves living in an increasingly intolerant world – particularly one fractured by religious divide. As educators it falls to us to inculcate an open mind and a sense of objectivity and perspective in our students. The single, most effective way to do that is to acquaint the students with the core facts and from there lead them towards further explorations and connections. If this can be achieved in a bias-free atmosphere the students will hopefully think before being judgmental or dismissive towards religions other than their own. Thus the educator’s ability to handle religion as an academic subject becomes very important.
Since the students in the middle school learn about the major religions followed in India as part of the history curriculum, this unit begins in the history classroom. Here through the 5Ws, 1H approach they become acquainted with the basic facts about each religion. That is – they get to know When and Where the religion began, Who began it, Why it was necessary at that point of time and How it became widely accepted. Through the study of all these facts emerges the big W – What is the religion all about? The beliefs, teachings, ways of worship, holy days and festivals, etc. become a part of the fact file for each. The teacher chooses her preferred resource to teach these facts and this can range from the prescribed textbook, to readymade or prepared presentations, to guided-research by the students, to a series of chats (no lectures in the middle school!) by learned practitioners. It could be one or a combination of these or any other resource available to the teacher. When all the facts have been gathered, the student learns summarization skills by putting them into a clear and well-designed graphic organizer or an infographic. However, the aim of the teacher is not merely to teach the facts but also to encourage critical thinking based on the facts. So, as each religion is studied and the students identify the overarching features, they compare and analyze those features with that of another religion studied previously. The teacher’s primary objective is to lead them to the realization that a common thread of love, compassion and brotherhood runs through all of them. These findings are once again organized graphically to reinforce the learning.
Once this work is in progress in the history classroom, the other subjects now begin their extensions on the same theme.
The language classes bring in the innumerable stories that are a part of every religion. These stories are shared and discussed and comprehension and vocabulary lesson plans are born out of them. Next, an element of drama is introduced through group enactments of these stories. Any one or a combination of religions can be selected, the stories explored for purposes of dramatization, and scripts, dialogues and costumes added for enhanced language learning and creative expression. There are schools in countries outside India which specifically do not want teachers to use role plays and enactments as teaching activities because it may go against the religious sentiments of the students. Most schools (and students) in India still regard these as fun learning activities. Another way to work with these stories would be to create graphic novels or flipbooks. The lives of the prophets could also become the subject of such work which is extremely appealing to the artistic learner.
At about the same time, the geography classroom would witness budding cartographers busy filling and colouring maps to depict the places of origin, development and spread of the religions culminating in a study of present population figures and distribution around the world. This could be done the traditional pen-and-paper way with blank outline maps of the world. Or, much more exciting for the students, they can be plotted on maps on computer screens. The IT teacher can show them the way and continue to make significant value-additions by helping them analyze and present their learning on the screen through pie-charts and bar-graphs as they depict the diaspora of each religion.
Religion is synonymous with music, art and architecture and the unit moves easily into the music and art rooms to learn melodious hymns, chants and songs in various languages, all dedicated to God, and to create beautiful patterns of mosaic, stained glass, calligraphy and floral patterns that decorate the different dwelling places of God. Working with the various tunes and colours makes “alien” faiths familiar and removes prejudice. If a field trip can be organised to a house of worship, specifically that of a religious minority in the classroom or the school community, it leaves a lasting impact on the minds of the students. The architecture and artwork mingle with the prayers and practices to bring the religion alive for the students. Of course it remains the educator’s duty to train the students’ responses, guiding them to replace “That’s so weird” with “That’s so interesting!”
All this while, as the unit has travelled in and out of various classrooms, it has remained the ongoing theme in the one subject area that most effectively teaches us to reflect on our individual lives – and that is value education. Here, through a series of teacher-led discussions, students explore the significance of the common threads that run through the religions they have been studying. This does not mean reducing all religions to things held in common and excluding all that makes each faith unique. They look at the overarching message imparted by these religions to form an understanding of basic human values that impact our lives.
The students are also encouraged to think about this from the point of view of worship. Worship is universal and an integral part of every religion. It can be very different in different religions and sometimes the expressions of worship can be influenced by cultures and traditions even within the same religion. There is public and private worship and it includes the whole gamut of prayer, rites, rituals and ceremonies, sacred objects and images. However at the end of the day, worship is mostly about the person’s ability to be responsible for his/her own actions. This introspection and realization is important in nurturing acceptance and inclusion in the thought process. When the discussion is done the students work on a graphic representation, like a poster perhaps, of what worship is and what it means to them. They can also put their thoughts down for a brief address to the class. All these activities help in developing critical thinking, language and presentation skills.
There are an unending number of varied activities and lesson extensions that can be added here. This is a unit that is popular with teachers and students and it has been done many times in many different ways. Multi-faith assemblies and presentations are frequently put up in schools and it is a great way to teach tolerance. What is important to remember here is that the aim of this multi-disciplinary approach to world religions is primarily to show the students how it touches so many subject areas and how it is relevant to their lives in all of these areas. The educator needs to take care to distinguish between teaching a religion and teaching about a religion.
Finally – true learning must be celebrated! So, at the end of the unit the students put all their work together into a consolidated presentation for an audience, maybe for an assembly, where they open with the songs they have learnt in the music class, enact a chosen story from their language classroom, run a digital presentation of the maps and bar graphs they have plotted during the geography and IT classes, and put up a display of the various paintings, charts, infographics and posters they have created for art, history and value education. And, in conclusion, some of them can address the gathering and share their thoughts on worship. This would probably be a much more comprehensive and student-friendly way to assess learning than answering a question paper or filling up a worksheet. The journey would thus be complete.
Points to ponder
•Leaning about different religions helps one to better understand human societies.
• When we are aware, we become sensitive and mutually respectful.
• When we analyze, we find similarities, not differences.
• When we know more, we look at literature, art and music inspired by religion as our heritage.
• When we understand, we cannot hate.
• When we accept, the world becomes a better place.
The author has, at various times over the past two decades, taught all classes from nursery to 12. At present she teaches history at the middle and senior school levels at Modern High School for Girls, Kolkata. She can be reached at sunceebee@gmail.com.
