Preparing an effective course on world religions can be a challenging but equally rewarding task. In this issue of Connect, Patrick Tiernan, of Boston College High School, shares his experience and suggestions for creating a productive world religions classroom. Patrick's article reviews the benefits of having a course on world religions. He brings to light how a course on world religions in a post-9-11 world can help relieve students' misunderstandings about people who embrace a different faith life than their own. Patrick also provides teachers with guidelines for creating a classroom atmosphere that is open to dialogue and respectful discussion.

In "Making It Happen," Patrick presents the benefits of having a well organized curriculum map in a world religions course. He also explains how students can benefit from reading primary source literature from different faith traditions and from engaging in dialogue with invited guest speakers who practice the religions addressed in the class. A well-structured world religions class can help students take ownership of their learning and become involved in the broadening of their mind while creating a greater appreciation for their own faith values.

Feature Article | Making It Happen | Resources | From Saint Mary's Press

Religious Pluralism and Adolescent Spirituality
by Patrick Tiernan, Boston College Catholic High School, Boston, MA

"I'm not really religious, I'm more spiritual." This comment is common from adolescents who have had years of religious education and are struggling with questions of faith in a culture that promotes skepticism. I have never taken this remark about being more spiritual than religious as a criticism of Catholic education, but rather as the students' desire to learn more about their own sacred journey. Students may be familiar with the history of Christian thought, contemporary debates in morality, and the Gospel accounts of Jesus's ministry, but they find themselves in the twenty-first century immersed in a pluralistic world that provides new challenges and opportunities for dialogue and enrichment. By introducing students to the beliefs and values of the world's religions, teachers can begin to address this spiritual yearning. Students are eager for a curriculum that goes beyond the local church and embraces a global worldview. Also, some students who enroll in Catholic schools are members of other Christian denominations or other religious faiths. With this reality in mind, what can done to be more welcoming of these students? How can we deepen our students' understanding of religious faiths different from their own? What can we do to promote dialogue between the students in our classes? How can a class on world religions benefit our students' education?

Classrooms as Microcosms of the Global Community
Adolescents need to become aware of religious studies beyond simply knowing about one tradition. Our students may be proficient in Catholic theology but are often unable to critically evaluate many world events that are influenced by religious ideologies. We are concerned that students do not know enough about Catholicism and so the prospect of teaching other traditions is usually the last change we envision when we undertake a curriculum design and review. However, we should also consider the implications of what we do not do. I often find myself assuring parents during back-to-school night that teaching world religions is not about indoctrination and that their children will not jettison their faith simply because they encounter a different belief system. If anything, I have found that the level of discourse among my students is heightened by a genuine understanding of non-Christian beliefs. By encountering other religions, they are given an opportunity to ask new questions about what it means to believe and how being part of a faith community is essential to personal growth. Our classrooms are microcosms of the global community that awaits our graduates. I would like to briefly outline four advantages of adding world religions as an elective to your school curriculum:

Studying world religions fosters community for non-Catholic students while preparing all students to be global citizens.  Because religious education is often required all four years in high school, we should reevaluate how we explicitly welcome our students who do not identify with the Catholic faith. We should create opportunities for them to discuss their beliefs and traditions in a safe and open environment, possibly by creating an interfaith club or organization on campus. It would broaden our understanding of diversity while creating a nurturing community for young men and women to discuss issues that affect adolescent spirituality. The study of world religions also benefits our Catholic students by promoting interreligious literacy, allowing them to read the signs of the times and develop empathy for all human beings.

Studying world religions addresses the prejudice and discrimination that people face because of religious ignorance.  In a post-9-11 world, our students cannot afford to be ignorant of world cultures and the role religion plays in international politics. While technological advances have enabled us to become informed of current events in an instant, we also risk the assumption that access to information is the same as comprehending it. We should ask students to use an informed conscience to be in solidarity with those who are victims of religious intolerance. Religious prejudice and discrimination continue in our society primarily because people have not been exposed to the grace and truth that are present in the faiths of the world.

Studying world religions creates an opportunity to build curriculum across disciplines through history, literature, art, and music.  A world religions curriculum creates opportunities to bridge common pedagogical themes and readings across different departments. Because high schools often fall prey to becoming more content-driven than skill-oriented in their approach to education, an antidote can be found in providing a course that transcends the religion department and becomes a constitutive element of any Catholic high school's mission. You can have team-taught lessons on the geography and politics of the Middle East when discussing Jewish-Muslim relations while also introducing your students to beautiful and unique hymns of praise through various styles of liturgical music. All this allows you to present students with a holistic examination of the complex and awe-inspiring traditions outside our local context.

Studying world religions advances the Catholic directive to respect and value other religions.  In the Vatican II document Nostra Aetate, we are told that the Church, "regards with sincere reverence those ways of conduct and of life, those precepts and teachings which, though differing in many aspects from the ones she holds and sets forth, nonetheless often reflect a ray of that Truth which enlightens all men [sic]" (no. 2). In an important respect, to be catholic (lowercase "c") is to reclaim the universal dimension of religion, to uphold the dignity of human persons across ethnic and cultural differences, and to rediscover the search for truth wherever it may take us.

Guidelines for Teaching World Religions
Lutheran Bishop Krister Stendahl proposed some guidelines for the study of world religions that I have found useful in my teaching.

1. If you want to know what others believe, ask them. We should not bear false witness to world religions by assuming we know their teachings. This is what I call the authentic dimension of teaching world religions. For example, if we wanted to learn more about World War II, we would most likely speak with a historian of that particular era. Likewise, if we want to learn about religious traditions outside of Christianity, we should research and examine the beliefs as they are understood by practitioners themselves. As a starting point, we can challenge our students to consider times when they have assumed something about another person or group.
2. When comparing teachings, compare your ideal to their ideal. Do not compare your ideal to their worst. For example, one should not compare the lives of Catholic saints to Islamic terrorists when discussing the doctrine of salvation. Any comparison should be based on the center of the religious spectrum so as to avoid the possibility of considering radical religious ideologies as the norm. This is what I call the equitable dimension in which teaching world religions does not become a superlative debate about whose beliefs are better or more interesting than others. This guideline helps students question cultural and religious stereotypes that are seen every day as a consequence of any adequate education about global religions.
3. We need to leave room for "holy envy." This occurs when you discover something in another religion that you are inspired by, but is not your own. You do not attempt to make it part of your tradition, but you revere its uniqueness and place in the religion of the other. This allows us to mature in our own faith while appreciating the diversity of religious practices in the world. This is what I call the aesthetic dimension, where we are called to appreciate the various ways the world's religions answer the question, "What does it mean to be in relationship with God?" This principle allows students to cultivate their sense of awe and wonder as they discover a new world outside the classroom.

We should consider how the Spirit is working in our classrooms and calling us to listen to the needs of our students. When placing religious pluralism in a high school curriculum I would propose that the anecdote, "I'm not really religious, I'm more spiritual" is evidence of an adolescent spirituality that craves dialogue and the chance to develop a religious and cultural appreciation for other world religions. By beginning where our students are in their faith formation, we are better able to discern the skills and knowledge needed to flourish in a global community.

Cultivating a Classroom of Dialogue
by Patrick Tiernan

When I teach world religions to seniors, I ask my students where they are in their knowledge of a particular religious tradition. For example, before I introduce the central tenets of Hinduism, I have my class reflect on what they already know, what they are uncertain about, and what they would like to know. It is a simple yet effective way of measuring familiarity ("it's a form of polytheism"), interest ("is the caste system still followed?"), and misconceptions ("they wear turbans"). Students often have a friend or acquaintance of another faith tradition, and they express genuine interest in learning more about this person and her or his beliefs. My approach to teaching world religions is to engage my students through genuine conversations in a safe environment where they feel comfortable raising questions about their faith. I offer the following points as elements necessary for cultivating a classroom dialogue.

Develop a curriculum map.  This can be challenging initially, but the results will pay dividends for your department. The model suggested here is influenced by the Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm (IPP), which is based on the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius of Loyola. Begin by looking at the course month by month and list the following descriptors: context, experience, action, reflection, and evaluation. Context refers to the essential questions for a unit of study. These open-ended questions drive your teaching. An example might be, "How are truth and revelation related?" which could serve as an introduction to religious studies and the various ways truth is attained in other traditions. Experience refers to the actual content of the unit. An example is when we study how the Catholic Church speaks about interreligious dialogue, I list passages from Lumen Gentium and Nostra Aetate that we read in class along with the concepts that students should know at the end of that particular lesson. Action refers to the types of instruction a teacher will use to present the material. This could take the form of group work analyzing passages from the Tao Te Ching, or an internet Web quest where students explore works of art from Buddhist traditions. Reflection refers to the skills students acquire in the course. Students might be able to explain the relationship between different traditions, compare different understandings of God, or identify central themes in a narrative. Finally, evaluation refers to the types of assessments you give your students, whether they be formative daily checks for understanding--or summative--a cumulative essay exam. Not every assessment needs to be graded, but realize that assessments serve as important checkpoints for a student's growth and familiarity with new concepts and terminology.

Introduce students to primary literature.  Reading primary sources gives a degree of authenticity to a world religions course. The narratives and myths that have influenced generations can serve as an accessible method to learn about the central values of other traditions. Primary readings allow students to find similarities in creation myths and ethical commandments while recognizing the distinct differences in how topics such as suffering and the afterlife are viewed. This literature is a vehicle for students in the United States to learn about the stories that children in Asia, China, and India are also reading in their schools. This does not need to be limited to primary material, but can extend to secondary sources and autobiographical writings of central religious figures, such as Mohandas Gandhi and the Dalai Lama.

Invite guest speakers.  We are fortunate in the Boston area to be surrounded by a myriad of religious centers. We have visited a Hindu temple and a Buddhist meditation hall in addition to inviting a Zen abbott and Muslim imam to speak to our classes. These experiences are highlights of the year because students remember the questions and answers that allow them to put theory into practice. Guest speakers and visits move the dialogue outside the classroom, where students can reflect on their own faith tradition. Students have a chance to pose questions in real time as contrasted with textbooks where questions may be seen as contrived or limited in scope. Schools also benefit from including the local community in this proactive fashion.

Promote student ownership through alternative assessments.  I have asked students to develop various assessments to meet their personal interests while exposing them to belief systems or readings that we could not cover in the year. For example, this year I am asking students to read a fictional work based on any number of religious traditions from primal traditions to Zen Buddhism. The purpose is twofold: it asks students to experience how religion influences contemporary novels, and it requires them to demonstrate a command of the terms and ideas studied in class as discussed in the story. In past years, I have required students to research and present on a theme of their choosing. This academic freedom has produced college-level papers on such diverse topics as the Zen tea ceremony, Taoist martial arts, and the history of the Bushido warrior. These assessments have also prepared my students well for the rigors of college writing and reading expectations.

The World’s Religions
Our Great Wisdom Traditions
by Huston Smith (HarperCollins, 1991)

This classic summary of the world's religions provides numerous anecdotes and explanations of complex theological concepts. Smith raises provoking questions about the nature of religious studies while being mindful to examine each tradition individually.

The HarperCollins Concise Guide to World Religion
The A-to-Z Encyclopedia of All the Major Religious Traditions
by Mircea Eliade and Ioan Couliano (HarperOne, 1999)

This extensive study of over thirty principal religions examines the myths, figures, and histories of minor and major world traditions. Several illustrations help explain key religious concepts.

British Broadcasting Corporation
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/

This Web site offers several links to contemporary religious news stories and image galleries along with explanations of the various holy days, customs, and practices of several religions.

Jesuit Secondary Education Association
http://www.jsea.org/s/342/
jsea.aspx?sid=342&gid=1&pgid=895

This Web site provides resources and a synopsis of the Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm (IPP), which was mentioned in this issue's feature article.

From the Press

All titles in From the Press are from
Saint Mary's Press.

Primary Source Readings in World Religions
Jeffrey Brodd

contains foundational texts and teachings. One can find portions of foundational texts on the teachings of Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Shinto, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

Leader's Guide for Primary Source Readings in World Religions
Patrick Tiernan

provides insights to the readings from the text, and activities to help young people deepen their understanding of different faith traditions.

About the Author

Patrick Tiernan serves as department chair of religious education at Boston College High School in Boston, Massachusetts, where he has taught for the past seven years. He was an undergraduate double major in religious studies and philosophy at Merrimack College, in Andover, Massachusetts, and also holds a master of theological studies degree and a master of sacred theology degree from Boston University. He is currently a doctoral candidate at Boston College in educational administration, studying moral leadership in Catholic secondary schools. He and his wife, Anitza, have been married for five years and live in Waltham, Massachusetts.

Javier Bravo, development editor

e-mail: connect@smp.org

Connect is a complementary newsletter from Saint Mary's Press for high school religion teachers, campus ministers, and principals. It is edited by development editors from our high school development team and is published online each October, January, and April. Copyright © 2009 by Saint Mary's Press. All rights reserved.

To become a free subscriber, please visit our Web site, www.smp.org/Connect and click on "Send me the next Connect Update." Direct all correspondence and phone calls about ideas for newsletter articles to Connect Editor, at the above e-mail address or at 800-533-8095.


Acknowledgments
The quote by Pope Benedict XVI on page 1 is from "Meeting with Representatives of Other Religions: Address of His Holiness Benedict XVI," at www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/
speeches/2008/april/documents/hf_ben-
xvi_spe_20080417_other-religions_en.html, accessed March 13, 2009. Copyright ® 2008 by Libreria Editrice Vaticana.

The Vatican II quote in the feature article is from "Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions Nostra Aetate, Proclaimed by His Holiness Pope Paul VI on October 28, 1965" at http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/
ii_vatican_council/documents/
vat-ii_decl_19651028_nostra-aetate_en.html, accessed March 13, 2009. Copyright ® 2008 by Libreria Editrice Vaticana.

Lutheran Bishop Krister Stendahl is credited with creating the three rules of religious understanding, which he presented in a 1985 press conference in Stockholm, Sweden, in response to vocal opposition to the building of a temple there by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.