Global terms: Lived Religion & Identity

Research Spotlight: Beyond the Classroom: Informal Religion and Worldviews Education in the UK

In a time of growing division, where religion is often seen as a problem, religious education cannot, and indeed does not, only take place within the classroom or within formal education. If we are to build compassionate, cohesive societies, we need to understand religious education as something active, lifelong, evolving and to be taken seriously.

The ‘Beyond the Classroom’ report from Theos* supported by Culham St Gabriel’s, explores where informal religious education happens across the UK; where are the places and spaces where people of all ages, in all kinds of communities, learn about and encounter other religions, belief systems and worldviews?

Through various sectors, including youth work, arts and culture, public services, media and sport, as well as extra-curricular spaces, campuses, anchor institutions and local interfaith networks, we map the opportunities and challenges of informal learning about religions and worldviews.

What have we found?

Informal religious education is strongest in areas of greater religious diversity, where there is greater opportunity for organic, unstructured encounters with those of other beliefs, reinforced by stronger interfaith networks. This raises the question of how to develop better religion and belief literacy in the whole population, not only those living in more diverse communities.

We find that informal religious education varies significantly from locality to locality, and context to context; nationally, the picture is somewhat patchy although there are myriad examples of good practice at a local level, which we highlight through case studies here. In some sectors, we identify a ‘squeamishness’ or tentativeness in talking about religion and belief, which we argue needs to be combatted in order to grow the religious literacy of everyone, regardless of background.

What can we do?

If every sector of society is provided with the tools and confidence for good conversations about religion and belief, then informal religious education can and will happen naturally anywhere. Greater formal literacy will lead to greater informal opportunities for religious education, which will in turn mean a more religiously literate population and a more cohesive community. The fact that this is not currently occurring universally or strategically across the UK is, we argue, a missed opportunity for a better society.

* Theos stimulates the debate about the place of religion in society, challenging and changing ideas through research, commentary and events. They are a Christian think tank based in the UK.

Theos Beyond the Classroom Report: Informal Religion and Worldviews Education in the UK

Research Summary: Y12 understandings of Christianity’s internal diversity: enhancement through ethnography?

Religious Education in British schools seeks to help students learn critically about, and from, a wide range of religious phenomena. Yet, how do we ensure that these religious traditions, in all their rich diversity, are authentically represented within the Religious Education classroom? Many will do so without ever interacting with these faith communities personally. Building on the work of Robert Jackson, this research thus explores the extent to which ethnographic material can be used to invite diverse religious perspectives into the classroom, to ensure that generalised understandings of religious communities are debunked and not perpetuated.

Researchers

Zoë Grainger

Research Institution

University of Cambridge

What is this about?

How do Y12 students develop understanding of the diversity within Christianity?
To what extent can an ethnographic approach help them to do this?

What was done?

There was a review of relevant literature, followed by action research on two questions: What prior knowledge did the class have of Christianity’s internal diversity? What insights did students gain through engaging with the ethnographic material? Jackson’s interpretive approach was adapted in a Y12 scheme of work, using various materials and methods to bring diverse Christian insider voices into the classroom. The students completed questionnaires, the teacher-researcher and her mentor made observation notes, the students’ classwork was analysed and visitors from the different Christian communities were interviewed.

Main findings and outputs

Ethnographic content does clarify and consolidate subject knowledge.
It also aids deconstruction of stereotypes.
Further, it also enables critical engagement with subject matter.
Attention is also needed to how students’ understanding of religion is shaped by social media.
The interpretive approach is best used alongside complementary pedagogical models, e.g. hermeneutical examination of sacred texts.

Relevance to RE

The research has various forms of relevance to RE. The original article gives a useful introduction to the interpretive approach, including practical applications and criticisms, and takes the approach into KS5 for the first documented time. It shows the value to KS5 students of interactions with religious insiders. The main findings suggest potentially useful classroom teaching strategies.

Generalisability and potential limitations

As an action research study, the research does not aim for generalisibility, but the findings certainly suggest promising avenues for other teachers to explore in their own classrooms; and the background and context of the study are very well accounted.

Find out more

The original article is: Zoë Grainger. 2023. Seeing the kaleidoscope: Investigating whether Year 12 understandings of Christianity’s internal diversity can be enhanced through an ethnographic approach. Journal of Trainee Teacher Education Research.

It can be freely downloaded from https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.96937

Research Summary: What does it mean to be Jewish today?

This research is about how US Jews engage with Judaism today. It shows the importance of considering different dimensions of Jewish life and identity. The key finding is that ‘cultural Jews’ (who do not regularly practice Jewish rituals or join with synagogues) still feel strong connections to the Jewish community. The research suggests a new way to understand Jewish identity.

Researchers

Janet Krasner Aronson (et al)

Research Institution

Brandeis University

What is this about?

Judaism
How Jewish people identify as Jewish
Jewish communities in the US

What was done?

Survey data on the Greater Boston Jewish community were used. Fourteen measures of behaviour were analysed, to identify a series of types of Jewish identity.

Main findings and outputs

You cannot (as many studies do) really typify Jews as ‘religious’ or ‘unreligious’. It isn’t that simple.
Instead, you have to consider different factors of Jewish identity and how they interact, especially as increasing numbers of Jews do not affiliate to any denomination such as Orthodox or Reform.
(From related studies) 62% of US Jews report that their Jewish identity is mainly a matter of ancestry and culture – only 15% name it as mainly religion.
Formal affiliation with Jewish institutions, particularly synagogues, is not necessarily as strong a marker of Jewish identity as it is often considered. It does not appear to translate into bringing Judaism into the home or developing emotional connections to the Jewish community.
But ‘cultural’ Jews, though less likely to be members of synagogues, feel far more connected to the local and worldwide Jewish communities and to Israel.

Relevance to RE

The research can certainly be of use in developing teachers’ knowledge of contemporary Judaism. It also opens up wider questions, that can be discussed as part of RE lessons in order to develop pupils’ knowledge and understanding of religion as a conceptual category: what are some of the different forms that religious identity takes? Can you be religious without participating in worship or rituals? Can you even be religious without believing in God?

Generalisability and potential limitations

The survey analysis methodology sets out to be generalisable and has evidently been applied with great care. Whether the findings would be repeated in the UK is an open question. The analysis is very detailed, much more so than can be reflected here – those interested are strongly encouraged to refer to the original article.

Find out more

The original article is Janet Krasner Aronson et al, A New Approach to Understanding Contemporary Jewish Engagement, Contemporary Jewry (2019) 39:91–113. It can be freely accessed via the link below.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s12397-018-9271-8

Research Summary: The lived religious beliefs and experiences of English Hindu teenagers at home and at school

This is a study of the lived religious identity and practice of Hindu teenagers in the UK. Utilising an ethnographic approach, it investigates how Hindu teenagers in the UK experience their religion at home and at school. There is found a contrast between these teenagers’ home life and school experience. Hindu teenagers experience a strong sense of cognitive dissonance pertaining to their religious identity: their home life being a healthy relationship with their religion but their school experience being a sense of anger and shame. There is an outline of what the teenagers themselves believe is lacking in the RE classroom and what they regard as the key features of their Hindu faith.

Researchers

Joseph Chadwin

Research Institution

University of Vienna

What is this about?

How do Hindu teenagers in England experience their religion, at home and at school?
Are there contrasts between these two arenas?
What do Hindu teenagers in England see as the key features of Hindu faith?
What do they believe is lacking, or would like to see more of, in the RE classroom regarding Hindu tradition?

What was done?

There was a prior survey of existing relevant literature, and an ethnographic study of 30 London secondary pupils who self-identified as Hindu. The ethnographic study consisted of a series of semi-structured interviews.

Main findings and outputs

There is immense variety within the category of Hinduism; researchers should accept the multiplicity and fluidity of lived religious identities and experiences.
Such acceptance characterises much recent RE literature but Hinduism is still a ‘blind spot’ sometimes significantly mishandled in school RE.
12 of the pupils were apathetic to their Hindu identity, 18 highly engaged with Hindu beliefs and practices. 25 stressed how Hinduism is highly internally diverse. 28 were unhappy about absence from or superficial treatment of Hinduism within the school curriculum. Only 1 was happy; the school in question received visits from Hindu community members. The unhappiness is a source of anger for them and means that Hinduism, in their view, is really for the home.
A ‘secularised’ ‘yoga-for-relaxation’ type of activity offered in school added to the Hindu teenagers’ sense of anger.

Relevance to RE

The findings include the Hindu teenagers’ views on what is lacking (or needed) in school RE:

26 referred to the importance of Hindu values, and the need to reflect these in curriculum coverage: equality, honesty, non-violence and love.
These can be, but should not be, obscured by attention to Hinduism’s ‘strangeness’ or exotic appearance.
Informed teaching about the meaning of yoga is lacking, but should be included; the same also applies to puja.

Generalisability and potential limitations

The author acknowledges that his is a small and localised sample. However, he argues that the ‘small window’ of the ethnographic data is much needed, providing an in-depth examination.

Find out more

The original article is available on an open-access basis: Joseph Chadwin (2023) The lived religious beliefs and experiences of
English Hindu teenagers at home and at school, British Journal of Religious Education, 45:3, 251-262, DOI: 10.1080/01416200.2023.2184326

Research Summary: How has the internet impacted on the relationship between Sikhs and the Guru Granth Sahib, and on Sikhism in general?

The main article reported here focuses on the emergence of online versions of the Guru Granth Sahib, their impact on the transmission of Sikhism, and on religious authority. It looks at the consequences of the emergence of online translations and issues faced in engaging with the ‘digital Guru’. The second article, more briefly covered, presents some more, general, related findings from the same research project as the first.

Researchers

Jasjit Singh

Research Institution

University of Leeds

What is this about?

How has the digital environment impacted on the relationship between Sikhs and the Guru Granth Sahib? How has the evolution of the online environment changed the ways in which the Guru Granth Sahib is presented; and how have technological changes affected the ways in which Sikhs engage with and relate to the Guru Granth Sahib? Also, in general, how has the internet affected the practice of Sikhism?

What was done?

The research was carried out though an online survey (645 respondents), interviews, focus groups and participant observation. As a whole, the study was of religious transmission among 18-30-year-old Sikhs in Britain.

Main findings and outputs

For over 20 years, the digital environment has impacted on the ways in which British Sikhs engage with their religious tradition.
It enables them to engage with the Guru Granth Sahib but in a very specific way. English translations mean more of them can read the text but the pros and cons of translation are little-discussed.
Traditional authorities (preachers, gurdwara officials) can be bypassed – but inner, deeper meanings, that depend on sound and poetry, can be lost in translation. Strictly, the Guru Granth Sahib cannot be translated. Accurate, nuanced translations are needed, as far as possible, but many British Sikhs not taught Punjabi as children learn it as adults, in order to understand their tradition.
More general findings: the internet enables Sikhs to know different views on Sikhism than those held by their families, though this can be confusing. It brings more Sikhs into a personal relationship with the Guru Granth Sahib, because a hukamnama (‘order’) can be received from the Guru Granth Sahib whenever wished, without needing to visit a gurdwara. Finding out about sangat (congregation) events is easier, as is finding and purchasing religious resources or looking into the legal position on e.g. turban wearing, or mobilising on social or religious issues.

Relevance to RE

There are several messages for teachers to bear in mind from this research:

The importance of language within religious traditions, and how it is used, e.g. poetically rather than literally – and the need to devise ways for pupils to grasp this.
The need to listen to and not just read texts.
Issues of translation, and how teachers should try not to simply impose meanings from English / Christianity on to non-Christian worldviews (e.g. God, heaven, hell, angels are reported as sometimes imposed on to the Sikh tradition).
The need to include the effect of the internet on religion & worldviews in the curriculum.

Generalisability and potential limitations

According to the author, the study, or specifically the survey part, did not seek to represent young British Sikhs as a whole but gather the views of a number of individuals to highlight possible trends.

Find out more

The original articles reported (main one first) are:
Jasjit Singh (2018): Lost in translation? The emergence of the digital Guru
Granth Sahib, Sikh Formations, DOI: 10.1080/17448727.2018.1485355

Jasjit Singh (2014) Sikh-ing online: the role of the Internet in the religious lives of young British Sikhs, Contemporary South Asia, 22:1, 82-97, DOI: 10.1080/09584935.2013.870974

Research Summary: Growing, Together?

Research Title

‘Growing, Together?’

Research Summary

‘Growing, Together?’ (2018) looks into how schools might unlock potential for powerful two way support by involving their local inter-generational community in creative projects to help them with RE and SMSCD. What sort of development are we aiming for when it comes to spirituality and RE, if it is to be of long term value?

Researchers

Liz Mills

Research Institution

Farmington Institute

What is this about?

‘Growing, Together?’ (2018) looks into how schools might unlock potential for powerful two way support by involving their local inter-generational community in creative projects to help them with RE and SMSCD, especially in terms of their provision for spiritual development. What sort of development are we aiming for when it comes to spirituality and RE, if it is to be of long term value?

What was done?

This was a piece of Action Research practically trialling a series of creative projects over the course of 2 years, linking a school with its local inter-generational community to see what potential might be unlocked for a better understanding of spiritual development and ways to encourage it in the longer term.

This was coupled with extensive reading into spiritual development, especially in later life, and ongoing work as a teacher; as well as practical involvement in groups for older people, locally and nationally, and networking with others involved in inter-generational community projects involving schools.

Main findings and outputs

That spirituality is not necessarily something which develops in a conventional ‘progress’ model, but more something that develops like a photo being ‘developed’ or realised, at any stage in life. There is much potential to be gained by involving older people in schools’ work in this area, though there are barriers to overcome. The next stage will be to investigate further ways to overcome the barriers, in order to harness the potential.

Relevance to RE

Teachers might develop their own ways to involve the local inter-generational community in RE. They might be helped by reading about the barriers that appeared and how these were overcome.

Generalisability and potential limitations

This is small scale research, which others may be interested in following up and developing.

Find out more

https://farmington.ac.uk/scholars

Research Summary: How are young British Sikhs being brought up as Sikhs?

Young British Sikhs are regularly accused of not attending gurdwara and not being interested in Sikhism. However, many young Sikhs are now learning about Sikhism outside traditional religious institutions. Using data gathered as part of a project studying the religious upbringing of 18- to 30-year-old British Sikhs, the research explores how young Sikhs are learning about Sikhism in their pre-adult life stage. It examines the influences of the family and the school environment and the various methods used in gurdwaras. It provides an understanding from the perspective of young Sikhs themselves about what it can mean to be a young British Sikh. There are important messages for RE teachers. British Sikh family life can vary according to different factors such as country from which migration into Britain took place. Particular individual, social or cultural experiences can deepen young Sikhs’ sense of commitment. So far RE in school appears to make very little contribution to young Sikhs’ development of religious identity.

Researcher

Jasjit Singh

Research Institution

University of Leeds

What is this about?

Young British Sikhs are regularly accused of not attending gurdwara and not being interested in Sikhism, but is this true?
How do young British Sikhs learn about Sikhism outside traditional religious institutions, and in what ways do they do so?
What influence do family life, school education and gurdwaras have on young British Sikhs’ religious development?

What was done?

A qualitative methodological approach was taken, using a variety of sources as part of the investigation. The main methods included: semi-structured interviews with 30 18- to 30-year-old British Sikhs who had attended and participated in events organised for young Sikhs; a
self-selecting online survey of young British Sikhs; focus groups with Sikh students; and participant observation at events organised for young Sikhs, including Sikh camps and university Sikh society events.

Main findings and outputs

Young British Sikhs are socialised into Sikhism in different ways – what is true of some may not be true of others.
It is important not to assume that there are discrete British and Asian cultures which necessarily clash. Although Sikh families may share some elements, many have their own way of practising Sikhism influenced by their migration experiences, caste, political affiliation, level of religious commitment, etc.
In general, the majority of East African Sikh migrants to Britain are more religiously inclined than those coming directly from India.
Sikhs not maintaining visible signs of commitment (e.g. uncut hair or the turban) may be very committed to prayer, storytelling to their children and other Sikh activities. In many families, emphases such as prayer, vegetarianism or display of images of gurus are passed down from parents or grandparents to children.
At school, experiences of not belonging to e.g. Islam or Catholicism – where these other traditions are prominent – sometimes provokes an emotional moment of identification with Sikhism, prompting more engagement with the faith.
Gurdwaras use different ways of engaging with young people, including Punjabi classes, music tuition, adapted services, youth camps or providing library facilities; but many young Sikhs themselves have started to organise events outside gurdwaras, which they are free to shape as they wish.
Many respondents reported that they had not learned about Sikhism in school.

Relevance to RE

At national levels of policy and curriculum, the absence of significant attention to teaching about Sikhism in school should be addressed.
When planning lessons about or teaching about Sikhism, teachers should bear in mind the diversity of British Sikhism and that Sikh pupils present may offer different explanations or relate differently to lesson content. Such pupils should be listened to with sensitivity.
The British context for Sikhism has evidently been rich and varied, and – again, with the sensitivity needed to avoid intrusion on privacy – teachers might usefully collect some of its stories as resources:
E.g. Sikh family experiences of coming to Britain from India or East Africa and how gurdwaras and other religious resources were developed. Contacts in local Sikh communities could be developed for this purpose.
‘Emotional moments of identification’ could offer vivid teaching stories. The following example is from p.376 of the article:

I was in the choir .. .and I thought to myself, ‘today I’ll get the Holy Communion’ … so I had my hands in the right place … and I knew from his eyes that the priest wasn’t going to give it to me … and he just said, ‘Bless you my child’. I was so angry – I thought, ‘I’ve done your kirtan [singing of religious compositions] for so many years and you don’t give me parshad [blessed food]? ’Then I thought, ‘if these gore [white people] go to a gurdwara , they’ll get parshad no matter what.’ So from then on, every time we used to say, ‘In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit’, I used to mattha tek [bow to the Guru] … it was an internal rebellion – and I was like ‘I’m going to gurdwara, I’m going to show my friends, I ’m going to talk about Sikhism – I’m going to tell them why I don’t cut my hair.’

Generalisability and potential limitations

This research is based on contact with as wide a representation of young British Sikhs as possible. The researcher identifies an interesting possible limitation, in that those studied did not grow up with the internet in the same way as the current generation of British Sikh children, meaning that the role of the internet in Sikh identity formation is not covered.

Find out more

Keeping the faith: reflections on religious nurture among young British Sikhs, Journal of Beliefs & Values, 33:3, pages 369-383 (published online 13 December 2012)

http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13617672.2012.732817

Research Summary: An ethnographic eye on religion in everyday life

This article considers pitfalls associated with teaching about religions. The main pitfall considered is the risk of presenting religions as stereotypical monolithic systems: that all who belong to a particular religious tradition think and act in the same way. The writer calls this sort of stereotyping the ‘robotic tendency’ because it has a habit of reducing practitioners to robot-like beings that always perform identical actions. She argues that the ‘ethnographic eye’ can help educators to avoid stereotypes and the robotic tendency when teaching about religions. The ‘ethnographic eye’ means close attention to human thoughts, feelings and actions in everyday life.

Researchers

Jenny Berglund

Research Institution

Södertörn University, Sweden

What is this about?

The article is about learning to teach about religions (in this case, Islam) without neglecting the fact that within any religion, there are varieties of belief and practice that have to be taken into account. The writer tells and reflects on the stories of two teachers who were asked to investigate Islam in their own schools and local environments, then think about the ramifications of what they had learned for their future teaching. Both teachers were offered surprises and both were forced to consider that the lived reality of Islam in their immediate environments was more complex and differentiated than their previous picture, built up through text-books and media presentations. The writer argues that this more differentiated account, as well as being more accurate, avoids a rigid ‘us and them’ view and so lessens prejudice. Moreover, it helps teachers to examine their own understanding and its bases.

What was done?

As part of a continuing teacher education course on Islam, two teachers were asked to pay close ethnographic attention to the practice of Islam within their own schools and local environments, then writing an assignment about what they had discovered and how it would affect their future teaching. The article presents summaries of the process gone through by the teachers and their subsequent reflections on how their teaching needed to change in the light of what they had learned.

Main findings and outputs

Agnes
Agnes is a primary school teacher who initially believes that Islam is absent from her school. There are no Muslim pupils, but there is a book in the library stating that Muslims do not eat pork. She approaches the kitchen staff, finding to her surprise that two of them are Muslims. Their attitudes are complex, e.g. one of them has not informed their school that her children are Muslims, they eat all kinds of food at school but avoid pork at home. They mention an Ethiopian Christian colleague of theirs who avoids pork.
Stellan
Stellan is a secondary RE teacher. There are many Muslim pupils in his school. He causes an argument in a lesson by stating that Muslims do not celebrate the Prophet’s birthday. He decides to ask students about this, is informed by one student that he does indeed celebrate the Prophet’s birthday, telephones his parents to discuss it and is invited to the next such celebration. Other Muslim students tell him that they do not celebrate it. As well as building up notes on the celebration, Stellan consults background literature, finding that the celebration, especially associated with Sufism, is considered unlawful by some scholars.
Discussion
An ethnographic approach informs teachers on variations in religions. People manage different beliefs (e.g. dietary restrictions) differently. Cultural context and other factors influence this. In future these teachers will continue to ask questions about text-book presentations and examine local practices. Other research suggests that European Muslims’ religion is becoming increasingly individual.

Relevance to RE

The article has strong relevance to RE. Policy should reflect the presence of a local dimension in religious belief and practice and require the challenging of stereotypes. Curriculum planning should include the same points. There are implications for pedagogy, regarding the need to include the knowledge, views and experiences of students and their families, to accept that these may be different and to examine internal differences within religions (the article mentions the need for sensitivity in these respects). The article is itself a story of teacher development. RE teachers might usefully repeat the investigations of Agnes and Stellan in their own environments, perhaps in groups, in conjunction with academic researchers or as an element in initial teacher education or higher degree study.

Generalisability and potential limitations

The research has high credibility. The writer is a highly regarded, influential expert. The writing is characterised by clarity, balance and originality. A strength is its appeal to local, specific, individual experience, yet this is well integrated with wider scholarly references. Good ethnography resists simplification, accepting difference and individuality, and the article ‘rings true’ in these ways. In this sense, the findings appear to be secure. As individual findings, they cannot be generalised, but this is in the nature of ethnography. However, the principle of careful attention to lived reality (the ‘ethnographic eye’) ought to be generalised: that is, it ought to be and often is emphasised as an ingredient of professionalism in RE. The limitations of the research lie in its Swedish context, but again, the writer reaches out to wider literature and the article gives a basis to those wishing to repeat its methods in their own settings.

Find out more

British Journal of Religious Education 36.1 pages 39-52

http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01416200.2013.820167