Viewing archives for Sikhism

Research Summary

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

This project presents 5 case studies exploring how RE is being re-imagined in schools. It is a showcase of classroom practice which goes some way towards meeting the learning proposed in the new National Entitlement for Religion & Worldviews.
The project builds on the recommendations of the Faiths Unit’s 2015 report RE for Real – The Future of Teaching and Learning about Religion & Belief by providing examples of an emerging shift in RE towards understanding religion and worldviews as dynamic, lived, and interpretable phenomena and concepts.

Researchers

Dr Martha Shaw & Prof Adam Dinham

Research Institution

London South Bank University & Goldsmiths, University of London

What is this about?

This project is based on the premise that there is much brilliant, innovative RE going on all around the country but that it is patchy and could be extended. This project highlights some key examples of innovative practice, which speaks to the new direction proposed for Religion & Worldviews. It is intended to complement debates about change in policy and practice, with evidence of existing new practices from which others can learn.

What was done?

The project has worked with 5 schools to explore examples in practice of aspects of the new National Entitlement. We invited submissions of interest to participate then undertook a series of visits to the schools, in close collaboration with teachers:

Visit 1: Summer Term 2019 (May-June), to discuss the national plan and how the school is already or might respond to it. We worked together during and following this visit to consolidate the potential connections to at least one element of the national entitlement, then to devise a piece of concrete classroom practice in advance of our return visit.

Visit 2: Autumn Term 2019 and Spring term 2020 (September-February), to observe and reflect on the example of teaching and learning which has been identified and developed. The example was developed into a ‘case study’ including a short video and PDF providing a narrative.

Main findings and outputs

The five case studies explore ways of teaching and learning about religion and worldviews as fluid, lived and interpretable phenomena. The focus of each case study is different and relate to:
– Dealing with Controversy
– Multiple interpretations of lived religion
– Whole school lived religion as meaning making
– Encountering worldviews as lived and fluid
– RE Trail as discovery for children and their parents
The case studies can be found here.

Relevance to RE

The case studies are offered as resource for teachers to explore new ways of approaching the study of religion and worldviews in the classroom. Teachers might use these as inspiration to try something new. Teacher educators might also use these as examples of ways to embrace the teaching of religion and worldviews as dynamic, lived and interpretable phenomena and concepts. These examples showcase ways of promoting religion & worldview literacy in the classroom.

Generalisability and potential limitations

These examples are not representative of all the creative and innovative practice that goes on. Neither do they embody the totality of the vision outlined by CORE. Rather, they are intended as examples of some of the exciting ways in which teachers are interpreting innovation in the Religion & Worldviews classroom.

Find out more

Shaw, M (2019) Towards a Religiously Literate curriculum – Religion and Worldview Literacy as an Educational Model, Journal of Beliefs & Values, Journal of Beliefs & Values. Online: Sept. 2019.

https://www.gold.ac.uk/faithsunit/current-projects/reforreal/case-studies/

Research Title

Pupils’ perceptions of the religious links to terrorism

Research Summary

With the increased requirement to incorporate counter-terrorism measures into the British education system, teachers are now expected to discuss terrorism within the classroom setting. However, this is a challenging endeavour. This article explores research findings from a project conducted over several years into pupils’ perceptions of terrorism and its links to religion in general, as well as the specific links made with Islam, Sikhism and Christianity. Overall, the pupils thought that religion in general, as well as Islam in particular, was something that motivated terrorism. However, many pupils also expressed concerns about associating entire religious communities with terrorism, perceiving it as a stereotype, and expressed interest in discovering more about how and why religion was used to justify such violent attacks.

Researcher

Angela Quartermaine

Research Institution

Woolf Institute, University of Cambridge

What is this about?

• What are pupils’ perceptions on links between religion and terrorism?
• What are their concerns around this issue?
• What would they like to know and understand more about?

What was done?

Case studies took place in six Warwickshire secondary schools, with pupils aged 13-15. Multiple methods were used including document analysis, interviews with teachers and pupils, focus groups and surveys.

Main findings and outputs

• Religion certainly featured in pupils’ overall perceptions of terrorism.
• Most pupils thought religion the most likely motivation for terrorism.
• Pupils generally associated it with Abrahamic religions, especially Islam.
• Though some considered terrorism an ‘act’ of religion, others considered religion a ‘shade’ for the real causes, such as hatred or politics.
• ‘Extremism’ was sometimes used to mean an element of religion, at other times a point of differentiation from it.
• In discussing links between Islam and terrorism, some pupils focused on jihad, but others Islamophobia.

Relevance to RE

• The research shows the complex nature of pupils’ views on the relationship between religion and terrorism.
• It also shows how pupils are able to discuss the issue, critically.
• They were more confident to do so when equipped with good background knowledge – when discussing Christianity, they were more able to explain the problems with associating religion with terrorism.
• RE teachers therefore need to be equipping pupils with good religious literacy, so that they can understand the scope of these discussions. There needs to be attention to terminology, including terrorism, belief, extremism, religion.

Generalisability and potential limitations

This was a fairly large sample, including 264 pupils in a first session and 73 in a second. The schools are in a fairly small, largely white and middle-class area of central England, though close to major urban centres.

Find out more

Angela Quartermaine (2019) Pupils’ perceptions of the religious links to terrorism, British Journal of Religious Education, 41:1, 67-77.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01416200.2017.1361381?journalCode=cbre20

Research Summary

“Most U.S. adults identify with a particular religious denomination or group. They describe themselves as Catholic, Baptist, Methodist, Jewish, Mormon or Muslim– to name just a few of the hundreds of identities or affiliations that people give in surveys. Others describe themselves as atheist, agnostic or say they have no particular religious affiliation. These are the conventional categories into which Americans sort themselves. But a new Pew Research Center analysis looks at beliefs and behaviors that cut across many denominations – important traits that unite people of different faiths, or that divide people who have the same religious affiliation – producing a new and revealing classification, or typology, of religion in America.” (Summary taken from original press release at http://www.pewforum.org/2018/08/29/the-religious-typology/ downloaded on September 12 2018.)

Researcher

Pew Research Center, Washington DC

Research Institution

Pew Research Center, Washington DC

What is this about?

This is about the different religious groups in the US, and how they vary internally, in terms of religious commitment, behaviour or attitudes to religion. Survey data were used to generate seven categories of religiosity that cut across religious boundaries. E.g. ‘Sunday Stalwarts’ are the traditionalist, highly engaged members, ‘Diversely Devout’ are those who whilst traditionalist are also open to ‘New Age’ beliefs such as reincarnation or psychic power and ‘Religion Resisters’ are those who think that institutional religion does more harm than good. The other categories are ‘God-and-Country Believers’, ‘Relaxed Religious’, ‘Spiritually Awake’ and ‘Solidly Secular’.

What was done?

A survey of 4729 respondents was done. It included 16 questions about their religious and spiritual beliefs and practices, the value they place on their religion, and the other sources of meaning and fulfillment in their lives. The typology groups were then created using cluster analysis, a statistical technique that identified homogeneous groups of respondents based on their answers.

Main findings and outputs

The findings are quite extensive and readers are directed to the main report (link below), but some examples can be given so as to provide a flavour. What is interesting is how the categories cut across traditional religious and non-religious lines:

• Some data may be unsurprising (76% of the ‘Solidly Secular’ have no religious affiliation).
• However, it raises questions that 17% of the ‘Solidly Secular’ category identify as Christian.
• Within Religion Resisters, non-Christian religious faiths contribute their highest overall percentage (11%).
• They only make up 6% of the ‘Sunday Stalwart’ category, which could be down to population or survey factors; the word ‘Sunday’ is used because 90% of the group belong to Christian churches and it did not figure in survey questions.
• There are interesting sub-findings, e.g. 19% of ‘Sunday Stalwarts’ and 12% of ‘Solidly Secular’ believe in reincarnation; 98% of ‘Religion Resisters’ believe there is spiritual energy located in physical things such as mountains, trees or crystals.

Relevance to RE

The final Commission on RE report speaks of the need for a deeper understanding of the complex, diverse and plural nature of worldviews at both institutional and personal levels, and to ensure that pupils understand that there are different ways of adhering to a worldview. This Pew Center research gives an original, imaginative illustration of these factors. RE curriculum developers and teachers could use it to consider how to represent diversity within religions; teacher trainers could use it to illustrate the need for this to trainees.

Generalisability and potential limitations

The survey was large-scale (4729 respondents) and care was taken to achieve a representative sample. One limitation is that the US rather than the UK is represented. The researchers also acknowledge that identifying cluster groups is as much art as science. However, UK teachers and researchers could take note of the problematising of religious categories and perhaps find ways to explore similar issues in our own contexts.

Find out more

The full Pew Centre research bulletin is available for free download at http://www.pewforum.org/2018/08/29/the-religious-typology/

Research Summary

Marking and feedback are essential parts of the teaching process, which allow teachers to know whether what they have taught has been learnt and therefore allow teachers to address the needs of pupils. They are also requirements for all teachers. However, they are time consuming and burdensome upon teachers. Technology has the potential to transform education, for teachers and for pupils. This study aims to investigate the role that technology has in the assessment of RE with the expectation that any benefits would also be felt in other curriculum subjects.

Researchers

Sam McKavanagh & Dr James Robson

Research Institution

University of Oxford

What is this about?

The planning was guided by these questions.

• In assessment, what can technology do that traditional methods cannot?
• How can the use of technology for assessment be beneficial to pupils?
• How can the use of technology for assessment be beneficial to teachers?
• How can technology allow us to meet the assessment objectives of RE?

What was done?

The three action cycles used different tools to assess pupils; multiple choice questions were used for each assessment.

• Cycle One (Traditional): pupils completed assessments using pen and paper.
• Cycle Two (Plickers): pupils held up unique pieces of card in different orientations to indicate their answer. The teacher’s smartphone could read and record the pupils’ response.
• Cycle Three (EDpuzzle) – through this website pupils watched videos that the teacher had embedded with questions. Scores were recorded so the teacher could track progress over time.

At the end of each cycle the following were conducted:

• whole-cohort questionnaires;
• small-group interviews; and
• teacher interviews.

Main findings and outputs

The findings show that technology:

• saved time;
• helped give quick and useful feedback;
• collated results;
• improved record keeping;
• reduced teacher workload; and
• increased pupil engagement.

In contrast, traditional methods of assessment failed to offer these benefits. Marking and feedback remained burdensome tasks for teachers and pupils did not respond favourably to them.

Technology has an important role in the assessment of RE. Pupils assessed using traditional methods and those assessed with technology showed no discernable differences in their results. The benefits to the teacher were clear: they saw a reduction in workload and were able to give immediate feedback and discuss issues with pupils which would not have had been possible with traditional methods. As Plickers and EDpuzzle can collate pupils’ results teachers can easily keep track of pupils’ performance across time, with minimal effort on their part. It is expected that these advantages would not only apply to RE and that teachers of other subjects, and in other school settings, would also benefit.

Relevance to RE

This was a piece of practitioner research and other teachers were involved in the collection of data. Therefore it will have real applicability to other teachers of RE.

The technology used is free to obtain and use and does not require pupil ownership of devices – this increases the accessibility to the technology.

One of the key findings was the savings in time for teachers whilst assessing and the production of useful real-time data, which they could use immediately to provide effective feedback to pupils.

Generalisability and potential limitations

Given the method of answer collection which the technology used, the research focussed on AT1/A01 (‘factual’ knowledge) the research did not attempt to assess AT2/A02 (‘learning from religion’) – whilst this should be possible, it was deemed that it would be stretching the research too thinly and that less clear results would be drawn. It would therefore be beneficial to retrial these technologies to attempt to assess AT2/A02 as well.

Given the length of the research project it was not possible to tell if pupils would become ‘bored’ or less enthused with the technologies the more normalised they became. A longer research process would uncover whether this is the case.

Find out more

McKavanagh, S. (2017). The role of technology in the assessment of RE (Master’s thesis). University of Oxford.

https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:27d8b9ef-0cab-4116-827a-d9b615627860

Research Summary

We Need to Talk about RE (London: Jessica Kingsley, 2017) is a collection of essays by established and emerging RE leaders commenting on theory, practice and policy around RE. The book focuses mainly on the English system, with European and wider global contexts referred to. Each chapter is a grounded, research-informed provocation. The book is edited by Dr Mike Castelli (currently Executive Chair of the Association of University Lectuters in Religion and Education) and Dr Mark Chater (currently Director of a charitable trust supporting RE).

Researchers

Mike Castelli, Mark Chater & Linda Woodhead

Research Institution

Several

What is this about?

The book as a whole promotes public discussion on what is needed from a new model of RE. The book argues that we need to talk about RE for several reasons: because so much is changing in the culture of schools; because teachers of RE are ‘cultural and religious heroes caught up in a conflicted education system’; because the kind of RE practised UK is unique, but gravely in danger of dismemberment and neglect; because of the urgent need to find consensus about the purpose and place of RE; and because wider society needs better ways of dealing with religious and cultural ‘otherness’.

What was done?

Each of the fifteen authors uses a distinctive methodology based on their own professional experience as teachers, researchers, practitioners, policy makers or consultants.

Main findings and outputs

Each chapter, written by a different author, offers a manifesto for change. The postscript, written by a serving teacher of RE, argues passionately for change based on clarity of purpose.

Relevance to RE

Trainee and serving teachers will find the book a stimulating, provocative and hope-inspiring daily companion to their practice.

Generalisability and potential limitations

There is no programmatic set of findings or recommendations.

Find out more

Castelli, M. And Chater, M (2017) ed. We Need to Talk about Religious Education: Manifestos for the Future of RE.London: Jessica Kingsley Publishing.

Research Summary

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