A TASTE OF THE FUTURE

Teaching World Religions

By Paul McKenna
September 2001

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Fifty years ago, it would have been impossible to predict that Catholic teachers would one day become pioneers in the field of world religions education. Yet, this is exactly what is happening in parts of Canada and particularly in Ontario where world religions are taught in most Catholic high schools.

Kelsang Sangdrub, a Buddhist monk, describes the practice of Buddhist meditation before leading the teachers in an experience of meditation. Kelsang Sangdrub, a Buddhist monk, describes the practice of Buddhist meditation before leading the teachers in an experience of meditation.

In the context of North America, the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board in Mississauga, Ontario, is emerging as a very creative environment for the teaching of world religions. In recent years, a team of religion department heads in this board has been searching for ways to support educators who are teaching world religions.

Michael Harrison, who heads the religion department at Our Lady of Mount Carmel High School, comments: “As department heads, we realized that teachers can always get access to the information they need through textbooks and the Internet. But how can teachers get access to the hands-on experience of these various religions?

“To deal with this concern, we met with the Scarboro Missions Interfaith Committee. That meeting led to a decision to team up with Scarboro Missions in organizing two training days for 100 teachers in the fall of 2000. We chose resource people from six world faiths.”

The teachers spent the morning of the day-long gatherings working in small groups, each of which was led by a world faiths speaker. In addition to sharing information about their traditions, the speakers introduced the teachers to a hands-on experience.

World religions speakers enjoy a lighter moment. L-R: Guru Fatha Singh Khalsa (Sikhism), Fr. Ray O’Toole (Coordinator, Scarboro Missions Interfaith Committee), Deo Kernahan (Hinduism), Arlene Botnick (Judaism), Yasmin Ratansi (Islam), Kelsang Sangdrub (Buddhism). World religions speakers enjoy a lighter moment. L-R: Guru Fatha Singh Khalsa (Sikhism), Fr. Ray O’Toole (Coordinator, Scarboro Missions Interfaith Committee), Deo Kernahan (Hinduism), Arlene Botnick (Judaism), Yasmin Ratansi (Islam), Kelsang Sangdrub (Buddhism).

Frances Sanderson began her presentation on Native spirituality by performing the sweetgrass ceremony, an ancient purification ritual. Sanderson then proceeded to display and explain the meaning of numerous sacred objects used by Aboriginal peoples.

Deo Kernahan introduced the teachers to Hindu spirituality by constructing an altar that would be found in most Hindu homes.

Yasmin Ratansi demonstrated and explained some prayer postures and cleansing rituals found in the Muslim tradition.

Kelsang Sangdrub gave his audience an experience of Buddhist meditation.

In the afternoon, the teachers went on a carousel tour. Each speaker was invited to set up a booth stocked with materials from his or her tradition. The displays featured sacred objects, symbols, ritual objects, music, art, photos, books and sacred scriptures.

Here, the teachers had a chance to chat and interact informally with the faith representatives. At each booth, lots of handouts about the specific faith were made available to the teachers for use in the classroom.

This exciting world religions day culminated with an interfaith panel focused on the theme of forgiveness. Each guest speaker spent a few minutes commenting on how the discipline of forgiveness is understood and practiced in his or her religion. The ensuing audience interaction led to a discussion about how teachers and schools can support students to create a more just and less violent world.

After the event, Michael Harrison shared his thoughts about the program: “We were very happy with the day. It was successful and effective on three levels. First, we were able to videotape all the speakers. The videos will be reproduced for use in every school in the board. This will give students first-hand exposure to people of other faiths.

“Secondly, it was extremely important for the teachers to meet and interact personally with the faith representatives. Finally, the teachers as a community of professional world religions educators felt affirmed and dignified by the program and its specific focus on world faiths.”

A positive experience

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Scarboro Missions and your fellow community members for the wonderful experience that we had in December during our Grade 11 world religions retreat day. Our students attended a series of workshops and talks given by representatives from various faith traditions. Words cannot express how truly wonderful and positive this experience was. Our students are still talking about it and refer to the various symbols that they saw, as well as their exposure to the Muslim prayer positions and to yoga.

Thank you for providing the space, opportunity and vision to allow this dialogue to happen. This is an experiential component of the world religions course that cannot be easily recreated in the classroom.

I look forward to our students continuing to experience such a rich retreat day. Thank you for helping to minister to our students in this way.

Elizabeth Wicik, Chaplaincy Team
Cardinal Newman High School
Scarborough, ON

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