How the Teaching of Buddhism in Primary and Secondary Education could be improved
Contents
In autumn 2014 the author (Mariano) was asked to write
an article for the London RE Hub blog, on the topic on "How could the
teaching of Buddhism be improved in schools?".
What follows is the result of discussions, some
research and meetings by a number of people involved in supporting the teaching
of Buddhism in schools in the London area. We are from different schools and
traditions (e.g. Network of Buddhist Organisations, Buddhist Society, Jamyang,
Various Zen/Chan groups, various
Theravada groups and temples, etc.), all loosely associated, each contributing
to various degrees and in different manners. To name just a few, I should
acknowledge the contributions made by Jo above all, and then Keith, Frank,
Patcharin, Isabel, Kitty, Nalin and others , but I will also have to take personal
responsibility for this article and its conclusions, as well as its
shortcomings, wishful thinking, naiveties, etc., as the working arrangements are pretty loose
among us.
I myself sit on the Southwark SACRE, help out with RE
support at the Buddhist Society, and maintain the
https://sites.google.com/site/dharmapeoplere/ website and related blogs providing an index to
interesting online material.
This article is aimed primarily at SACRE Buddhist
Reps, B. Groups and Temples , RE Teachers, RE Advisors and individuals with an
interest or stake in the teaching of Buddhism in schools, in the London and
surrounding area.
No limitation or restriction is placed on the range of
groups or individuals invited to participate, as the intended purpose is to
improve dialogue, consultation and the quality of communication among the
different stake-holders. In the light of past experience and current realities,
no attempt is made to invite different groups and traditions to operate in
close cooperation or produce shared resources, even though some of them will
definitely want to.
While we are focussing on issues and opportunities in
our geographical area, and we do think that local coordination groups revolving
around local RE Hubs are the ideal choice, we are open to contributions from
other parts of the Country, especially where such opportunities are absent and
similar initiatives are struggling to come into their own.
From fact finding exercises and information gathered
by various means in the course of the last few years (e.g. contact with RE
Teachers around school visits), there is circumstantial evidence to support to
a lesser or fuller extent the following statements:
The Locally
Agreed Syllabus still plays a central role in the delivery of the
Curriculum.
Teaching and
learning are mainly structured around Key Stages, the development of Thinking
Skills and ‘Assessment of, for and as Learning’.
Timewise,
coverage of Buddhism takes
place mostly at Key Stage 2, and may involve units of work over several weeks, and/or the odd day visit to a temple or school
visitors from the faith community.
As for the
manner in which it is delivered, the most common approaches are :
·
Systematic and traditional ,
addressing the usual main topics : The
Three Jewels, (i.e. Buddha, Dharma, Sangha), the Four Noble Truths, the Noble Eight
Fold Path, etc.
·
Thematic : e.g. Exploration of
religious founders, rites of passage and festivals, specific virtues and ethical
values such as forgiveness, selfless and charitable behaviour, etc
·
Comparative approach : i.e. Buddhism
taught alongside another faith such as Christianity.
The
driving principles include
an endeavour to make the curriculum relevant and engaging for the pupils; and
to help them appreciate Buddhism as a world religion and a ‘viable option of
faith’.
This is achieved through :
·
The use of Artefacts , and texts
·
Exploration of non-denominational
websites (particularly CLEO, BBC
Learning Clips, etc) and to a lesser extent Buddhist ones : e.g. Buddhanet and
Clear Vision).
·
Visitors from the faith community
engaging with pupils.
·
Temple visits (becoming less
frequent due to cost involved)
·
Meditation and/or mindfulness
exercises, and similar.
Children are likely to get exposure to a variety of
traditions and schools : Thai Theravada (Traditional, Forest Sangha,
Dhammakaya); Sri Lankan Theravada ;
Burmese Theravada; Japanese or Korean Zen; Chinese Chan; Tibetan, Triratna,
Pure Land, NKT.
Few RE Teachers
seem to know who their Buddhist
representative is on SACRE, let alone having regular contact with them.
RE
specialists either as
subject-leads or otherwise are becoming a scarce
resource.
Re Teachers gain/improve their knowledge of Buddhism and keep it up to date through :
·
Personal study consisting of the reading
of Texts and
·
The exploration of topical
websites,
·
Visits to Buddhist communities and
participation to specific cultural events
·
More rarely training events
organized by Buddhist organizations or monasteries (e.g. Amaravati).
Academies and new types of schools are difficult to
provide for, support or monitor, as they
enjoy a fair amount of freedom in discharging their duties. For the same
reason, the SACRE’s Local Agreed
Syllabus might not be used extensively in these settings.
It is important to achieve more continuity and progression in the delivery of the Curriculum, be it
via the local Agreed Syllabuses or National frameworks, both between Key Stages and between Primary and Secondary schools.
That would require more cooperation/coordination
between Secondary and Primary teachers around development work, or even just
ensuring that the provision of RE in Primary education does take place and
covers the fundamentals, to ensure continuity and progression. However it is
difficult to see how this can be facilitated outside a proper framework.
Aspects of Buddhism which are most likely to have been
covered by the time students enter
secondary school include :
·
Basics: Life of Buddha, Four
Noble Truths, The Noble Eight Fold Path, The Three Jewels ( Buddha, Dharma,
Sangha);
·
Liturgy: Buddhist festivals,
Buddhist special/sacred places, Symbols and Iconographic Representations; specific Rituals such as chanting,
meditation, bowing, taking Refuge, etc
·
Ethics: Buddhist responses to
good and evil; sins vs unskilful actions;
retribution vs karma
·
Cultural context and influences
on Buddhism, e.g. in China :Taoism, Confucianism; in Japan: Shintoism; in the
Indian subcontinent : Vedas, Tantra, etc.
Obviously this will be dependent upon time provision
at KS1/2.
In the main, resources
used to structure learning include:
Engaging quality support materials and resources are
always needed, and in short supply.
For Guidance and Resources, Teachers of RE are likely
to rely on :
·
Websites (e.g. Clear Vision, Buddhanet, BBC, etc.),
·
LEA Agreed Syllabuses,
·
Academic and other literature about Buddhism;
The delivery methods and
media include Video/DVD/Audio, Story Telling/Music/Poetry, Text Books,
Websites resources, Artefacts.
Year 8 in Key Stage 3 is when the teaching of Buddhism
is likely to be at its peak, being spread across a wide range of time slots during the three years.
However we get the impression that in some schools the
teaching of Buddhism is paid lip service to, if not ignored altogether.
Different approaches
to teaching may appear at different stages, be they :
·
an Introduction to Buddhism
inclusive of aspects of contemporary practice in different Buddhist
communities,
·
or a more systematic theme based
exploration,
·
or in comparative study with
other traditions.
Strategies used for teaching are
extensive and initially may include:
Reading/Writing, Whole class
teaching, Discussion and debate, Group Work, Linking to pupil experience,
Written Assignments, Teacher Exposition, Peer Assessment, Self-Assessment,
Research Investigation, Tasks intended to develop subject specific
language/technical terms, Tests/Exam, Drama/role play.
Later we might see an
increased usage of Presentations, OCR (Oxford, Cambridge and RSA) Examination
Syllabus, AQA (Assessment and
Qualifications Alliance) exam questions, and visits to Buddhist centres
Teachers Training:
·
There is a need for more
qualified specialists in the secondary field.
·
And teachers would prefer to
attend training events during daytime and term time
Generally speaking, delivery of the Curriculum
benefits from closer cooperation with the Buddhist community.
However most RE teachers do not seem to know who their
Buddhist rep is, and this could suggest that very few secondary RE teachers
enjoy a constructive relationship with their SACRE overall, or even that many SACREs do not have a
Buddhist representative to advise them.
·
More interaction with the local Buddhist community for both teachers and school children, both in the classroom and out on
a day trip
·
Good quality multimedia and interactive material
targeted at the appropriate level;
The material should be affordable or
free; existing material is patchy (e.g.’ GCSE bitesize’ does not cover Buddhism)
·
Method and practice of teaching : the Agreed
Syllabus could include and outline methods and practices for teaching Buddhism,
more in line with its view of the world and
approach to life, not just lists of contents, or
topics taken in isolation and shoe-horned into an ill-fitting RE teaching
model. To put it bluntly:
-
Buddhism is a non-theistic religion to start with,
and boldly puts the Four Noble Truths at the heart of its teachings, laying out
a path to be walked, rather than preaching salvation through the Mercy and/or
Revelation by a (personal) Godhead;
-
Secondly it does not place as much emphasis on
social engagement as a practice, though it recognizes its value in healing the
artificial divide between me and other, but rather encourages introspective
examination and development of awareness;
-
nor is it overly concerned with the dynamics and
rituals surrounding sexuality, as some other traditions are; etc.
Quoting:
‘Content-focus, as the all-in-all of an instructional scenario, only
touches certain aspects of experience, usually verbal/analytic ones. This is
particularly problematic in the teaching of Buddhist traditions, since so much
of the “material” is dependent upon psycho-physical awareness: how one sits,
breathes, and moves.’
Generally speaking the Buddhist community at large is not fully aware of recent developments
in the teaching of RE in schools, and the consequent need for the faith
communities to step in and fill the gaps.
In the last few years Religious Education in Schools has been run down, and the net
result is that:
·
RE Resources have drastically been
cut back at all levels, from SACREs to Schools
·
RE Teachers do not receive
sufficient training, and non-specialist
staff is being used to fill in the gaps even though they might lack the skills,
knowledge and confidence to teach RE
·
Teaching hours have been
cannibalized by ‘more important’ subjects
·
Schools cannot afford buying
quality RE material anymore
·
Online resources are patchy,
non-comprehensive, mostly do not conform to the requirements and formats
dictated by the syllabuses, and a few of those are of poor quality.
·
RE Advisors have been made
redundant, and invaluable skills and depth of knowledge have been lost, that
cannot be easily or readily replaced.
·
Providers of resources and
training facilities for CPD (Continuous Professional Training) have been
reducing their involvement and withdrawing altogether from the field, as not
viable any longer, commercially speaking.
Generally speaking Buddhist groups or networks are
only marginally engaging with
Religious Education in schools, and those involved in publishing and distributing educational material and resources are
struggling to survive.
The NASACRE recruitment
drive to fill in SACRE rep vacancies where required has come to a halt. The
suspicion is that as many as a third of the Local Authorities do not have an
active Buddhist Rep, across the UK (not as bad in London). It is difficult to state with any certainty as
in general relevant information is not made available by the SACRE to the
public, and no central unambiguous guidelines have been issued concerning the
procedures for the notifications of vacancies, selection criteria and
enlisting/onboarding procedures.
The fact that no
official Buddhist Endorsing Authorities for these matters have being identified/appointed,
only compounds the issue.
Besides no
training programme exist within the Buddhist community to prepare
prospective candidates for representational duties vis-à-vis the whole faith
community in their Local Authority.
Our list of SACRE Buddhist Reps is patchy and out of
date.
There is rather
poor intrafaith collaboration among the Buddhist Groups on these matters,
save for the odd communication aimed at providing schools with visitors
whenever requested.
As a Buddhist community, we are only partially able to provide comprehensive online resources tailored
to the educational requirements, either free or at an affordable cost. And that is even more the case if we only
consider non-tradition specific resources.
No nationwide provision is made for the training of new and/or existing SACRE Reps;
however some local SACRE provide bespoke training in this area.
As a mitigating factor we are in possession of training
material for SACRE Reps produced by NASACRE
a few years ago. However no regular enlisting/training event is held by the
Buddhist community.
The list of School
visitors from a Buddhist background is limited both numerically and in
regard to geographical reach. They are mostly volunteers, some of them in full-time
jobs, and most of them do not receive any financial
help from their own organizations; and so they are only able/willing to
help on a saltuary basis.
No provision is made for the training of new and/or existing school visitors/speakers
We have got no means of monitoring and evaluating the school work generated around Buddhism;
nor do we facilitate the process whereby
older schoolchildren can interact and request advice from
representatives of the Buddhist community : at the moment it happens only
occasionally and through the investigative work of their teachers.
We lack skills for the revision of the local Syllabuses, normally carried out in the
context of an Agreed Syllabus Conference
Our database of
Local Buddhist groups and contacts in the South of England is out of date
We have only occasional
contact with RE Teachers, and the same goes for RE Advisors: the result is that we are unaware of their needs and
issues, and they of ours.
For the last few years and until recently, representation to the National bodies
(Religious Education Council and NASACRE mainly) has been rather passive or
even non-existent at times.
The Buddhist Community in general, and the various
organizations representing it, need to step into the frame and develop a long term strategy for a sustained Buddhist
involvement in the delivery of Religious Education in schools. Ideally an
Endorsing Authority and/or Clearing House should be established (but given the
state of intra-faith affairs, more likely 2 or 3 of them is a more realistic
target), with the following remit:
·
As a partner to Local Authorities
and Central Government in planning and delivering RE
·
As a provider of quality and
comprehensive Buddhist educational resources both online and as publications,
tailored to the requirements and formats demanded by the Local Agreed
Syllabuses and national directives, covering all key stages, from pre-school to
Higher Education.
·
To kick-start a recruitment drive
for both SACRE Buddhist reps and speakers/visitors to schools, and keep the
initiative going for the long term.
·
To organize a long-term programme
of training for SACRE Reps, Speakers and even RE Teachers with regular events
to be held in central London, at least once or twice a year
·
To establish communication
channels and maintain contacts with Local SACREs , and become their initial
point of reference whenever in need for advice on Buddhist matters or for the
filling in of vacancies
·
To establish contacts with
schools and develop a strategy around
school visitors, and school visits to temple.
·
To develop communication channels
for facilitating interaction between Secondary schoolchildren and Buddhist
Representatives via Social Media and the like , for the valorisation of the
work produced by them, and to offer advice where required; that will also
facilitate interaction and resource sharing among students of RE across
schools, authorities and age-groups.
·
To provide guidance for our
volunteers with regards to :
-
participation in Collective
Worship;
-
how to teach Buddhism to children
of different ages;
-
protocols for school visits and
days out to temples;
-
to encourage speakers to promote
the ‘Many traditions, One Way’ inclusive approach;
-
provide them with regularly
updated lists of best of breed online resources etc.
Given the state of relations between Buddhist
Organisations and the past history of collaborative ventures, enthusiasm needs
to be tempered by realism here.
What is clear is that a lot of the leg-work can be done in collaboration with other groups and organisations
, e.g. training programmes, revision of syllabuses, House Clearing for
School visits and SACRE vacancies, etc.
And so the Kalyana Mitra (Buddhist Chaplaincy support)
modus operandi, inclusive but independent of any organisation and yet
supported by many, could provide a good model, and ideally we should try
and involve stake-holders and interested people from a variety different
traditions, and even just sympathizers.
It is also important that we work in close collaboration with at least a few
sympathetic and experienced Teachers of RE and/or RE Advisors, to ensure
that the effort is well targeted and effective.
We need to become technically smart: we need to
device suitable mechanisms for enabling/facilitating communications and
conference calls across a wide area: Volunteers could be located as far as
Cornwall, or Yorkshire. We also need
Wi-Fi at the Buddhist Society and other hosting venues to enable multimedia presentations of online
content during events or meetings, as well as for conference calls (e.g. via
Skype or Hangouts).
As for
the provision of comprehensive educational resources, the different groups,
organisations and networks will want to come up with their own.
Hopefully in this way the Buddhist RE Support Group (RE.Bu.S
?) will attract support from the wider Buddhist community while mindfully
steering away from the usual pitfalls and political minefields.
Thank you for your attention.
Feedback can be sent to mmarcigaglia[at]gmail.com, as
well as provided as a comment to this blog entry.
