Crotty, R., & O’Donoghue, M.* A strategy for teaching about the
religious worlds of today Education 51 (2) 2003 19-23
Crotty, R. & O’Donoghue, M. (2003). A strategy for teaching about the religious worlds of
today. Journal of Religious Education 51 (2) 2003 19-23.
A strategy for teaching about the religious worlds of today
Some time ago, the five original authors (Marie
Crotty, Norman Habel, Basil Moore, and the two
authors of this article) of the secondary text book
Finding a Way. The Religious Worlds of Today,
consisting of a Student Book (1989) and a
separate Teachers Book (1989), were asked by
HarperCollins to prepare a second edition (to
appear 2003).
Prior to the writing of the first edition, the five of
us had already become adept at working together.
We had taken on joint research that entailed us
meeting for weekends in adjoining units in a
South Australian resort. We appreciated each
other's talents and we readily undertook the
commission.
The first edition had been the result of face to face
planning meetings at which we each presented
drafts of disparate sections for consideration and
critique. The five of us represented a variety of
expertise in the history of religions, sociology of
religion, religious literature, curriculum studies,
feminist studies, studies in racism. Slowly the text
book took shape. The end result of the joint
exercise was that it became difficult to
differentiate between the individual contributions.
Eventually we matched a curricular approach to
the study of religions with a textbook that would
provide the basis for such a curriculum.
Besides writing the Teachers Book to accompany
the Student Book we also presented a joint paper
at an Australian Association for the Study of
Religions Conference in 1990 in order to explain
to religious educators how we thought the
textbook should be used. Further, each of us has
been asked over the years to speak to the textbook
and to explain how it should work and we have
run workshops to do just that. In retrospect, how
successful was the project? Probably not a
resounding success. The Student Book has sold
well (as is witnessed by the number of printings
and now the request for a second edition), but our
suspicion has been all along that only certain
selected sections have been used by teachers and
that the explanation of the curricular approach in
the Teachers Book has not been taken as seriously
as we would have hoped.
For the second edition the five of us (admittedly
now showing the unmistakable signs of ageing)
met again, first over working lunches and then
electronically (largely unavailable for the first
edition). We saw the need to make some
corrections to the Student Book, to include
material on the religious traditions in Australia, to
bring some of the data up to date, to make projects
more topical to the problems of the third
millennium and to include reference to some
important
electronic
sources.
However,
unanimously we considered that the original thrust
of the Student Book and the methodological
approach described in the Teachers Book were
still relevant.
The book was written on the premise that
Australia is a multicultural country and that this
trend would only continue to be more prominent.
Few would contest that. Multiculturalism
inevitably brings in its train religious pluralism, in
the broad sense of a number of religious traditions
existing in the same society. But we had sounded
a warning:
In schools where there is a great deal of
religion in the curriculum, there is often
little multiculturalism. In schools where
there is a great deal of multiculturalism,
there is often little religion. (Teachers
Book, p. 2)
Our survey showed that religious education was
prominent in schools with religious foundations
but overwhelmingly these religious education
programs dealt exclusively with the tradition in
which the school was embedded. Many public
schools took multiculturalism seriously, as also
did Catholic schools, since there is no community
group in Australia that is more representative of
multiculturalism than the Catholic Church.
However, these multicultural programs, by and
large, focussed on almost every facet of culture
other than religion.
There has been nothing in more recent Australian
history to dissuade us from continuing in the
direction that we had originally taken - towards a
Journal of Religious Education 51 (2) 2003 19
confrontation with religious pluralism. In an
article published in this journal in 2001 it was
concluded:
Given this brief overview of the situation
in contemporary Australian society and
informed by approaches to developing a
tolerant and open multicultural society
through education and interaction, it is
apparent that religious education needs to
be designed specifically to encourage and
facilitate religious pluralism within a
multifaith and multicultural Australia.
(Wurst & Crotty, 2001. p. 30)
Our fundamental apologia for constructing a
textbook on the ‘religious worlds of today’ was
simply that ‘we do not believe there is any great
virtue in being illiterate’. That remains our
position. While illiteracy as such is decried in our
society, yet it remains a fact that most Australians
are socially illiterate when it comes to religion.
We stated rather bluntly in 1989:
... both denominational and state schools
have contributed to this religious
illiteracy and continue to do so. How
many students leaving any school would
be able to say three intelligent things
about Sikhism? Or tell the difference
between the Buddha and an ayotallah?
(Teachers Book, p. 2)
By the end of this article, we hope that what we
meant by ‘religious literacy’ will be more evident.
We then went on to make a statement that has
been only too cruelly reinforced in the intervening
period culminating in September 11, 2001 and
October 12, 2002:
And in the modern world, basic religious
literacy is not irrelevant. There have been
major international and national crises
and conflicts in which religion has been a
key issue. It is impossible to understand
let alone respond intelligently to such
events
without
having
some
understanding of their religious aspect.
(Teachers Book, p. 2)
Our hope was to bring about an awareness of
religious pluralism, understood not simply as the
fact that many religions co-habit Australia, but
understood as a program whereby people respect
and understand other religious traditions,
recognising that religions are ‘true’ for the people
who follow them, bringing ultimate meaning and
purpose into their lives. We made the following
statement:
20 Journal of Religious Education 51 (2) 2003
We hope that religious pluralism will
become a much more significant feature
of the Religious Education programme in
denominational schools. We hope also
that religious pluralism will be treated in
greater depth in the multicultural
programmes in all schools. (Teachers
Book, pp. 3-4)
With these purposes in mind we established our
teaching methodology. The Student Book is
arranged so that it can be read in two directions:
reading the text horizontally (to identify and
compare particular characteristics common to
some or all religions) and reading the text
vertically (to see the inner logic that presents a
coherent system of belief and practice with its
own integrity and its distinctive influence on the
faith and life of its adherents).
In order to facilitate these two ways of studying
religion we then chose two ‘process’ approaches
to teaching, best suited in our opinion to the two
ways of studying religion - the Concept
Attainment Model and the System Construction
Model. These are not the only approaches to
teaching religion, but we decided to concentrate
on them.
As the name suggests the Concept Attainment
Model helps the student understand and clarify
concepts, the fundamental building blocks in
human communication. In the case of religious
concepts, the Concept Attainment Model uses the
horizontal reading method to help students draw
out and identify the similarities and differences in
the many aspects of the different religions (such as
beliefs, sacred stories, religious experience,
religious ritual, social structures, sacred texts,
religious ethics, sacred symbols).
The System Construction Model helps the student
to link together or synthesise what appear to be
very different concepts. Human systems can be
very complex and the connections that make them
up are not immediately obvious. This is especially
true of religions. A central and recurring theme,
idea or value helps to link the various major
concepts within a particular religion and the
student should understand how all of these form a
unified whole.
Applied to the study of religion, the Concept
Attainment Model can be broken down into a
series of phases. While the phases may seem
rather artificial at first sight, the experienced
teacher can eventually move from one to another
in a relaxed and natural fashion.
Teacher preparation
Selection of a religious concept that we can
identify as ‘x’ (not a religious theory or a religious
fact), clarification of its basic and distinguishing
features and identification of appropriate
examples.
Phase 1. What do we think that x means?
(Presentation of the concept)
Phase 2. What do others mean by x? (Presentation
of instances from linguistic culture)
Phase 3. This is an x (but this is not) (Presentation
of ‘labelled’ phenomenal exemplars)
Phase 4. Is this really an x? (Initial testing of
concept attainment)
Phase 5. This is what x means. (Formulation of a
set of distinguishing characteristics of the concept)
Phase 6. Here's another x (Test attainment of the
concept)
Phase 7. How did we come to know x? (Analysis
of thinking strategies used)
The System Construction Model can be likewise
broken down into a series of phases.
Teacher preparation
A sound knowledge of all the major aspects of the
religion under investigation - its core beliefs,
values and practices.
Phase 1. What do we think are the main points.
(Initial description of core features)
Phase 2. What's in it. (Analysis of major
components)
Phase 3. What are the main points (Review of
core features)
Phase 4. Does it hang together? (Synthesis of
major components)
Phase 5. Hey Presto! A
(Presentation of the system)
living
religion.
An example of the horizontal study of religion
using the Concept Attainment Model might be a
series of classes on the concept of ‘rites of
passage’.
Teacher preparation
The teacher would need to do some background
reading on the topic, taken from Anthropology or
Religion Studies. Rites of passage include rituals
for birth, puberty, initiation, marriage and death as
well as the rituals that accompany induction into
special offices, such as the priesthood, monastic
state or shamanism. There are characteristics of
rites of passage that textbooks on anthropology
and religion will readily tabulate.
Phase 1. What do we think ‘rites of passage’
means?
The students are encouraged to discuss what they
think the concept of ‘rites of passage’ entails from
ideas of ritual that have accompanied important
life-transitions in their own experience such as the
birth of a child, marriage, death or perhaps a
priestly ordination. They are asked to list the more
important characteristics of these special rituals.
They would probably pick up such characteristics
as the inclusion of the person in a new status, the
person’s separation from a previous world, some
ritualistic marking of the candidate, the presence
of sponsors.
Phase 2. What do others mean by ‘rites of
passage’?
By offering the students some resources (Finding
a Way has some ready-made Resource Sheets, but
there are other possibilities), they can extend their
enumeration of the characteristics of rites of
passage.
Phase 3. This is a ‘rite of passage’ (but this is not)
From a Resource Sheet, video, field trip, library
search and so forth the students can study an
actual rite of passage (for example, the Sacred
Thread ceremony for Hindu boys). They know
from the outset that it is a rite of passage. They
can be asked to identify the major characteristics
that appear from the presentation and then fill out
a Worksheet (also supplied) using them. They are
moving towards comprehending a pattern of rites
of passage.
Phase 4. Is this really a ‘rite of passage’.
In this phase the students are presented with the
description of a ritual (either orally, by medium of
video or by attendance) but they are not given any
assurance that it is a rite of passage. Using their
list of characteristics they should be able to
conclude whether or not it is, in fact, a rite of
passage.
Phase 5. This is what ‘rite of passage’ means.
The students by this stage have in their possession
a list of characteristics and they would have
considered a number of examples of rites of
passage. The aim is now to assist them to select
those characteristics that are essential to the
concept and that help them distinguish it from
other similar concepts. A class could be divided
into groups and each group entrusted with a
distinguishing characteristic. They could give
examples of that characteristic from the rituals that
they have encountered.
Journal of Religious Education 51 (2) 2003 21
Phase 6. Here’s another ‘rite of passage’
By this point the students should be given the
opportunity to demonstrate how they understand
‘rite of passage’ by constructing their own
exemplar that can take the form of a fictitious
story or presentation. In story or report form they
can describe some dramatic turning-point in a
person’s life and report on their own construction
of a rite of passage that could accompany it.
Phase 7. How did we come to know the ‘rite of
passage’?
By group or class discussion, the students identify
the development of their own understanding of a
rite of passage. At the conclusion of this set of
study sessions, the students should be able to
identify the major features of a rite of passage, be
able to discuss the significance of rites of passage
for the individual and society and name some rites
of passage in different religious traditions.
An example of a vertical study of religion using
the System Construction Model would be a series
of lessons devoted to Islam.
Teacher preparation
The teacher would need to ensure that his/her
understanding of Islam was without bias (for
example, Islam does not equal terrorism). A short
list of essentials would be:
Beliefs: the oneness of Allah; the
prophetic role of Muhammad; Djinn;
angels and Satan; Day of Judgement;
eternity of the Qur'an.
Values: islam (submission); jihad
(striving)
Structures: lay-out of the mosque; role of
imam; festivals (especially Id-ul-Fitr and
Id-ul-Adha)
Practices: the five Pillars (confession of
faith in Allah, prayer on five occasions
during the day, almsgiving, the fast
during the sacred month of Ramadan, a
pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in a
lifetime); recitation of the Qur'an; Sufi
practices.
Phase 1. What do we think are the main points?
Using a variety of resources, texts and video for
example, the students can be asked to identify
what they see as the core features of Islam that
distinguish it from other religions. They may
highlight the role of the prophet Muhammad, the
central authority of the Qur’an, the human attitude
of submission to Allah.
Phase 2. What's in it?
22 Journal of Religious Education 51 (2) 2003
Finding a Way outlines the eight major
components of a religion (see also Crotty, 1995).
The students are encouraged to develop
empathetic descriptions of each of these eight
components in Islam. These are described at
length in Finding a Way.
Phase 3. What are the main points?
By class discussion on the work done in Phase 2
and further examples from other resources the
students are helped to revise and extend the list of
core and distinguishing features of the religion.
Phase 4. Does it hang together?
The aim here is to see how the core features
identified in Phase 3 are present in the major
components identified in Phase 2 and that the core
features give a distinctive quality to each of the
components. On a chart connecting links between
components and core features can be drawn. The
Teachers Book gives a example of such a chart.
Phase 5. Hey Presto! A living religion.
In this final phase the students are given the
opportunity to communicate the sense of Islam as
an integrated system. This can be done by
different media. For example, a student or a group
could make a class presentation on a recent
pilgrimage to Mecca; on being present at a
mosque at the Friday service; on the daily duties
of the Muslim; on the reading of the Qur'an; on
why ‘I am a Sunni Muslim (or a Shi'ite Muslim)’.
The presentation could include oral description,
play acting, collages or posters.
At the end of this exercise, these students should
be able to present competently the main beliefs
and practices of Islam. They should be able to
distinguish the Islamic religion from the violent
excesses of fanatics who seek to legitimate their
actions by appeals to their religion. They should
be able to appreciate the beauty and depth of the
Qur'an.
This broad study of religion, with its horizontal
and vertical aspects, is the basis for what we have
termed religious literacy. This has been described
as follows:
The developing youth would need to
know the structure of religion, the
interrelationship of its parts and need to
appreciate the direction and purpose that
religion could give. Certainly there would
also need to be an introduction to a
variety of religious traditions in order to
make
the
theory concrete
and
understandable. The educational outcome
should be a fluency in dealing with
religious terminology such as ‘myth’,
‘ritual’, ‘religious experience’, ‘religious
ethic’, together with the ability to give
concrete examples. This form of religious
education should be provided by all
educational institutions within Australian
society, state or private. It should be
regarded as essential as literacy or
numeracy, and indeed it could be
compared analogously to the teaching of
English as one of the overarching values
that holds secular society together.
(Crotty, 1996, p. 192)
This is not to deny that at the same time the youth
may receive instruction in one or other religious
tradition, although this is not the primary concern
of the state system. The analogue here would be
the teaching of a family language and its attendant
culture. Just as a child of Greek parents should
learn to communicate in English, to be literate, but
also receive instruction in Greek communication
(perhaps in a Greek Saturday school), so the same
child could be schooled in religious literacy and
be inducted into the study of Greek Orthodox
religion. Mutatis mutandis, the same principle
holds for the Roman Catholic child or any other.
Primarily, this particular religious instruction
pertains to the family and to religious institutions,
educational and other. This form of religious
instruction does not form part of Finding a Way,
but we would maintain that what we have done in
the book should be articulated with a variety of
religious instruction courses. In whatever case, the
very best pedagogy and the best curriculum should
be utilised.
Our final word to the students in Finding a Way
still stands in the second edition.
We will let the religions speak for
themselves and each describe its ‘world’,
but we will also give you the opportunity
to be critical and to express your own
views on the religions. (Student Book, p.
3)
We sincerely hope the orientation towards
religious pluralism, which we regard so seriously,
is taken into account in any attempts to rethink
religious education in Australia.
References
Crotty, R. (1996). Religious education in a
pluralist society. In G. Potter (Ed.),
Heritage of faith: Essays in honour of
Arnold D. Hunt. Flinders Press: Adelaide
Crotty, M. et al. (1989). Finding a way. The
religious worlds of today, Teachers
Book. Collins-Dove: Melbourne.
Crotty, M. et al. (1989). Finding a way. The
religious worlds of today, Teachers
Book. Collins-Dove: Melbourne.
Crotty, M. et al. (1989). Finding a way. The
religious worlds of today, Student Book.
Collins-Dove: Melbourne.
Crotty, R. (1998), Studies in religion in a pluralist
society. Intersections 4 (1), 21-34.
Crotty, R. (1995). Towards classifying religious
phenomena. Australian Religion Studies
Review 8, 34-41.
Wurst, S. & Crotty, R. (2001). Establishing the
foundations of RE in contemporary
Australian society. Journal of Religious
Education 49(2), 26-30.
*Robert Crotty is Adjunct Professor of
Religion Education at the University of South
Australia. Having completed theological and
biblical studies in Rome and Jerusalem, he
later did a research degree in ancient history at
Melbourne University and a doctorate in
education at Adelaide University. His present
research interests are the history of early
Christianity and pluralist religious education.
*Michael O'Donoghue is Senior Lecturer in
the School of Education at the University of
South Australia. He is Program Director of the
Bachelor of Education (Graduate Entry) and
coordinator of the Religion Studies subject
area. These reflect his twin interests in
Education and Religion Studies. In the former
his interest is in teacher education and the
social context of education. In the latter his
interests are in Ancient Egyptian Religion and
religious phenomena.
FINDING A WAY: The Religious Worlds of Today
(2nd ed.). HarperCollins Religious, 2003 ISBN 1 74050 004 0
Marie Crotty, Robert Crotty, Norman Habel, Basil Moore and Michael O'Donoghue.
Journal of Religious Education 51 (2) 2003 23
This updated edition is intended to help students get behind the headlines by exploring the
fascinating worlds of religion openly and honestly. It invites them to walk in the shoes of
religious believers and see their worlds through their eyes. It also encourages them to ask