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What is
Religion?
Religion: general/introductory Purpose:
to explore the multidimensional nature of religion. Cognitive
Skills: analysis, synthesis, comprehension, application
Learning Styles: active,
reflective, intuitive, global
Intelligences: intrapersonal,
interpersonal, logical-mathematical
Use:
in class For: small groups Estimated
time: 30 - 45 minutes (including mini-lecture) Materials
needed: none (other than pen & paper) Note:
many introductory texts discuss these dimensions of religion. Dimensions
used in the activity and lecture can be modified to align with the text the
students are using. The
Activity:
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Think & write:
Students begin by working independently: ask students to brainstorm a
list of terms: "what comes to mind when you hear the word
'religion'?" Give one minute for this.
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Pair & share:
Have students pair up and share with each other what is on their lists. Have
them add to their own list whatever is on their partner's list that is not
on their own (if there is an uneven number of students, there can be one
group of three). (2 minutes)
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Group & share:
Have pairs join into groups of four (five it there is a group of three). If
there is an uneven number of pairs, have one pair split and join with two
others. Again, have students review the lists from the two groups and add to
their own list whatever is on the other that is not on their own. (2-3
minutes)
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Group & share once
again if it is a large class - up to eight students in a group (four
original pairs), once again adding terms to their own lists from the list of
the other group. (3 - 4 minutes)
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Regroup entire
class: take contributions from each group in turn, listing them on the
board. Request one item from their list, go around from group to
group until each has shared several times and there are around two dozen
terms on the board. As the teacher writes the terms on the board, group them
to represent three major dimensions of religion: physical/active/social,
intellectual (ideas, beliefs), emotional (feeling words) (do not
write headings on these lists yet). (5 - 7 minutes)
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Ask students to
analyze the lists and identify what each represents. Help students move
toward the three identifications noted above. As desired IDs are offered,
write them as headings over the appropriate list of terms on the board. (2 -
3 minutes)
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Lecture:
discuss these three aspects of religion, clarifying and adding observations
to the lists generated by the students. (10 minutes)
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Closure (think
& write): ask students to reflect upon their own experience
or familiarity with religion (or from observations of others):
"thinking about a religion with which you are most familiar, see if you
can identify aspects of this religion that relate to these three dimensions
of religion." If time allows, ask students to volunteer examples from their
reflective writing.
Additionally: A
similar process can be used to explore the many aspects of any specific
religion. At the beginning of a unit of study, students can contribute what they
already know about the religion and the teacher can help them group these in manageable
themes that might be addressed in lectures to follow. "What is..."
Judaism? Christianity? Islam? Hinduism? Buddhism? etc... "What comes to
mind when you think about..."
Alternative
possibilities: any complex subject matter can be explored in this
way: "what is...," what comes to mind when you think about..."
art? science? history? literature? culture?, breaking down student contributions
by type (kind of art, kinds of science, kinds of literature, aspects of history,
aspects of culture, etc...).
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