January 29, 2017
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Religion, Culture and Unchurched Spirituality

This weeks input dealt with Religion, Culture and Unchurched Spirituality, the influence they have on each other and on wider society. We also looked at the work of a number of theorists on the subject, each with varying attitudes and approaches to religion and its influence on society.

For me, it was important to note that it is not simply enough to state that religion influences culture, but it must also be recognised that the surrounding culture can influence religion. Religion can be seen as an expression of identity – through dress for example, or food and music, while it can also be seen as a way of life, informing education, law and relationships.

The idea was presented to us that religion, while possessing positive attributes, such as promoting altruism, provision of a physical community and provision of a spiritual community, it can be viewed as a social issue to a certain extent. My understanding of this is that it is not the religion itself which presents the issue, but how those individuals and institutions which follow that religion do so which causes issues.

An example of this would be in the above point regarding altruism. Altruism for its own sake or for the sake of kindness is not an issue, but if an institution, for example a church, were to not only promote altruism amongst its followers, but also use it as a means to recruit members and expand their congregation (as a ‘gimmick’ to promote their idealogy), then it becomes a problem. There were subsequent points made during the lecture about certain unethical aspects of religion, the impact that certain beliefs can have on health, and the vulnerability to internal extremist forces.

With these ideas in mind, we looked at the work of theorists in this area. The first was Max Weber, who proposed that, as a part of culture, the Protestant branch of Christianity provided the foundation for the ideological atmosphere which allowed the capitalist system to thrive in Europe. He spoke about the “Protestant Ethic”, this ideology which saw the work ethic of Protestant denominations enable the flourishing of the capitalist system. In this way, Weber deemed that religion could be an agent for social change, enable society to alter itself based on the ethics of their religious beliefs.

In contrast to this, we looked at the work of Karl Marx. Marx claimed that religion was a tool used by ruling classes to control the people below them. In this way, Marx argued that religion was an unnecessary aspect of society as it was purely man-made. He called religion “the opium of the people”, proposing that religion kept people down and encouraged them to simply accept the situation in which they found themselves.

Out of the theorists that we looked at in this input, the one I find I agree with the most is Bruce Lincoln, after some further reading. He proposed that religion is a man made phenomenon, but that it still has an inherent value to those who participate in it. I find that this ties in most with my own beliefs about religion.

With regards to unchurched spirituality, I found it quite interesting to consider the change in some parts of society, particularly western countries, from following established religions to a more personal approach to spirituality.

This seems to have occurred following increasing secularisation in western countries, where the cultural significance of established religions seems to have declined. It was impressed on us during the input that this was not necessarily a case of established religion declining simply in the face of secularisation, but that while numbers engaging in established religion (for example, attending church) have declined, the numbers of people moving towards unorganised religion or spirituality outwith churches.

Despite this increase in unchurched spirituality,it is not without its criticisms. Largely, the criticisms tend towards the seemingly consumerist aspect of spirituality, lack of commitment to rationality (i.e. rejecting science – though I personally do not believe this to be true in all cases) and the lack of impact it has on maintaining moral order in society.

For me, the main aspect to take from this input, and what I feel will influence my career as a teacher, is the understanding that not everyone who calls themselves religious would assign themselves to organised religion. It is important for me to bear this in mind when welcoming pupils and parents into my classroom. I think it is also important to bear in mind varying approaches to religion, and to keep in mind that not everyone will subscribe to the same beliefs as I do, but that it is essential to be respectful and welcoming towards all religious and spiritual background, and create a classroom ethos which follows suit.

January 16, 2017
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Society and Lifestyles: Religion and Society

In todays lecture on Religion and Society, and the follow-up tutorial and independent task, I have learned about four main areas:

How religion can be classified
Common features of religion
Approaches towards religion (Insider and Outsider approach)
Sociological/Anthropological theories relating to religion from a functionalist standpoint.

Classifying Religion

Religion can be classified in three ways: established religion, sect and cult.

Established religion refers to commonly encountered religions, for example Christianity, Islam and Judaism. These are longstanding religions with deep roots in local and global culture.

A sect refers to a religion which generally stems from an established religion, but is trying to change elements of the established religion. An example of this would be Community of the Lady of All Nations, a Roman Catholic sect which holds beliefs that do not exactly line up with those of the Roman Catholic Church.

A cult holds vastly different beliefs from the dominant religion in their society. An example of this given in class was the cult led by Jim Jones in the 1970s.

Common features of religion

Ninian Smart proposed that there are common features to be found across religions. These features are found to occur in all religions, and they are: Ritual or practical elements; doctrinal or philosophical elements; mystic or narrative; ethical or legal; organisational or social; experiential or emotional; material or artistic. This suggests that religion can have a profound influence on the society which practices it, and not only affects the people within the society, but the society itself.

Approaches towards religion

The insider approach refers to the approach a believer would take, which is more personal and involved with the religion. It informs their ethics, their beliefs and their faith in the immutable nature of their belief.

The outsider approach refers to a scholarly, more impersonal approach. It aims to look at religion as an aspect of society, and is not informed by belief in the faith in question.

Functionalist theories regarding religion

The main theories we studied in class were those of Bronislaw Malinowski, Emile Durkheim, A.R. Radcliffe-Brown and M.F.C Bourdillon. These theories cover the influence and function that religion serves within societies, with regards to their function on a personal level (i.e. dealing with crises, psychological state) and on a community-wide level (i.e. common sentiments and structure within society).

I feel that I do have some understanding of most of the main concepts covered in today’s input, but that I could benefit from further reading into functionalist theories. At the moment, I believe that I could evidence my current level of knowledge by explaining or writing about the concepts discussed, with brief reference to the relevant theorists and aspects of religion. At the moment however, I do not believe that I have a really firm grasp of the concepts discussed today, despite some limited understanding after the inputs. I intend to undertake further reading to rectify this, and deepen my understanding of functionalist theories and their related aspects of religion.

I feel that today’s inputs have given me a thorough starting point to begin developing my understanding of the relationship between religion and society, since my last real educational input regarding religion was several years ago, in high school, and was fairly limited even then. I plan to build on the concepts discussed today and undertake further research to ‘fill in the gaps’, as it were. As previously stated, I believe that I need to look more into functionalist theories and develop my understanding of these into a more thorough knowledge base, which will not only aid my performance in the module assessment, but into my general understanding of religion as a concept and aspect of knowledge.

Looking back over my notes from today’s input, I believe I have gained more of an understanding of the interconnected nature of religion and society, and how one can have influence over the other. An example of this would be the link between religion in certain societies providing structure and a sense of community within them.

As far as career aspirations are concerned with regards to this input, I want to be able to develop my understanding of religion and its role in society in order to be better able to educate students about it through religious and moral education, and also to be able to use this knowledge to develop my ability to relate with and better engage with parents. I think it’s important to understand why religion has played an important role in society on a global scale, and what it offers to those who are part of a faith group. I believe it will help to develop my understanding of the choices people make with regards to their religion and families, and equip me to really engage with and understand the people that I will likely be working in partnership with in the future.

January 6, 2017
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Reflections on Room

I consider myself to be an avid reader, and it is one of my main hobbies. My preferences tend towards fantasy if reading fiction, the works of Shakespeare and Tolkien being at the top of my list of favourites, along with ‘lighter’ works such as Harry Potter, the Shannara series etc. For non-fiction, I find my preferences still tend along similar lines, as I enjoy reading myths and legends from various cultures. I don’t consider them fiction, as despite the fact that mythologies are generally learned about though stories and poetry, they are deeply rooted in the culture of the time period and had strong influences over the population at that time. For that, I would consider them as more non-fiction works, as they usually include analysis and further context in the form of academic writing on their respective subjects.

There is a clear trend in my preferences however, as the themes of fantasy and powers larger than myself are prevalent through these types of literature. I enjoy the escapism that these sorts of stories and myths present, allowing me to take a break from the realities of life and enjoy joining the characters on adventures that could never happen in real life. With mythology, there is also a sense of escapism as their stories allow us to see cultures through their own words and images, something I find incredibly valuable. Despite the grand and often far-fetched natures of their myths and histories, I find it intriguing to see how the world was interpreted at a time so vastly different from our own.

It is clear then, that I do not generally engage with more realistic works of fiction. I have, read novels of this type, or true-life stories based on similar events to those in Room, but I find that, while the perspectives presented in these kinds of texts are valuable and important to understand from a human and empathetic standpoint, I cannot read them often, and certainly not for enjoyment. In terms of more autobiographical texts of this nature, I do not believe they can, or are meant to be enjoyed, due to the nature of their content, but I cannot deny that those I have read have had a significant impact on the way I relate to others, in terms of how I approach sensitive situations and in influencing my general consideration of others. Room is certainly included in that list.

Reading Room was somewhat challenging for me at the beginning, mostly due to the nature of the situation the main characters were placed in. It was quite uncomfortable at the beginning, and I never really enjoyed the book per se, since it did evoke some strong feelings of discomfort. Despite this, it was incredibly engaging and very difficult to put down, as I was invested in the characters and desperate to see them escape from Room. It helped to solidify my understanding of the concepts of language acquisition and development discussed in class, and presented me with ideas that I had not perhaps been fully aware of before, such as Jack’s adjustment to the world at his age, and the kind of impact his situation had had on his development overall, not just in terms of his language.

Overall, whilst I cannot say I enjoyed Room, reading it was certainly a valuable experience, in its helping me to understand concepts, its influence on my own ability to consider the impact of the home environment on the children I will teach, and creating characters in whom I was so thoroughly invested. I would recommend it to future students on this course based on these merits, and maintain that it is a valuable text for those who want to work with children and their parents.

November 8, 2016
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Reflections on Placement

Initial thoughts

If I’m being perfectly honest, I was not particularly anxious embarking on the BA1 placement. I was aware that our role would primarily be centered around working with small groups of children and not any actual teaching as such, and due to my prior experience as a Support for Learning Worker, I had a good idea of what that would entail. The 8 tasks we were to complete whilst there were new however, and I was concerned about managing my time effectively between working with the children and supporting them properly while also gathering the information I needed to complete the tasks.

Despite this, I felt that I went into placement ready to listen and observe, but also to participate, which to me seemed to be the most crucial aspect of this placement. I personally find that I learn and adapt quite well when I am put into a situation and expected to at least partially learn by doing.

Regarding the value of the placement experience for me, I think it all comes down to seeing concepts actualized, which forms the connection between something I had heard about in a lecture or tutorial, and applying them in practice. An example of this would be using relevance to teach mathematics, which I was able to observe and support in my time on placement through a lesson on co-ordinates, using a grid on a printed football pitch to allow children to play a game using co-ordinates. I found this to be extremely beneficial to me, as seeing practical examples of topics covered in lectures helped to solidify my understanding.

Placement

I found that staff and pupils were very welcoming, that I was well received in the classes I was working in and that I felt able to ask questions when I had them, and staff were willing to discuss them with me. I felt a little hesitant in the staff room initially and was quite quiet, but I was aware that engaging with staff was a crucial part of placement and did not want my nerves to get the better of me.

I pushed myself to talk and by Tuesday lunchtime, felt quite able to strike up a conversation with the members of staff around me. I did wonder at one point if I was making a nuisance of myself once I was past my hesitant stage as I was asking a lot of questions about the school, its curriculum and the surrounding educational community, but I am an inherently curious person, and the staff didn’t seem to mind. One of the teachers I worked with suggested that it just demonstrated that I was actually invested in my placement experience and keen to learn, so I intend to keep asking (relevant) questions.

Area of Strength

Through discussing my mentor observation, it was brought to my attention that an area of strength I demonstrated was in questioning children. I was working with a small group of children on a mind-mapping exercise, and one boy in particular seemed to be coming off task quite a bit, so I worked a little more closely with him to try and help him complete his task. My feedback from this was that I demonstrated a good use of different question types, and that I was not giving the child the answers, but rather questioning in such a way that he was encouraged to think a little harder about his answers.

It was also noted that I was able to rephrase the question in an appropriate manner when it became apparent that an initial question was not quite understood, which I think tied into being able to use appropriate language for the children you are working with.

Area of Most Progress

I believe the area I progressed in most was being able to push past my initial nervousness in the staff room. I know it is a normal aspect of entering a new environment, but I wanted to make the most out of my placement experience and to do that required me to make the effort even though I was nervous. I wanted staff to feel as though I was happy to be there and interested in what they do, and I think I successfully conveyed that in my short time in the school.

Area for Development

An area which was highlighted for me to develop based on my mentor observation was being able to ensure that I did not focus too much on one pupil in a group when there are others present. I accept that whilst working with a small group of children, one child did take most of my focus as I felt I had to keep coming back to him to ensure that he stayed on task and understood what he was being asked to do. At this point, I did find it quite difficult to ensure that I focused enough on each child, as there were members of the group who were staying on task and understood what they were to do.

Action Plan

To continue progressing, I intend to build on the factors highlighted above. For questioning, my mentor recommended planning questions when I am planning the lesson, as this will allow me to consider the appropriate language and level of questioning to use.

For engaging with staff, to progress in this I think I just need to feel confident going into placement, accept that I am in a new environment and just go for it, as there is really no point in sitting quietly when I could be participating fully in the school environment. I think I could miss out on valuable insight that way too.

To progress in my ability to keep non-participating students engaged, I have been advised to look into Assessment is for Learning (AIFL), which will allow me to ensure that I am not always going to be choosing the same pupils to answer questions and focusing less on other students. My initial understanding of AIFL is that it promotes moving from looking at how ‘intelligent’ children are, to a view where effort and participation are the main focus. It will be necessary for me to look into suggested strategies to exemplify this, and I intend to read further but at the moment, this is how I understand AIFL. I may make a further blog post once I have clarified this for myself.

I know now that I need to work on equally sharing out my attention as much as possible, and being able to identify when it is needed and when I can afford to step back a little.

Overall Thoughts

Overall, I found my placement to be an incredibly valuable experience, and an enjoyable one at that. I enjoy the school environment, as hectic as it can be, and found that I had my belief confirmed that I had chosen the right career for myself. All that’s left to be done now is take the experiences and feedback from this placement and build on it to ensure that I keep progressing the way I mean to.