What does learning in RE in a Christian community offer every child?

Commitment is a key idea for all religions. This work enables children to think hard about religious commitments and their own commitments.

The Commitment Game RE needs more interesting and interactive approaches – here’s one to try out.

The aims of the game include; Enabling 8-11s to discuss commitment in a structured and profound way creating a conceptual framework for the understanding of religious commitment providing for excellence and enjoyment in speaking and listening through RE.

The Commitment Game On the board, a green square stands for things you are committed to, a red one for the things you are not committed to, and an orange space is for things you’re not so sure about. Pupils must put the cards in a pile, face downwards, and play in turns, around the group. When it’s your turn, you must do these things: 1. Read out the top card; 2. Ask the other players where they would put it and why; 3. Ignore them, and put it where you think it goes for you. 4. When it’s your turn, if you want to, you can also move another person’s card to a space that you choose: ‘Move one, place one’ is the rule. 5. All cards must be in one space only – no overlapping is allowed. 6. When the cards are all out, play three more rounds, in which you just swap two cards over. Say why.

Step 3  Describe the commitments of others and of myself  Make a link between a religious idea and an idea of mine about commitment 4  Show that I understand some examples of religious commitments  Apply ideas like commitment, influence or hypocrisy for myself 5  Explain the impact of religious commitments on people’s lives, explaining similarities and differences between religions  Explain the impact of my commitments on myself and my family 6  Interpret what sacred texts say about commitment, making insightful commentary of my own about it.  Explain with arguments and examples how and why my commitments reflect my beliefs and influence my ethics Progress steps described:

Commitment What does it mean? “Commitments are things that you care about very much, that make a difference to your life” “A commitment is something you take on, and then stick to” What is a soldier committed to? What is a police officer committed to? What is Steven Gerrard committed to? What is Angelina Jolie committed to? How does it show?

Christopher: “Me and my family live in Lincoln. I like football, and I usually play every Saturday in the season. I like Spiderman comics. I draw my own versions of Spiderman stories when I have time. My religion is important to me as well. My family go to worship every Sunday, and I enjoy my group at Church (It’s called ‘Pathfinders’, because we’re trying to find the best path to live life). I think it’s important to pray and worship. Jesus gave us life, and he gave his life for us, so I want to give something back. When I grow up, if I’m not good enough to be a footballer, then I’d like to work for Christian Aid, travelling in less developed countries to try and help people in need.”

Karam: “I live in Leicester, which is a city of four religions. In my religion, we worship different gods and goddesses. At home we have a shrine to the god Shiva. There’s a murti (you would call it a statue) and we pray together there, all the family, in the morning. It helps us to be calm and to think clearly. I am learning to play rugby at school at the moment. Leicester has one of the best rugby clubs in Europe. One of my commitments is to be vegetarian. We never eat meat, because animals have lives just like us, so it’s better not to kill them. When I grow up, I’d like to run my own business, and make enough money to travel to visit my Indian relatives whenever I want to.”

Hannah: “We are a large family from London, and our faith makes a lot of differences to our way of life. I don’t go to a Jewish school (there isn’t one near to us) but we do lots of Jewish things in our family and on Shabbat at the Synagogue. We try to keep all the Commandments of the Torah. I like the festivals best, and my favourite is Pesach, because I’m the youngest in our family. I am a dancer, but sometimes I miss a performance if it’s on Shabbat. I don’t mind this, because it matters to me to follow the Torah. I want to be a professional dancer when I grow up.”

Adapting the game: what really matters? Ask 6-8 year olds: what really, really matters? In circle time, write ten items that matter onto cards and have 10 number cards as well. Invite a pupil to say ‘what matters least’ from the ten, and say why. Another pupil does number 9, and so on When the list of ten is done, invite any pupil to swap two around, giving a reason. Produce more numbers, up to 15 and ask pupils to suggest what five more things we should talk about This simple values clarification activity usually shows what matter more than money. Invite children to do an individual piece of work: Money matters, but what matters more – and why? Ten items you might use: playstation / safety / life / football / love / pets / family / God / learning / food.

Commitments: A discussion game. Give pupils ten cards which have a word or drawing on them for something many people are committed to. Ask them to discuss each one and see where they think it goes on the discussion board above. There will be one left over. The learning is in the speaking and listening.

This discussion asks pupils to sort, rank and prioritise different commitments – is caring for pets as important as loving your family? What about eating a good diet, or serving your God? Different views strengthen learning.

Commitment is sometimes religious, even for 8 year olds. Deborah says “I am committed to worshipping in the church every day. I like praying and worshipping. It is very good, praying and worshipping God.”

Maika, 7, writes about her commitments: “I am committed to the holy book and my God because the holy Bible shows you pictures about Jesus and it tells you more about your God and it is very important to us. Christians care about our God and about the Holy Bible and we love our God. I show this: I pray to my God to worship him and to show him that I love him.”

Incarnational art Christians love to take the far away and long ago stories of Jesus and put them in their own ‘here and now’ The ‘word is made flesh’ in the various global contexts of the multi-cultures of Christianity Pupils can try the same – they might write the story of the incarnation for their own town, or paint Jesus crucified in Leicester, or Christchurch. Can they make a poem about ‘what if Jesus came today?’ This demands some learning from us.

Whether you think this is a casual plastic blasphemy, or a serious Christological statement, you may agree that it doesn’t quite sum up the splendour of the Christ of the four gospels adequately.

24 Carol is 7. In her piece of work, she is speculating about the arrival of Jesus in her own community (Thurmaston is a suburb of Leicester, UK). The work reflects her knowledge of stories of Jesus as a person who is a worshipper, who believes in God as ‘father’, who has fishermen as disciples, and who helps those in trouble. This is a lot of learning!

Richard (12) painted his ‘Back from the dead: Three Scenes’ in watercolour. He writes ‘I have shown the crucifixion to the right, and the ascension to the left. The main image is Jesus back from the dead. I painted him in triumph and made the changing weather a symbol for Christians’ belief and hope in him” Can he explain and express his views of religious narrative, meaning and belief? If so, it’s evidence of work at Step 5.

David, 7, “I think if Jesus came to Earth today he would be a lollipop person, because he helps everyone and is always helping us to be happy.”

Craig, 12, explains his imagery and approaches the topic with spiritual interest. Can he express insights of his own using reasons and examples into the questions of meaning in the gospel narrative? If so, this is evidence he can work at step 6 – a high achievement for a 12 year old.

Nathan, 10, is able to explain and perhaps interpret the story of the feeding of five thousand creatively for himself, and shows a well developed understanding of the meaning and power of miracle stories.

‘The Last Supper: Kindness’ by 9 year old Harry. “Jesus was still kind even though he was doomed. I did the dark, closing in on him with black sugar paper"

Picturing Jesus: Fresh Ideas RE Today 31 Sunset at the Cross by Nathan, 10 “When I first painted ‘Sunset at the Cross’ I tried to paint the scene of Jesus death. I believe that this painting reflects the sadness of it. I put a yellow glow around Jesus to show that he is the Son of God. I also painted Jesus in the rags the Romans would have put on him as well as a crown of thorns. I painted this painting with water colours then went over with chalk crayons in some places. I would like to end by saying that I am very proud of my painting.” This unusually evocative work by ten year old Nathan aims to go beyond detail of the story to the significance of the event. What makes it a successful painting?