TN Bucknasty Posted December 9, 2009 Report Share Posted December 9, 2009 (edited) I didn't want to hijack the other thread entitled "this ticks me off" so I decided to start this one. I made the comment that teachers are constantly under the microscope and sometimes it feels like no matter which way you go, you're going to lose. I teach 7th grade social studies in rural, TN. Today, we are beginning our annual unit on the five largest religions. I don't teach this unit by choice, it is a requirement by the state. This is by far my least favorite topic to teach because every single year, I end up with an angry student, parent, preacher, etc. who wants to sound off about it. I try extremely hard to teach this from a neutral standpoint, and I NEVER suggest that any single religion is the right or wrong one. For someone in my position with students of several different religious backgrounds, school is just not the place for it. I even state a lengthy disclaimer a the beginning of each class stating that I'm not suggesting that any part of the religions is right or wrong and that there are variations within each of the religions. I also say that understanding various religions will help them to interact with people from different cultures later in life. Basically, I'm put in a pretty awkward and risky situation considering today's political climate and liability issues. Christians seem to have the most issues with their children learning about other religions. This is strange to me because I went to a Christian college and most people were really into studying and understanding the other religions so that they could know where to start when witnessing and interacting with possible converts. Some facts in particular that always send someone into orbit is when I say that Jesus was raised as a Jew and that Christianity and Islam both branched off from Judaism. Moses, Abraham, etc. -all Jews. The Old Testament- written all about Jews. It gets even worse when I say that many of the Jewish and Christian prophets are included in the Muslim faith. I seriously have some students and parents who think that Muslims worship Satan. :bang: The ideas of Hinduism and Buddhism are so foreign to most of my students that they often end up laughing about it which raises another problem. Almost every year, I have a follower of one of those religions who gets ridiculed. I really love teaching and interacting with kids, but sometimes I wonder why I take the risk of doing a job that puts me directly into the fire every day. Edited December 9, 2009 by TN Bucknasty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnf Posted December 9, 2009 Report Share Posted December 9, 2009 In Arkansas we have "Frameworks" which basically tells us what has to be covered in our classes. If this section isn't in your frameworks (or whatever it is they are called there), just skip it. Here everything in the frameworks has to be covered in or lesson plans some time during the school year. IT DOES NOT TELL HOW MUCH TIME OR IN DEPTH YOU HAVE TO GO. I would see exactly what the state is expecting you to do and spend as little time on it as you can get away with. The state tells me I have to talk discuss rap music. I do have it in my lesson plans. The discussion goes something like this. "I don't consider Rap to be music and we won't be listening to it in here." I do however have about a 2 week section on MTV that starts with "Video Killed the Radio Star" and ends with Guns and Roses.:yes: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted December 10, 2009 Report Share Posted December 10, 2009 I can see where you are coming from, but would think so long as you stay within the text and guidelines (which you probably might not personally agree with) then the school would have to stand behind you despite any parent or student complaints. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravin R10 man Posted December 10, 2009 Report Share Posted December 10, 2009 If the material you are teaching is from the DOE,(Department Of Education)....Im wondering just how bias or accurate it is to begin with. If the curriculem conveys the idea that all religions worship the same God...your doing more harm than good, because that is a false statement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TN Bucknasty Posted December 10, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 10, 2009 In Arkansas we have "Frameworks" which basically tells us what has to be covered in our classes. If this section isn't in your frameworks (or whatever it is they are called there), just skip it. Here everything in the frameworks has to be covered in or lesson plans some time during the school year. IT DOES NOT TELL HOW MUCH TIME OR IN DEPTH YOU HAVE TO GO. I would see exactly what the state is expecting you to do and spend as little time on it as you can get away with. The state tells me I have to talk discuss rap music. I do have it in my lesson plans. The discussion goes something like this. "I don't consider Rap to be music and we won't be listening to it in here." I do however have about a 2 week section on MTV that starts with "Video Killed the Radio Star" and ends with Guns and Roses.:yes: We have the Tennessee Blue Book Standards and yeah, there are several pretty deep objectives on the matter of the five major religions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TN Bucknasty Posted December 10, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 10, 2009 I can see where you are coming from, but would think so long as you stay within the text and guidelines (which you probably might not personally agree with) then the school would have to stand behind you despite any parent or student complaints. One thing that I can't complain about is the support that I've gotten from the school. They've backed me up in every instance, probably even more so because they know how much I dislike teaching on the subject in the first place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TN Bucknasty Posted December 10, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 10, 2009 If the material you are teaching is from the DOE,(Department Of Education)....Im wondering just how bias or accurate it is to begin with. If the curriculem conveys the idea that all religions worship the same God...your doing more harm than good, because that is a false statement. Actually, I never use our textbook because, it is written at an extremely low level and it doesn't even align with our state standards. Not to mention whoever wrote it didn't know half of what they were talking about. The way it works in Tennessee is that they give you an objective, and how you go about teaching the objective and what materials you use is up to you. In order to get a firm understanding of each of the religions, I've actually talked with people who follow them. I've also done a lot my own independent research in books and online. Here are a few TN state mandated objectives for 7th grade social studies regarding religion: The Student Will -compare and contrast the tenet's (core beliefs) of the world's five most popular religions. -examine how religion influences culture and decisions made in every day life. -display an understanding of how religion influences major world events. I don't think that these standards or my teaching convey the thought that all five major religions worship the same God or gods at all. If you're referring to my first post, let me clarify. It is an indisputable fact that Christianity and Judaism do overlap in certain aspects. Christianity branched off from Judaism because of Jesus of Nazareth and so forth. Islam branched off from the other two when Mohammad showed up. Yahweh, Jehovah, Allah, Dios, Lord- all words that translate to God. There are EXTREME differences between the three groups and what they believe and practice, but they have the same roots. Moses, Abraham, etc. are all very important to followers of those religions. However, Hinduism and Buddhism are a totally different story and in much fewer ways relate to the first three. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravin R10 man Posted December 11, 2009 Report Share Posted December 11, 2009 bucknasty..I wasnt reffering to your post, just to the education system in general..and how most educators Ive heard approach this subject. Thanks for shedding light in how you handle it though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TN Bucknasty Posted December 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 11, 2009 bucknasty..I wasnt reffering to your post, just to the education system in general..and how most educators Ive heard approach this subject. Thanks for shedding light in how you handle it though. I didn't take any offense. You're right to question the bias of the standards. If people didn't, who knows what they'd have me teaching. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweatty09 Posted December 14, 2009 Report Share Posted December 14, 2009 Teaching Religion Is there reason behind religon or is it just a stupid idea that some people follow, i am not a deeply religous person but i can not live will out my beleifs, and i am open to other peoples beleifsexept for people that only want people to see there way. well the real question is. the reasons behind religion are they selfish or are the noble? EG. wars over religionoil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TN Bucknasty Posted December 14, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 14, 2009 Is there reason behind religon or is it just a stupid idea that some people follow, i am not a deeply religous person but i can not live will out my beleifs, and i am open to other peoples beleifsexept for people that only want people to see there way. well the real question is. the reasons behind religion are they selfish or are the noble? EG. wars over religionoil I think that you bring up a question that each and every person must ask and answer for themselves. In my way of thinking, religion is a highly personal thing. "Selfish or Noble?" is a question that I will ever discuss with my students. The type of thing we will discuss is more along the lines of "Why doesn't this person eat meat?" and "Why do these people wear a dot on the forehead?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawg Posted December 14, 2009 Report Share Posted December 14, 2009 Bucknasty, that's a tough decision to make I'm sure and I couldn't teach it without being biased....just my opinion. Religion is man made beliefs. God isn't one religion or another and I don't believe He views His children as part of this or that religion. God doesn't care about what religion you are, He cares about a relationship with you. Read the four gospels in the New Testament. You will find that the Pharisees cared more about religion and traditions then God. You will also find exactly what Jesus had to say to them about that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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