Your takes are usually very measured, balanced, and meaningful. So I'll run with this. So accepting the premise that we are teaching in a classroom, individually or together, how would this be done in a balanced fashion? And for all grades, or just some? Or do we skip some as being not mature enough to understand (probably not, but, we have the fact that there are already too many children in each classroom, so we have to accept that variable), or does the presentation of the material just change based on the age or grade?
On a smaller scale with less than ten students, I can see this happening more easily.
In a college classroom, I understand that in can be done, but in k-12, there are also political interferences that may get in the way, so if we are going to do this, which would be valuable for critical thinking, some things have to be confronted.
First, thank you so much for the beautiful compliment. I'm so grateful that you find these balanced and meaningful. Also, thank you very much for the question. It inspires me to think about writing a full post on how I personally integrate these but also how one might in a classroom. A few quick thoughts though.
1. Religion very naturally integrates into history class. Younger students rarely cover history in much depth so likely it would begin in late elementary (10-11 years of age). In fact, I found it quite hard to cover history without covering religion. Interestingly, most schools will discuss the Greek or Egyptian gods or faith system of ancients but then we don't study modern religions or rather ones that might be more active. It's quite interesting why this choice was made. In either case, much like history I think the faith systems should be covered when they naturally occur through history. In fact, much of what we know about history comes from religious texts. Further, if one studies history chronologically it becomes a study in itself how religions evolved (and continue to evolve) as mankind has.
2. This one is much harder. Religion needs to be taught neutrally. I'm honestly not quite sure how to accomplish this one given that we have a hard time covering nearly any topic neutrally or even defining what "neutral" means. It's a conundrum. However, I will say that I went to a Jesuit high school and we had a world religion class freshman year. We didn't cover any religion more than the others - despite the faith system of the school being Catholic. I wasn't Catholic and there were students of other faith systems there as well. There was a strong attempt to cover all systems of faith though. It certainly shaped my future in a strong way and made me much more open to different belief system.
Thank you so much again for this wonderful comment that made me think more deeply (my favorite thing!) and I look forward to expanding on it and hearing more of your thoughts.
I actually didn't think of it from the historical aspect, and I definitely need to read more Joseph Campbell. That's actually brilliant. It's something we were all exposed to, though I am weak on Greek mythology, but if you look at it from a very specific perspective it's all mythology and valid, though, after seeing some interviews with Campbell, some would bristle if their faith is called a mythology. But all is valid.
I studied state history in California, where I was raised, in the fourth grade. I don't remember if I read about Mythology in class, but about the same time, I got my hands on a small textbook on the history of Mexico, and I read that because I have always been a very hungry reader, and there was at least one section in there on the Aztec and possibly other indigenous tribes' gods. I was 11 at the time and raised Catholic (though not anymore), and this didn't bother me at the time. Can I assume that most children were at least half to three-quarters curious as I always have been?
Your takes are usually very measured, balanced, and meaningful. So I'll run with this. So accepting the premise that we are teaching in a classroom, individually or together, how would this be done in a balanced fashion? And for all grades, or just some? Or do we skip some as being not mature enough to understand (probably not, but, we have the fact that there are already too many children in each classroom, so we have to accept that variable), or does the presentation of the material just change based on the age or grade?
On a smaller scale with less than ten students, I can see this happening more easily.
In a college classroom, I understand that in can be done, but in k-12, there are also political interferences that may get in the way, so if we are going to do this, which would be valuable for critical thinking, some things have to be confronted.
This is a great post!
First, thank you so much for the beautiful compliment. I'm so grateful that you find these balanced and meaningful. Also, thank you very much for the question. It inspires me to think about writing a full post on how I personally integrate these but also how one might in a classroom. A few quick thoughts though.
1. Religion very naturally integrates into history class. Younger students rarely cover history in much depth so likely it would begin in late elementary (10-11 years of age). In fact, I found it quite hard to cover history without covering religion. Interestingly, most schools will discuss the Greek or Egyptian gods or faith system of ancients but then we don't study modern religions or rather ones that might be more active. It's quite interesting why this choice was made. In either case, much like history I think the faith systems should be covered when they naturally occur through history. In fact, much of what we know about history comes from religious texts. Further, if one studies history chronologically it becomes a study in itself how religions evolved (and continue to evolve) as mankind has.
2. This one is much harder. Religion needs to be taught neutrally. I'm honestly not quite sure how to accomplish this one given that we have a hard time covering nearly any topic neutrally or even defining what "neutral" means. It's a conundrum. However, I will say that I went to a Jesuit high school and we had a world religion class freshman year. We didn't cover any religion more than the others - despite the faith system of the school being Catholic. I wasn't Catholic and there were students of other faith systems there as well. There was a strong attempt to cover all systems of faith though. It certainly shaped my future in a strong way and made me much more open to different belief system.
Thank you so much again for this wonderful comment that made me think more deeply (my favorite thing!) and I look forward to expanding on it and hearing more of your thoughts.
I actually didn't think of it from the historical aspect, and I definitely need to read more Joseph Campbell. That's actually brilliant. It's something we were all exposed to, though I am weak on Greek mythology, but if you look at it from a very specific perspective it's all mythology and valid, though, after seeing some interviews with Campbell, some would bristle if their faith is called a mythology. But all is valid.
I studied state history in California, where I was raised, in the fourth grade. I don't remember if I read about Mythology in class, but about the same time, I got my hands on a small textbook on the history of Mexico, and I read that because I have always been a very hungry reader, and there was at least one section in there on the Aztec and possibly other indigenous tribes' gods. I was 11 at the time and raised Catholic (though not anymore), and this didn't bother me at the time. Can I assume that most children were at least half to three-quarters curious as I always have been?