VISITING PLACES OF RELIGIOUS WORSHIP AND ORGANISATIONS OFFERING AN ALTERNATIVE OUTLOOK ON LIFE

Context:

This programme of activities comes from a rural but multicultural district of Norway. More than 40 nationalities and four main religions are represented in this junior school, which likes to think of itself as a “world in miniature”. Multicultural links have almost become a “brand” of the school. It is important to see the programme over a six year perspective, from 2nd to 7th forms.

Objectives: general

• To become acquainted with other world religions and outlooks for moral standards and interpretation of life
• Promote an understanding, respect and capacity for dialogue between human beings with different views on questions of belief

Specific for visit to local mosque 2nd-3rd form

• Develop capacity for respect and tolerance towards other pupils
• See and hear Muslim classmates at the Qur’an school

Specific for visit to local Lutheran (Protestant) church (4th form)

• Get acquainted with its history and symbol

Specific for visit to Franciscan monastery or Catholic church (4th form)

• Get acquainted with life of St Francis of Assisi and his successors
• Get acquainted with its history and symbols

Specific for visit to ‘Blue Mosque’ in Oslo (5th form)

• Get acquainted with its history, architecture, symbols and Muslim beliefs

Specific for visit to ‘House of Humanities’ in Oslo (6th form)

• Get acquainted with its organisation (Human-Ethical Association)
• Get to know about humanistic ethical ceremonies, atheism and agnosticism

Specific for visit to synagogue in Oslo (6th form)

• Get acquainted with its history, symbols and beliefs

Specific for visit to Buddhist Centre in Oslo (7th form)

• Get acquainted with its history, architecture, symbols and beliefs

Specific for visit to Hindu temple (7th form)

• Get acquainted with its history, symbols and beliefs

Teaching strategies:

Before each visit, read about relevant topics and discuss relevant conventions and customs so pupils are prepared.

How to behave in places of worship is always covered, as is discussion of how to show respect and tolerance.

It is also important to deal with any nervousness or fears of the children (e.g. seeing Christ hanging on a cross, or visiting an area with graves.)

After the visit to the local mosque, making comparisons between what is said in the Bible and the Qur’an about the birth of Jesus

Role-plays at Christmas, with checks on what is suitable for pupils of different faiths to read, sing or do - contacting parents where necessary

Follow up work where children record their impressions from the visits, with appropriate drawings, and sharing these. Marking the celebrations of not just Christmas but also Id (end of Muslim fast during Ramadan) at appropriate times of the year; developing an Id song and a role-play for this purpose (See below)

Partnership:

The school also has a coordinator for multicultural activities who has organised a list of places to visit with phone-numbers. The teachers of each form work in partnership with the officials at the various places visited. When visiting the local mosque, we cooperate with parents of Muslim children in the class. The local evangelical church has also worked out a programme which functions well for children of different cultural backgrounds. The programme of the local church is such that the parents of children from other religions find it acceptable for their children to join in.

Themes addressed:

• differences and similarities between people from different cultural and religious backgrounds, mostly represented in the school;
• respect and tolerance for such people.

Target group/size of group:

Whole classes aged between 7 and 12

Persons involved:

See partnership above

Description of activity:

Time needed for preparation and implementation:

Organising the visits by telephone well in advance is necessary (3 months).

Preparation of class activities with different topics is variable, though lessons should be prepared several weeks ahead of use.

Each visit normally takes one day, but follow up activities will vary in their length of time.

Instructions (unfolding of the activity):

See teaching strategies above

Teaching/pedagogical materials and equipment used:

Symbols of different religions brought to school by the children.

Paper, drawing implements, etc for recording and follow up work

The Id song (Music available from contact person below)

Marhaba, Marhaba, Ja, Ramadan
Wa Marhaba bika Ja, Ramadan
Velkommen, velkommen Ja, Ramadan
Velkommen til deg Ja, Ramadan
Welcome, welcome Yes, Ramadan
Welcome to you Yes, Ramadan
Ja shahra sa’ada Ja, Ramadan
Ja shahra gufrani Ja, Ramadan
Gledens maaned Ja, Ramadan
Tilgivelsenes maaned Ja, Ramadan
The month of happiness Yes, Ramadan
The month of forgiveness Yes, Ramadan

A Ramadan role-play formed as a dialogue between Muslim children and their Norwegian friends giving explanations about the fasting period.

Appraisal:

Preparation before the visit allows for both reinforcement of old knowledge and development of new knowledge.
Children familiar with a place of worship already, or who have a place of worship, find similarities and differences easy to realise. They find it interesting to see what other places are like and develop a more relaxed attitude towards other cultures than their own. Those who belong to a place of worship take a pride in showing and telling others about it.

All parents are advised to let their children come on the visits, since there is no question of the children praticising the religion whose place is visited. It is to give information and understanding only. Parents have developed a very positive attitude towards this programme.

Further evaluation:

All places of worship have been very forthcoming. The children, with all their questions and comments, have been taken seriously. This develops a good and relaxed relationship based on tolerance and respect for each other.

In the world of today where much focus is on extreme Muslim activities of violence, we believe that it is all the more necessary for children to meet and experience other tolerant and reflected representatives of the Muslim world. A visit to the mosque shows that violence and hatred is not the target of Norwegian Muslims, thus creating an atmosphere of tolerance, friendliness and understanding.

A visit to a place of worship gives a different type of knowledge, an experience, that can’t be compared to the school-presentations. It seems to create an openness and relaxed attitude towards differences in religious and cultural backgrounds. Good dialogue takes place between the children and members of the faith whose building they visit. See below for two examples of dialogue that took place.

The children learn how to enter a place of worship with a quiet anticipation and good behaviour. They experience that they find the same peaceful atmosphere whatever place of worship they visit.

We have seen that pupils who were once nervous or afraid about visiting the Church or the local burial ground, have become relaxed about visits since they have experienced that there is nothing to be afraid of. This has been obtained through more knowledge about a once foreign culture.

We have come to realise that through this programme we create a ground for taking seriously both ones own and others’ religious or secular outlook on life.

The children, already familiar with a particular place of worship, feel pride in showing their place of worship. It is a very concrete way for the school to show interest and pay attention to the backgrounds of many pupils.

The children kept up a keen interest throughout the visit, thanks to a very forthcoming and keenly interested “guide”, a member of the church who has specifically taken on the task of sharing with schoolchildren the Catholic faith and traditions.

Examples of Dialogue

Example of dialogues when visiting the “Blue” mosque in Oslo:

When entering the mosque, the imam showed us where we could leave our things and where to put our shoes before entering the prayer-room. We all sat down on the carpeted floor. The imam said he would tell us about the five main rules in the life of a Muslim, “the five columns”, and that the children could ask questions from time to time. First of all the pupils were very interested in the beautifully patterned prayer-room. Amongst the patterns they spotted something in writing:

P(upil): What is that written on the wall?

I(mam): It is “Allah”, written in Arabic letters. In Islam we are not allowed to make pictures of Allah; in stead we decorate with patterns. Allah is the one and only God, and we believe he is the same God that Christians and Jews believe in. A good Muslim reads his creed every day; “there is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his last prophet.” The creed is the first of the five columns.

P: Why do you have seven clocks on the wall?

I: Five of the clocks show the five daily prayer-times, the sixth clock shows the time of the Friday-prayer and the seventh clock is a “normal” clock always showing the right time.

P: Why do you pray so many times every day?

I: Because Allah, himself, told our prophet, Muhammad, to do so. And when we pray, we always turn towards Mecca because we turn towards Allah’s house, Ka’bah, built by Ibrahim, allocated in Mecca. Prayer is the second of the five columns.

P: How do you know where Mecca is?

I: Look here! In the prayer-room we have built this alcove to show the direction. We always kneel with our bodies pointing towards the alcove. Before we enter the prayer-room we wash our face, hands and feet and take a little bit of water through our hair so that we are clean when turning to Allah.

P: But how do you know where Mecca is if you’re not in this prayer-room?

I: Then we use a so-called “compass of prayer” showing the direction.

P: Why do you believe in Paradise and Hell?

I: Muhammad has said that those who believe in Allah and act according to his commands will go to Paradise. Those who act against his commands will go to Hell. We don’t know who will come to Hell. In Hell there are lots of flames as well as very cold, foul drinks, snakes and spiders etc. and those who come there will be punished for what they have done in this life on Earth.

P: Do evil human beings come to Paradise?

I: If you believe in Allah, you come to Paradise.
I: If you kill a person, you go to Hell first, but if you believe in Allah you will be sent to Paradise after having been punished in Hell. Let me tell you a little anecdote: An old lady met Muhammad. She asked him if old ladies come to Paradise. He told her just young people do so. The old lady started to cry. Then Muhammad comforted her and said you become young again when you arrive in Paradise.

P: Why do you fast?

I: We fast to remind us of how it is to be poor and hungry and thirsty. We don’t eat and drink between sunrise and sunset. In stead we think about Allah and the possibilities of doing good deeds.

P: Should children fast?

I: Children don’t need to fast and we don’t recommend that children going to school fast. Many children wish to do so because the rest of the family do so, but they don’t have to. They can wait till they’re about thirteen – fourteen years old, but there is no set rule for when you can start fasting. Those who fast must be strong enough to be without food and drink for so many hours. Also elderly and sick people shouldn’t fast.

P: What happens if a person eats or drinks during the fasting hours?

I: Then the person must fast an extra 60 days or give food to poor people. The fasting month in Islam is called Ramadan. Ramadan appears at different times every year, because the Muslim year is 11 days shorter than the year in the westerly world. The Muslim year follows the moon-year and not the sun-year.

I: Let me tell you something else about the Muslim calendar. Year zero started in the year 622 A.D.., the year when Muhammad fled from Mecca to Medina. So the year 2005 A.D. equals 1425 - 26 in the Muslim calendar. At the end of Ramadan we give money to the poor people and when Ramadan is finished, we celebrate with a lot of nice food and give each other gifts.

P: Please, tell us about the holy Ka’bah.

I: The Ka’bah-stone is placed in Mecca. A black stone has been fastened in the wall of the Ka’bah-building. This stone is holy and a good Muslim should try to visit Mecca at least once during his lifetime if he can afford it physically, financially or politically (being allowed a visa). The Ka’bah used to be a building where people worshiped many small gods, but Muhammad was told from Allah that he should clean out the place and only Allah should be worshipped. Each year there is a particular month of pilgrimage and millions of Muslims from all over the world come to praise Allah and kiss the holy black stone in the Ka’bah. The pilgrimage is the fifth column.

The fourth column represents giving to the poor. Muslims pay a tax, a sort of welfare-tax, to help the poor. Here in Norway we pay approximately 2.5 % of our income; i.e. 25 crowns out of a thousand crowns.

The pupils asked these, and many more questions. He told us that he was very impressed by the children’s eagerness to inquire, and the children really enjoyed the possibility to ask and learn more about the things that they had heard and read about in their book of religious theory at school.

Example of dialogues when visiting St. Halvard’s church, a Roman Catholic church in Oslo:

P(upil): How come the church looks circular in here but from the outside it looks square?

G(uide): The circular shape points towards something eternal, without a beginning and an end; our eternal Father in Heaven, God, the church service and prayer. The fact that the building looks square on the outside points to the more worldly life with offices, toilets, congregation hall and a monastery on the 1st floor.

P: Why does it look as if the roof is falling down on us?

G: This church building is very special in the fact that it has got a round dome with the dome pointing downwards. To my knowledge no other church is built in such a way. The architect wanted this architecture to symbolise that God is coming to us, whilst a dome pointing upwards symbolises that the humans are stretching towards God.

P: Why are there holes in the brick wall?

G: It has an acoustic effect. If the walls had been all solid, there would have been an enormous echo.

P: Why are there all these stone pictures in the wall?

G: This series of pictures is called a frieze showing episodes in the life of the holy Francis of Assisi living in Italy 800 years ago:

• Francis carried by his parents as a baby
• Francis as a young man with fine clothes
• Francis giving away all his clothes, helping people and preaching
• Francis with helpers who support his ideals about poverty and love of animals, humans and God.
• Francis building up an old church, following the fact that he had been in the old San. Damiano church just outside the town gate of Assisi, hearing a voice from the cross telling him to build up his church. Francis did so, literally speaking, later understanding that god also wanted him to build up humans from the inside; building up the good in everybody.
• Francis embracing a leper
• Francis preaching to a lot of birds sitting in a tree. He believed that all types of life were equal whether in the form of a bird, a tree, a flower or a human being.
• Francis looking blind (he became blind, as a matter of fact), but with a sheet of paper writing down verses and prayers.
• In the very last picture Francis is depicted being carried in a chair by his followers to a monastery outside Assisi, where he died.

In our church we have a copy of the cross from the church of San Damiano, to remind us of how Francis got his calling. Since Francis died, he has always had successors, named after him, the Franciscan monks. Here in our church we have four monks, functioning as priests. We have a very big congregation spread over a vast area.

P: How many belong to your church?

G: About seven thousand. It’s a good thing everybody doesn’t come at the same time, because we couldn’t receive them all. But sometimes we borrow Lutheran churches, to give services closer to where parts of our congregation live. And every Palm Sunday we have an ecumenical service together with a Lutheran church. The first part of the service is in their church, and then we walk together to our church to end the service here. The two priests cooperate and both take part in each other’s churches. Both their church and our church are Christian churches even though there are differences in what we emphasize in our religion.

P: We have heard at school that monks can’t marry. Why?

G: That’s quite right! Monks and priests choose to live in celibacy so they can spend all their time on other human beings not having to share their valuable time with family members as well.

G: Now I would like to show you the altar. As you can see it is a square altar on a circular platform, symbolising the relationship between God and the world. Here you can see a little niche with a stone covering it. Inside there is sand and a couple of lockets. The lockets contain relics, that is, little bits of hair, bones or skin from saints in the Catholic Church.

P: How do you become a saint?

G: People who have done a lot of good things sometimes are made holy after they are dead. Very often they were martyrs who were killed for their faith. It has been legal and an old tradition to take parts of their body to different catholic churches. All our churches in different countries have relics from saints.

P: Why do you have relics?

G: Because we want to show that we are a part of a long succession of human beings.

G: Now I would like to take you to a little side-chapel with a statue of our Holy Mother Mary. She is the foremost of all the saints in our church, because she was the mother of Jesus Christ. Nobody else has had such close contact with the Son of God as his mother. We don’t praise Mother Mary in the same way as God, but we ask her to pray for us in front of God. We can pray directly to God, but somehow we often prefer Mother Mary to intercede for us.

P: Why do you have that cupboard on top of the altar?

G: We call it the Tabernacle. I’m sure you have heard about the tent that Moses and his people brought with them through the desert. They kept the book rolls with the history of Israel there, so that the sun shouldn’t damage them. We keep our oblates, a sort of special bread, there. We eat it in memory of Christ, our Saviour.

Contact Details:

Margareth H Danson
Gommerud skole,
Stian Kristensensv.114, 1348 Rykkinn, Tel: 0047 67154800, Fax 0047 67154810
margareth@gommerud.skole.no