6.4.1 Religious Education
The teacher may be pursuing the Lenten or Advent theme, the Christmas story, the Crucifixion, the Sacraments, biblical stories, parables or whatever. He/she can draw attention to the essence of the day's lesson by introducing the given topic to the class with a poetry reading. In this way, a focus is created before the class enters into the total experience of the curriculum topic in which the teacher will probably use the Scriptures, Church teaching, practice and/or Church history and relevant activities. The teacher reads the poem and the class listens for understanding, enjoyment and initial reaction. One must keep in mind that essentially every teacher sets out in a religious education lesson to lead the students to a realisation of a central point or theme. It could be love, selflessness, empowerment, the destructive force of greed, suffering, the role of faith, what it means to be a Christian and/or many others.
Let us suppose that a sixth class R.E. teacher is introducing the theme of the Crucifixion to the class. This lesson is not really an introduction because all the students would have heard of the Crucifixion every year during the Lenten season and here it is again! The teacher has a difficult task of re-delivering a familiar topic and ensuring it has impact on and meaning for the class. The teacher could do it in this way:
The poem, "Indifference" by G.A. Studdert Kennedy is read to the class and the class is asked to respond to it. How does it make them feel? How does the poet feel about Jesus crucified? The poem will then be read a second time with the students following it from a handout:
Indifference
When Jesus came to Golgotha they hanged him on a tree,
They drave great nails through hand and feet, and made a Calvary;
They crowned him with a crown of thorns, red were his wounds and deep,
For those were crude and cruel days, the human flesh was cheap.
When Jesus came to Birmingham, they simply passed him by,
They never hurt a hair of him, they let him die;
For men had grown more tender, and they would not give him pain,
They only passed down the street, and left him in the rain.
Still Jesus cried, "Forgive them, for they know not what they do",
And still it rained the winter rain that drenched him through and through;
The crowds went home and left the streets without a soul to see,
And Jesus crouched against the wall and cried for Calvary.
Once the second reading is completed, the teacher needs to:
- Draw the students' attention to drave and Birmingham - their meaning and use in the poem
- Give historical background on the Roman practice of crucifixion and its purpose, drawing out not only the cruelty but also the humiliation
- Tell the class that this poem was written in the first quarter of the twentieth century
- Organise the class into working pairs or groups.
The pairs/groups will:
- Explore the theme and meaning of the poem
- Consider what the poet's meaning is in the last line of the poem:
And Jesus crouched against a wall and cried for Calvary - Decide what the message of Calvary is for all Christians
- Share their findings with the whole class
Having made this introduction to the Crucifixion, the teacher can then decide what further activities can be done by the class to carry this new realisation forward in their lives to prevent indifference setting in. He/she should take the cue from what comes out of the group discussions.