Year 8 Syllabus

2. RITES OF PASSAGE

Aims:

To provide information and awareness of rituals associated with important times of life and human experience, especially from the practices of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, Buddhism and Sikhism. To gain an understanding of their meaning, importance and relevance to the religions concerned. To see relevance of such rituals in general terms and in comparison with own experiences.

'Implicit' Ideas:

Quest for meaning at a personal level; making sense of life - life as a journey with important stages. Value and worth of a human being; taking one's place in and progressing through group/ community; the authority of customs, rules and conventions; the cycle of birth, life and death marked by special ceremonies; questions of origins and destiny.

Concepts:

Implicit: commitment; community; identity; relationship; worth; celebration; responsibility; destiny; punishment; reward; bliss.
Explicit: Rites of Passage; ritual; Guru Granth Sahib; gurdwara; mosque/masjid; adhan; shahadah; b'rit milah; baptism; Church; holy communion; confirmation; Bar/Bat Mitzvah; Amrit; khalsa; guru; wedding; chuppah; ketubah; heaven; hell; paradise; Akhira; nirvana; reincarnation; samsara; karma; mukti; sahaj; funeral pyre.

Content and Suggestions

Rites of Passage - Birth, Coming of Age, Marriage and Death. Why important times? Why religious ceremonies? How many in class were christened? Why? Set of slides with taped commentary as introduction to each of the four Rites of Passage.
Discuss issues such as the importance of names; how do we determine when people are adult; different skills needed in different societies and religions; various ideas about marriage - romance, arranged, convenience etc.; views about the afterlife.
Examine rituals of some primitive peoples but also research each rite across the five religions. Compare and contrast. There are useful videos available.
At each stage it can be interesting to collect and analyse announcements in newspapers of Births, Coming of Age Events, Marriages and deaths. What do comments tell us?
Death and attitudes to life. Individuals list eight items they would like to take with them to the 'afterlife', with reasons. Then in groups of eight argue their case in trying to form a group list of four items. Then in full class session compare group lists and compile a list of the four most popular items. Compare with primitive burial practices. Can we learn anything from items and our respective ways of life?

Time:

About 8 weeks

Resources:


From Fear to Faith				Books
Living a Faith					Books
Milestones					Books
Religion in Life - Book 3			Books
Rites of Passage - Initiation			Cassette tape
Rites of Passage - Death			Cassette tape
Rites of Passage				Posters
Rites of Passage - Birth			Tape/slides
Rites of Passage - Initiation			Tape/slides
Rites of Passage - Marriage			Tape/slides
Rites of Passage - Death			Tape/slides
Birth						Video
Confirmation and Bar Mitzvah			Video
Death - Islam, Judaism, Christianity		Video
Death - Hindu and Christian			Video
D is for Death					Video
Initiation					Video
Marriage					Video
More Man Power (Birth Ceremonies)		Video
Jewish Rite of B'rit Milah			Video
Your Child's Christening			Video
Your Wedding					Video
Investigating Christianity			CD-ROM
Sources of Faith				CD-ROM
Aspects of Religion				CD-ROM

Assessment:

Knowledge of Rites of Passage at birth, coming of age, marriage and death for at least three religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam).
Ability to identify rites correctly.
Understanding of the importance of such rituals in human life and for the community of faith.
Ability to relate to own experience.
Ability to compare these important times with secular views and practices.
Ability to perceive and understand value.

Research and written work using books, videos, tapes, slides. Tasks of explaining and comparing with more familiar practices, especially coming of age. Discussion.

G. Jones:
The FitzWimarc School, Rayleigh, Essex