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World Belief Systems Standards
World Belief Systems Standards
World Belief Systems- Best Practices and Information Websites
World Belief Systems- Best Practices and Information Websites
The standards ask students to research a variety of world belief systems. Below are general resources of best practices for teaching the belief systems and websites that provide overviews of many of the world belief systems students may want to learn about.
Best Practices:
AAR Guidelines for Teaching About Religion in K-12 Public Schools in the United States
AAR Guidelines for Teaching About Religion in K-12 Public Schools in the United States
Published in 2010, Part One addresses why it is important to teach about religion, and Part Two outlines ways to teach about religion in constitutionally sound ways. Part Three is an overview of approaches to teaching about religion and includes grade-specific examples based on both the Standards for Social Studies7 (produced by the National Council for the Social Studies) and Standards for the English Language Arts8 (produced by the National Council for Teachers of English).
NCSS C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards
NCSS C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards
"Religious Studies Companion Document for the C3 Framework" (Page 92-101 )
NCSS affirmed the AAR guidelines in 2014, emphasizing that “schools have a civic and educational responsibility to include robust study about religions in the social studies curriculum.” This Supplement equips state departments of education and school districts with student learning indicators and a framework for studying religion in ways that are constitutionally sound and consistent with the AAR’s high academic standards.
Resource Bank for Student Research on Various World Belief Systems
Founding, Spread, and Branches of Religion
Founding, Spread, and Branches of Religion
Content Statement: At the founding, world belief systems often reflect cultural, geographic, and historical context. The spread and creation of branches of belief systems are often a result of changes in the cultural, geographic, or historical context.
Content Statement: At the founding, world belief systems often reflect cultural, geographic, and historical context. The spread and creation of branches of belief systems are often a result of changes in the cultural, geographic, or historical context.
Content Elaboration:
Possible belief systems to explore: Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Shintoism, Sikhism, Taoism, Confucianism, Indigenous Religions, Agnosticism and Atheism.
Choosing a world belief system to explore, students will be able to answer key questions about the founding of their chosen world belief system.
Founding: Who was the founder? When was it founded? What is the historical context for the beginning of this belief system? Was this belief system inspired by or created to counter another belief system?
Founding Location: Where was this belief system founded? Is there a region of the world or particular sites that are sacred to the founding of this belief system?
Spread: Was this belief system quickly accepted or did followers face persecution? What areas of the world is this belief system popular today? Did it spread with help from leaders/governments?
Branches: What are the different branches of this belief system? Why are there different branches for this belief system?
Expectation for Learning:
Explain how culture and geography impacted the foundation and spread of a belief system.
Sample Lesson Plans
Sample Lesson Plans
Where the Spirit Moves You
Where the Spirit Moves You
In this lesson, students will learn about the spiritual significance of locations throughout the world. After studying the historical and mystical importance of these places, students will write about a spiritual place that is special to them.
Teaching about Religious Identity
Teaching about Religious Identity
This module explores a more sophisticated framework for understanding religion. This new structure pushes beyond the common assumptions about religions that define them as primarily “belief systems.”
Spirit and Nature
Spirit and Nature
In this lesson, students delve into the connection between the natural and human world from a spiritual, ethical and faith-based point of view.
Videos
Videos
The five major world religions - John Bellaimey
The five major world religions - John Bellaimey
Explore the intertwined histories and cultures of the major religions: Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity and Islam.
Animated map shows how religion spread around the world
Animated map shows how religion spread around the world
hrough countless conflicts, conquests, missions abroad, and simple word of mouth, these religions spread around the globe and forever molded the huge geographic regions in their paths.
Core Beliefs, Leaders/Teachings, Practices/Rituals, Holidays
Core Beliefs, Leaders/Teachings, Practices/Rituals, Holidays
Content Statement: World belief systems have brought humans together in community. Many belief systems have incorporated several of the following which gives followers a shared identity: core beliefs, spiritual writings and teachings, views on morality and ethics, divine leaders or god(s), practices and rituals, and holidays.
Content Statement: World belief systems have brought humans together in community. Many belief systems have incorporated several of the following which gives followers a shared identity: core beliefs, spiritual writings and teachings, views on morality and ethics, divine leaders or god(s), practices and rituals, and holidays.
Content Elaboration:
Possible belief systems to explore: Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Shintoism, Sikhism, Taoism, Confucianism, Indigenous Religions, Agnosticism and Atheism.
Choosing a world belief system to explore, students will be able to answer key questions about the core beliefs and practices of their chosen world belief system.
Core Beliefs: What are the major beliefs of this system? Are there any moral or ethical questions that are central to beliefs or discussions? Is there a divine influence on this belief system? Are followers expected to act or behave a certain way in their daily lives to express their following of this belief system?
Leaders and Teachings: Who are the spiritual leaders of this belief system? How does one become a leader? What texts or oral teachings are important to this belief system?
Practices and Rituals: What practices and rituals are important to this belief system? (Some may be daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, or even once a lifetime.) Are there any birth, death, coming of age, marriage, or commitment to the belief practices or rituals observed?
Holidays: What are the major holidays (if any) for this belief system? How do people observe or celebrate the holidays?
Expectation for Learning:
Students will compare/contrast major tenets of various belief systems.
Sample Lesson Plans
Sample Lesson Plans
Multifaith Curriculum: Shared Values Among Faiths
Multifaith Curriculum: Shared Values Among Faiths
This lesson looks at core values shared by five of the world's major religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
Multifaith curriculum: Living the Faith
Multifaith curriculum: Living the Faith
This lesson looks at the five major world religions-Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam-and how they are practiced in the United States and various venues: at home, at school, at work, and in the larger community.
Rites of Passage
Rites of Passage
In this lesson, students explore various traditional children’s and adolescent faith-based rites of passage. They examine modern coming of age ceremonies – ones that are more secular in nature – and create a rite of passage that best reflects their personal life journeys.
Videos
Videos
Creation | The Story of God with Morgan Freeman
Creation | The Story of God with Morgan Freeman
***Please preview video beforehand as their may be mature language and cultural nudity."
Morgan Freeman travels the globe to ask: Where did we come from, and what happened “in the beginning”?
Who is God?| The Story of God with Morgan Freeman
Who is God?| The Story of God with Morgan Freeman
***Please preview video beforehand as their may be mature language and cultural nudity."
Morgan Freeman begins a quest to discover who God is and how he, she or they have evolved over human history
Culture, Government Systems, Personal Identity, Globalization
Culture, Government Systems, Personal Identity, Globalization
Content Statement: World belief systems have a large role in current culture, government systems, and personal identity. With globalization, world belief systems have spread beyond their original geographic and cultural centers and now have global communities.
Content Statement: World belief systems have a large role in current culture, government systems, and personal identity. With globalization, world belief systems have spread beyond their original geographic and cultural centers and now have global communities.
Content Elaboration:
Possible belief systems to explore: Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Shintoism, Sikhism, Taoism, Confucianism, Indigenous Religions, Agnosticism and Atheism.
Current Culture: In which cultures is this belief system popular today? How has the belief system affected that culture? How has that culture affected the belief system?
Current Government Systems: How does the world belief system affect government systems and lawmakers within it? Is there a difference at local and national levels of government?
Personal Identity: How do followers relate to the belief system in a globalized world? How does personal practice of the belief system reflect local culture?
Globalization: How does this world belief system view others? Has globalization caused this belief system to adopt ideas from others or has it remained unchanged? Has globalization and the spread of other belief systems caused new branches to form?
Expectation for Learning:
Students will explore the cultural impact of religion on gender roles, government, and social order.
Sample Lesson Plans
Sample Lesson Plans
The Pluralism Project
The Pluralism Project
This is a collection of Case Studies from the Pluralism Project at Harvard University. The cases are dilemmas and disputes that emerge in our multi-religious society.
The First Amendment and Freedom of Religion
The First Amendment and Freedom of Religion
In this lesson, students will use the case of Park51’s Islamic Cultural Center as a starting point for a discussion about whether religious freedom is absolute and if religious freedom requires respect for other religions.
What is Antisemitism and Why Does It Matter Today?
What is Antisemitism and Why Does It Matter Today?
In this interactive lesson students will be introduced to the Jewish people and explore historical and contemporary examples of antisemitism. Students will watch testimony from local survivors, analyze visual imagery, and examine sources relating to laws and propaganda to understand antisemitism in all its forms through history.
Videos
Videos
Religion: Crash Course Sociology
Religion: Crash Course Sociology
Religion, faith and the role they play today
Religion, faith and the role they play today
Further Reading
Further Reading
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