Teaching and Learning > DISCOURSE
The Faith Guides Project
Author: Simon Smith and Julie Closs
Journal Title: Discourse
ISSN: 2040-3674
ISSN-L: 1741-4164
Volume: 6
Number: 2
Start page: 19
End page: 22
Return to vol. 6 no. 2 index page
The Faith Guides for Higher Education, published in 2006, aim to give information to staff in the higher education sector on how best to support students with a variety of religious beliefs. Currently covering Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Sikhism; and written by respected academics with many years' research and teaching experience in their fields of expertise—in consultation with religious communities - this series covers key religious and cultural sensitivities that may arise within a higher education environment.
The guides offer a concise reference to the religions in question and the belief structures that underpin them, combined with tips for recruiting and retaining students and providing an inclusive and welcoming environment.
Their development was very much demand led by the higher education sector. In 2003 and 2004 the Subject Centre for PRS began receiving an increased level of enquiries, in particular from other subject centres, asking for good sources of advice for their academics about teaching students of various faiths.
After some research, we discovered that there appeared to be a lacuna in provision here - whilst people seemed often to have the impression that such advice must be available, in fact it had never been brought together in a coherent and user-friendly way. The Subject Centre for PRS was the obvious choice to provide this tailored support. If, in developing this guidance, we provided a service to the wider higher education sector, we would also be raising the profile of religious studies as a discipline, and demonstrating its relevance to contemporary society.
Cultural and religious diversity project
In parallel with the Faith Guides development project, the Cultural and Religious Diversity project also grew out of this need. It began with a survey of academics, asking about particular issues of curriculum support and development as regards religion. This led to feedback and offers of case studies, which have been collected as a resource for the sector and are freely available at http://prs.heacademy.ac.uk/themes/ diversity/index.html.
This resource has two main aims:
1. To provide people working within higher education with a resource
that will enable them to answer specific questions relating to cultural
and religious diversity issues (for example dates of religious festivals,
reasons for types of cultural dress, the basics of different religious
beliefs);
2. To enable people working within higher education to develop the skills
and knowledge, through 'religious and cultural literacy', to avoid cultural
stereotyping.
Development of the Faith Guides
The aims and findings of the cultural and religious diversity project fed into the content and approach of the Faith Guides, which give a concise and clear factual resource on the religions in question, and provide staff with the confidence to address issues in an informed way.
The most important factor in providing an inclusive environment is communication. Staff should make clear to students that they can be approached about these issues. It is vital that people working with students become aware of possible cultural sensitivities so that they have the confidence to address difficulties as they arise, but at the same time to treat all students as individuals and avoid stereotyping.
The Faith Guides were written by academics, many of whom were from the faiths concerned, and if not, had strong, long-standing links to the faith communities in question, with whom they consulted closely. The overwhelmingly positive response to the guides is testimony to the inclusive and well-informed nature of the development process.
Indeed, by the time they were published, they were recognised as such a valuable resource that the Higher Education Academy offered to fund the distribution of the first edition to every higher education institution in the UK.
To date, more than 2,000 faith guides have been distributed, with interest from not only the higher education sector, but also further education, schools and other public bodies.
Return to vol. 6 no. 2 index page
This page was originally on the website of The Subject Centre for Philosophical and Religious Studies. It was transfered here following the closure of the Subject Centre at the end of 2011.
