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Senior High (Grades 9-12)
Curriculum
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Published in 1997 by Jeff Liebmann, email jdl1@pitt.edu; web site
Available from the author; revised edition 2004 |
Sacred Threads
An Asian Religions Curriculum for High School YouthBy Jeff Liebmann - Web site
- www.pitt.edu/~jdl1/ uucurric.htm
- Theme and Description
- This curriculum introduces high school youth to some of the basic concepts, beliefs, and practices of major Asian religions, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Shintoism, Zen, and various folk religions.
- Goals for Participants
- Identify basic characteristics of Asian religions, and how they are similar to and different from each other;
Understand aspects of these religions which are also a part of Unitarian Universalism;
Explore how these religions are or are not relevant to the participants' own lives.
- Age Range
- Grades 9-12
- Size of Group
- Unspecified; flexible
- Space Requirements
- Unspecified, although a regular RE classroom should work well.
- Number and Length of Sessions
- 20 sessions
Length: 60-75 minutes - Leader Training
- No training or special background in Asian religions is required, although it is strongly recommended that leaders purchase two suggested resources which will provide the background information needed.
- Leader Preparation
- Length of time is unspecified; however, a leader unfamiliar with Asian religions might require a substantial amount of time to read and prepare for each session.
- Strengths
- The lesson plans have a consistent format;
Offers a broad, comprehensive range of topics;
A majority of the sessions include a section explicitly devoted to comparison between the religions being studied and Unitarian Universalism. - Limitations
- Because of the time commitment likely needed for teacher preparation, teachers without a co-leader might find it particularly challenging to lead.
- Adaptability
- The 20 sessions can fill an entire church-school year, while still allowing the class to pursue other activities intermittently.
- Unitarian Universalist Values
- The goal of this curriculum is to promote understanding of Asian religions and assumes that the participants have a solid understanding of their Unitarian Universalist faith before participating. Consequently it has minimal discussion of Unitarian Universalist values.
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Curricula
