Do we really respect the religions we teach children about, or are we just shopping for souvenirs? Stephen Gregg and Sue Ranson pose difficult questions We have come a long way since the time when most of our nurseries would have acknowledged only the Christian faith in their activities. Through inspection, we now have an explicit responsibility to foster children's spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, including their awareness of their own and others' cultures and beliefs. Nurseries routinely respond to a variety of religious events and display a variety of religious symbols. This is clearly progress towards developing a better understanding of our diversity, but the issue now seems to be not whether we include a variety of religions, but how we approach them.
We have come a long way since the time when most of our nurseries would have acknowledged only the Christian faith in their activities. Through inspection, we now have an explicit responsibility to foster children's spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, including their awareness of their own and others' cultures and beliefs. Nurseries routinely respond to a variety of religious events and display a variety of religious symbols. This is clearly progress towards developing a better understanding of our diversity, but the issue now seems to be not whether we include a variety of religions, but how we approach them.
Are you a tourist?
One common way of viewing religions has been called the 'tourist' approach.
Travelling tourists often visit places for very short times. They call at a few landmarks and collect souvenirs which can support the stereotype of the place that they are visiting, for example, Union Jack underwear, a hat with corks or some clogs.
We are religious tourists if we go sightseeing, pulling out the obvious, attractive customs and traditions of a religion without attention to their context and meaning. We are merely sightseeing if we fail to convey how significant religion is to millions of people in Britain and around the world (remember that people are not just Hindus at Diwali or Christians at Christmas - they do things daily which are equally significant to their faith).
Is this approach a problem? My answer would be: yes! Children may not be able to say what they have learned about a religion from the activities they have done in the nursery. They will, however, have learned something of the attitudes and level of understanding of the adults who have presented them with these activities. This is acknowledged in the QCA's Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage. Attitudes are 'caught, not taught', and it is our own attitudes that we early years professionals need to examine and, if necessary, change, to avoid being religious tourists.
Within any setting there may be a variety of religious convictions among the staff group. Childcare professionals could hold any of these attitudes:
* 'My religion is the one that is true. All the rest are nonsense and their followers are misguided.'
* 'All religions are false superstitions. Their followers are old-fashioned.'
* 'All religions are equally valid. Members of every faith should be respected equally.'
Many other views are possible, but these are examples of the extremes affecting how we approach religious traditions and how children benefit from our input.
The recent correspondence on the Nursery World letters page about Halloween shows that it is possible for sincere views to be widely different. One correspondent sees Halloween as 'occult'; the editor responds that Halloween traditions are 'fantasy'; and another correspondent says Halloween is a 'traditional Pagan festival' with context and meaning, like festivals within other belief systems.
All these attitudes clearly affect the writers' attitudes to celebrating Halloween and are likely to be passed to the children in their care.
Imagine how they would manage if they all worked in the same setting!
Questions to answer
Discussions like the debate over Halloween indicate religious issues that need to be addressed by early years settings. Everybody responds in different ways and we need to realise how these responses affect our work with children. Take a moment to consider your own position, and positions that others may adopt when it comes to religion.
* Are you convinced that only your religion is true? How do you manage to value the beliefs of others?
* Do you find religion irrelevant to your life? How do you help children to understand the importance of religion to others?
* What do you say to the parent/carer who finds unfamiliar beliefs to be abhorrent or evil?
Whichever way you answer these questions, think about how your attitude is passed on to the children and what effect this might have on their understanding of religion.
Presenting beliefs
It is relatively simple to decide what we say to children about some aspects of the curriculum. Most people will agree that two follows one and agree to tell children this, in one way or another. Agreement is not so easy to reach when we think about religion.
It is easy to say that Hindus celebrate Divali using many lights or that Christian churches give away palm crosses before Easter. It may be a lot more difficult to say what Hindus or Christians believe about their traditions. Indeed, it may be difficult for people outside these traditions to feel comfortable with the idea of explaining at all.
The concern is that perhaps we present religions by taking snapshots of them, which simply replaces our old stereotypes with a new set. To avoid this it might be helpful for practitioners to view religions with one key idea in mind: a sense of the sacred.
All religions have at their heart the idea of an 'otherness' that is in some way special. Therefore, whatever our own personal beliefs and views, we must understand this spiritual dimension so that children begin to experience what the concept of 'religion' is all about.
Ninian Smart, who was a leading authority in religious studies, said, 'It is important in understanding a tradition to try to enter into the feelings which it generates.' Understanding religion is experiential, it is not about learning facts.
Food for thought
* Decide how you feel about or understand religion and think about how that affects the way you present it to children.
* Have a consistent approach in your setting and consider developing a policy (see below).
* Make sure that your resources and sources are as authentic as possible.
* We saw one nursery which had set up a 'special place' where staff and children put objects that reminded them about their beliefs, made them happy or were special to them. This was a quiet corner and children used it quietly as they began to respect the idea of 'holy', 'special' or 'sacred'
things and places. An adult led a group in lighting candles and telling each other why the things they had brought were special to them.
* Think about including everyday religious customs in your routine for a short while - for example, taking your shoes off before entering your special area, or saying grace before a meal.
Whatever our own beliefs are, we are responsible for ensuring that the children in our care grow up understanding and respecting the beliefs of others.
Developing a policy
It is not required in the national standards for daycare to have a policy about religion. However, the process of developing one may be what is needed to give an early years setting an understanding of religion, which might be called 'religious literacy'.
A policy has two main uses. First, it will help the practitioners to clarify their own attitudes and ideas and adopt a consistent approach, and, second, it will allow new members of staff and parents thinking of sending their child there to understand the setting that they are joining.
A policy could have:
* an overarching statement of the religious position of the setting. This might sometimes include the affirmation of a particular faith, but it should always be compatible with inclusion and should value the religious background of all families and staff.
* fundamental principles, derived from the statement. These might include, for example, the right of every member of the group to have their religious beliefs respected; the expectation that the religious observances of members would be made possible (for example, dietary requirements); an undertaking to represent all faiths present in the group and to give priority to the 'sacred' when thinking about religion.
* a section setting out what you will actually do. Will you celebrate festivals? Will you tell stories from various traditions? Will you observe everyday religious customs? Will you pray with the children? Will you invite religious representatives to your group? Will you visit places of worship?
If you develop a policy, use it to ensure that prospective members of staff or user families are happy to participate. Be prepared to explain how and why you have adopted your various statements and decided what you will do in your group. Review your policy regularly.
Stephen Gregg is a director of Coombe Valley nursery group based in Cornwall and is researching a PhD in Religious Studies. Sue Ranson is director of education for Coombe Valley and has inspected more than 200 nurseries.
