Seeing things differently...

Here's how.....
Free to wonder...
Ready to respond...

Imagine being a teacher who...

• slows down the pace
• creates a safe space to think ‘big'
• provides the tools then stands back
• builds a community in the classroom
• learns as well as teaches
• doesn't always know the answer
• enables children to make connections
• is open to the unexpected

Create a special time and space in which children encounter and engage with religious stories.

Invite the children to join you; spend time ‘building the circle' as the children take their places and get ready for the story. Create a safe place for learning and in which ideas and experiences can be shared. Encourage a stillness that will help the children to prepare for the next stage of the session.

Slow down the pace

Getting ready for the story involves slowing down the pace. Time will be needed to appreciate the events of the story and to explore its ideas in depth. Use a quiet voice to tell the story; this will aid concentration and create a calm reflective atmosphere.

Use attractive, well made and well designed materials to help you tell a story

The materials should be simple and are always treated with great care. Show how they are handled and stored so the children can model your actions.

Focus your attention on the materials you use to tell the story.

Keeping your eyes on the mterials may seem hard at first but trust the process. The materials will help you tell the story and by focusing on them you are signalling that something important is happening. The children's attention will be drawn into the story.

Play with ideas and possibilities... I wonder...?

When the story is finished, re-engage eye contact with the children and encourage them to wonder. Use open questions that have a wide variety of responses and where there are no right or wrong answers. Begin with the words, "I wonder..." This will encourage the children to be creative and imaginative. Relax and play with the wondering.

Enable the children to respond in their own way to the story.

Provide a range of art materials for the children to use to think more about the story and their responses to it. This enables the wondering to continue; it helps the children to continue the process of thinking things through for themselves; it might involve painting, drawing, modelling, writing, reading, using the computer. Some children may wish to use the materials to retell the story for themselves.

Stand back and observe; the children are deepening their experience of the story.

When so much of children's time and how they use it is prescribed, this part of the session can be liberating for both teacher and pupil. The children are given space to explore their ideas more deeply and to make meaning for themselves.

Give children time and space to make the story their own.

Endings are just as important as beginnings. Gather the children together again by reforming the circle. This can be a time to share experiences and some of the children's work. Try sharing some food together; when everyone eats together, the simplest food becomes a feast.

Doing things differently...

Imagine an approach to religious education that...

• promotes knowledge, skills, empathy, values, spiritual growth
• develops the needs of the whole child: mind, body and spirit
• provides a multisensory approach to learning
• develops language and communication skills
• gives everyone the opportunity to speak for themselves
• develops thinking skills
• provides depth and reflection in every session
• gives time for learning
• promotes originality, independent choice and decision making
• uses visual, auditory and kinaesthetic approaches to learning

Godly Play is a well-tested method that offers a creative and imaginative approach to religious education. The approach has been developed by the American religious educator and Montessori teacher, Jerome Berryman.

The Godly Play Schools' Project, a National Society project funded by the St Christopher's Trust, enabled teachers from community and Church primary schools to explore the Godly Play approach through controlled classroom based research.

The Godly Play method has had a profound and often surprising impact on the teachers involved in the project. They have found, for example, that they are not just rethinking how they approach religious education and spiritual development; this experience is making them rethink the whole process of teaching and learning.

To find out more about the teachers and children who piloted this work ...
go to http://www.natsoc.org.uk/schools/gp/

Please click to view:

Greeting

Retelling the story

Children retelling the story