Seeing the World through others Eyes

Religion and Faith are often seen as very personal and private things but in an increasingly globalised world where people of many different cultures and traditions rub shoulders with one another on a daily basis there is a need for us all to try and understand where other people are coming from and how their beliefs may either resemble or differ from our own. Despite the fact that schools in the UK have offered Religious Education as part of the curriculum since 1944, Multifaith Education has been slow to evolve. With recent changes in legislation and with rising tensions mounting it is perhaps now more important than ever for people of all ages to come to terms with our multicultural heritage. Recently Religious Education has developed a more responsible approach to community relations and the following official governement quote could apply to us all.

The Importance of Religious Education

"Religious education provokes challenging questions about the ultimate meaning and purpose of life, beliefs about God, the self and the nature of reality, issues of right and wrong and what it means to be human. It develops pupils’ knowledge and understanding of Christianity, other principal religions, other religious traditions and other world views that offer answers to questions such as these. It offers opportunities for personal reflection and spiritual development. It enhances pupils’ awareness and understanding of religions and beliefs, teachings, practices and forms of expression, as well as of the influence of religion on individuals, families, communities and cultures. Religious education encourages pupils to learn from different religions, beliefs, values and traditions while exploring their own beliefs and questions of meaning. It challenges pupils to reflect on, consider, analyse, interpret and evaluate issues of truth, belief, faith and ethics and to communicate their responses. Religious education encourages pupils to develop their sense of identity and belonging. It enables them to flourish individually within their communities and as citizens in a pluralistic society and global community. Religious education has an important role in preparing pupils for adult life, employment and lifelong learning. It enables pupils to develop respect for and sensitivity to others, in particular those whose faiths and beliefs are different from their own. It promotes discernment and enables pupils to combat prejudice."

Why do we need a Multifaith Education Programme outside of School?

As part of what has become an already overcrowded curriculum Religious Education is sadly just one subject area amongst many. Some programmes are highly developed and manage to match the standards and goals as illustrated above but others are often too compressed and fragmented to give our children a full and rich understanding of the ultimate purpose of all religions; especially in terms of how we can put into practice what has been taught. By tying together the common strands of all the major world religions and concentrating on service to others; as opposed to ourselves, our immediate family, neighbourhood or even faith community, we can begin to realise how complementary different religious traditions actually are in relation to one another, when viewed from a more human, global and historical perspective. This then acts to strengthen our respect for the rich diversity that the human family offers and at the same time reduces tensions and misunderstandings between people of a variety of very different backgrounds thus enabling them to become much closer to one another then they ever thought possible. How? Take a look at the different programmes on offer here and decide for yourself if you also want to get involved.

Hidden Gems Foundation Programme

Welcome to the Virtues Club!







These community based childrens classes are organised along the belief that each one of us is born with a tremendous inner potential and that with the right kind of assistance we can develop our positive natural qualities in the same way that rough stones can become highly polished and valuable gems.

In order to prove this to ourselves, to parents who may be interested in allowing their children to join such a programme and more importantly to the children themselves we are offering classes in partnership with parents and our funding agencies, free of charge and all year round.

Stage 1 Classes will offer the opportunity for children between the ages of 5-7 years old to receive an out of school 'virtues' based training and together with the parent's assistance, at home, the day-to-day tools that your child will begin to develop (to address their spiritual needs) will slowly start to bring out the best in each and every member of the virtues club.

Sample Programme:

Each week students will be introduced to a new virtue or “gem” through…

• A treasure chest
• A book holder
• Classroom “VOWS”
• On-going local service project involvement
• inspirational words from different religions and philosophies
• storytelling books read in class
• artwork
• songs
• teachable moments and drama/role-play
• service project tasks

…and will receive:

• A Virtue Booklet for each new virtue with a quote from a different religion on the front cover pertaining to that virtue (Virtue Booklets are collected and stored in the booklet holder received at the first class attended and may be left at home.)

• A Weekly Virtue Activities Calendar to help you create teachable moments on a daily basis (These activities are simply suggestions and you are free to add or modify the activities to adapt them to your needs. The important thing is to put some time aside each day to reinforce the virtue.)

Note: Please ensure that you read the DEAR PARENTS letter on the first page of the Virtue Booklet to see how you and your child can utilize and get the most out of the booklet, calendar and in fact the entire prgramme.

• A Virtue Giftlet which is a small gift that serves as a concrete reminder of the virtue (Giftlets are collected and stored in the provided treasure chest received at the first class attended and may be left at home.)

Encourage the special care of these “gems” so that they can be shared with family and friends.

• Colouring and/or activity sheets

The Virtues Project

This training programme is inspired by the work of the Virtues Project which is a Canadian based initiative designed to support parents, families, teachers and caregivers in the process of helping children to acquire virtues and values.


http://www.virtuesproject.com/

The materials used in THE VIRTUES PROJECT are grounded in the world's sacred traditions although they do not promote the practices or dogma of any particular religion. The project is based on the simple principles of spiritual growth found in many faiths, yet its materials are designed to be helpful and accessible to all people, religious or not.

"Virtues Project materials and programs have been used in a variety of settings such as prisons, 12-Step programs such as Alcoholics AnonYmous, personal devotional programs, inner child healing circles, and as a tool for study in a wide variety of Communities of Faith.

Individuals who attend facilitator training apply the simple principles found in The Virtues Guide in a wide variety of settings. Most of them are sponsored by community organizations or human services agencies to serve their clients.
A variety of programs are available which focus on the Five Strategies of The Virtues Project in personal, professional and community development. Examples are: Personal Growth and Healing Retreats, Parenting Life-skills Courses, Character Education Initiatives, Positive Cultural Change, Violence Prevention and Intervention, Transformation of Bully Behaviour, Community Building, Leadership Development and Facilitator Training.

Presentations can take the form of an inspirational keynote for a conference, a series of community development workshops for a group in crisis, an ongoing character education program within a school, corporate leadership training, or a personal development retreat for couples or individuals."

Training Coordinators Comments

Before helping to start up this programme as a new community enterprise, I was running a small English Language School and education business in the multicultural city of Vienna. Details follow below:

Running this company brought me into contact with hundreds of enthusiastic young children between the ages of 4 and 12 years of age and from a variety of different cultural backgrounds. These children when in their normal groups especially those from ethnic minorities often found themselves inadvertantly discriminated against but while in the English class they were highly animated and confident for all had suddenly become equal. Also between 1997 and 1999 as part of an international Early English program I provided basic training for over 120 people interested in becoming Early English teachers. These teachers also came from a variety of different backgrounds and not all of them were native speakers. This made me stop and think about how we often misjudge people for a variety of reasons based on a rather flimsy understanding of what their true potential might actually be. Take a look at the link below to capture some of the essence of what I mean:



http://www.helendoron.com

Helen Doron Early English is a highly acclaimed, proven method of teaching English. It has been developed by the linguist Helen Doron. Working with such an organisation for so many years gave me the inspiration to start the Hidden Gems Programme.
Working with people in such an interesting and dynamic way tends to give you good overall communication and negotiation skills and the ability to work well with others in a cooperative spirit. Like well trained musicians we should all learn how to be highly motivated always looking on the bright side even when things occassionally don't go entirely to plan, and approacing everything we do with a good sense of humour.

Previous Client List

Abbott Pharmaceuticals
Austrian Railways (ÖBB)
Biz-Talk
Canadian Royal Trust (now Anglo Irish Bank)
Education Service Center, Graz
Estonian Embassy
Ford Germany
Goldstar Central European Operations (now LG)
Helen Doron Early English
International Organisation for Migration
Invest Credit
Kinderfreunde
Kunsthalle Wien
Lithuanian Embassy
Marketing und Plannung Gsmbh
Mckinsey&Co
Montesorri International Kindergarten
OMV (Austrian Oil)
ÖKS
San Paolo Bank
Sprachstudio Rouseau
Sprachinstitute und Verein
SPIDI (large training insitute)
Teamwork Training

Discovery Workshops

Parenting Life Skills Courses

In order to complement the children's classes I would like to offer for those parents who need it the chance to improve on their basic skills in both English and Maths and also provide occassional workshops in parenting skills.

Additional Information

Agent / Oxford University Press / Oxford Reading Tree / Kindergartens and Primary Schools (Feb. 2001-May 2005)

Agent / Oxford College of English, UK based Youth and Adult Courses

Agent / International House / UK, US, and Australian based courses for youth and Adults