The Power of Questions
Rev John Leach asked a class of Sheffield sixth-formers: ‘What’s the point of religious faith?’ Here’s what he learned.
The Brilliant Club is a charity founded in 2011 to try to do something about educational disparity across the UK. Pupils from more disadvantaged postcodes are far less likely to apply for, or gain places at, the nation’s most competitive universities. So PhD students from top universities were invited to go into schools and deliver a university-style module on their area of research, ending with an assignment which is marked as though it were a piece of undergraduate work. The pupils also have two visits to universities to meet with students and discover more about student life, and, finally, to graduate from the Brilliant Club in a small-scale ceremony.
And it’s working! The latest research shows that Year 12 pupils who have done TBC modules are more likely to apply to top universities than those who haven’t, by 82% to 63%, and actually to gain places by 56% to 37%. One seven-week module can significantly enhance the chances for some pupils, and the resultant prospects of employment and even further postgrad research. In 2019 TBC came second in the Sunday Times ‘100 Best Not-For-Profit Organisations to Work For’ list.
All kinds of subjects form the content of modules, from Philosophy to Astro-physics, depending on the interests of the tutors, who design and teach their own modules. But what were the students in a school in South-West Sheffield to make of me, a theologian researching Liturgical Studies? I decided that liturgy was probably a bit too esoteric, so I put together a module based on the Atheist Bus campaign from 2009 – you remember those adverts telling us all that there probably is no God, so we can all stop worrying and enjoy our lives. I called the module ‘What’s the point of religious faith?’, and the pupils’ final assignment will be to discuss to what degree the buses were giving us a sensible piece of advice. In the school I'm working with at the moment pupils are not told the subject of their module in advance, so imagine their surprise on the first morning to be confronted with an Anglican vicar announcing that he is going to talk about religious faith for the next seven weeks, especially with 50% of the pupils dressed in hijabs!
The first session is about religious faith in general, and is based on some work by two Sociologists called Glock and Stark who attempted to analyse what it actually means to have faith, and what the ingredients are. Fortunately their work makes sense no matter what religion you are talking about (including, I would argue, atheism, which is just as much a matter of faith as any other religion). Then we move on to ask whether or not it matters which particular faith you follow, or whether all faiths are really worshipping the same god. We look at unsophisticated and sophisticated pluralism, which allows us to critique the generally accepted stuff which is fed to us all the time by Western Liberalism.
The next three sessions cover Christianity and the Arts, looking at and listening to works inspired by biblical texts, and asking whether it is a good thing that our society is so enriched by the Christian story. Then we look at Christianity and Social care, studying Wesley and Booth and their impact on British society, again asking whether this has been positive or not, and finally we ask some questions about law and morality, and where they come from if not from God. The question to which we keep returning is ‘Should we actually be more worried if there wasn’t a God?’
The aim of the Brilliant Club is of course to give pupils a taste for university-level study, and I am very aware of good practice for Christians going into schools, as I have enjoyed schools work as a major part of my parish ministry in the past. But because we are helping pupils to think and work at university level, I found that I have been able to engage in what is actually apologetics with groups of pupils who, by their own admission, hardly ever thought about faith, even if they were cultural adherents to a particular religion.
Feedback has been great, and marking the final assignments has shown that pupils have really engaged with the subject matter and found it fascinating. It has given them the opportunity, and the permission, to go beyond the standard caricatures of religion and the taken-for-granted pluralism of our age and to think for themselves.
I have been careful to do two things in my teaching: to tell them that I am only qualified to teach Christianity, and a different tutor would be able with much greater integrity to teach, say, Sikhism. But I am also careful to illustrate what I am saying from faith in general, and to use examples such as Zakat (almsgiving) in Islam so as not to suggest that Christians are not the only people concerned about the poor in our society.
As always, teaching has been a learning experience for me too. I have discovered a general ignorance about religious faith on the part of my KS4 pupils, but, more encouragingly, a great openness to talk about it, after the initial ‘Oh my goodness what have I let myself in for?’. I’m sure they were wary of me to begin with, but I believe that a lightness of touch as well as the ways of handling a multi-faith world outlined above largely won them over. They seemed truly interested in my own experience as a Christian, and the whole class displayed genuine mutual respect.
Above all, though, I have renewed my faith in the power of questioning. Evangelism has traditionally been seen, especially in evangelical circles, as knowing the right thing to say, which is why so many Christians are terrified, because they don’t think they will have the answers. But I have always believed, following Jesus’ example, that it can be better to ask rather than to tell. I have seen this inspire pupils to think for themselves, rather than either ignoring or disagreeing with what they are told by a Christian. To know what questions to ask, such as ‘What makes you think that?’, can be the key which opens people up for further exploration.
The Brilliant Club is a fantastic way to enhance the prospects of pupils from disadvantaged areas, and it is great to be able to use the opportunities to give pupils permission to think beyond the received ‘wisdom’ of our attitudes to faith in 21st century Britain.
You can find more details about TBC at https://thebrilliantclub.org/
To reflect:
“It can be better to ask rather than to tell.” Have you tried using this more enquiring approach to faith conversations? How did it affect the interaction?
About the Author
John Leach is a retired Anglican Minister who continues to teach part-time in theological education and with the Brilliant Club, as well as doing odd bits of consultancy work with churches. He is completing a PhD in Liturgical Studies, loves all things musical, and lives in Sheffield with his wife Chris.