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speakers, of course, requires special due diligence on the teacher’s part to ensure that speakers do not act as proselytizers or definitive spokespeople for a particular tradition. All of these resources have the potential to contribute to both cognitive and affective understanding, a process I call “stirring the ethical imagination.” STIRRING THE ETHICAL IMAGINATION If student understanding is to extend beyond a merely informational level about ethical difference to the kind of substantive appreciation described earlier, it must include a broader, affective component. Imaginative engagement is more than simply an intellectual exercise, just as empathy involves an emotional recognition of another perspective. This cognitionplus -affect approach seems particularly important in the context of religion , where imaginative engagement helps us move beyond a purely doctrinal understanding that, while predominant in Abrahamic faiths, is less important in other religions. As I explained in chapter 3, religion frequently includes rich facets of tradition, community, and ritual—it provides a way of being in the world that generally includes propositional beliefs, but whose significance for adherents extends well beyond this. Three common pedagogical techniques for encouraging a fuller imaginative understanding are role-plays, field experiences, and art and stories. As with most curricular approaches, their success lies in how they are used. In the pursuit of imaginative engagement, it seem equally crucial that teachers understand the limitations of various approaches. While the imagination can be a powerful means of bridging gaps of understanding , we run the risk—especially with terrain as potentially hazardous as religion—of assuming too much. We need not overreach to gain an importantly useful appreciation of ethical diversity. Role-Plays “From the beginning,” the class handout read, “you and your classmates will become Muslims.” Like most public schools in America, Excelsior was attempting to address state standards. Over the course of several weeks in 2002, seventh-grade students in this Oakland area middle school engaged in role-plays aimed at furthering their understanding of Islam. 68 Grappling with the Good Activities included choosing Islamic names for themselves, playing a board game that simulated a pilgrimage to Mecca, and memorizing portions of Islamic proverbs and prayers to recite for their teacher. Students also had the option to dress up in Islamic robes for extra credit. Parents of some students filed suit, claiming violation of First Amendment prohibitions on the teaching of religion in public school. The classroom teacher countered that she had made it clear throughout the unit that such activities were prefaced with “let’s pretend”; in addition, she stated that her intent was never to proselytize or indoctrinate students.13 One frequently abused technique in many classrooms is that of roleplaying . This commonly results in the oversimplification of complex ethical issues and is particularly problematic in the exploration of religion. Too often these attempts share flaws similar to (though perhaps not as obvious as) this Oakland middle-school curriculum unit. In light of the myriad social variables and influences that cannot possibly be simulated, oversimplification becomes the almost inevitable outcome. Efforts to “become Muslims” for a ninety-minute class period, for instance, are likely to be offensive to both non-Muslims (who may balk at enacting religious practices) and Muslims (who see their faith being trivialized through playacting). Role-playing has educational value, I believe, only in conveying very specific experiences and perspectives to the actors and audience. Rather than expecting that students will be able to become Muslims in any substantive sense, an appropriate role-play might involve a student requesting special school accommodations (e.g., being excused from class at specific times for prayer) and meeting with ignorance and resistance from administrators. The goal would be to gain an empathic understanding of some of the challenges in living out a minority religion in the dominant Protestant-secular culture, but teachers should be alert not to convey the message “Now you’ve experienced what it’s like to be a Muslim.” Clearly the range of epistemic privilege that Narayan describes earlier is far greater and deeper than any simulation can convey. In addition, teachers must be cognizant of the developmental capacities of their students; while some older high school students might benefit from a role-play involving religiously arranged marriages, for example, it seems unlikely that younger students would appreciate its complexity (emotional and otherwise). In sum, if role-playing is used by teachers, it should be done so with extreme care and with a very specific and limited outcome in mind. 69 Imaginative Engagement with Ethical...

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