Papers by Eleanor Nesbitt
This paper results from findings during fieldwork which was conducted during a seven month period... more This paper results from findings during fieldwork which was conducted during a seven month period of 1988 -1989 as part of the Religious Education and Community Project based in the (then) Department of Arts Education at the University of Warwick. 2 Twenty-four children were interviewed. The investigation was relatively small in scale, but the issues raised here are significant for the understanding of children of Indian Punjabi origin in particular, and more generally of South Asian children in Britain and, indeed, they are pertinent to the understanding of children from other communities. 'Punjabi Hindu Nurture' was designed to supplement data already gathered in two earlier RECP studies. 3 The term 'nurture' was used to denote the process by which children born into a particular faith community acquire its characteristic practices and beliefs or some adaptation of them (Hull 1984). 'Nurture' as a metaphor from plant and child care suggests sustaining the growing individual so that it develops towards a healthy maturity. It suggests that sustenance is consciously balanced and that
Religious Nurture and Young People’s Spirituality
Liverpool University Press eBooks, Sep 1, 2001
ETHNOGRAPHIC research from 1983 in the Warwick Religions and Education Research Unit (WRERU) at t... more ETHNOGRAPHIC research from 1983 in the Warwick Religions and Education Research Unit (WRERU) at the Institute of Education, University of Warwick shows" religious experience", including experience of bhakti (religious devotion, the soul's yearning for ...
Ethnography, Religion and Intercultural Education
Springer eBooks, 2009
This chapter is based on the following principles: education entails providing a safe and stimula... more This chapter is based on the following principles: education entails providing a safe and stimulating environment as well as the teaching and the facilitation of learning within it and it involves not only the curriculum but also what is extracurricular. Consequently, intercultural education must encompass both, and it is certainly not restricted to particular subjects in the curriculum that might seem to be especially germane such as, in the United Kingdom (UK), religious education. Education that is intercultural enables all concerned—and certainly educators and students—to question stereotypes and so to think critically about the meaning of such terms as culture, religion, ethnicity and race. Intercultural education affirms human diversity and has as its goal greater communal harmony as well as individual enrichment. The goal of moving towards greater communal harmony is grounded in the view that mutual respect, and indeed friendly, open-minded interest in others, are fostered by having a sound basis for understanding social diversity. Sensitively respectful open-mindedness to one’s neighbours’ assumptions, preoccupations and priorities is a prerequisite for insights which extend one’s capacity for appreciating difference and so for forging friendships. Such a capacity is integral to individual enrichment. Another term for this socially-oriented expansion of personal horizons is education. In other words effective education (‘leading out’, as a glance at the Latin root reminds us) is inherently and necessarily intercultural. The needs of an increasingly interconnected global society require that education should be intercultural in all schools in all societies, whether or not the school, its local community or the country to which these belong are generally regarded as culturally diverse. In any case even the most ‘monocultural’ of schools and localities is culturally diverse in terms of gender, generation, social class, interest groups, even if it is not ethnically or obviously diverse.
Religion and identity: The Valmiki community in coventry<sup>1</sup>
Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 1990
... Other Valmiki surnames to be found in Coventry are Thapar (also a Khatri got), Addi, Ansh, Ba... more ... Other Valmiki surnames to be found in Coventry are Thapar (also a Khatri got), Addi, Ansh, Balu ... tune also used by Hindus for the far more widely known aratihymn which begins 'Om jay jagdfshhare'. ... Pictures of deities such as Shiva, Krishna, Lakshmi, Ganesh, SherSnwalf Ma (lit ...
Sikhs in Mainland Europe
Routledge eBooks, May 9, 2023
5. The shaping of modern Sikhism
Oxford University Press eBooks, Apr 28, 2016
Contemporary Sikhism was formed by the views of a group of influential intellectuals and politica... more Contemporary Sikhism was formed by the views of a group of influential intellectuals and political activists. The intellectuals were the 18th-century Tat (pure) Khalsa, and they presented the Sikh teachings and practices of their own and previous generations as sharply differentiated from Hinduism. ‘The shaping of modern Sikhism’ tells the story of the Tat Khalsa in the context of 19th- and 20th-century Punjab, a period remembered for competing Sikh reformist movements and a time when key features of Sikhism took their current form, such as the Golden Temple and a distinctive Sikh marriage rite. The impact of British rule, the Akali movement, and 1947 Partition are also described.
‘I’m a Gujarati Lohana and a Vaishnav as Well’: Religious Identity Formation among Young Coventrian Punjabis and Gujaratis
Routledge eBooks, Mar 2, 2017
Where Poems Come From: Spirituality, Emotion and Poiesis
Review of Religious diversity in the UK: contours and issues, by Weller, P
Sikhism: a guide for the perplexed
British journal of religious education, Jan 25, 2015
friendly, assisting the student with a preamble to the research and ending with suggestions for f... more friendly, assisting the student with a preamble to the research and ending with suggestions for further reading and a biographical note on the author. When many students are wrestling with the challenges of ‘objectivity’, analysis and knowledge collection under conformity to academic rigour and the new emphasis on reflexivity, subjectivity and methodology of the fieldworker, these case studies show the way to finding one’s own voice in the field. I found that the case studies gave me plenty of ammunition to consider the debates over the relational nature of fieldwork, but also the relationship between the vernacular and ‘official narratives’, if indeed, such a dichotomy exists. Field work has always allowed the student to go beyond ‘official narratives’ and observe how much of religion belongs to the vernacular. It is even argued that all religion belongs to the realm of the vernacular. This is a book that is very strong on the place of the fieldworker as part of an interactional network. It consciously places itself in this debate. However, it is equally strong on the relations between vernacular and official religion but has less to say explicitly on that theoretical matter. The introduction could have addressed it but perhaps the implicit is needed too in order to provide the student with something to tease out of the extraordinary narratives of the field.
Ethnography, Religious Education, andThe Fifth Cup
Religion & Education, 2013
This article comments on issues of concern to religious educators that emerged from ethnographic ... more This article comments on issues of concern to religious educators that emerged from ethnographic studies directed by Robert Jackson at the University of Warwick. The research in question focused on U.K. communities of north Indian background, whose members identified themselves—in some contexts at least—as Sikh or as Hindu. The comments are made in the light of a play, The Fifth Cup, and pertain to how world religions are defined and how they are represented in religious education. In particular, with regard to the sensitivity of the issue of caste for pupils of South Asian origin, the article suggests that the training of religious education teachers needs to be informed by both ethnography and historical context and also raises questions about curriculum content. I suggest that the interpretive approach entails a necessary attentiveness to pupils’ experiences and perceptions, and that some issues may additionally call for expertise in pastoral care and conflict resolution.
7. Attitudes to caste, gender, and other faiths
Oxford University Press eBooks, Dec 8, 2005
The film Bend it Like Beckham (2002) illustrated effectively gender issues in the Sikh religion a... more The film Bend it Like Beckham (2002) illustrated effectively gender issues in the Sikh religion and how they are viewed in comparison to gender issues outside of Sikhism. ‘Attitudes to caste, gender, and other faiths’ looks at these themes and relates them to discussion of Punjabi cultural norms, insights of the Gurus, and the legacy of Guru Gobind Singh in both the Khalsa and the Dasam Granth. It also considers the strictures of successive rahit-namas and the reformist project of the Singh Sabha, plus more recent developments, especially in the diaspora. These sets of issues belong together in any discussion of Sikhs’ resounding claims that the Panth is egalitarian.
Review and book note
Religion, Oct 1, 1986
Page 1. Religion (1986) 16, 383-400 REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTES Irving M. Zeitlin, Ancient Judaism. Bi... more Page 1. Religion (1986) 16, 383-400 REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTES Irving M. Zeitlin, Ancient Judaism. Biblical Criticism from Max Weber to the Present. Oxford, Polity Press, 1984, pp . Ix + 314. Ł19.50 . In this brisk and readable ...
Discovery, Construction, Disclosure: Some Factors in the Developing Religious Identity of Children and Young People from Diverse Faith Backgrounds
BRILL eBooks, Jun 7, 2023
‘Living Values: an educational program’—from initiative to uptake
British journal of religious education, Jun 1, 2004
This article is concerned with the connection between religions and education. It explores the ca... more This article is concerned with the connection between religions and education. It explores the case of one particular values education programme,&#x27;Living Values: an educational program&#x27;, and its link with the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University (BKWSU) to ...
Journal of Beliefs & Values-studies in Religion & Education, Apr 1, 2010
The encounter and intersection between faiths, cultures and ethnicities in families where parents... more The encounter and intersection between faiths, cultures and ethnicities in families where parents have different faith backgrounds are areas of social interaction about which we know little, although the number of such families is growing in the UK and globally. Mixed-faith families reflect the multi-cultural and multi-faith character of society and are thus spaces where individuals develop and negotiate multiple identities in relation to faith, ethnicity, gender, education-among other factors. Based on ethnographic data gathered during a recent study at the University of Warwick, this article presents a case study to examine what kind of cultural repertoire young people could draw on and whether this fostered ‗multiple cultural competence' in them. The study also seeks to show how parents negotiated the practice and belief of their respective traditions and how children in such families perceived and formed their own religious and social identities.
British journal of religious education, 2011
On the basis of recent ethnographic study at the University of Warwick of the religious identity ... more On the basis of recent ethnographic study at the University of Warwick of the religious identity formation of young people in 'mixed-faith' families, this article focuses on their (and their parents') experiences and perceptions of religious education (RE) and of religious nurture in the community. The young people's experience of RE differed between primary and secondary school and only a few were engaged in supplementary classes. We highlight the complementarity between school and home in young people's religious learning and draw out implications for RE.
Exploring the Sikh Tradition
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Papers by Eleanor Nesbitt