Religious Observance:Design and Practice

After many months of thinking and planning, the accredited course at masters module level in the delivery of Religious Observance began at Glasgow University this weekend.

www.gla.ac.uk/departments/religiouseducation/coursesanddegreeprogrammes/religiousobservancedesignandpractice/

Having been part of the planning group from the beginning, it was brilliant to see the dream becoming reality. 26 "students" (in real life teachers and chaplains) gathered to engage in a "peer led" learning experience from late Friday afternoon to Saturday morning.

There were many highlights for me. On Friday evening we each shared a RO event from our own school situation. The quality of these events and the creativity involved in preparing them was examplary. On Saturday morning, in small groups, we had to design a brand new RO event for a fictional school situation. The group I had the privilege of working with designed an excellent week long event for Valentines day called "A change of heart".

Vital to the whole experience were the liminal moments. The so called "gaps" of the programme - the coffee breaks, the meals, the unexpected debates and discussions - which offered time to meet new people from very different situations and contexts from myself. These were times of change and were potentially transformational.

We now have 9 hours of on line learning, 2 more half days training, and a written assignment. Why? So that the RO we deliver to school communities across Scotland will be relevant and meaningful.

So I'm a registered student again after many years, and that means I've got a student card - that's a very good thing!

Jen