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Beginnings and Background
Seeds are sown
Sunrise in India (Photo: Nandor Lim)
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Thirty-five years ago, as a young man I spent two years in India doing voluntary work. Much of that time was spent with Indian university students. These were often intelligent, well educated young people. What struck me though was whether, in the future, they would use their abilities and training primarily to just have a nice life for themselves or in some way to serve others and the community. That thought stayed with me over the following years.
At the age of 40 I trained to be a mathematics teacher, then taught in a large State school in the UK. I did a lot of Advanced-level teaching and once again became aware of the importance of motivation and purpose in those very able young people I was working with. This led to my becoming responsible for Current Affairs in the Sixth Form. We had some stimulating sessions.
Stepping out
During the year 1994-5 my wife and I wrestled with the thought that I should stop formal teaching. This was to be free to develop a programme visiting Sixth Forms all round Britain, doing interactive sessions to provoke thought about purpose in life. That had a number of implications for our personal lives which had to be weighed. Then, out of the blue it became possible for me to take early retirement at the age of 55 and have a small pension (I had only taught for 14 years). My wife continued nursing part time and became our primary bread-winner. But the schools programme came into being.
The first visitor to join us for a forray into schools was Dr. Yusuf Al-Azhari, from Somalia. He made a deep impact in the schools we visited. Subsequently I wrote a letter to ‘the Times’ about this. It was printed as shown.
THE TIMES
Wednesday 20 March 1996
Pupils and faith
From Mr Howard Grace
Sir, The Dunblane tragedy (letters March 15,18,19) and the recent death of Philip Lawrence, the London headmaster, raise deep questions about society. The need, particularly in schools, is for a renewed moral and spiritual foundation. Yet religious education, which should help towards that, is itself often a divisive factor.
As a general-studies teacher I recently visited schools around the country with a Muslim guest, Dr Yusuf Al-Azhari, former Somali Ambassador to the US. I invited him to Britain to speak to 25 sixth forms about his experiences and present efforts to bring reconciliation to a country torn by civil war.
His father-in-law, who was head of state, was assassinated following a military coup in 1969. Dr. Al-Azhari was himself in solitary confinement for six years. It was a time of deep spiritual struggle, which eventually led to freedom from despair and hatred. After being released from prison he sought out the man responsible for his suffering, the Marxist General Siad Barre, and forgave him.
In each school visited students have been deeply challenged by a faith in God that is transparently real. This may not be religious education in an academic sense but we all know that much-needed spiritual qualities such as love and forgiveness are caught rather than taught.
Dr. Al-Azhari and I have fundamental differences in our beliefs, particularly about who Jesus was. The idea of God being killed by men is abhorrent to him. For me the love of God portrayed by Jesus' death is at the heart of my faith and inspiration. But despite any differences we have I do not doubt that it is ultimately the same God we are seeking to access.
I am grateful to be able to work with people like Dr. Al-Azhari to heighten moral and spiritual awareness in young people. In the process I have been educated about the Muslim faith whilst being strengthened as a Christian through understanding more about God's forgiveness. Surely we need to move forward together to answer the spiritual insecurity that has arisen in many of our schools.
Yours truly,
HOWARD GRACE
Young teams
Danielly (Brazil), Bhav (UK), Alison (USA). 1999 (Photo: Howard Grace)
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During the years since then the focus has been on small teams of younger people who spend the autumn and spring terms together. Countries represented in these teams have been Australia, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, Germany, Honduras, India, Japan, Latvia, Mexico, New Zealand, Nigeria, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Sudan, UK, USA, Ukraine and Zimbabwe.
We used themes such as ‘Moving Out Of Your Comfort Zone’, ‘Being My(better)self’ & ‘Freedom isn’t Free’ to focus the inner struggle which we all experience. Rather than talking about specific subjects like ‘drugs’, our themes aimed to create a broader context from which all issues could get a perspective. Several teachers in schools where we did sessions commented on the value of themes which enabled “Lateral Thinking”. The following give an idea of the response from some of the teachers in charge of sessions from 2001-2003.
Some teachers' comments
Your presentation was extremely well organised and a very suitable one for the Sixth Form as they consider very important choices. Thank you for your time and a deeply memorable lecture.
Susannah Hobby (General Studies co-ordinator, The Alice Ottley School, Worcester)
We were so grateful to you for having challenged us into deeper thinking about ourselves and about our future place in the world.
Miriam Giles (Head of Religious Studies, Erith School, Kent)
All the student questionnaire forms we received rated the session as ‘Excellent’ or ‘Good’. One comment was:
This lecture was so thought provoking and we got into a very deep debate – we are all knackered as it was so deep. It has made everyone think about faith, other faiths and your inner self. Please bring them back, it will touch the heart of many.
David Smith (Head of Science, Waddesdon Church of England School, Buckinghamshire)
Your speakers were a real credit to themselves and the organisation. Many students spoke to me about them during the day and the event clearly sent deep messages into the students. We followed it up with some very interesting discussions with tutors.
John Dexter (Head of Sixth Form, The Trinity School, Nottingham)
And from the same Nottingham school:
On behalf of the Lower Sixth Form, I would like to thank you for talking to us about Comfort Zones and for sharing your personal experiences with us. It was very inspirational to see you being open about your feelings and even more wonderful that you invited us to do the same. It is hard at this age to be completely open and people like you make us think about why this is so. I pray that you continue to open the eyes of young people and thank you again for doing it for us. Judith Ude.
Assessing some sessions
Chris Lancaster speaks
in a London Sixth Form 2003
(Photo: Howard Grace)
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Young Australian, Chris Lancaster became the programme director for the year 2002/3 which prompted some of the responses above. At the end of the time he wrote a page for the IofC Yearly Report:
"Between September 2002 and March 2003 the IC Schools Service conducted sessions with Sixth Form students in around 90 schools all over England. At different stages the schools team included people from Australia, Canada, Crimea (Ukraine), Mexico, New Zealand, South Korea, the UK and Zimbabwe. The student groups varied in size from four to several hundred, in schools ranging from privileged independent colleges to tough inner-city comprehensives.
"The sessions were titled 'Initiatives of Change', and sought to explore that phrase as a concept, not to talk about the organisation. What changes would I like to see in the world? What changes might I need to discover in myself - my attitudes, motivation and vision - from which could emerge initiatives to address those wider needs?
"These questions were approached by discussing the difference between two different bases for living and making decisions: 'because I feel like it' or 'to be true to myself'. Students generally identified the former in terms of a superficial, selfish, impulsive motivation, and the latter as a deeper, more altruistic and considered motivation where morals and conscience were a factor. In sharing experiences of dealing with these motives, one student described returning a mug stolen from a coffee shop, and another being generously rewarded for his honesty in handing in a lost wallet. Such experiences served as useful examples of how 'being true to myself' in apparently small decisions shapes the kind of people we are.
"So what is the largest purpose to live for? Students had many answers to that question: education, money, family choice, reaching one's potential, being able to give something to others, and many more. As one student put it, 'Being true to myself is more about living according to my principles than about getting an education and career'.
"When the focus was turned outwards to British society and the needs of the world, there was always agreement that in the West the superficial, self-centred type of motivation was more prevalent. Mother Teresa's statement that 'There is more poverty in the West than in India.' often helped to define some of the 'spiritual poverty' of our society. It emerged that 'being true to myself' might ultimately mean living out my uniqueness by discovering in what way I am particularly placed to meet the needs of those around me: the challenge of and for a lifetime, certainly, but one which affirms the worth of each of us in the deepest and broadest sense.
"The sessions finished with a brief time of silence to reflect on these questions. Teachers often commented on the effectiveness of these, as much for themselves as for the students. One teacher said of the whole session, 'You were speaking directly to me.’
"There is rarely any opportunity for further contact with the students encountered during the 'interactive' lessons. The work of the schools service is one of sowing seeds. But it is hoped that the ideas talked about will take root in some students and help them to think more deeply about what they can do with their lives."
Approaching Schools
The initial approach to schools is made by letter about three months before we go to a particular area. We write to appropriate teachers in all the schools with Sixth Forms within reach of our hosts of an area (for instance, Nottingham), who we will be staying with. This is followed up by numerous phone calls. We usually get a response of about 15%. So if we go to an area for a week we find ourselves doing sessions in about eight schools.
Recent Programme
Tanja Sokolova from Novosibirsk, Siberia with Birmingham students.
(Photo: Howard Grace)
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For the three months of January till April 2004 I was joined by Tanja Sokolova from Novosibirsk, Russia and Sandra Lapkovska from Riga, Latvia. Tanja is 20 and Sandra 18. We visited 60 schools. Students and teachers were amazed by the maturity and language ability of these two young people. One teacher wrote later, “I have always thought that the best ‘weapon’ in your message is the bringing of young people from other parts of the world to talk to our students and to challenge them on some of their closed attitudes – in many cases they don’t even realise they do hold prejudices or have issues in their own minds that need dealing with.”
Our theme was ‘Vision and Values’. We started by stimulating discussion about people of vision, like Martin Luther King (I have a dream) and values, Gandhi (Be the change you want to see in the world). I also quoted a student in a previous school who said, “Deep down we all want to make a difference”. We discussed whether this is true.
Following this Tanja and Sandra talked about their experiences of life, in the context of their countries and the momentous changes that have happened and are happening there. But then the focus shifts to us in the UK. “Would you recommend your society in the UK to Russia or Latvia to aspire to? Do young people here have a deep sense of purpose and fulfilment? I quoted someone as saying, “In the West, in the UK we have everything to live with and nothing to live for.” Did they agree with that. Why are there so many social and personal problems? “What do you live for if you have all you need? Is it, more of the same?” Such questions, and comments as, “True poverty is not someone without a penny, but someone without a dream.” led to searching discussions.
Although we don’t make a charge, 80% of the teachers of schools visited wrote later, making a contribution towards expenses. Two of these teachers wrote, “Your role, I feel is like a gardener – you plant seeds in minds. Unfortunately for you, you don’t always see the fruit of the planting – and the fruit doesn’t always grow from where you might expect.” and “I enclose a small token of our appreciation, but harvesting the ‘seeds’ sown is clearly the best appreciation we can offer.”
Overall perspective
It is clear that schools greatly appreciate the contribution we make to the education of their students. However, to my mind, that is less than half the value in doing this programme. It has been a wonderful training vehicle, towards gaining experience, for those of us involved in teams giving the sessions. As well as fostering our presentation skills we are forced to think deeply about the topics we discuss. It also challenges us to live what we talk about. I know from my own training to be a teacher that the most valuable part of the course was when we trainee teachers were sent into schools to put into practice what we were supposed to have been learning. The Schools Programme fulfills that role for the life of IofC.
Summary
Howard Grace. Workshop for teachers in Malaysia, 2003.
(Photo: Maria Grace)
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I am often asked whether we have a written synopsis of our sessions. It is probably clear from what is written above that we don’t. We have some idea of what we want to focus and do in each session, but that often changes from day to day. We like to be flexible and, through discussion, activate the inner struggle that goes on in every heart. The sessions usually finish with a time of quiet reflection on issues raised.
The UK programme came into being because I felt a sense of calling to it. I can think of many others who have far greater teaching skills, ability and educational understanding than I do. However, my parting comment to the reader is: If you are thinking of taking on a schools programme appropriate for your own situation or country I would suggest that the number one requirement is a deep sense of conviction for it that is laid on your heart.
by Howard Grace
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