Having taught PSRE yesterday morning I tried a technique that I have rarely used, the pretest. The students had a new research topic and I decided to test the students knowledge before we started the activity. We hard two board scribes who had the task of displaying what the group already knew about buddism.
We had a raft of great information, the position of enlightenment, robes, shaven heads, religion, peace, zen gardens, ‘Yoda’ yes the little green Stars Character. A great introduction to the research activity. During the lesson I told the students about the Marathon Monks. The Tendai Monks run 52.2 miles daily for 100 consecutive days, on the pathway to spiritual enlightenment, that is in addition to their daily chores! How would our students respond, with disbelief.