Youth workers

Tackling the issues

Self development

The work in this pack should fit into any existing anti-discrimination work which you already do and most of the techniques should transferable to anti-sectarianism.

If you are new to this type of work then you may wish to consider how and why you want to tackle the issue and whether or not it might be helpful to do some basic anti-discrimination work before tackling sectarianism. Training will provide information about how sectarianism and religious intolerance occurs in Scotland, and will include areas like terminology, legislation and techniques used for countering contemporary forms of sectarianism.

You may find that some of the self development exercises listed below are useful:

The self-evaluation resource although written for schools is also a very useful source of ideas.

You will find more information about the resource in the presentations on About the Resource and Taking the issue Forward.

This pack is about anti-sectarianism. This is different from non-sectarianism which can be defined as not acting in a sectarian manner. Anti-sectarianism is about challenging sectarianism wherever you find it. Before you can challenge sectarianism in others you may wish to consider your own views and perspectives so that you do not inadvertently impose these on others. You may wish to use the self-development questions below, discuss the issue and examine your own thoughts about it before tackling the issue with young people. That said you shouldn't be afraid to raise the issue - the more sectarianism goes unchallenged the stronger it can become and the only way to stop it, or any other form of discrimination, is to challenge it.

What do I think about sectarianism?

The following questions may help you to clarify your own views on this issue (you could also use them as the basis for an activity with young people). You may wish to use this as a group exercise or alternatively you could write down answers but not share them as these are very personal questions. If young people choose to share their answers you could discuss them and any preconceptions or prejudices

What do I believe in?
Do I have a faith/belief?
How do I feel about it?
Why do I believe this?
What do I think about other faiths generally, e.g. is mine closer to the truth or just different?
What do I think about other faiths specifically?
What do I think sectarianism is?
What do I think religious intolerance is?
Do I think sectarianism/religious intolerance is a good/bad, necessary/unnecessary, preventable/inevitable thing?
What do I mean when I use terms like 'fundamentalists'?
What do I think about people who are proud of their faith, e.g. who wear specific clothing, icons, jewellery etc?
What do I think about people requiring special food because of their religion?
What do I think about people who need to worship at specific times different to my own?

You may find the questionnaire on 'How tolerant are you' developed by RESPECT useful. It can be found at www.beliefnet.com/section/quiz/quiz_timebank.asp

Go to the Teacher Self-development section for more information about attitudes and discussion about terminology.