A Look at Teaching in Temple Today -- Weidu

From June 8-10, 2007, 68 people participated in the "Teaching in Temples Today" at Lian Shan Shuang Lin Monastery. Led by Venerable Mujin from Switzerland, the 2-day workshop offered some basic ideas on methodology and contents for teaching Buddhism to primary and secondary students.

The participants, consisting mainly of voluntary Dharma class teachers from Buddhist organisations, some parents and a few of school teachers, explored and evaluated the essential elements of teaching Buddhism in the modern world with much enthusiasm. The feedback sessions brought to the surface many of the participants?questions and needs and paved the way for new directions for future workshops. Below is a summary drawn from participants?feedbacks as well as comments from the instructor in her report.

The participants enjoyed the workshop, especially the interaction, the sharing, the receiving of new ideas; their enjoyment showed in their eager participation. Everyone wanted more time to make materials, to share ideas and work together on ways to make Buddhism more interesting. Many wanted more Dharma to be included with more materials on how to apply it in daily life as well as in the classroom. Many suggested that to bring in children another time in order to test out the materials and Venerable Mujin felt that this was an excellent idea though it requires some fine management. Everyone wants more workshops on the same and different topics and more chance to share materials and techniques. A few reflected that the workshop concentrated too much on children and not enough on young people which Venerable Mujin felt was true in some ways and that more effort should be made in future for the young people.

The instructor, Venerable Mujin, felt that the wonderful audience and the atmosphere in the group was the major factor creating the success. She commented on the fact that the single most exciting activity was the structured interactive tasks which had definite and clear aims and during which teachers were randomly grouped from different temples other than their own. She saw the immense pleasure that these random pairs and groups had in sharing ideas and so understood the importance of creating a resource centre and a Dharma teachers?association so as to provide them with materials and facilities for future mutual support. In addition to workshops on methodology, she suggested a workshop on how to deal with difficult children since this is a problem for all teachers and a relaxation workshop on how to deal with themselves as she suspected their burnt-out rate is quite high. She also felt that Dharma instruction and some Buddhist practices could be mixed into the workshops next time.

Suggested Topics for Future Workshops:

1) Dharma and Young People

2) Making Materials and Methodology for One Year of Classes

3) Making Materials and Methodology for One Year of Classes and Practicing

4) Making Materials and Methodology for One Year of Classes and Practicing & Watching Others

5) Making Buddhism more suitable for the different ages

6) Child Psychology

7) Dealing with Dyslexia, ADD*1, ADHD*22, etc.

8) Making a yearly huge Outdoor Buddhist Camp or all the teachers and all the children

9) Making a huge Outdoor Buddhist Camp for all the teachers and all the young people

The workshop came to an end with certificate presentation. A report was subsequently sent to all participants which some particularly appreciated as it is not a common practice in Buddhist events.

1*Attention-Deficit Disorder

2*Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder