Minority religions in Japan: marginalised or empowered?

Suitable for secondary and high schools, and college, this article and accompanying activity sheet can be used in the classroom, school clubs and at home.

This resource links to KS3, KS4 and KS5 religious studies, citizenship, sociology and philosophy.

It can also be used as a careers resource and links to Gatsby Benchmarks:
Gatsby Benchmark 2: Learning from career and labour market information
Gatsby Benchmark 4: Linking curriculum learning to careers

• The world is home to a stunningly diverse array of religions, and globalisation means that different groups of followers are mixing more than ever. In Japan, ‘mainstream’ and ‘minority’ religions have different connotations – and this brings with it the potential for tension. Professor Erica Baffelli of The University of Manchester, in the UK, is exploring how minority religions in Japan are perceived and portrayed, and what this means for their follower.

• This resource also contains an interview with Erica about her career path. If your students (or you) have questions for Erica, you/they can send them to her online. All you need to do is to go to the article online (see the Futurum link below), scroll down to the end and type in the question(s). Erica will reply!

• The activity sheet provides ‘talking points’ (based on Bloom’s Taxonomy) to prompt students to reflect on Erica’s research.

This resource was first published on Futurum Careers, a free online resource and magazine aimed at encouraging 14-19-year-olds worldwide to pursue careers in science, tech, engineering, maths, medicine (STEM) and social sciences, humanities and the arts for people and the economy (SHAPE).

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