“No child is born to hate. We are born as human beings first; religion is given to us at birth”
– Sir David Khalili
Welcome to Interfaith Explorers! It’s a great free digital learning resource – supported by and delivered through UNESCO, The Commonwealth and The Prince’s Trust – which helps pupils understand the world around them as well as respect cultural and religious diversity.
Designed to compliment RE and PSHE teaching, alongside Global Citizenship Education (GCED), it offers teachers a bank of high quality cross-curricula resources to use with pupils at Key Stage 2 and those embarking on their Key Stage 3 transition (primary and early secondary school education).
Mapped to National Curriculum requirements and Sustainable Development Goal 4.7, Interfaith Explorers is a fantastic resource to enrich your school’s curriculum and can be delivered as a six-week unit or in parts throughout the academic year.
The platform helps pupils explore cultural diversity, understand and respect differences and embrace similarities. The Learning Unit at the heart of the Interfaith Explorers is designed to give teachers everything they need to plan a comprehensive programme of learning. It fulfils the need for a trustworthy bank of resources for pupils to explore different faiths and cultures in the world around them.
It’s also linked to other subjects commonly taught worldwide such as English, mathematics, computing, history and geography. That means that the materials can be used in a variety of religious and non-religious contexts as part of your pupil’s journey of intrigue, wonder and discovery about the world around them.
There’s guidance for teachers on how it can be used to support the development of core social skills that can help your pupils become confident individuals, successful learners and responsible citizens. Interfaith Explorers also provides pupils with a set of universal skills – underpinned by an ethical and moral compass, which promotes dialogue and harmony. With these skills, they can then better understand the world around them and engage with other young people regardless of particular faiths and beliefs.
Initially designed for Key Stage 2 pupils (Years 5 & 6) at primary school, teachers can easily adapt the materials for other pupil groups, and it can also be used with pupils making the transition to Key Stage 3. Consequently, we encourage teachers to adapt and enrich it according to their particular school contexts.
What’s great about the Interfaith Explorers resource is that it can be approached in a variety of ways and there are a number of entry points that teachers can use to help their pupils start their journey of discovery. For instance:
This resource bank currently focuses on the three Abrahamic faiths, but it is important to remember that many other faiths such as Dharmic (Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism), East Asian (Taoism, Confucianism, Shinto) and indigenous (relating to pre-modern societies) are practiced extensively around the world and will be included in Interfaith Explorers in due course.
Once your pupils have undertaken the challenges you set them they can download Certificates of Recognition on the website.
Young people navigate very different cultural terrains than those inhabited by their parents and as 21st century citizens, embracing cultural diversity is recognised as a valued attribute. Demonstrating the ability to explore, understand and respect differences with others is an important skill, as is the ability to recognise and embrace similarities that all young people share.
Interfaith Explorers is created by the Khalili Foundation, an international charity that works in partnership with international organisations such as UNESCO, The Commonwealth and the Prince’s Trust to bring people together through art, culture and education.
Founded by UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Sir David Khalili, the Foundation recognises that tensions existing in the world today are the result of ignorance and lack of understanding. If ignorance is the problem, then education must be the answer.
