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Excellence in Education |
 Australia |
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Excellence in Education |
Australia |
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Information for Homestay Families - Page 4 PAGE 1 - GENERAL Religion Cultures differ greatly in religious beliefs and practices; Hodge (1986) highlights the pervasive influences on Australian culture of the Protestant Christian work ethic and the Christian tradition of mankind being the pinnacle of creation and thus having a licence to dominate animals and the environment. Many of our international students have mainly been exposed to ancient traditions of Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism. Many of our international students are Hindu or Muslim. "From Mahayana Buddhism comes an acceptance of silent suffering as an inevitable part of life; through extinction of desire and self-negation comes an eventual end to suffering. Thus a non-assertive tradition is found, requiring politeness, humanity, modesty, sensitivity to the feelings of others as basic virtues. From Confucianism comes a respect or age and obedience to authority. From this arise the model behavior of young people, their respect for education and for teachers, and the need to preserve a good family name by righteous behaviour. In Taoism is to be found a spirit of harmony that requires a preference for a quiet, non-assertive, non-dynamic pursuit of balance that can be interpreted by outsiders as compliance,, passivity, and servility. From it comes a reluctance to question authority and a tendency to avoid conflict by concealing one's emotions and reactions." Hinduism Hinduism is one of the oldest living religions in the world beginning about 1500 BC when the Aryans invaded and conquered India. It was not founded on the teachings of one man like Buddhism, Christianity and Islam. It gradually developed under the influences of many races, cultures and religions and today it includes many schools and sects, most formed by saints or gurus. The oldest Hindu scriptures are the Vedas. Hindus worship many gods and believe that these divinities form part of one universal spirit called Brahman. The believe animals as well as humans have souls and hey worship many animals as gods, the cow being the most sacred. The caste system of social classes became a teaching of Hinduism and although it is weakened today it still has a strong influence on Indian life. Hindus worship in temples dedicated to particular divinities. The temples have annual festivals commemoration events in the lives of the divinities which attract huge crowds. For example Rama is the god of cows whose birthday is celebrated with a festival of lights symbolizing renewal called Deepavali, or Divali which falls in October or November. Hindus also worship both living and dead men as saints (yogis and gurus). Indians who have migrated to other parts of the world still strongly adhere to their religious beliefs as evidenced in Indian international students studying in Australia, for example from Fiji, Malaysia and Singapore. Buddhism Buddhism developed in India during the late 500's BC from the teachings of a prince names Siddhartha Gautina who became known as Buddha, meaning Enlightened One. It partly developed in opposition to some Hindu beliefs for example, the caste system and worship of many deities. Theravada Buddhism, basically atheist, has been described as a philosophy rather that a religion and Mahayana Buddhism is more god oriented. Buddhism emphasizes deviant to finding release from suffering of life in pursuit of Nirvana a state of perfect peace and happiness. Buddha taught that Nirvana could be found by following the "Middle Way" between the extremes of self denial and uncontrolled passion and that everyone is capable of this achievement. Buddhists believe in reincarnation and that compassion, love and good deeds bring happiness and well being and conversely, selfishness and craving lead to suffering. Everyday living should involve good deeds and avoidance of conflict if peace is to be found. Thai, Sri Lanka, Burmese and Indochina follow Theravada, North Asian (Chinese, Japanese, and Korean) are more likely to be Mahayana. Islam Islam was founded in early 600's AD in Arabia by Muhammed. Muhammed preached that Allah was the only God and that the direct word of God is contained in the Koran, the chief scripture of Islam. Muhammed made Mecca the sacred city and centre of Islam. Muslims believe that the will of God is evident in all things and that Allah controls their destiny. Their religion governs almost all of their lives and they observe the five pillars of faith. Their basic beliefs are very similar to those of Christianity, for example, kindness to others, honesty, virtue. They accept all the biblical prophets from Abraham to Jesus but do not accept Jesus as the son of God. The believe Muhammed is the last and the greatest of God's prophets. There are two main Muslim sects, the Sunni and the Shiites. Some have a fundamental background and therefore wish to adhere more strongly to their beliefs. Muslims' main concerns are rules relating to prayer and food and consumption of alcohol. They pray five times a day; they must also avoid port and related processed foods. They wish to eat halal meat (slaughtered by a Muslim according to Muslim tradition) and they must avoid alcohol. Muslim students will vary in the degree in which they comply with these rules. Islam means submission (to the will of God_ and a Muslim is one who submits willingly. Shinto Shinto is the native religion of Japan. According to mythology, Japan and its people were created by deities and until the mid 1900's the Japanese worshipped their Emperor as a direct descendent of the Sun Goddess, the most important Shinto deity. Shinto developed from native folk beliefs and people worshipped spirits and demons that lived in nature. Buddhism and Confucianis, influenced Shinto during 500's and 600's AD respectively. Today the Emperor is no longer divine. Animism The following is a quote from Kenyon and Amrapala (1990) pp 50 - 51. "Animist beliefs are held by many people in Indonesia, South East Asia and the South Pacific, including Papua New Guinea. There are basically three groups of spirits that can influence people's lives. There are spirits which reside in various areas and natural objects such as trees and rivers; these are termed territorial spirits. The second groups are the sprites of ancestors; and an individual own spirit or spirits constitute the third group. When a student is in Australia, the territorial spirits do not influence his life. However, ancestral and personal spirits can be active, either in dreams or through causing personal misfortune. For example, a student who fails exams may attribute his failure to spiritual influences and then suffer unease through not being able to contact a Wiseman or medicine man for help. Even though the student may not have strong animist beliefs, he can be worried by situations back home in which his relatives are being troubled by spirits. If there is a curse on one of the student's relatives, the student is likely to be extremely distressed as he will know of people who have suffered greatly as a result of this kind of curse. While it may be difficult to accept a student's belief in the spirits, it is equally difficult for some international students to accept Australians beliefs in eating little pills to make things better, especially when the pills look all the same but the diseases can be varied. Students with animist beliefs will generally be well aware of Western skepticism regarding the spirit world. Hence they will tend to be unwilling to talk about their beliefs and will not seek help when they feel they are being troubled by spirits. Impact of Religion The more noticeable impacts arising from religious beliefs of students are as follows: • Some Buddhists may be reluctant to take part in discussions, and may not complain about problems, because of their tendency to avoid conflict situations. What a Buddhist may perceive as a 'conflict' may to an Australian seem like a perfectly normal situation. Again, time is needed for students to appreciate that Australian ideas on such things as 'conflicts' are quite different from those with which the students have been brought up. Minor changes in their outlook may occur so that the students may adapt to studying in Australia, but they are unlikely to ever relinquish their basic beliefs. • Most Muslim students will become tried and listless during the period of Ramadan. During these four weeks Muslims fast during the hours of daylight and eat only between sunset and sunrise. Some students will visit friends and take part in other social activities after the fast is broken at sunset, and all will probably have a large meal before sunrise. Due to their lack of nourishment during the day and the limited amount of sleep at night, students tend to have very low energy levels and appear lethargic." (Kenyon and Amrapala pp51 - 52) PAGE 1 - GENERAL |
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