Lesson video

Welcome, everyone.

My name is Mrs. Hardy, and I'm so excited to be learning with you today.

I will be guiding you through this lesson step by step.

So are you ready to begin? Let's get started.

Today's lesson is taken from the unit, Communities: what does it mean to belong? In this lesson, we will be finding out about what belonging as a humanist means.

So by the end of the lesson, all of us will be able to say, "I can describe what humanism is and how humanists might show they belong." There are three keywords in today's lesson that I would like you to learn and remember.

We'll begin by saying each of the words and then finding out its definition.

So let's begin.

We're going to start with the word humanist.

So I will say the word and then you say it next.

So my turn.

Humanist.

Your turn.

My turn.

Humanist.

Your turn.

Fantastic.

Now, a humanist is a person with a non-religious worldview based on values of kindness.

Now, the second word that we're going to be learning today is symbol.

So my turn, symbol.

Your turn.

My turn, symbol.

Your turn.

Fantastic.

Now, a symbol is a picture, sign, or object that helps us to understand what someone believes or where they belong.

And the final word that I would like you to learn and remember today is belonging.

So my turn, belonging.

Your turn.

My turn, belonging.

Your turn.

Brilliant.

So belonging is the feeling of being accepted, respected, safe, and valued within a group.

Now, all of these words today are going to help us learn more about humanism and what it means to be a humanist.

There are two parts to today's lesson on looking at belonging as a humanist.

The first part of our lesson will answer the question, what do humanists believe? And the second part of our lesson will answer the question, how does belonging to a group help a humanist? So let's get started looking at part one, what do humanists believe? Now, here's Laura.

Laura's going to explain why it is useful to learn about a range of people in religious education.

She says, "We can better understand people's worldviews and how they make a difference to their daily lives if we talk to them about the way they live." So in this lesson, we will be learning about the beliefs of humanists and how belonging to a group can be helpful for them.

Now, Laura has a big question she wants to find out about.

She says, "I know that people can belong to a religion.

Christians may have a faith family.

Jews might celebrate Shabbat as a family.

But what if people don't belong to a religion?" What do you think? How could we find out the answer? Why don't you pause the recording here and talk to the person you're with about these two questions and what you think the answer is to them.

And when you're ready to continue with the lesson, press play again.

Welcome back, everybody.

So you've had a chance to have a think about people who don't belong to a religion and what they might do to feel like they belong.

So here's Diane to help us answer that question.

And she says, "Hello! My name is Diane.

I am a humanist.

Let me tell you about myself and how I show belonging." Laura has another question.

She asks, "What is a humanist, Diane?" And Diane tells Laura, "A humanist is someone who doesn't believe in God but cares about humans and the world.

That's why there is the word human in humanist!" So let's do a check-in, and it's a true or false this time.

True or false? Humanists believe in God.

Is that true or is that false? You're going to pause the recording while you think about your answer.

And when you're ready to continue, you're going to press play.

Welcome back, everybody.

So we asked the question, true or false? Humanists believe in God.

And the answer is false.

Why is it false? Because humanists do not believe in God.

They think that humans and the world are important.

Let's take a moment to have a look at this sign.

I wonder what it reminds you of.

So look carefully at this symbol.

What can you see? What might it show? Diane explains to us, "This is a humanist symbol.

It is called the 'happy human.

' As a humanist, I think humans should be happy and make others happy." She tells us, "As humanists, we want to celebrate that being human is amazing.

Humans can think of brilliant ideas.

Humans can show kindness and care.

And this symbol shows I belong as a humanist." So time for another check.

This time, a multiple choice question.

I would like you to tell me which symbol shows someone is a humanist.

Is it symbol A, symbol B, or symbol C? Pause the recording whilst you think about your answer.

And when you're ready to find out what the correct answer is, press play and we'll continue with the lesson.

Welcome back, everybody.

So you've had time now to think about which symbol shows someone is a humanist, and the correct answer is C.

C shows the happy human symbol.

Well done if you got that correct.

So I think we're ready now for the first task of today's lesson.

And the task is this.

This is the happy human symbol.

Can you think of three things about humans that make them amazing? And secondly, can you say two things that humanists think or believe? So take a moment to have a look at those questions, start to think about your answers, and then discuss with the people that you're with what your answer to those questions are.

Whilst you do that, you're going to pause the recording, and when you're ready to continue, press play and I'll be here for some feedback.

Welcome back, everybody.

So our task today was in two parts.

You were thinking of three things about humans that make them amazing, and then two things that you know humanists think or believe.

So when thinking about three things that humans do that make them amazing, you might have said something like the following.

So firstly, humans have invented amazing things like medicines, computers, and the internet.

And next you might have said something about how humans have created beautiful things like paintings and fun games.

I wonder what other answers you had about the amazing things that humans have done.

Now, the second part of our task was to say two things that you know now that humanists think or believe.

So you might have said humanists believe that humans should be happy and make other people happy, and you might also have said that humanists do not believe in God.

Well done for your hard work on that task.

And now, I think we're ready to move on to the second part of our lesson.

The second part of our lesson today, looking at belonging as a humanist, is how does belonging to a group help a humanist? So look carefully at this photograph.

What can you see? What might it show? Who might go there? Whilst you talk about this with the person you're with, pause the recording, and when you're ready to continue with the lesson, you're going to press play again.

Welcome back, everyone.

So we were looking really carefully at this photograph.

It's a very special building.

I wonder what's in there and I wonder who might go there.

Let's find out.

So this is Elijah.

Now, he is also a humanist.

Hello Elijah.

Now, this building is Elijah's library, and this is his special place, special building, for Elijah.

He says, "Let me show you inside and tell you why it is special to me." So this is inside Elijah's library.

Just look at all those books.

He says, "My library is an amazing building.

I love reading, and come here every week to find a new book.

As a humanist, I don't go to a church or a synagogue.

A library is the place where I feel I belong." Thank you for sharing that, Elijah.

Now, I wonder, have you ever been to your local library? Is it a special place to you? Do you feel like you belong to your local library? Now, let's have a check for understanding.

What I would like you to do here is answer the question, where does Elijah the humanist feel belonging? Is it at building A, building B, or building C? We are going to pause the recording whilst you think about your answer, and I wonder if you can also think about how you know.

All right, have a look, and when you are ready to continue with the lesson, you're going to press play again.

I'll see you in just a moment.

Welcome back, everybody.

So we were answering the question, where does Elijah the humanist feel belonging? And the correct answer to that question was B.

B was his local library.

And the other places are places of worship.

There is a synagogue and a church, and that's not somewhere that a humanist would feel like they belong.

Well done if you got that answer correct.

Now, here's Diane to tell us about her also going to a library.

So here we can see her at a humanist meeting at her local library.

And she says, "I also go to my local library.

I am a part of a humanist group that meets there." She says, "My humanist group talk about books we have read.

We also plan how we can help people and nature in our local community.

We show belonging by sharing tea and cakes and supporting each other." Thank you for sharing that, Diane.

Now, one way, she says, "One way we try to make people happy is by visiting older people who are lonely and having a cup of tea with them.

We may collect shopping for people who can't leave their home." Diane also helps look after her local park.

Diane and her humanist group helped create a wildflower garden.

She wanted to make sure there was food for bees and other insects.

It also made a beautiful place for the people as well.

Now, I want you to think about the answer to this check.

The question is, why does Diane help look after older people and her local park? Now, is it A, because God told her to, is it B, Diane's humanist group told her to, or is it C, she wants to make other people happy? So I want you to think carefully about your answer to this one.

And as you are thinking about your answer or talking about it with the person you're with, you're going to pause the recording, and when you're ready to start again, you're going to press play.

Okay, I'll see you in just a moment.

Welcome back, everybody.

So we were looking at the question, why does Diane help look after older people and her local park? And we found out that the answer is C, it's because she wants to make other people happy.

Humanists believe that helping to make other people happy is the right thing to do.

It's not because anyone else has told them to do it.

It's a belief inside that making other people happy is a good thing.

Well done if you got that answer correct.

Now, here's Elijah again.

Elijah's family also belonged to a humanist group.

Now, Elijah loves the sea.

He is helping to clean up all the plastic rubbish from a beach with his humanist group.

As a humanist, Elijah wants to make people and all of nature happy.

So let's do another check-in here.

Which of the following statements is not true? So is it A, that humanists work together to make the world better, is it B, humanists believe in making people happy, or is it C, humanists belong to a religion? So remember, this time I want you to tell me which of the following statements is not true.

So whilst you're thinking about the answer to this question, pause the recording, and when you're ready to hear the correct answer, press play again and we'll continue with the lesson.

Okay, off you go.

Welcome back, everybody.

We were answering this question, which of the following statements is not true? And the answer was that humanists belong to a religion.

That statement is not true, but it is true that humanists work together to make the world better, and it is true that humanists believe in making people happy.

Well done to all of you who got that answer correct.

Now, we are ready for our second task of today's lesson.

And what I want you to do is to have a look at these pictures.

We've seen them earlier on in our lesson.

And the first thing I want you to do with these pictures is to explain what is happening in them.

So take a careful look at each of the pictures and remember what we talked about in the lesson about what is happening in these pictures.

Now, the second thing I would like you to do for your task today is to finish off this sentence.

Many humanists belong to a group because they, and then you're going to finish that sentence for me.

Okay.

I'm looking forward to seeing what your answers are.

And I want you to have a really good think about your answers to these questions.

Pause the recording whilst you're doing it, and then when you are ready, press play and I'll be here for the feedback.

Okay, I'll see you in just a moment.

Off you go.

Welcome back, everybody.

So for the first part of this task, you were explaining what was happening in each of these pictures.

So you might have said, in the first picture, "At her humanist group, Diane meets other humanists.

They help older people with shopping." For the second picture, you might have said, "Diane's humanist group planted a wildflower meadow to help bees and other insects." And for the last picture you might have said, "Elijah's humanist group do a beach clean to collect plastic rubbish." Well done to everybody who was able to remember what was happening in those pictures based on what we talked about earlier on in our lesson.

Great job.

But that wasn't the only part of today's task, was it? That was the first part, and the second part was finishing off this sentence.

And you may have written something like, "Many humanists belong to a group because they want to be happy and make other people happy." Well done if you've remembered that core idea about what humanists believe.

They want to be happy and they want to make other people happy.

Well done if you remembered that.

Now, everybody, we've come to the end of our lesson looking at belonging as a humanist.

And here is a summary of all the things that we have learned today in our lesson.

So first of all, we know that humanists want themselves and others to be happy.

We know that humanists try to look after the world and the people in it.

We know that some humanists go to groups and they meet up regularly.

And lastly, we learned that humanists can show belonging to groups by helping other people and nature.

So well done for all your hard work and effort in today's lesson.

It was fantastic to be able to spend this time with you, and I really hope you're going to come back soon and join me for another RE lesson.

Okay, take care, and bye for now.