Lesson video

Hello, my name is Ms. Ramalli.

And welcome to today's RE lesson.

Today's RE lesson forms part of our unit on Social Justice.

How might Sikhs promote equality? We're going to be exploring the meaning and importance of sewa, meaning, selfless service.

Okay, let's start today's lesson.

Today's lesson outcome is I can explain the meaning of sewa and the importance of it for Sikhs in Britain today.

To help guide us through today's lesson, we have five keywords.

Our keywords are sewa, langar, tan, man, and dhan.

Sewa refers to helping others selflessly, and it's an important Sikh value.

Langar means the community or free kitchen in a gurdwara.

Tan refers to physical service.

Man refers to mental or emotional service.

And dhan refers to material or financial service.

So in our lesson today on sewa, selfless service, we are going to be exploring in two parts.

First of all, beginning with sewa, and then moving on in the second part of today's lesson, to consider the importance of sewa.

Well, Alex explains how we use social science in religious education.

Alex says, "Social scientists are interested in how people live and how context, like where they live or when they lived, affects this.

We can better understand people's worldviews by looking at photographs or analysing data.

We can survey or interview people to find out more about their worldview." In this lesson, we will examine photographs and interview individuals with a Sikh worldview to better understand Sikh teachings on sewa.

So we are going to begin by looking at this photograph.

So either with your partner or in a small group, I would like you to discuss the following questions.

What can you see in this photograph? What do you think might be happening? And why do you think this might be happening? So for example, have a look as to who you can see in the photograph.

What you can see in the photograph.

So have a really close look, seeing what you can see in the background and in the foreground.

And then using that information, try and work out why do you think that this might be happening? Pause the video here, have your discussions, and then press play when you are ready to move on with the lesson.

Okay, welcome back, everyone.

Fantastic discussions.

So let's find out a bit more about this photograph.

So remember Alex is investigating what is happening in this photograph.

So to help him find out more, he interviews Mandeep who has a Sikh world view and is from London.

Alex asks, "What is happening in this photograph, Mandeep?" And Mandeep tells us, "In the photograph, you can see me doing sewa at my gurdwara.

And sewa means helping others selflessly." So let's pause and check you've understood what we've just heard.

Select the meaning of sewa.

A, refers to material or financial service.

B, the community or free kitchen in a gurdwara, or C, helping others selflessly.

Pause the video and press play when you are ready to check your answer.

Well done if you said the meaning of sewa is C, helping others selflessly.

Mandeep explains more about doing sewa.

Mandeep tells us, "I do Sewa at least once a month at my Gurdwara.

I volunteer to prepare food in the langar.

Guru Nanak started the concept of langar.

Langar is a process where Sikh share their honest earnings to provide free food for everyone.

It promotes a quality.

And equality is an important Sikh belief." True or false.

Sikhs are paid to do sewa.

Well done if you said that statement is false.

So why is that statement false? So sewa is a voluntary activity because sewa is rooted in selfless service to others.

Alex asked Mandeep, "Mandeep, why do you perform sewa?" Mandeep replies, "Sikhs have many beliefs, but there are three core duties or golden rules.

They are to remember Waheguru or God constantly, to earn an honest livelihood, and to share with others.

Sewa is an important act of giving, sharing with others, and honouring Waheguru." The three core duties or golden rules were formalised by Guru Nanak.

They can be summed up as prayer or Naam Japna.

Work, Kirat Karni.

And giving or Vand Chakna.

Alex asks, "Is Sewa only done by working in the langar, Mandeep?" Mandeep replies, "No, there are many ways to do sewa.

Sewa can be tan, it can be physical, man (mental), or dhan (material).

This means all Sikhs are able to perform sewa in some way." Doing sewa can include the following actions.

So for example, tan could be serving at the langar.

Man could be offering advice or counselling, and dhan could be donating to charity.

Okay, let's complete a check for understanding.

You need to match the type of sewa to the meaning.

So the types of sewa are tan, man, and dhan, and the meanings are material service, physical service, and mental service.

Okay, well done, everybody.

Let's check your answers.

So tan as a type of sewa refers to physical service.

Man as a type of sewa refers to mental service, and dhan refers to material service.

Well done if you got those three answers correct.

So that brings us to our first practise task.

And Aisha is trying to explain the meaning of sewa.

Now, parts of her explanation are incorrect.

So you need to rewrite Aisha's explanation so that it becomes correct.

So let's read Aisha's meaning of sewa.

She says, "Sewa means 'free kitchen' and is a way that Sikhs will show selfishness to others within their community.

Sewa promotes inequality.

Sewa can be tan (mental), man (material), and dhan (physical).

This means only some Sikhs are able to perform sewa in some way." So remember, parts of Aisha's explanation are incorrect and your task is to rewrite Aisha's explanation so that it becomes correct.

Good luck completing the practise task.

Pause the video and then press play when you are ready to check your answer.

Okay, welcome back, everybody.

So your answer may include the following points.

Sewa means selfless service and is a way that Sikhs will show selflessness to others within their community.

Sewa promotes equality.

Sewa can be tan (physical), man (mental), or dhan (material).

This means all Sikhs are able to perform sewa in some way.

Well done if you were able to rewrite Aisha's answer so that it was correct.

So that moves us on to the second part of today's lesson on sewa, selfless service.

Now, to explore the importance of sewa.

Alex wants to investigate the importance of sewa for Sikhs living in Britain.

He interviews three British Sikhs.

Interviewing more than one Sikh will mean he can see if there are similarities and differences in what sewa means.

So Alex interviews Ria, Balbir, and Mandeep.

Let's complete a check for understanding.

Why is it important to interview more than one Sikh about sewa? A, to check if someone has given the wrong answer.

B, it is more interesting to speak to different people, or C, different Sikhs may have different views about what sewa means to them.

Pause the video and press play when you're ready to see the correct answer.

Well done if you said the correct answer is C, it is important to interview more than one Sikh about sewa, because different Sikhs may have different views about what sewa means to them.

So Alex starts by interviewing Ria.

He asks, "Why is sewa important to you, Ria?" Ria tells us that Sewa is important to me, because it's how I show kindness and help people who need it.

I help my parents raise money to donate to Khalsa Aid, and sometimes, I help pack food or supplies for people who are in need.

What type of sewa is donating to charity? Pause the video here and press play when you are ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done if you correctly identified the type of sewa of given to charity is done.

Alex asks, what is Khalsa Aid, Ria? Ria replies, "Khalsa Aid is a Sikh charity that helps people all over the world during hard times, like after floods, earthquakes, or wars." True or false? Khalsa Aid is a charity that supports Sikhs living in Britain.

Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the correct answer.

Well done if you said that statement is false.

Khalsa Aid is a Sikh charity that helps people all over the world.

Alex now interviews Balbir.

He asks, "Why is sewa important to you, Balbir?" Balbir tells us that Sewa is important to me because it is a special way to serve Waheguru by helping others.

It reminds me to do good without expecting anything back.

Balbir tells us, "I do sewa by volunteering at a local charity.

I help cook meals and support those in need.

It is important to make a difference in my community." And finally, Alex interviews Mandeep.

"Why is sewa important to you, Mandeep?" Mandeep replies, "Sewa is important to me because it shapes my identity as a Sikh and strengthens the bonds within my community.

It helps me foster a closer relationship with Waheguru." Mandeep says, "I participate in chabeel sewa.

This is a Sikh tradition of serving a sweet, cool drink, typically pink in colour, made with milk, water, and rose syrup.

I do this as an act of selfless service to the public." True or false? Sewa is a way to serve Waheguru by helping others.

Remember, Waheguru means God.

Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Well done if you said this statement is true.

So now, we're going to complete some practise tasks so you can demonstrate your understanding of the importance of sewa.

So here is the first part of the practise task.

The practise of sewa is important for Ria, Balbir, and Mandeep.

For each person in the table below, explain why sewa is important and give an example of what they do to show this.

So for each of the Sikhs that Alex has interviewed, you need to say why sewa is important to them and how they show this using those sentence starters to help you.

Good luck completing the practise task.

Pause the video here and press play when you are ready to check your answers.

Okay, welcome back, everybody.

So your answers may include these points.

So for Ria, you might have said, "Sewa is important to me, because it's how I show kindness and how people who need it.

I show this by helping my parents raise money to donate to Khalsa Aid." For Balbir, you might have said, "Sewa is important to me, because it is a special way to serve Waheguru.

I show this by volunteering at a local charity.

I help cook meals and support those in need." And for Mandeep, you might have said, "Sewa is important to me, because it shapes my identity as a Sikh and strengthens bonds.

I show this by participating in chabeel sewa as an act of selfless service to the public." So now, we're gonna move on to complete the second part of the practise task.

In this lesson, we interviewed three British Sikhs.

Why is it good practise to interview more than one person when we want to better understand world views? Can you think of two different reasons? Good luck completing the practise task.

Pause the video and then press play when you are ready to check your answers.

Welcome back, everybody.

So you asked to consider why is it good practise to interview more than one person when we want to better understand worldviews.

So your answers may have included some of these points.

So you might have said, "Interviewing more than one person means we can see similarities and differences between people and compare them." And, "One person's experience may be different from another, so we need to make sure we don't think they represent everybody." Fantastic.

Well done on completing the second and final practise task.

So that brings us to the end of today's lesson on sewa, selfless service, and here is a summary of our key learning points.

Sewa is an important Sikh value and means selfless service.

Some Sikhs will do sewa by volunteering to work in the langar at the gurdwara.

Sewa can be tan (physical), man (mental), or dhan (material).

And sewa is important to most Sikhs as a way to serve Waheguru, show kindness to those in need, shape Sikh identity, and strengthen community bonds.

Well done on all of your hard work in today's lesson, and thank you very much for joining me.

Goodbye.