Lesson video

Hi, my name is Miss Framelli and welcome to today's RE lesson, which forms parts of our unit on social justice, how it might Sikhs promote equality? In today's lesson, we are going to be considering the importance of kirpans to Sikhs.

Okay, let's start today's lesson.

Today's lesson outcome is, I can explain the symbolism of the kirpan and why it's important to Sikhs today.

To help guide us through today's lesson, there are five key words, Khalsa, kirpan, Miri, Piri, and Waheguru.

Khalsa is a group of people committed to living according to Sikh teachings.

Kirpan is a short sword or knife with a curved blade worn as one of the five signs of the Sikh Khalsa.

Miri means temporal power, relationship with the world.

Piri is a spiritual power and relationship with Waheguru, and Waheguru refers to God.

So today's lesson on the importance of the kirpan to Sikhs takes three parts.

So we're gonna start by exploring the kirpan.

Moving on to consider the kirpan as a symbol and ending with kirpans today.

Okay, so for a moment I'd like you to look at this image.

What do you think of when you see this object? Can physical objects have symbolic meaning? Why might someone's preconceptions about it determine how they behave? So with your partner or in a small group, I'd like you to discuss those questions.

Pause the video and press play when you're ready to move on with the lesson.

So here we have an image of a kirpan.

It is usually worn by Khalsa Sikhs and some other Sikhs as part of their Sikh identity.

The kirpan comes in different sizes.

It can be made from steel or iron.

It can be sharp or blunt.

Lets pause and complete a check for understanding.

Complete the following sentence with the correct words.

A kirpan is made from, or.

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

Well done if you said the missing words are steel or iron.

So a kirpan is made from still or iron.

Here we have an image of a kirpan and gatra.

The kirpan is usually worn under clothing and held safe using a gatra.

It can be worn over clothing, especially during religious ceremonies.

Kirpan is a Punjabi word with traditional roots.

Kirp meaning mercy, kindness and compassion, and an meaning honour, grace, and dignity.

Some say that there is no direct English word that translates the Punjabi word kirpan.

However, some use dagger, or sword, or knife.

A problem with this is that some people associate these words with violence and aggression, when the kirpan does not represent this.

Let's pause and complete a check for understanding.

What holds a kirpan safe in place, A, a gatra, B a pin, or C, a bag? Pause the video and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Well done if you said the correct answer is a gatra.

A gatra holds a kirpan safe in place.

The kirpan is part of the Panj Kakkars or five Ks, which Guru Gobind Singh established as part of the Khalsa's identity.

The Khalsa are a group of people that show a commitment to living according to Sikh teachings.

And here you can see a painting of Guru Gobind Singh found in the Khalsa.

The kirpan is used during different Sikh celebrations and ceremonies.

For example, it is used to cut the karah parshad or sweet food given at the gurdwara as a blessing.

It is used as part of a Sikh marriage ceremony to symbolise the protection of the Waheguru.

It is used in a skillful martial art called Gatka, displayed at special times.

Okay, let's complete a check for understanding.

Which word describes a group of people committed to living according to Sikh teachings, A, karah, B, kirpan, or C, Khalsa? You've got five seconds to select an answer.

Well done if you said the correct answer is C, Khalsa.

The Khalsa is the word to describe a group of people committed to living according to Sikh teachings.

Okay, now we're gonna complete our first practise task.

You need to decide if each statement about the kirpan is correct or incorrect.

Rewrite a correct sentence for those that are incorrect.

So, here we have the statements.

Number one, the English word for kirpan is dagger.

Two, all Sikhs wear a kirpan.

Three, a kirpan is one of the Panj Kakkars or 5K.

And four, the kirpan is used in Sikh marriage ceremonies.

Good luck completing the practise task.

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

Okay, welcome back.

So in your answers you might have said, the English word for kirpan is dagger, which is incorrect.

There is not an English word that describes the kirpan exactly.

All Sikhs were a kirpan, which again is incorrect.

Only some Sikhs wear the kirpan, they are mostly Khalsa Sikhs.

A kirpan is one of the Panj Kakkars or five Ks.

That statement is correct.

And lastly, the kirpan is used in Sikh marriage ceremonies.

That statement is also correct.

So that moves us on to the second part of our lesson on the importance of the kirpan to Sikhs.

To explore the kirpan as a symbol.

The kirpan is a symbolic reminder to Khalsa Sikhs of equality and justice.

Their duty and responsibilities to society, courage, spiritual strength, faith and dedication.

Their commitment to live by Khalsa principles, truth, compassion, and selflessness.

And Waheguru's grace, blessings, and teachings.

Mandeep has a Sikhs worldview and he explains how the symbolism of the kirpan influences his life.

Mandeep says, "I wear a kirpan because it reminds me to stand up for justice and to promote equality.

There are many things in life that are unfair, so I try to use my time and my money to help those whose life isn't just.

For example, once a month I help to take food from the langar to the local homeless charity to feed those who need food." True or false? The ker pan symbolises justice.

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

Well done if you said that statement is true.

The kirpan symbolises justice and equality.

On the 21st of July each year it is Miri Piri Divas.

This is a celebration of the sixth guru, Guru Hargobind's vision of Sikhs being sant-sipahi, which is Punjabi, meaning saint-soldiers.

Guru Hargobind taught that Sikhs should be saints by being wise and remembering, and meditating on Waheguru.

They should also be soldiers by committing to family and community, being ready to fight for justice and promote equality.

He illustrated this by holding two kirpans known as Miri and Piri.

Miri and Piri have individual symbolism.

Miri symbolises soldier or temporal power.

Sikhs should be involved in society to promote justice for the wellbeing of all and to promote equality by defending the oppressed.

And Piri symbolises a saint or spiritual power.

Sikhs look to the gurus for wisdom and moral values to live by.

Sikhs commit to their relationship with Waheguru.

Sikhi teaches that Miri and Piri are balanced when they are together.

Together they remind Sikhs of their responsibility to the world around them and to their relationship with Waheguru.

When they are practised together, Sikhs are saint-soldiers.

Miri and Piri form part of the Sikh symbol, khanda alongside a double-sided sword and a kara.

Okay, let's complete a check for understanding.

You need to match the correct pairs to Miri, Piri, and Waheguru to God, temporal power and spiritual power.

Okay, pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answers.

Okay, welcome back everybody.

Let's see you how you did.

So Miri means temporal power.

Piri means spiritual power, and Waheguru means God.

So now we're gonna complete our second practise task.

I would like you to use this Sikh symbol to help to explain the Sikh teachings of Miri and Piri.

Include these key words in your answer, kirpan, Miri, Piri, Waheguru and khanda.

Good luck completing the practise task.

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

Okay, welcome back everybody.

So in your answers you might have said, Guru Hargobind used two kirpans, Miri and Piri to teach the belief of saint-soldier.

Miri represents temporal power.

It reminds, Sikhs to be involved in society to promote justice, and to defend the weak as a soldier.

Piri represents spiritual power and reminds Sikhs of their relationship with Waheguru, and to live by Sikh morals and values as a saint.

Miri, Piri form part of the Sikh symbol, the khanda, they are balanced when they are together.

Well done on completing the second practise task.

So now we're gonna move on to consider kirpans today.

We can use social sciences to help us find out how important religious beliefs and teachings are to people today.

Social scientists use different methods to find these out.

We can ask questions about wearing a kirpan today using surveys.

For example, these are where respondents may be given different options.

Answer data can be turned into numbers, which is called quantitative data.

We could also use example questions such as, do you wear a kirpan and how old are you? We could also use interviews.

So those involve open answers, which are the respondent's own words known as qualitative data, they are longer answers.

We could also answer questions such as, have you ever had any issues wearing a kirpan? So here is the results of a survey.

Here is some data from a survey of over 2,000 British Sikhs in 2018.

Survey respondents were asked, which of the Panj Kakkars or five Ks that they wear.

This data shows the responses for wearing the kirpan.

What does this data tell us about the kirpan and what does it not tell us? Pause the video here and either with your partner or in a small group, discuss those two questions.

Press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, so what does this data tell us about the kirpan, but what does it not tell us? Well it tells us how many percentage of Sikhs in the survey wear the kirpan and what age group they're in.

For example, 22% of age 65 and over wear a kirpan.

Also, a total of 12% of Sikhs wear a kirpan.

But it doesn't tell us why Sikhs choose to wear the kirpan or not.

We can only make inferences about this from the data.

What further questions could we ask the respondents that would give us more information about the kirpan? So, with your partner or in a small group, discuss that question.

Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to reflect on your answers.

Okay, great discussions everyone, well done.

So what other questions could we ask the respondents that could give us more information about the kirpan? So perhaps you could ask questions around, why people might wear a kirpan or why they might not wear a kirpan.

And if they do wear a kirpan, when do they choose to wear it and why? Let's pause and complete a check for understanding.

Which age group has the lowest percentage wearing a kirpan? Well done if you said the correct answer is age group 35 to 39, which is 9%.

So now we are gonna consider the use of interview questions to really understand the importance of kirpans for Sikhs today.

So here is an interview question.

Have you ever had any issues wearing a kirpan? Some Sikhs have said that they have been challenged for wearing a kirpan, including at football grounds, music venues, entertainment attractions, for example, the London Eye and schools.

Why might seeks be asked about having a kirpan at these places? With your partner or in a small group, discuss that question.

Pause the video and press play when you're ready to move on with the lesson.

Okay, so maybe you considered that there are times when people may not understand what a kirpan is and it's important to Sikhs.

Some might wrongly think it is a dagger or knife that might be used to attack a person.

However, it is a religious freedom to be able to wear a kirpan, guaranteed by Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Here it says, "Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion.

This right includes freedom to change his religion or belief and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practise, worship and observance." True or force? It is a religious freedom to be able to wear a kirpan guaranteed by Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

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

Well done if you said that statement is true.

So here we have another interview question.

Have you ever had any issues wearing a kirpan? Ranjit replies, "When I started at school, my parents spoke with my teacher to let them know that I have a kirpan.

It is a small kirpan.

It is held by my gatra and is completely covered by my school uniform." Ria says, "I've never had an issue wearing my kirpan.

I wrap it carefully using my gatra.

You wouldn't know that it was there by just looking at me.

When I go on through a metal detector at the airport, I tell them about my kirpan and they scan it with a hand scanner." Okay, now we're gonna complete our third and final practise task.

You are going to write a paragraph to explain the methods we can use to find out about the views on the kirpan today.

You might want to use these prompts to help you.

Explain the purpose and limitations of surveys.

Explain what we can find out using interview questions, and explain why they are both useful.

Okay, good luck completing the third practise task.

Pause the video here and then press play when you're ready to reflect on your answers.

Okay, welcome back everybody.

So you were asked to write a paragraph to explain the methods we can use to find out about views on the kirpan today.

You might have said, "We can find out how many Sikhs wear a kirpan today by using a survey.

This will tell us how many Sikhs wear one, but we can only make inferences about why they do or don't wear one from this data.

We can also interview Sikhs about wearing their kirpan.

For example, we can ask the question, have you ever had issues wearing a kirpan? Both methods help us to understand the real life issues on the kirpan today.

Fantastic.

Well done on completing the third and final practise task.

So that brings us to the end of today's lesson on the importance of the kirpan to Sikhs and a summary of our key learning points.

The kirpan is part of the Panj Kakkar or five Ks worn by Khalsa Sikhs.

The Khalsa are a group of people that show a commitment to living according to Sikh teachings.

The kirpan is a reminder to stand up for justice and promote equality.

Guru Hargobind used two kirpans, Miri and Piri to teach the belief of saint-soldier.

Miri and Piri remind Sikhs of their responsibility to the world around them and their relationship with Waheguru.

Some Sikhs report being challenged for wearing a kirpan.

And it is a religious freedom to wear a kirpan guaranteed by Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

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

Goodbye.