by Sigurdur Asgeirsson and Eva Sigurdardottir
Learning Mode Productions, 2010
$49.95, DVD, 36 min., ages 7 – 12
www.learningmode.net
This DVD was designed to introduce young people to six World Religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam and the Baha’i Faith. The DVD is divided into six-minute segments, each filmed in a different western country and profiling an eleven-year-old child who talks about his/her faith. Images of traditional practices, places of worship, and the children’s homes and families are overlaid with a narrator’s voice, providing additional information. The children are shown playing, eating with extended families, and attending religion-based events, demonstrating how alike they are, despite different religious beliefs. Keywords are highlighted in print. This presentation focuses mostly on typical customs, rather than on the theological basis of each faith, and so does more to promote tolerance and the acceptance of diversity than to give detailed information about different religions. The segments could be viewed one at a time to allow for further discussion or research. A teacher’s guide is available online (www.learningmode.net) and the DVD is sold with limited public performance rights to show the program in school settings.
This review is from Canadian Teacher Magazine’s September 2010 issue.