UNITY BAHÁ’Í - KS2 This presentation aims to introduce children at KS2 and children with special needs to the concept of unity, one world and equality in Bahá'í beliefs.

What does unity mean to Bahá'ís? The Big Question What does unity mean to Bahá'ís? Show this image to the children and ask: What does this picture say about the world? Is it a happy or unhappy picture? What do the hearts mean? Is this how you think of the world? Explain that members of the Bahá'í religion (called Bahá'ís) want the world to be peaceful, loving and united. The Bahá'í religion began in 1863, in Iran, which was then called Persia. The founder of the religion was called Bahá’u’lláh. Bahá'ís believe there is one God and one human family. So we must all try to live happily with others in one world together. "The Earth is one country, and mankind its citizens," wrote Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the religion.

Bahá'í Beliefs about Unity Bahá'ís believe that we are all different but we all belong to one family of human beings Bahá'ís say it doesn’t matter what country we come from or what language we speak, we are one family Bahá'ís believe that we must live together in peace and unity, as we belong to one human family Bahá'ís believe that one God made the world Bahá'ís believe we should respect religions as they have helped us to understand God. Show the children these key ideas about Bahá'í beliefs and unity. Ask them to read them silently and then think of hand movements to symbolise each point. This could be done in pairs or small groups.

Show your ideas Take modelling clay and create two or three strands. Then link them together to show unity. Provide materials for the children to make unity models. Put up the previous slide again while they are working, to remind them of some key Bahá'í beliefs. Afterwards, ask the children to say how their model shows Bahá'í beliefs. Encourage them to say which models they think are the most beautiful, which express Bahá'í beliefs the best and why. Link some of the models together and remind the children that although we are all different – all ‘unique’ individuals - Bahá’ís believe that we all belong to one family of human beings. Learning outcome: to express an understanding of what unity means to Bahá’ís through symbolic work;

Wider meaning Ask the children to reflect on the way in which Bahá'í beliefs and values could be put into action. Encourage them to talk in pairs to answer the questions on this slide and and then to share their ideas. Learning outcome: to link their own ideas about how to lead a good life to Bahá’í teachings. Imagine a school called The Unity School. What things happen in the school? What does it care about? What activities does it do to create unity?

Exploring teachings Bahá’u’lláh said about men and women…. “The world of humanity has two wings. Not until both wings are equally developed can a bird fly” Help children to go to the next step in their learning with this teaching about men and women from Bahá’u’lláh. Ask them to fold a bird out of paper and try to make it fly with only one wing. Encourage them then to think about why it is important for girls as well as boys to have a good education and to say why this text might be important to Bahá’ís. How might they put the teaching into practice? Learning outcome: to describe the importance of key texts/writings in the tradition being studied and give an example of how they may be used.