Where does Sikhi Resources stem from?
With the blessings of Dhan Sri Guru Granth Sahib Jee (living Guru of the Sikhs), a Leicester based team (including experienced teachers) has developed engaging resources for 2-18 year olds. The aim is to present a unique, interactive and educational way of learning more about Sikhi for both mainstream and non-mainstream education
For mainstream schools and RE teachers the resources aim to empower teachers with knowledge of Sikh history through accessible and adaptable resources. Many of our resources meet the agreed syllabus and QCA criteria for Religious Studies.
For Sikhi Classes, youth groups and camps our mission is to inspire a generation with the beautiful, blissful and blessed teachings of Dhan Sri Guru Granth Sahib Jee. To ensure that children born in the UK can understand, appreciate and relate to the importance Sikhi still holds today, all resources are in English.
The major task of all teachers is to enable students to achieve their full spiritual, social, emotional, physical and intellectual potential by developing in them relevant skills, competencies, attitudes, concepts and knowledge of Sikhi.
For any queries and feedback please see the ‘contact us’ page for more information.
Why is Sikhi Resources needed?
Misinformation in Education
The Sikh Coalition started a campaign called ‘Throw the book at national textbook publishers’* which focuses on incorrect, false and misleading information about Sikhi contained in American textbooks. Sadly, many UK textbooks, guides, websites etc. also contain false information which is confusing for both Sikhs and non-Sikhs alike. Common misconceptions include ‘Sikhi is a combination of Hinduism and Islam’ alongside the majority of published material labelling Sri Guru Granth Sahib Jee as a ‘book’.
Furthermore, it disheartens us to see that this problem actually stems from grass roots guidelines, criteria, frameworks and specifications provided to mainstream teachers. We are hoping that this website will become established and utilised by organisations who create specifications and syllabuses. In the meantime, we will try our best to contact publishers, educational organisations and others to highlight any misinformation and offer guidance, correct information or offer practical ideas.
Alongside misinformation, many online resources fail to respect the core values of Sikhi by engaging students in classroom activities which are culturally insensitive and many cases offensive to Sikhs. Some examples include:
"Present pupils with a scenario to which they respond in writing, eg a friend of yours who is a Sikh has just saved up enough money to buy a copy of the Guru Granth Sahib and tells you why he/she is so excited. Write up the conversation between you and your Sikh friend."
Another exam board scheme of work asked students to dress up as Sri Guru Gobind Singh Jee to ‘role play’ what he would do and say in this age.
Therefore, we would like www.sikhiresources.com to help alleviate the above issues and collaborate with not only classroom teachers but also educational institutions. Accordingly, if you come across any books, schemes of works, guidelines etc. which contain misleading information, please email us at firstname.lastname@example.org