Hello, my name is Colin Hynson and I am the Education Adviser on the JAINpedia project. I have been an education adviser to the Institute of Jainology for some years. As part of that role I have written the first book on Jainism for children in the UK (left) and created educational materials for the accompanying website, called Learn Jainism.
Cover of 'Discover Jainism'
My role in Jainpedia
Within the JAINpedia project it’s my job to make sure that the resources created for JAINpedia are also available for use in the classroom.
This will be done through a dedicated schools website running alongside the main website and through training sessions for teachers around the country.
Free teaching resources
The design for the schools website has been agreed. It will provide educational resources for teachers using the images and text from the main site. I have produced materials for religious education lessons already and I hope to create materials for literacy, art and design, and other subjects in the curriculum and across all key stages.
These resources will be free and will be in various forms such as PDFs and other downloadable resources for use on whiteboards.
INSET programme
I am also in the process of putting together an INSET programme that is being taken up by local authorities around the country. This INSET will focus on how to teach Jainism in the classroom.
Every participating local authority will also receive a free resource box that schools can borrow. The box will contain objects such as this:
Statuette of Mahāvīra
and this:
Śvetāmbara monk and nun dolls
These objects can be used in the classroom to enhance learning about Jainism.
I will be regularly updating this blog with news about the INSET programme and the schools website.
Tags: 'Discover Jainism', Classroom, downloadable, INSET, Jainism, Key Stage, Learn Jainism, National Curriculum, resource box, Schools, teaching resources