Zambia Grade 8 Religious Education Curriculum

This curriculum aims to develop learners' understanding and appreciation of spiritual, moral, religious, and cultural values and behaviors based on the main religious traditions in Zambia: Christianity, Hinduism, Indigenous Zambian beliefs, and Islam. It emphasizes learner-centered teaching, encouraging active participation and using various methodologies such as individual and team work, question and answer sessions, field trips, exploration, discussions, inquiry, pair work, and projects. The curriculum allocates 2 hours and 40 minutes per week to Religious Education. Assessment includes continuous assessment and a final examination comprising one paper.

Grade 8 Units

8.1 Morality and Values: This unit explores the meaning and purpose of morality and spiritual education, sources of moral codes (family, friends, school, community, constitution, religious texts), moral dilemmas (e.g., abortion), personal values related to sexuality, and the importance of maintaining positive values like respect, honesty, and integrity.

8.2 Growing Up: This unit examines different types of growth (physical, intellectual, emotional, spiritual), influences on development (both positive and negative), ways people develop, different names and proverbs for God in various traditions, different kinds of life (human, animal, plant), growing up in different religions, and the importance of self-concept and self-esteem. It also includes the teachings of St. Augustine and practical ways young people can develop at home, school, and in the community.

8.3 Learning About Religion: This unit introduces the four major religions in Zambia, important dates and events in their history, ways people learn about religion (seeing and imitating, hearing and repeating, reading scriptures), the scriptures of different religions, and the reasons why Zambian tradition does not have scriptures.

8.4 The Bible: This unit focuses on the composition of the Bible (Old and New Testaments), the origin of the Jewish scriptures, the purpose of the New Testament, and Bible translations.

8.5 Choices and Talents: This unit explores chosen and un-chosen circumstances (e.g., marriage, career, friends, hobbies vs. gender, parentage, race), different levels of choices (individual, family, community), steps in making choices (see, judge, act), central teachings on choices in different religions, how choices reflect one's aims in life, the concept of talents, the parable of the talents, and developing and utilizing talents.

8.6 Competition, Cooperation, and Trust: This unit describes competition, its advantages and disadvantages, cooperation, its benefits (e.g., timely work completion, unity, harmony), religious teachings on cooperation, and the concept of trust.

8.7 Division, Sin, and Forgiveness: This unit identifies causes of division (jealousy, selfishness, discrimination, greed, poor leadership), teachings on division and separation in the early church, examples of division during the time of Jesus, teachings on overcoming division and hatred in different religions, the meaning of sin in different religious traditions, teachings on forgiveness and reconciliation, and steps needed for forgiveness and reconciliation between people and God.

8.8 Learning and Truth: This unit explains different ways people learn (guided and unguided), the learning process in different religions, different ways a statement can be true (historically, factually, mathematically, emotionally, opinion/belief), standards of truth in different contexts (Christianity, Zambian tradition, modern science, Islam, Hinduism), ways people use to find out the truth, and the concept of prejudice.

Grade 9 Units

9.1 Freedom and Community: This unit explores different teachings on freedom, freedoms in conflict, factors that make freedom possible, the relationship between freedom and laws in different contexts, and the differences between ideal and real communities.

9.2 Authority and Leadership: This unit examines different teachings on authority, factors that hinder the proper use of authority, different teachings on leadership, types and purposes of leadership, characteristics of a good leader, the importance of laws and rules in the community, differences between laws and rules, and sources of laws and rules.

9.3 Ambitions and Hope: This unit explains ambition, factors that determine ambition, teachings on hope, factors influencing hope, religious teachings on hope, the meaning of vocation, and types of vocation.

9.4 Friendship, Love, and Marriage: This unit explores different teachings on friendship, conditions of true friendship, religious teachings on friendship, different meanings of love, differences between love and infatuation, factors promoting and hindering love, religious teachings on love, the meaning of marriage, types of marriages, qualities of a good husband and wife, religious teachings on marriage, causes of marital differences, and effects of unfaithfulness in marriage.

9.5 Suffering and Death: This unit describes teachings on suffering and death, reactions to suffering, effects of death, ways of comforting people, religious teachings on suffering, death, and life after death, Jesus' reaction to suffering, preparing for death, respecting the dead, and examples of martyrs.

9.6 Prayer: This unit examines different teachings on prayer, religious teachings on prayer, types of prayers, and Jesus' teachings on prayer.