| Unit | Religious Dialogue |
| Lesson Name | Creating Thoughtful Interview Questions |
| Grade Band | High school (9-12) |
| Required Material/s | Guidelines for Respectful Communication handout |
| Standards / Competencies | CASEL Core Competencies:
· Self-awareness · Self-management · Social awareness · Relationship skills · Responsible decision-making NCSS Social Studies Themes: · Culture Common Core ELA-Literacy: Speaking and Listening Standards: · Comprehension and Collaboration · Production and Distribution of Writing |
| Recommended Time | 60-75 minutes |
| Essential Question | ● What could help a person feel comfortable being interviewed about their religion?
● What are some challenges that could arise during an interview? ● How could you prepare to interview someone about their religion? ● How can the wording and flow of interview questions impact successful religious dialogue? ● How can an interview help you learn more about religious beliefs and experiences? |
| Learning Objectives | ● Set goals for learning about a person’s religion through an interview
● Use one’s knowledge of religion to create meaningful interview questions ● Identify how the wording and tone of a question can impact responses ● Draft, discuss, and revise interview questions |
| Important Vocabulary | ● Interview – a structured question and answer dialogue with goals in mind, such as gathering information
● Dialogue – a collaborative conversation between two or more people with genuine attempts to listen, learn, exchange ideas, and form understanding |
| Activating Prior Knowledge | Warm Up or for homework prior to class: Ask students to pick a religious profile to explore (see supplementary resources at the bottom). Alternatively, this could be done at the end of a unit where you finished learning about a religion. Then suggest they use their knowledge to write questions that would help them learn more about a religion through an interview. This is meant to be done as practice for writing interview questions and not necessarily with the intention of doing an interview.
For students: Individual goal setting: Think about what you really want to learn from a person about their faith. What interests you? What topics do you want to include in your questions and why?
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| Core Instruction | Creating and Revising Interview Questions
● Students independently should draft 8-10 interview questions
Teacher notes: You may have students draft questions for homework the night before or give them class time to do so. You could gather the questions and compile them to share out prior to the start of class to save them. It may be best to have them create the questions as a baseline, before instruction, so they have the opportunity to reflect and revise their questions.
Teacher Instruction Review Guidelines for Respectful Communication handout. Discuss examples of how the wording of a question could create confusion or discomfort in an interview. Then suggest how those questions could be reworded.
Some possible examples: ● “What does it feel like to meditate?” Instead ask, “Do you meditate?” ● “Why do all Christians believe Jesus is the son of God?” Instead ask, “Who is Jesus to you?” ● “What do Jewish people do on Yom Kippur?” Instead ask, “How do you observe Yom Kippur?”
Discuss starting interviews with open-ended questions to create a comfortable tone. Then each question leads into the next. More complicated, thoughtful questions come towards the end. For example, the first question could be: ● “What is it like to practice [religion]?” or “What does [religion] mean to you?” A question about beliefs about death, politics, and stereotypes should be presented carefully and given to the interview subject ahead of time in case there are topics they do not wish to discuss. Place more difficult questions intentionally among your other questions so that the interview flows and the interview subject can ease into the questions and feel comfortable. Small group reflection ● Students should examine the questions created independently in small groups. Ask them to take notes from their discussion.
Prompts for students: In small groups, share your questions and offer helpful, constructive feedback. Use the following prompts to guide your discussions for feedback. ● Are there any questions that may be too personal? ● Are there any questions that could be reworded? ● Are there any questions that could be consolidated? ● Are there any questions that make assumptions? ● Are there any questions that might be hard to answer? ● What is the easiest question to answer? ● Which is a potential follow up question to another question? ● Could you reorder the questions to establish a better flow? ● Which question is best to end with? ● Can you think of any new questions, especially based on what you have learned about those religions? ● Are there any questions from one of your peers that you think would be a good addition to your goals and focus? Revisions ● Have students revise the questions, improve, and add onto the questions they created independently. Prompts for students: Based on your notes and small group discussions, revise the questions you drafted and add to your list of questions. Aim for 10-12 questions. |
| Wrap-up | This could be done at the end of class or as homework.
Individual Personal Reflection Please write a full paragraph response reflecting on why you chose those questions or did not include some. Consider the following questions in your reflection. ● What revisions do you make and why? ● What was your thought process in picking these questions and putting them into that order? ● What do your questions reveal about your personal interests and concerns? |
| Supplementary Resources | Brief videos from Harvard Divinity School on religious diversity
https://rpl.hds.harvard.edu/programs/religious-literacy-education/videos-teaching
Religious Profiles for students to explore writing questions: ● Hinduism: “The Urban Monk” in NYC, YouTube Video, A Journey through NYC religions channel ● Buddhism: Dalai Lama, brief biography ● Judaism: Albert Einstein: Time article ● Catholicism: Pope Leo XIV, biography ● Islam: Zohran Mamdani, first Muslim mayor of NYC, PBS article |
This lesson was designed by Tracey Kassin, a member of the 2025-2026 Tanenbaum Network of Inclusive Educators.