Tool
Interfaith Self-Reflection Activity for Higher Education Professionals
A tool to help higher education professionals self-reflect on interfaith leadership skills.
The purpose of this resource is to provide leaders with a tool for self-reflection on their interfaith leadership skills. Educators, managers, civic leaders, and clergy will all find these questions helpful as they prepare to better serve religiously diverse individuals within their organizations. The questions in the tool are based upon the competencies for engaging religious identity, outlined by the American College Personnel Association’s Commission for Spirituality, Faith, Religion and Meaning which contribute to interfaith cooperation and religious pluralism.
There are at least three ways you (or interfaith leaders like yourself) can utilize this tool:
- Use it as a tool to help your workplace, institution, or community to orient themselves to their strengths and challenges regarding interfaith engagement.
- Use it as a way to make and track goals for individual professional or personal development over a year or another set period of time.
- Use a selection of the questions to start intentional conversations within your community or organization. For example, are you aware of groups/belief systems/religions you feel least comfortable engaging with?
It is important to note that this reflection is subjective, and focuses chiefly on helping individuals process and critically evaluate their experiences with religious and worldview engagement. This tool can be a useful starting point for reflection on the interfaith work that should be given deeper attention.
On a scale from 1–4, with 1 being the least and 4 being the most, rank your confidence in (or agreement with) the following statements:
- I know what faiths and philosophies are represented in my organization.
- I know what faiths and philosophies are represented in my community.
- I know how the people with whom I work and associate most closely identify religiously/spiritually/non-religiously.
- I understand the religious needs (observance practices, dietary restrictions, holidays) of the people around me and ways I can help accommodate those needs.
- I know where to find resources to enhance my own knowledge or to support people in their religious/spiritual/secular needs.
- I am aware of topics and issues that may be divisive among religious/spiritual/secular groups.
- I can articulate my own religious, spiritual, and secular beliefs and values.
- I can communicate why interfaith cooperation is important from the vantage point of those values.
- I can facilitate relationship building between others from different spiritual, intentionally secular, and religious communities.
- I can plan interactive programs, events, and/or projects focused on interfaith cooperation.
- I feel I can confidently guide discussions through more difficult aspects of dialogue—deep disagreement, clashes between ideas, etc.
- I am aware of the groups/belief systems/religions I am most comfortable engaging.
- I am aware of the groups/belief systems/religions I am least comfortable engaging.
- I believe that building relationships with people of different beliefs is important to building a diverse and peaceful society.
- I have the desire to make the case for interfaith cooperation as a civic imperative, an element of multicultural competency, and a crucial element of a healthy and pluralistic society.
- Reflection
- Review your responses for each question:
- What themes or patterns do you see in your responses? For example, do you tend to rank yourself higher in areas regarding knowledge and lower in areas regarding engagement (or vice versa)?
- What implications do these patterns have for your work?
- What opportunities could you seek out to build on your existing strengths, and to develop the areas where you feel less confident?
