belief
/bɪˈliːf/
noun
an acceptance that something exists or is true, especially one without proof.
“his belief in extraterrestrial life”
trust, faith, or confidence in (someone or something).[1]
In a recent Sway in the Morning interview, and as a precursor to the launch of the film ‘The Book of Clarence’, actor LeKeith Stanfield, speaks to the notion of faith and its impact on his personal journey: “Your faith—your belief in the unseeing and unknown—can be transmuted to a knowing of where you’re supposed to be. And with that kind of ambition, you can bring about good things.” [2]
Mark Dean’s interview (Higher Power: Religion, Faith, Spirituality & Belief), brought up a range of comparisons within my teaching practice, where faith is tethered with belief as a means of making the seemingly intangible possible. As Chaplain & Interfaith Advisor for CCW & CSM, Mark speaks of access and a focus on the spiritual and questions of faith, managed through “regular communion services and meditation sessions,”.
My pastoral teaching delivered through 1-2-1 sessions involves a continuous re-centring of my students’ personal relationship to creative processes that often feel transient, helping foster a belief in those processes. Kwame Anthony Appiah’s Creed, Reith Lectures reference, gives a more fluid, distinctly mailable definition of faith, through the lens of ‘praxis’, or action.
Appiah gives credence to the notion that the messages, or messages as defined by scripture, and practical application of religious faith and/or scriptures, are open to interpretation and that they must be interpreted to make any sense at all. It is this “making sense” where scripture performs the role of ethical rock and malleable object. The way scriptures are interpreted—and religion is practised—depends very much on the cultural norms in the societies in which they are operating.[2]
This is to suggest that interpretation, and how one text can be perceived multiple ways, is dependent on the readers’ positionality / perspective. Appiah argues that rather than focus on the text, the enactment supersedes the text, through an interaction with the real world referred, to as ‘community’.
This concept of action and community, intersects with ideas of community of practice both within pedagogy and creative praxis, where an understanding of commonality and motivation leads to connection, and collaboration.
The Creating Value Canvas: A tool to develop connections
In my teaching practice, I use a tool I co-designed, ‘The Let’s Be Brief Creating Value Canvas, to help students identify their values, interests, and communities. As well as potential audiences. This reflection enable students to develop the key pillars of their value proposition, enabling the centring of values / interests within their creative practices. Acting as a cornerstone for their creativity, it embues faith in their abilities and a nuanced understanding of ‘community’.
My students have recently used this canvas to determine the nature of their practice as part of the cross-school unit Professional Practices unit (PPU) at the design school, LCC. A recent student, as part of their PPU submission, cited an initial disinterest in the canvas, before recognising its value whilst preparing a final submission for the unit. After finding it again in order to gather work for their visual portfolio, the student admitted to being pleasantly surprised by how much it resonated with their final-outcomes: “Little did I know that what I was reflecting on back then, was what would heavily influence my projects.”
This particular student had interests in sustainability and the environment—exampled in the canvas in week 1 of the unit—and as such, over the 13-week programme, developed concepts around their values system.
As a value-centred tool, the Creating Value Canvas’ success is rooted in the expression of beliefs and viable intentions and actions. If I were to improve upon its integration into the units I teach, I would supplement printed versions with digital versions that students can update via Padlet or Miro for example, so that it could be re-iterated and further developed (different versions through the evolving process of learning) and used as a reflective tool in of itself.
This is particularly useful in my Diploma of Professional Studies course I lead at CCW, where it could help form part of the summative assessment of a student’s values and interests throughout their placement year and their interaction with the wider professional world.
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[1] www.google.com. (n.d.). belief – Google Search. [online] Available at: https://www.google.com/search?q=belief&oq=belief&aqs=chrome..69i57j0i433i512j0i131i433i512j0i433i512j0i512j0i433i512j69i61j69i60.2590j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8.
[2] BBC. (n.d.). BBC Radio 4 – The Reith Lectures – Is the essence of religion a belief in God… or something more? [online] Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/xSH963FMvDgFmGPRm86Lqk/is-the-essence-of-religion-a-belief-in-god-or-something-more.
[3] Lipka, M. (2015). Millennials increasingly are driving growth of ‘nones’. [online] Pew Research Center. Available at: https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/05/12/millennials-increasingly-are-driving-growth-of-nones/.
[4] www.ons.gov.uk. (n.d.). Ethnic group, national identity, language, and religion: Census 2021 in England and Wales – Office for National Statistics. [online] Available at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/releases/ethnicgroupnationalidentitylanguageandreligioncensus2021inenglandandwales.
[5] Higher Power: Higher Power: Religion, Faith, Spirituality & Belief by Shades Of Noir – Issuu. [online] Available at: https://issuu.com/shadesofnoir/docs/higher_power [Accessed 17 Jan. 2023]. Page. 26-27.