Quarantine Questions

Quarantine Questions is an F&BF Education and Learning Programme launched during the era of Covid-19.

/ Quarantine Questions

Programme Overview

Quarantine Questions is an F&BF Education and Learning Programme launched during the era of Covid-19.

With schools mostly closed and communities under some form of lockdown, we wanted to share with those at home some conversation starters and discussion tools from our Linking and Workshops programmes.

Drawn from training materials and activities designed to support RE, PSHE and SMSC provision, these questions touch on themes of identity, diversity and community. Whether you have young children at home, are a young person yourself or would like some dialogue tips for your everyday conversations in isolation, these questions can help build empathy, confidence and increased understanding of diverse viewpoints for all.

Download our guidelines and handouts for each age group here:

QQs Guidelines

QQs Primary QQs Secondary QQs Adults

Theme	Primary (Age 4-10)	Secondary (Age 11-17)	Adult
Covid-19	What was the best thing you did this week?	How are you feeling about isolation? If the country wasn’t on lockdown what would you like to be doing? Is there anything you miss that you didn’t realise you would miss since the lockdown?	How are you coping with this situation? Has it made you reflect on your lifestyle at all? What has been most important for you to maintain in your life since the lockdown?
Identity	What is your favourite food? What is your least favourite food? What’s your favourite animal? What activities do you enjoy? Can you find and tell me about an object that’s important to you? It’s good to be me because… What is your identity? Which parts of your identity are inside/ outside?	How would you describe yourself? What value do you hold most dear? Where did it come from and how does it shape your life? How do you think society sees you? Does that match who you are? What are the visible and invisible aspects of your identity? Is the lockdown changing the way you practice your faith or belief system? What does respect look like to you? What makes you feel comfortable talking about yourself?	What are the visible and invisible aspects of your identity? Does the way society perceive you match up with who you believe yourself to be? Is the lockdown changing the way you relate to your faith or belief system? Are there any festivals you feel you’ll be missing out on/ you’re doing differently? Who would you most like to have dinner with, and why?
Diversity	Which different groups do you belong to? Are you the same in all those groups? Can you describe your family? Are all families the same? Do all your friends live in the same kind of home? Do we celebrate any religious festivals? Does everyone in your school look the same?	Are there any key differences between you and your best friends? Do you think you have more in common with young people in your own friendship group than with young people across the world from you? Are there any groups of people you have misconceptions about? Are there any groups of people about whom you hear stereotypes?	Do you think finding commonality is more important than finding difference when meeting new people?
Community	Is it important to help people? Who helps you? And who do you help? Have you ever seen children being left out of a game? How did you feel? If you were building a playground for all the children in the country, what would it look like?	How have you seen this situation play out differently in people’s lives? What does ‘inclusivity’ mean to you? Do you ever feel excluded or see ways in which people are excluded? What’s your favourite public place in your local area? Have you ever been involved in any community initiatives? Have you recently seen examples of social action that you admire?	Have you noticed anything new about the people in your local community since the lockdown? Are there any current community initiatives you’d like to be part of if you aren’t already? Do you think the situation is acting as a social leveller, or making inequalities more apparent? What do you think about the ‘who are the real key workers?’ conversation? Did you spend much time in your neighborhood before the lockdown? and if not, has the situation changed how you experience your area? Have you spoken to any of your neighbours since the lockdown?

Main contact

Evi Koumi

paraskevi@faithbeliefforum.org

Using Quarantine Questions at home

The questions that form these series are taken from F&BF educational workshops centered upon themes of identity, diversity and community. We look at what aspects make up who we are, what groups we belong to. What commonalities and differences we share with other people and what diversity means. Finally, what might be the values and skills we all need for living together in society.

Please do use these questions as conversation starters with the relevant age group. Dialogue on these issues is always important as it helps build confidence, empathy and critical thinking. In lock-down, physically separated from our communities but with societal divisions brought into ever sharper relief, these skills may be more pertinent than ever.

For use at home: work through the questions, perhaps focusing on one theme per conversation, week or day. If you are working with children, could they draw or otherwise creatively express their answers? With young people, could they use these questions for personal journalling and reflection? As with all our activities, the content explored is significant but so is the quality of the dialogue. The tips on the left should help you structure the conversation, ensure everyone is heard and allow for as much understanding as possible.

Get involved on social media: feel free to either comment your answers directly, or to film yourselves having these conversations! Simply state that you’re trying out F&BF’s quarantine questions, introduce yourselves if you like and then tell us which theme your focusing on. One person can pose the question and then the other person can ask it back to them. (If you’re working with young children, model first and perhaps guide the conversation yourself). Feel free to include your own questions and let the conversation take its natural course!