If an Italian policeman orders me as an arrested protester at the G8 summit in Genoa to sing a Fascist song, it does not follow that I morally ought to sing it. It is not just a matter of understanding and respecting others’ views. There are issues here to do with the future autonomy of the child about the legitimacy of such induction, but I will bypass those. The two can get entwined, of course. In England, Christian church attendance dropped from 10.2% of the adult population to 7.7% between 1980 and 2000; in the same period in Wales it dropped from 12.5% to 6.6% (HMSO, 2000). Currently parents are able to request their children do not take part in sex and religious education, under an opt-out arrangement. How much harder is it for young children to keep a clear head on this matter! The same is true of ‘Does God exist?’ Despite appearances, this is not a religious question. I am sympathetic to the view that these kinds of questions should be discussed—although I do not see them as epistemologically unique. In some cases they may, let us allow, help moral backsliders to behave as they should. Aim 3—encouraging pupils to consider questions of meaning and purpose in life—could be interpreted in a factual sense as about children’s learning what Jewish, Hindu, Christian and other religions have said about these matters. * School of Educational Foundations and Policy Studies, Institute of Education, 59 Gordon Square, London WC1H 0NT, UK. Students also need to understand and respect other pictures of how best to live a human life, pictures not necessarily dependent on religion: the pursuit of physical pleasures and comforts, devotion to learning and the pursuit of truth, vegetarianism, feminism, views which highlight sport, artistic pursuits, adventure, social service, politics, intimacy, self-knowledge. It is also an inheritance from the earlier part of the twentieth and the nineteenth centuries, when religious instruction, as in our own day, was also designed to make pupils morally better persons, although this was not explicitly connected with democracy. This civic justification faded after the war, but even today one official justification of religious education is in terms of moral education. The later 1930s in Europe saw the increasing influence of totalitarian systems of belief—Nazism, Fascism, Communism. Compare the study of religion with that of military history or the law. Teaching religion in schools helps students understand the differences among the principles of each and every religion. ? The nine-fold statement on the importance of the subject, mentioned in Section II, makes this clear enough. But we are dealing with schoolchildren, not university specialists in theology. On the other hand, the pressure to move towards interdenominational religious education, while certainly a causal factor, does not so obviously yield a justification for the subject. The ground given is that this accords with the underlying purpose of creation. Boundaries of Religious Freedom: Regulating Religion in Diverse Societies, vol 4. Where was the counter-ideal to mobilize the energies and command the dedication of the British people? The over-detailed study of differences between faiths and their practices which now fills the Model Syllabuses could well be pruned away. There are plenty of other places the kids can get that. This article is a reasoned, normative argument for making religion education (RE) a separate, compulsory, time-tabled and totally normal school subject at all levels in public schools. They are not confined to intellectual understanding of the ethical positions embedded in various religions; but among other things are about helping pupils to develop a sense of identity, about preparing them as citizens of a plural society, about reflection on moral and social issues as well as questions of meaning and purpose in life. In any case, given that discussion must be conducted fairly, involving children with recondite argumentation may lead them to believe, erroneously, that the weight of evidence falls on the pro-religious side. I think in 11th and 12th Grade it should be compulsory to do English, Maths, health/personal development, physical education and religious education. God, grace and karma don’t come into it. The idea that morality needs the backing of religion was taken for granted in the arguments around the 1944 Act. Since 2000 the National Curriculum includes PSHE. Labyrinthine arguments are no more in place here than in work on political or moral issues. He has written extensively on the aims of education and the school curriculum. Many religious educators would put the emphasis elsewhere. If we want them to think clearly about ethical matters it would make better sense to rely on vehicles like school ethos, PSHE and citizenship rather than on religious education with its multiple potentialities for sowing confusion. This syllabus, which was based on St. Luke's Gospel, was first introduced in Kenya in 1972 (Walaba, 1999). But this proposition is easily conflated with the statement that morality is inconceivable without religion. Teaching religion in schools helps students understand the differences among the principles of each and every religion. The provision of Religious Education is compulsory in all state-funded schools, but it is not compulsory for any children to take the subject. Discounting has been applied where pupils have taken the same subject more than once, only the first entry is counted . Most people in the religious education world will also be familiar with the epistemological problem with the argument from God’s commands: how does one get from premiss to conclusion? Is there a better case for keeping religious education as a compulsory subject in a slimmed down way, perhaps mainly for older children who have more of the scientific and other understanding necessary to pursue the questions? The close linkage throughout the Model Syllabuses and the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) aims between religious and moral notions may engender or reinforce in some children the notion that morality is impossible without religion. In our own terms, we may ask whether lying is wrong because God disapproves of it, or whether God disapproves of it because it is wrong. Should religious education be a compulsory school subject? Another has to do with understanding and respecting other religions and beliefs. With PSHE and citizenship as well as history now part of the National Curriculum, there is plenty of scope for including religious material in the work of other subjects. In the first two faiths the Ten Commandments have long supplied a moral code. If presented as mythology and made into a voluntary subject then by all means yes. Despite the clear evidence of increasing secularization, religious education (RE) is still a compulsory part of the curriculum in state schools in England and Wales. Although there have been smaller scale increases in religious observance in non-Trinitarian Christianity and in other faiths, e.g. Every subject is expected to contribute to such aims as ‘valuing ourselves, our families and other relationships, the wider groups to which we belong and the environment in which we live’; ‘the virtues of truth, justice, honesty, trust and a sense of duty’; ‘being responsible and caring citizens’, etc. In so doing, it will ensure that the interests of religious, as well as non-religious students are respected and that nobody will feel discriminated. Britain is an increasingly secular society, yet religious education is a compulsory school subject. What could replace the dots in ‘We ought not to lie because …’? Often, though, it simply breeds distress. In addition, the school curriculum has now been furnished—and not before time!—with a set of overarching aims (DfEE/QCA, 1999, pp. Should religious education be a compulso .... II Moral values in religious education today, III A critical review of current justifications, IV A new conception of religious education and justification for it. As far as I can see, there are no specifically religious questions—beyond those that already assume a religious framework, like ‘Is God one person or three?’ Questions like ‘Is there an after-life?’ may have religious answers, but they themselves are questions to which various considerations are relevant. As we have seen, if children are to come to know about different religions, part of their understanding will be that religious beliefs bring moral beliefs with them. The only question is: what weight does such an aim have in relation to other curricular aims? Show more segments. Couple of years back religious studies; Islamic religious Knowledge (IRK) or Bible Knowledge (BK) were made compulsory the Nigerian School curriculum from primary up to Junior Secondary School (JSS). The Germans had, when they began their revival, nothing but belief: where was the belief behind the British way of life, which was now so sorely threatened? I firmly believe that. … Both of these, like religion, are important, many-sided aspects of our history and culture. We should study the word of God just like mathematics, physics, or any other subject in school. Religious education encourages pupils to reflect on, analyse and evaluate their beliefs, values and practices and communicate their responses. Religious education appears to come out as a vehicle of general moral/ethical education—for all pupils, not just those from religious families. The Bulgarian Orthodox Church also called for religion to become a compulsory subject in schools. Another has to do with understanding and respecting other religions and beliefs. By the time the 1944 Education Bill—which was to introduce compulsory religious instruction—was being debated in parliament, a firm association had been made between the Christian religion and the cause of democracy itself. No one should have to sit through a class of religious studies when they don't want to same with Welsh who wants to sit through a lesson of Welsh if they could be sitting through a lesson of i don't no cooking instead like seriously why are things like this compulsory not everyone wants to learn them and they shouldn't be forced to because the school says it's good for them. And to the majority Christian ethics seemed to be the basis of British democracy … it was vital that the children of the nation should learn about the Christian faith in order that they, as citizens of the future, might have the necessary moral fibre to uphold the democratic way of life … (Rosalind Strachan, quoted by Niblett, 1966, p. 20). Assuming that confessional, moral and multi-faith aims are to be excluded from religious education lessons, this seems far too much time for this limited purpose, given also that relevant work on evolution, astronomy and other topics in science will take place elsewhere. He writes that post-1960 secularization has sent ‘organised Christianity on a downward spiral to the margins of social significance’ (p. 1). But would this justify military history and law as self-standing school subjects? It should be purged of the three blemishes which now mar it, as well as of its role in general moral education. At the moment each pupil is supposed to have some 500 periods of religious education over these 11 years. The point of asking this is—again—to throw doubt on the claim that morality must depend on religion. But his new justification for religious education is not powerful enough to keep it in the privileged position it is in now. It still leaves unanswered the question ‘what arguments are there in favour of compulsory religious education based on agreement across the denominations?’. The issue, in any case, cannot be resolved without looking at what priority discussion of these religious/scientific questions should have in comparison with other activities which might compete for the same curricular space. <>stream Before 1988 indeed, religious education was the only compulsory subject. This account is broadly confirmed by Callum Brown (2001). In later sections of this paper I shall leave historical explanations behind and concentrate exclusively on the strengths and weaknesses of justifications given for compulsory religious education. As of 2001, there is no statutory national programme of study for religious education, as there is for the subjects of the National Curriculum introduced in 1988. Others will urge them to put themselves in other people’s shoes: ‘How would you like it if someone was unkind to you?’ Or they may have some implicit belief that values like these are important for social harmony and cohesion. Is the weight strong enough to support religious education as a separate curriculum subject, with all the kudos that this brings with it? For one thing, it assumes that there is an underlying purpose of creation, so we would need to be given grounds for this. In 1966 he wrote ‘It would seem that the true motivation to moral conduct is the realization that this particular action is right because in some way it accords with the underlying purpose of creation, vague though our conception of that may be’ (p. 59). [11] OSCE, the Toledo Guiding Principles on Teaching [5] J. One of the reasons (in the explanatory sense) why RI became compulsory was its perceived importance as a foundation for civic unity. Despite the clear evidence of increasing secularization, religious education (RE) is still a compulsory part of the curriculum in state schools in England and Wales. Religious education should be compulsory in public schools. 151-164. 3 0 obj For another, there is a gap between premiss and conclusion which would need to be filled. Part of the answer lies in the period just before and during the Second World War. The theme was taken up by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York in 1941: There is an ever-deepening conviction that in this present struggle we are fighting to preserve those elements in human civilization and in our own national tradition which owe their origin to Christian faith. There is no good reason for keeping them hived off in a discrete part of the curriculum. The beliefs and values studied are the foundation for personal integrity and choice’ (Learning across the curriculum/improving one’s own learning and performance, QCA, 2000, p. 14). The idea that religious education should encourage adherence to Christianity was replaced by a non-confessional approach, emphasizing an understanding of religion. These vehicles do not face the particular problem which confronts religious education. PSHE has as part of its remit to introduce pupils to a range of views about global aspects of our human life, including religious views. "Religious education remains compulsory for all state-funded schools, including academies and free schools, at all key stages and we expect all schools … This is that religion has traditionally been seen, and is still seen in some quarters, as a backing for morality, as the foundation on which our moral beliefs and conduct rest. So far, the focus has been on the grounds for moral claims. 9mins 6secs Are the churches in Ukraine becoming militarised? On, for instance, the aim built into the first two of the nine statements—about developing pupils’ understanding of different religions. With another general election around the corner, it seems to me perfectly sensible that politics should be a compulsory subject in school. (eds) Religious Education in a Global-Local World. If asked, for instance, why they thought compulsory religious education was important, Temple, Butler, Churchill and its other supporters could have argued—and no doubt did argue—for it in those terms. This essay examines both justifications and concludes that neither is strong enough to support the continued existence of religious education as a separate, compulsory subject. So far—that is, if one is still looking only at Aims 1 and 2—there is nothing particularly problematic about the involvement of religious education in the ethical area. Neither, thirdly, do the thousands of items in the Model Syllabuses say anything negative about religion or religions. Cited by lists all citing articles based on Crossref citations.Articles with the Crossref icon will open in a new tab. He seems to have no problem with a slave-owning society, believes that birth control is a capital crime (Genesis 38:9–10), is keen on child abuse (Proverbs 22:15,23:13–14, 29:15), and, for good measure, approves of fool abuse (Proverbs 26:3). Pupils’ discussions about promise-keeping and important values in their lives could in principle be no more than devices to help them to understand what Hinduism and Sikhism involve. John White is Emeritus Professor of Philosophy of Education at the Institute of Education, University of London. Pupils should also be encouraged to assess them, to weigh up their credentials. After the war, with the end of the Nazi threat and the dissipation of the wartime sense of national purpose, less and less was made of the civic rationale just mentioned. The Spens Report on grammar and technical high schools of 1938 suggested that the solution lay in religious education. In: Berglund J., Shanneik Y., Bocking B. Over the next decades, however, religious education developed a civic dimension of a different sort. In the same way, RI/RE’s deep-rooted practice of using religious material for moral lessons is now way out of touch with twenty-first century life. By exploring issues within and across faiths, pupils learn to understand and respect different religions, beliefs, values and traditions (including ethical life stances), and their influence on individuals, societies, communities and cultures. School should be for serious learning not religious indoctrination. Religious Education Should Be a Part of the School Curriculum? Does that mean it should be scrapped—that its legally privileged place in the curriculum as a compulsory subject from 5 to 16 should be abandoned? Another solution would be to abandon religious education as a separate entity altogether. If religious education continues to have its traditional moral remit, there is a further danger of confusion, not now from within religious education itself, but as the result of conflicting messages reaching them from different parts of the curriculum—the suggestion of a linkage between morality and religion in one area, the absence of this in another. The Key Stage 2 syllabus on Sikhism suggests that pupils could ‘discuss what values are important in their own lives and within the school community’, ‘talk about earning a living by honest means’ (SCAA, 1994, Model 1, p. 37). Do we still need religious education as a separate subject, so as to provide children with whatever understanding they need of religion? Informed judgements on religious, to God ’ s argument on one side how! Other religions has been applied where pupils have taken the same as collective,. Question the existence of God and other religions and beliefs of totalitarian systems of belief—Nazism, Fascism,.. 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