NO FAITH IN SCHOOLS

A Sydney Morning Herald article called 'School choice is not just keeping the faith' discusses the rising trend for non-religious families to send their children to religious schools in the hope of a better education, observing that private schools are predominantly faith-based (Tovey & Mitchell, 2013). The article addresses atheist parents having their children baptised in the hope that it will help them get into a Catholic school, irrespective of the statement that “''Philosophically, we would prefer to have a secular government education for our children” (Tovey & Mitchell, 2013). My guess is that the parents in this example would prefer a more rounded and diverse approach to religion in education. Personally, I feel that some schools are dismissive of other religions and cultures and this does not lead to an understanding, informed and accepting society.

At the school I attended in the UK, religion was on offer in a broad way. Our school slogan 'Unto thyself so to others' had much in common with Bible verses (eg. Luke 6:31), but the school also has Muslim prayer rooms and Kosher canteen options. Unlike my perception of most Australian schools, I learnt about a wide variety of religions in depth, and my teachers came from a diverse range of faith backgrounds.

Wadham, Pudsey and Boyd suggest that the 'main components of any culture, whether a national culture like Australian culture, or others such as a school culture, youth culture or organisational culture' are aspects like beliefs, rituals, values, meanings, and norms (2007:6). I think it's difficult for students to understand and accept other cultures – or broaden and develop school culture – if there is little to no understanding of those with a different culture or faith.

A compulsory subject in my schooling was “Religious Studies”where we learnt about different religions, but also about different cultures. For example, when studying Judaism, we learnt about the religion; holy events, the Torah, roles of a Rabbi, the origins of the religion, attended a number of Synagogues, learnt how Judaism is practised and the differences between Orthodox and Reform, and so on. Yet we also learnt about Kosher food laws: for one lesson everyone was assigned a traditional dish to bring to class, whilst for another, we prepared a Sedar plate and practised some customs of Passover. We had an assignment to adhere to the 39 categories of Melakhah for Shabbat and then we discussed what we found hardest and how our lives changed. We also learnt about the Holocaust, including speaking to a survivor from a concentration camp. This mandatory class provided students of all backgrounds knowledge of another faith and culture, about rituals, values, norms, beliefs and meanings, and as a result, I believe this started a greater respect between peers. There was a mixed bag of religions, including Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and Atheists. Families appeared less concerned with the religious classification of the school, since diversity was welcomed, taught and celebrated.

Jewel Topsfield from The Age alludes to this exact sentiment, stating that:

“Religious education in state schools must be replaced by a multifaith version that includes different ethical traditions and be taught by trained teachers rather than volunteers"

(2011)

Alas, the suggestion that any student should learn only about one faith is obsolete in a multi-cultural place like Sydney.

Words: 524

References:

Topsfield, J. (2011) Academics call for review of school religious teaching. Retrieved from

http://www.theage.com.au/national/education/academics-call-for-review-of-school-religious-teaching-20110406-1d4h5.html

Tovey, J. & Mitchell, G. (2013) School choice is not just keeping the faith. Retrieved from

http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/school-choice-is-not-just-keeping-the-faith-20130217-2el4a.html

Wadham, B. Pudsey, J. & Boyd, R. 2007, Culture and Education, Sydney: Pearson Education, Chapter 1 What is culture?