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I had a horror of religious education. My son's school helped me see the light I had a horror of religious education. My son's school helped me see the light
(7 months later)
After half-term my reception-age son begins school again, and returns to the religious education I had so dreaded his having. But I am still sitting on the fence over the need for any RE at all in non-faith schools.After half-term my reception-age son begins school again, and returns to the religious education I had so dreaded his having. But I am still sitting on the fence over the need for any RE at all in non-faith schools.
My horror of religious education set in early, after years of enforced prayer sessions in the hot, heaving chapel of my Catholic primary school in the Philippines. One sweltering morning, after lukewarm milk and a bumpy ride to school, I had thrown up all over a church orderly and was given a rather disproportionate dressing down for my sins. His hissed "devil's spawn" stayed with me, although it turned out only weeks later that I was lactose intolerant, and not evil.My horror of religious education set in early, after years of enforced prayer sessions in the hot, heaving chapel of my Catholic primary school in the Philippines. One sweltering morning, after lukewarm milk and a bumpy ride to school, I had thrown up all over a church orderly and was given a rather disproportionate dressing down for my sins. His hissed "devil's spawn" stayed with me, although it turned out only weeks later that I was lactose intolerant, and not evil.
When it was my son's turn to receive religious education, recognising that my unhappy experience could be an isolated case, I did some research on the net. It led me to the Pandora's box of the Department for Education website, and the disturbing Circular 1/94 within. This seemingly archaic circular urging schools to impose collective worship of a "broadly Christian" character on their (usually) multicultural students was issued as recently as 1994. The 2010 update did little to change the thrust of the piece, and I finished my trawl more anxious than I'd begun.When it was my son's turn to receive religious education, recognising that my unhappy experience could be an isolated case, I did some research on the net. It led me to the Pandora's box of the Department for Education website, and the disturbing Circular 1/94 within. This seemingly archaic circular urging schools to impose collective worship of a "broadly Christian" character on their (usually) multicultural students was issued as recently as 1994. The 2010 update did little to change the thrust of the piece, and I finished my trawl more anxious than I'd begun.
My objection is not to Christian worship, however, but to any worship in modern, non-faith schools, especially in a country where such a large chunk of people don't even see themselves as religious. According to the 2011 census, the number of people identifying themselves as Christian has decreased by more than 4 million in a decade. And over 14 million people, about a quarter of the entire population, have said they have no religion at all, up 6.4 million since the last census. If the people of this country are not religious, should schools be?My objection is not to Christian worship, however, but to any worship in modern, non-faith schools, especially in a country where such a large chunk of people don't even see themselves as religious. According to the 2011 census, the number of people identifying themselves as Christian has decreased by more than 4 million in a decade. And over 14 million people, about a quarter of the entire population, have said they have no religion at all, up 6.4 million since the last census. If the people of this country are not religious, should schools be?
I decided to conduct my own mini survey with parents at his school. I found as many in favour of RE as against, with the caveat that it should be a balanced approach that teaches children about the different communities in Britain today, helping them discover shared values, rather than differences. Equally, there were those who thought religion should be a private matter and schools a neutral ground for kids to learn in.I decided to conduct my own mini survey with parents at his school. I found as many in favour of RE as against, with the caveat that it should be a balanced approach that teaches children about the different communities in Britain today, helping them discover shared values, rather than differences. Equally, there were those who thought religion should be a private matter and schools a neutral ground for kids to learn in.
No closer to knowing what to do, I considered withdrawing our son from RE, but he was young and shy, and might feel excluded. So I talked to the only person who could tell us exactly what RE had in store for him this year – his teacher.No closer to knowing what to do, I considered withdrawing our son from RE, but he was young and shy, and might feel excluded. So I talked to the only person who could tell us exactly what RE had in store for him this year – his teacher.
This meeting helped me to see the light. I didn't find religion, but an unexpected enthusiasm for RE as practised by my son's school. His teacher assured me their RE curriculum touched upon a range of cultures and taught morality and cohesive living. Two thirds of state-run schools, I found out, show the same degree of good sense in choosing to ignore the guidance in the controversial circular (and its avatars). In the end I was so relieved there would be no indoctrination that not only did we not pull him out of RE, I got actively involved in it, taking part in everything from a thoughtfully planned Diwali party to an eagerly anticipated first nativity play.This meeting helped me to see the light. I didn't find religion, but an unexpected enthusiasm for RE as practised by my son's school. His teacher assured me their RE curriculum touched upon a range of cultures and taught morality and cohesive living. Two thirds of state-run schools, I found out, show the same degree of good sense in choosing to ignore the guidance in the controversial circular (and its avatars). In the end I was so relieved there would be no indoctrination that not only did we not pull him out of RE, I got actively involved in it, taking part in everything from a thoughtfully planned Diwali party to an eagerly anticipated first nativity play.
All's well that ends well? Almost; that a version of Circular 1/94 is "current guidance" for schools in 21st-century Britain is cause for concern. Can it be dismissed as an eccentricity that will never affect us or should we worry that it could become a homogenising tool in the hands of the intolerant?All's well that ends well? Almost; that a version of Circular 1/94 is "current guidance" for schools in 21st-century Britain is cause for concern. Can it be dismissed as an eccentricity that will never affect us or should we worry that it could become a homogenising tool in the hands of the intolerant?
My view, I readily admit, is jaundiced by my childhood experiences. I shall always associate religious education with lurid images of saints, the overpowering smell of incense and sweat, and memories of another day when, struggling to breathe in the crush of my school chapel, I pushed through the nearly impenetrable mass of people to find myself in front of a coffin on a raised platform. Curious, I got on tiptoe to find myself looking into the waxen, quite dead face of a favourite teacher who had been away, ill. How does an eight-year-old cope with that? By being explosively lactose intolerant, I'm afraid.My view, I readily admit, is jaundiced by my childhood experiences. I shall always associate religious education with lurid images of saints, the overpowering smell of incense and sweat, and memories of another day when, struggling to breathe in the crush of my school chapel, I pushed through the nearly impenetrable mass of people to find myself in front of a coffin on a raised platform. Curious, I got on tiptoe to find myself looking into the waxen, quite dead face of a favourite teacher who had been away, ill. How does an eight-year-old cope with that? By being explosively lactose intolerant, I'm afraid.
I survived my faith-intensive schooling; can a few hours of innocuous RE really hurt my children?I survived my faith-intensive schooling; can a few hours of innocuous RE really hurt my children?
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