Religion and Schools

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Religion and Schools

• Kathryn Roberts

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Introduction

• The First Amendment to the Constitution of the
  United States in part states Congress shall
  make no law respecting an establishment of
  religion, or prohibiting the free exercise
  thereof.
• We might now ask, so what is the problem with
  regards to religious study in our public schools?

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Overview

• Should religion be taught in schools?
• Whats a Teacher to do?
• Religion Neutrality.
• Federal Guidelines.
• Religion and Public Schools.

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The Religion and Public Education Resource

• http//www.csuchico.edu/rs/rperc/
• Justice Tom Clark wrote in Abington School
  District v. Schempp (1963)it might well be
  said that ones education is not complete without
  a study of comparative religion of the history of
  religion and relationship to the advancement of
  civilization.

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Whats a Teacher To Do?

• http//www.rethinkingschools.org/archive/12_02/sco
  tt.shtml
• This is a question and answer page from an
  interview with Scientist Eugene Scott with such
  questions as
• How do we respond when someone suggest that the
  fair thing to do is teach children about both
  evolution and creationism, and let them decide
  what to believe?

• Do you think children are harmed by exposure to
  creationism in their science class?
• When teachers feel pressure to stop teaching
  evolution, what should they do?
• This site is interesting and of course since Mr.
  Scott is a scientist, I found this article to be
  really biased.

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Religion Neutrality

• http//www.teachingaboutreligion.org/CriticalConce
  pts/religious_neutrality.htm
• Public Schools, as government institutions, must
  be religiously neutral. They must be neutral
  among religions, and they must be neutral between
  religion and nonreligion.

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Federal Guidelines

• http//www.adherents.com/misc/fed_guidelines.html
• What are the ground rules for religious
  expression in public schools?

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Religion and Public Schools

• http//www.eric.ed.gov
• Religion in the Social Studies Curriculum
• Justice William Brennan held that whether or not
  the Bible is involved, it would be impossible to
  teach meaningfully many subjects in the social
  sciences or in the humanities without some
  mention of religion.

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Religion and Public Schools, Con't.

• The National Council for the Social Studies
  (NCSS) in its document Including the Study
  about Religions in the Social Studies Curriculum
  A Position Statement and Guidelines, states,
  Knowledge about religion is not only a
  characteristic of an educated person, but is also
  necessary for understanding and living in a world
  of diversity.

• A report issued by the Association for
  Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD)
  maintains, The proper role of religion in the
  school is the study of religion for its
  educational value.
• Natural Inclusion. Religion should be studied in
  its historical and cultural context.

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Conclusion

• The teaching of religion in and of itself is not
  the issue. The main idea seems to be that schools
  should not endorse a certain religion or condemn
  another one, but religion should be taught as a
  byproduct of the social sciences or in a
  historical context.

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Websites

• http//www.eric.ed.gov
• http//www.adherents.com/misc/fed_guidelines.html
• http//www.teachingaboutreligion.org/CriticalConce
  pts/religious_neutrality.htm
• http//www.rethinkingschools.org/archive/12_02/sco
  tt.shtml
• http//www.csuchico.edu/rs/rperc/

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Additional Resources

• http//www.proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index
• http//edtech.tph.wku/bchristi/journalentries.htm