RE Schools --- A Viable Option??? (R.E.)

Member Name: UKRushbrook

Product:	R.E.
Date:	31/10/06 (83 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Often smaller in number, more personalized

Disadvantages: Poor worldview, exclusive, not overly welcoming

When I was a child, my education ran the gamut from regular primary schools to a few years at a private school that was run along denominational lines. Later after graduating from university, I also spent a couple of years teaching in a denominational school. Like a few of my other reviews, I do not expect that all will agree with me but I appreciate all who are willing to consider my thoughts and leave any comments.

As those who have already read some of my reviews are aware, I am a minister in a church. Yet while I have strong beliefs in certain areas that I believe are biblically based, there are just as many areas that I believe boil down to personal preferences.

Whether denomination (religious) schools are a good thing or a bad thing is probably going to be debated til long after the cows come home and many very opinionated people will fall on both sides of the coin. Therefore, I only wish to give my experiences and my personal feelings on the matter.

1. One of the first things that I noticed in just about every religious or denominational school that I have visited or taught in is that they tend to be very exclusive. To me, this flies in the face of what religion is supposed to be about and that is reaching out to those who are around them in love. Exclusivity does NOT promote reaching out to those who are less fortunate and it is true that many religious or denominational schools are very expensive to attend or at least out of the range of the average family.

2. I have found that the average child who is put into such a school is normally fed only what that particular denomination wants them to know and often any free thinking is discouraged especially if the child does not come to the same conclusion as the teacher. This also flies in the face of what religion supposedly teaches to others. In most circles today, you hear that religions are supposed to be all inclusive and caring for others who do not necessarily agree, yet religious leaders do not always practice this when it comes to the teaching of the young people in their charge.

3. When the child comes into school he or she learns by example (if not by actual teaching) that they are the only ones who are right and that those who do not attend are not up to the appropriate standard. By implementing strict guidelines about who can or can't attend, I believe we restrict the issue of free speech.

4. I have also noticed that in speaking to some parents they choose to put their children in the religious schools because they will supposedly be taught better morals than what may be found in the mainstream state or government schools. Having been and taught in religious or denominational schools, I must admit that the moral values that were upheld by the average student in these schools was not vastly different from those found in other schools. Religion therefore had only become a name or a veneer (if you will) to cover the ills found throughout western civilization.

Let me give an example - Say a child attends a CofE school, the children are normally required or taught to say certain prayers, sing certain hymns, and generally follow the church year calendar. But what about those who would be of a different religion? Normally they are not catered for and because of guidelines that are implemented by often very parochial governors, children who are say Muslim or Hindu or Baptist or Presbyterian or Mormon or whatever will generally feel out of place? Yet, the teachers still expect those students to react and learn in real life situations. When those children finish with their religious education, how can we honestly say that they have learned a real worldview that encompasses all peoples as being part of the same human race??

On the other hand, the above could probably be said just as easily for Muslim or Hindu or Baptist or Presbyterian or Mormon or whatever religious schools. Each school has a certain agenda to achieve with the normal aim at some point to bring more adherents into a closer walk with the church, synagogue, mosque, etc. itself.

So now in the midst of all of this, the government wants to jump in with both feet and try to dictate what percentage of students must be non-faith in all faith schools. Is this really anything more than a pathetic attempt to show diversity simply for the sake of showing diversity? Does anybody believe that the rules would be completely followed across the board with ALL religious or denominational schools? Will there at some point be additional rules laid down that will ensure both "faith" and "non-faith" students are taught a proper perspective of other peoples not like themselves and a good world-view?

Personally, I doubt this will the case and I for one believe that this is merely another example of where the government has failed to draw the line that is needed between church and state. There may have been a time that religious schools were able to accomplish what they felt was necessary and may have even produced children that were different from their peers or colleagues. Sadly, I believe that for the most part religious schools only perpetuate the "I'm right and everybody else is wrong!" mentality that is prevalent amongst all of the world's major religions.

To conclude, I would not personally be willing to be involved in teaching in another religious school unless I was permitted to speak from my own conscience and not merely to toe the party or denominational lines. Freedom of speech must be acceptable to all or it is acceptable to no one. So - a good thing - not from what is being seen today! This is extremely sad because if religion is to teach others from correct perspectives, it must be done with the recognition that each child is to be accepted where they are no matter what they are and then seek to help to mold them into adults who will show less prejudices than has been found for far too many years, and I do not see denominational schools meeting this criteria any more than non-faith schools do.

Thanks for reading.

Summary: Not really any different to non-faith schools in producing good worldviews.