A report from Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) has validated the findings of a recent Supreme Court ruling that found the North of Ireland’s religious education fails to be “objective, critical or pluralistic” and amounted to a form of illegal indoctrination.
QUB explain that the study entitled RWE for All’ (Religion and Worldviews Education for All) is an attempt to investigate how religious education in schools could be made more inclusive. They remind readers that the current syllabus is drawn up exclusively by four Christian churches and “mandates compulsory teaching of exclusively Christian content“.
It’s pretty easy to see how, in a context where approximately 70% of the world’s population is non-Christian, this is a wholly inadequate method of teaching the topic of religion. One wonders what this principle of education might look like when applied to other fields of study — medicine where prospective doctors learn about the heart, lungs and a few other bits, then don’t bother finding out about anything else in the body, perhaps? English where students are taught verbs, but not adjectives or nouns?
North of Ireland survey respondents keen on revamped curriculum
Fortunately, many of those surveyed revealed themselves to have a bit more sense than the fanatics who drew up the current curriculum.
QUB explain who they spoke to:
The study drew on evidence from three groups: a representative survey of more than 1,000 people across Northern Ireland; a Dialogue Group of 20 parents and educators from diverse belief backgrounds – including Muslim, Jewish, Bahá’í, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Humanist, and atheist perspectives; and a focus group of seven primary school teachers, including principals and RE coordinators from Controlled, Maintained, and Integrated schools.
The study’s goals were to examine:
a) current attitudes to religious education in Northern Ireland among the general population;
b) the views of those who belong to groups that up to now have had limited or no opportunities to influence or contribute to syllabus design in religious education; and
c) the perspectives of primary school teachers and school leaders with a particular interest in religious education.
42% of participants were unhappy that only Christian churches put together the syllabus. 88% of atheists thought it was a bad approach. Those surveyed also believed a broader form of teaching that involved informing children about other faiths would yield educational benefits; 73% agreed that it would help to highlight freedom of religion as a concept, and 65% thought it would have the effect of reducing prejudice.
However, the findings do still bear the mark of a region that is unusually religious by European standards. The 2021 census revealed a population where nearly 80% still identify as Christian, compared to 46.2% in England and Wales. In a 2022 Belfast High Court ruling that was a precursor to the recent Supreme Court decision, Justice Colton said the churches who constructed the syllabus:
…seek to promote faith in Christianity as an absolute truth rather than knowledge about Christianity.
The survey asked if people thought something along these lines was welcome, with 45% agreeing that the purpose or religious education ought to be to “accept or deepen Christian faith and beliefs”. 37% were fine with the fact that primary school children are only taught about Christianity. 22% of Protestant respondents somehow managed to convince themselves that “encouraging respectful debate about beliefs” is unwanted, vs 6% of Catholics holding the same view.
Teachers let down by abusive, indoctrinating system
The teachers who participated, however, certainly appear to feel poorly served by the current approach, with the report saying:
They identified feeling vulnerable and unprepared to manage the growing diversity of beliefs in their classrooms, often lacking the necessary subject knowledge, professional development, or policy guidance.
School assemblies are a key site of indoctrination, and teachers, along with parents:
…reported discomfort regarding some visitors who deliver age-inappropriate, judgemental, or fear-inducing messages as part of assemblies.
Who would have thought children barely out of nappies might be upset by fanatical weirdos turning up to pummel them with detailed descriptions of a man being tortured to death in one of the most brutal ways imaginable, while also being told they’ll burn forever in a place of eternal torment if they misbehave? One parent described the reality of this peculiar form of child abuse, saying:
It’s Easter and she comes home extremely upset and told me the crucifixion story in a lot of detail, which alarmed me, because she’s five and they’re
talking about crowns of thorns and dots on the hands is what she told me. So, we got quite annoyed with that, because we wanted her to learn, but none of this was expressed in what we thought about the ethos of the school.
The authors conclude that:
…the current Core Syllabus for Religious Education is not suitable for Northern Ireland’s increasingly plural environments and creates challenging
ethical circumstances for children, parents, and teachers.
They recommended various ways to rethink the current paradigm, such as:
Being person-centred, giving all pupils equal status as learners
This would entail “taking seriously the beliefs and values of every child in the classroom”, ensuring those with no faith and those practicing a religion other than Christianity would receive proper acknowledgement. This is also considered a bulwark against indoctrination. Other proposals include:
Informed by those from diverse religious and philosophical convictions
and
[A syllabus] designed by a group with a wealth of educational expertise
This would end the domination of four churches brainwashing and terrifying primary school children.
North of Ireland change on the cards, but in the hands of regressive DUP
Education Minister Paul Givan has pledged to recognise the Supreme Court’s ruling that the current system of religious education is unlawful, but seems keen to keep Christian teaching as the dominant element. The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) have been eager to pander to a reactionary base and their fevered imaginings around immigration. The same bigots are also flipping their lids about a hallucinated Islamic takeover, and the death of a Christian way of life.
Whether the DUP and their fellow medieval ghouls in the Traditional Unionist Voice party will heed the QUB report’s common sense findings will be determined by the extent to which they are swayed by that irrational and retrograde minority.
Featured image via NewYorkTimes