Showing papers on "Religious education published in 1994"

The Faith/Learning Integration Movement in Christian Higher Education: Slogan or Substance?

Abstract: The challenge of thinking Christianly in a secular world is a favorite topic of discussion among Christian scholars, especially among those of evangelical persuasion. But what does it mean to integrate faith and learning? The concept is fraught with semantic and conceptual ambiguity. Through a historical lens, Ken Badley delineates the varieties of meaning implied by the integration-of-faith-and-learning construct as a useful fast step in advancing coherent scholarly dialogue. Badley includes a compendium of recommended readings.

Religious education and the ideology of pluralism

Abstract: The concept of a ‘pluralist society’ is seen as expressive of an ideological perspective and not merely as a description of a state of pluralism. The characteristics of a pluralist ideology are identified and the issue of core values which are transcultural is explored. Contemporary absolutist and relativist conceptions of religious education and pluralism are challenged and a view of religious education is advanced which seeks to replace ‘ideological enclosure’ with ‘ideological exploration’ and to provide pupils not just with ‘multi‐faith religious education’ but with inter‐faith religious education’. Relations between education provided by the schools and that which is conducted within faith communities are considered and a plea is made for partnership in a process concerned with the regeneration of spiritual consciousness and the recognition of diversity as complementarity.

Christianity, culture and other religions (Part 1): the origins of the study of world religions in English education

Abstract: This, the first of two articles on the subject, explores the origins of the view that religions other than Christianity should figure in the study of religion in English universities and schools. It will be shown that the major impetus for such study came not from secularism but from late nineteenth and early twentieth century liberal Protestantism, influenced by philosophical idealism which saw all religions as deriving from humanity's common religious experience. It will be argued in this and the second article on the subject that the current government's policy of insisting upon the primacy of Christianity and the separate and subordinate treatment of other faiths is at variance with the spirit of this important tradition in English theology and religious education.

Rhetoric and Reality: A Study of Classroom Environment in Catholic and Government Secondary Schools.

Abstract: Much Catholic school and church rhetoric suggests that Catholic schools possess distinctive learning environments. However, little empirical evidence has been found to support this assertion. Research has been hampered by the lack of an appropriate assessment instrument. This paper describes the development of a seven-scale instrument to assess student perceptions of classroom psychosocial environments in Catholic schools. The instrument assessed student affiliation, interactions, cooperation, task orientation, order and organization, individualization, and teacher control. The instrument was used in a survey of 80 Catholic and 24 government classes in 32 schools. Findings revealed that the government schools scored significantly higher than the Catholic schools on the interaction and task orientation scales. A comparison of the environments of religion and science classes in Catholic schools indicated n gligible differences on all scales except task orientation. The perceptions of 9thand 12th-graders differed significantly in all scales except interactions. Girls perceived classrooms more positively than did boys. In general, the data suggest that the distinctive nature of Catholic schooling did not extend to all classroom environment dimensions deemed important to Catholic education. Moreover, government schools were perceived to be better organized, more conducive to positive teacher-student interactions, and more task oriented than Catholic schools. Four figures and four tables are included. (Contains 80 references.) (Author/LMI) ********************************************************************* Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** RHETORIC AND REALITY: A STUDY OF CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT IN CATHOLIC AND GOVERNMENT SECONDARY SCHOOLS Jeffrey P. Dorman School of Education Australian Catholic University PO Box 247, Everton Park 4053 Australia Barry J. Fraser Science and Mathematics Education Centre Curtin University of Technology GPO Box U 1987, Perth 6001 Australia Campbell J. McRobbie Centre for Mathematics and Science Education Queensland University of Technology Red Hill 4059 Australia U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION °ace or Educational Research and Improntment EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC! This document has been reproduced as received from the person or orOerunfoOn anon-totting it 0 Minor changes hey, been mad/ to improve reproduction Quality Points of new or opinions slatted in INS dOCument do not necessarily represent official OERI !Merton or poscy Y. "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)."

Knowledge and Truth in Religious Education

Abstract: It is reasonable to expect, with regard to any traditional academic subject, that it should be capable of being made good sense of as a rational form of knowledge or enquiry focused upon the discernment of truths of one sort or another concerning the world or human affairs. One curriculum area which has generally been held to be problematic in this respect, for a mixture of epistemological, social, ethical and pedagogical reasons, is that of religious education. In the first place, then, this paper is concerned to expose some of the confusions which have been allowed to obscure the nature of religious enquiry as a viable rational enterprise, Second, however, the paper also attempts to develop a coherent und workable account of the nature and operations of knowledge and truth in religious enquiry.

The New Religious Grant-Maintained Schools.

Abstract: The 1993 Education Act makes faith-based GM schools a possibility. Existing faith-based private schools may apply to be re established as grant maintained. The relevant clauses in the Act were strongly influenced by the Christian Schools Campaign. In this paper, Geoffrey Walford, Senior Lecturer in Sociology and Educational Policy at Aston University, reports upon a survey he undertook of the schools represented by the CSS.

Religious education in home schools: goals/outcomes mismatch?

Abstract: 1 The author is grateful for the support of this work provided by the University of Toledo College of Education and Allied Professions. Particular appreciation is also extended to the editor and to...

The place of understanding in Christian education and education about Christianity

Abstract: The distinction between Christian education and education about Christianity is analysed in the light of a particular view of (1) the outcomes of Christian education and the significance of the ‘Christian affections’, and (2) the nature of empathetic understanding within phenomenological religious education. It is argued that the distinction, when understood in terms of learning outcomes, is best regarded as a difference of degree rather than of kind.

Metaphorical and operational aspects of religious thinking: research with Irish Catholic pupils (Part 1) 1

Abstract: This is the first part of an article which reports research carried out with second level Roman Catholic pupils in the Republic of Ireland into the relationship between two dimensions of religious thinking, the operational and the metaphorical. In this first part a paradigm of six capabilities of metaphorical religious thinking is presented and research correlating fluency on these capabilities with the stage of development of operational aspects of religious thinking is reported. 1 This is a shortened and slightly amended form of a paper presented at the meeting of the International Seminar on Religious Education and Values (ISREV VIII), Banff, Alberta, Canada, 23‐28 August 1992.

At Peace with All Their Neighbors: Catholics and Catholicism in the National Capital, 1787-1860

Abstract: In 1790, two events marked important points in the development of two young American institutions - Congress decided that the new nation's seat of government would be on the banks of the Potomac, and John Carroll of Maryland was consecrated as America's first Catholic bishop. This coincidence of events signalled the unexpectedly important role that Maryland's Catholics, many of them by then fifth- and sixth-generation Americans, were to play in the growth and early government of the national capital. In this book, William W. Warner explores how Maryland's Catholics drew upon their long-standing traditions - advocacy of separation of church and state, a sense of civic duty, and a determination "to live at peace with all their neighbors," in Bishop Carroll's phrase - to take a leading role in the early government, financing, and building of the new capital. Beginning with brief histories of the area's first Catholic churches and the establishment of Georgetown College, "At Peace with All Their Neighbors" explains the many reasons behind the Protestant majority's acceptance of Catholicism in the national capital in an age often marked by religious intolerance. Shortly after the capital moved from Philadelphia in 1800, Catholics held the principal positions in the city government and were also major landowners, property investors, and bankers. In the decade before the 1844 riots over religious education erupted in Philadelphia, the municipal government of Georgetown gave public funds for a Catholic school and Congress granted land in Washington for a Catholic orphanage. This book closes with a remarkable account of how the Washington community, Protestants and Catholics alike, withstood the concentrated efforts of the virulently anti-immigrant and anti-Catholic American nativists and the Know-Nothing Party in the last two decades before the Civil War. This chronicle of Washington's Catholic community and its major contributions to the growth of the nations' capital will be of value for everyone interested in the history of Washington, D.C., Catholic history, and the history of religious toleration in America.

Metaphorical awareness and the methodology of religious education

Abstract: The authors argue that religious education, as practised in schools, has always lacked a sound theory of conceptual development and that this has resulted in both children and adults being alienated from its metaphysical concerns. Building on the work of Sallie McFague, Susan Sontag and Oliver Sacks, this article looks at the methodology of religious education and suggests that we need to provide a systematic approach that takes seriously the children's imagination and interpretations of their experience, as well as scrutinising how we present religious world views. It argues that the vehicles for this are models and metaphors with which children can identify. A contrast is presented between mechanistic and holistic conceptions of education, offering a critique of the former and developing a process‐orientated approach to the latter that will serve religious education. In doing so it acknowledges the influence of Richard Rorty's approach to social science and morality which emphasises the utility of narra...

Developmental Disabilities and Sacramental Access: New Paradigms for Sacramental Encounters

Abstract: Is a developmental disability an appropriate reason to bar a baptized person from the sacraments? This is the disturbing question that generated this book. The pastoral reality is that Roman Catholics with developmental disabilities are often barred from sacraments. Sometimes they are subject to discrimination or face unusual obstacles in the sacramental life of the Church. This volume, collaboratively written by pastoral theologians from the Catholic Theological Union and the Special Religious Education Office of the Archdiocese of Chicago, addresses these issues. Punctuated with true stories of shame and triumph, this volume grapples with real issues that confront Catholics with developmental disabilities daily. With a breadth of scholarship that ranges from biblical perspectives to ethical and canonical issues, the authors demonstrate how people with developmental disabilities need to be embraced by the Church and its sacraments, for they teach us a fundamental truth about sacramental encounters. The contributors to this book are: Edward Foley, Capuchin; Dianne Bergant, CSA; Barbara Reid, OP; Paul J. Wadell, CP; Mark R. Francis, CSV; John M. Huels, OSM; Mary Therese Harrington, SH; Herbert Anderson.

A divided and divisive legacy: education in Ireland 1900‐20

Abstract: (1994). A divided and divisive legacy: education in Ireland 1900‐20. History of Education: Vol. 23, No. 2, pp. 207-224.

Religious education in the primary school : managing diversity

Abstract: The companion volume to "Making a World of Difference", takes a classroom teaching approach to the management of difference in religious belief and background. The author questions the adequacy of dealing with plurality simply through the RE curriculum, and proposes a cross-curricular approach.

Faith on the Wane: A Documentary Analysis of Shifting Worldviews in Canadian Textbooks

Abstract: In this documentary study, the author postures school textbooks as barometers of corporate faith and prevailing worldview He has carefully traced the shift toward secularization in 150 years of publication by Canadian school systems The movement begins with the gradual reduction of Christianity to moral veneer (1867–1930) and then gathers steam in an accelerated banishment of all things Christian Recent movements, however, suggest a renewed search for meaning in the larger society which affords Christian schools rich opportunities for the teaching of faith and Christian values Of the three movements in this documentary study, the first and third represent the author's revision and expansion of sections from two earlier works—“Shifting Perspectives: Early British Columbia Textbooks from 1872 to 1925” (1986) and “The World Portrayed in Texts: An Analysis of the Content of Elementary School Textbooks” (1991)

Religious pluralism and tolerance

Abstract: Assuming that one of the aims of religious education is to encourage learners to become tolerant and in particular to tolerate religions other than their own, I consider whether acceptance of John Hick's view of religious pluralism could encourage the development of such a disposition. A brief summary of Hick's view on religious pluralism is presented, followed by an explication of the concept ‘tolerance’. The paper concludes that to accept and promote religious pluralism, as discussed by Hick, is not conducive to securing religious tolerance, a commonly stated aim of religious education.

Magical feeling and thinking in childhood and adolescence: a developmental perspective

Abstract: This article presents a critique and modification of the understanding of magical thinking as it is taken for granted and has influenced developmental theories of faith or religion and religious education. It is argued that magic is not the world view of children only. Magic cannot be confined to the early stages of development. It remains one of the forms of logic in adolescence and adulthood. This point of view is supported by the recent discussion on magic in ethnology. Moreover, recent reflection and research in developmental theory suggests a revision of the devaluation of magical thinking. This has implications for religious education: to pay attention to and to nurture the continuity and the transformation of magical thinking.

Keeping faith with god and our children: a practical theological perspective

Abstract: (1994). KEEPING FAITH WITH GOD AND OUR CHILDREN: A PRACTICAL THEOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE. Religious Education: Vol. 89, No. 4, pp. 542-560.

Religious Diversity in the Schools.

Abstract: This document contains four papers that address constitutional issues of religious diversity in the schools. The first paper, "Religious Diversity in the Schools--The Overview" (George J. Michel), provides an overview of religious diversity in American public schools, with a focus on the long history of cooperation with Christian churches. It describes the support for religious teaching in the school during colonial times, the evolution versus creationism controversy, obstacles to cooperation between schools and the religious community, and court-generated solutions to school conflict over religion. It is concluded that schools should make positive interaction with religious groups a priority. The second paper, "Religious Diversity in the Schools--Christian Fundamentalism, Educational Reform, and the Schools" (William Gause Smith), describes the actions and agendas of Christian fundamentalist groups pertaining to public education. The third paper, "Religious Diversity in the Schools--The Case of Kiryas Joel" (Dianne Koenig Vickers), describes the case of Kiryas Joel, a Hasidic sect that was allowed to create a new school district. This gave the sect public education funds to educate their special needs children. The paper discusses the legal implications of a separate school district formed for a specific religious group's benefit and related court cases. The fourth paper, "Religious Diversity in the Schools--The Case of Bishop Knox at Wingfield High School" (Elsie Brown), examines court decisions pertaining to conflicts over school prayer and religious devotion in the schools. It also presents results of a survey conducted at a South Carolina high school, which showed student support for daily student-led school prayer over the intercom. Out of 580 students who completed the survey, 386 (67%) were in favor of having a student-led prayer read over the intercom system each morning. (Contains 95 references.) (LMI) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY IN THE SCHOOLS George J. Michel William Gauge Smith Dianne Koenig Vickers Elsie Brown The Management Institute South Carolina State University Sea Pines Resort Hilton Head Island, South Carolina February 25-28, 1994

The State and Religious Schools in America: An Overview of a Rocky Relationship

Abstract: The relationship between the state and religious schools in North America has been an uneven and unsettled one, punctuated at times with abusive behavior by the state. The purpose of this article is to present a historical overview of this important and changing relationship, and to provide a conceptual framework for understanding religious schools in a society with a governmental-school ethos.

Conservative government and support for the religious institution: religious education in English schools

Abstract: During the 1980s Conservative governments instituted programs that were intended to use religion to achieve Conservative goals. An example is the reform of religious education in the English state schools undertaken by the Thatcher government. This paper reports on the expectations regarding religious education by several influential groups: Thatcherites, religious education specialists, and religious leaders. The conclusion is that the reform of religious education is not likely to advance Conservative policies. In their study of northern-European countries, including the UK, Torney-Porta and Hahn related the renewed interest in moral education to the election of Conservative politicians during the 1980s (Torney-Porta and Hahn 1988). In England Thatcher's government passed an educational reform act meant to enhance the place of Christianity in the schools (Cox and Cairns 1989). This paper examines the affinity between political conservatism and Christianity, the goals of the Thatcher government relating to the reform of religious education, and the positions of other groups influencing English religious education. The conclusion is that the government's reform effort will probably not be a success from a Conservative perspective. POLITICAL CONSERVATISM, CHRISTIANITY, AND SOCIAL CHANGE Political conservatism means the primacy of economic growth in public policy, which results in a commitment to capitalism, because this economic system is believed to provide the fastest economic growth, and to an emphasis on maintaining social order, which is A]JS Volume no. 45 lssue no. 2 jurle 1994 g) l orldon School of FcorlomU.S 1994 This content downloaded from 157.55.39.186 on Tue, 11 Oct 2016 04:22:36 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 196 Joseph B. Tamney considered a necessary condition for economic development. Conservatives seek control of the agencies of socialization in order to ensure that citizens have values such as the work ethic and family stability which will further productivity and social order. Within western civilization there has existed an affinity between political conservatism and religion. Most obviously, both have espoused an ascetic lifestyle and traditional familial norms (Tamney 1992b). In recent times large influxes of foreigners have led to calls for the defense of western culture (Torney-Porta and Hahn 1988: 51). In this crisis Conservative governments have tried to use religion as a national symbol. My argument is that in contemporary societies government projects undertaken by Conservatives to enlist the support of religion for their causes are likely to fail. Because of their prevalence and importance, the focus is on Conservative efforts to use religious education in public schools. Based on a study of the religious education program in Singapore, Tamney concluded that this curriculum failed to advance Conservative goals because the expectations for religious education were inconsistent with other educational values and because of the nature of the contemporary religious institution (Tamney 1992b). In a modern society schools are valued as a means of achieving material success, and the primary purpose of the curriculum is the production of a skilled pool of potential workers. Because religion is not relevant to either goal, it will not be taken seriously by students or those in charge of the curriculum. The likely disutility of religious education to Conservatives stems also from the nature of religion in western societies. Christian leaders have shifted to the left, and their churches are evolving from national into international organizations (Berger 1982). These changes have reduced Christianity's usefulness to political conservatives (Tamney 1992a). In this essay I would add two other reasons why religious education is not likely to serve Conservative purposes: humanistic influence and the importance of multi-culturalism. It will be argued that humanistic educational philosophy and multi-culturalism affect religious education in such a way as to make it less useful to Conservatives. My general argument, then, is that the efforts of Conservative governments to use religious education are not likely to be successful from the Conservative viewpoint. The specific case to be considered is recent legislation meant to reenforce the place of Christianity in English public schools. I begin with a brief history of English religious education. ENGLISH RELIGIOUS EDUCA I ION In England church and state have long been entangled. In this context religious education in state schools is not out of character. With the This content downloaded from 157.55.39.186 on Tue, 11 Oct 2016 04:22:36 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms Conservative government and supportfor the religtous institution 197 passage of the Education Act in 1944, religious instruction was required in all primary and secondary schools; prior to that year religious education had been optional. ' In addition, the Education Act required a daily act of collective worship at each school. Education authorities interpreted the law to mean teaching Christianity, and the religion classes became biblical studies. By the mid-1960s immigration had changed the religious composition of England. In some urban areas there existed a multiplicity of faith from African, Asian, and European traditions and some teachers at metropolitan schools concluded that instruction in Christianity alone was wrong. Moreover, reading, travel, and the mass media had awakened an appreciative interest in foreign religions among the European-English. As a result of these changes, some schools began teaching about various world religions. With this change in content came a new attitude All religions were to be respected as being valid, and as seeming to have truth in them if looked at from the point of view of the believer. (Cox and Cairns 1989: 19) In the late 1970s, several localauthorities (mostnotably, Birmingham and Hampshire) created new model programs that sought to introduce students to religions other than Christianity and that stressed teaching about religion rather than socializing students into a religion. By 1988 many schools were in one way or another not living up to the requirements of the 1944 act. In July 1988 Parliament passed the Education Reform Bill. Its purpose was to promote 'the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental, and physical development of pupils'. It was mandated that religious

‘L’Art Du Possible’, The Board of Education, The Catholic Church and Negotiations Over the White Paper and the Education Bill, 1943–1944

Abstract: The negotiations between the Board of Education and the Roman Catholic authorities over what was to become the 1944 Education Act began in April 1941 when the Government's Green Book on educational reform was delivered to the Catholic hierarchy. They were to continue until the Government's proposals became law in 1944. There were three distinct phases in these negotiations, centred on the Green Book, the White Paper, and the Bill. The intention of this article is to examine the latter two phases. After protracted negotiations on the Green Book there was near deadlock between the Board and the Catholic Church. R. A. Butler's aim in the Green Book, which he adopted when he became President of the Board of Education in July 1941, was to provide a national system of education, primary, secondary and further. There would be secondary education for all, children being transferred at the age of eleven to grammar, modern or technical schools. This raised the issue of the role of denominational schools, the so called ‘Dual System’. Essentially the voluntary bodies, if they were to continue to be part of the State system were offered two possibilities. Under the first they would receive 100% grant towards the maintenance and repair of buildings (in addition to the payment of teachers’ salaries) for which they would concede the appointment of teachers to the Local Education Authority (LEA) and accept an ‘agreed syllabus’ for religious education. The second possibility would allow the voluntary bodies to retain the appointment of teachers and the teaching of their own religious syllabus, but the Government grant in this case would be only 50%. Catholics felt that, in conscience, they could not accept the first option and that they were being penalised for their religious beliefs in regard to the second. They pressed, therefore, for 100% grant.

Toward a holistic religious education: reflections and pedagogical possibilities 1

Abstract: 1 This paper was presented at the Association of Professors and Researchers in Religious Education Conference in Ft. Worth, Texas, November 1993.