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 TEACHING RELIGION IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOL: DISCOVERING
PERSONAL MEANING IN A PLURALISTIC SOCIETY

by

CHRISTOPHER NILSSON PAGE

Department of Education

A Thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements

for the Degree of Doctor of Education in the
University of Toronto

(^C hristopher Page 1991

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Canada

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 Dedicated to Judith
Nathan, Richard and Joanne

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I wish to thank Prof. Clive Beck for his valuable assistance and continuous encouragement
in the w riting of this dissertation and my thesis committee, Prof. Brent Kilbourn and Prof. Don
Brundage for their valued advice during this project.

I also wish to thank the members of the Ecumenical Study Commission on Public
Education. My involvement with the commission provided the stimulus to write in the area of
religious education in the public school. The opportunity to write the commission’s submission
to the "Watson" Inquiry on religious education in the elementary schools of Ontario, helped me
develop the approach advocated in this dissertation.

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 Christopher N. Page, Department of Education, University of Toronto.

ABSTRACT

Teaching religion can play a vital role in public education if a non-indoctrinary, multi-

faith approach is taken. In a pluralistic society students need accurate information about the

cultural and religious groups around them, and if tolerance and understanding are goals of public

education then the curriculum must provide a place for teaching the great religious traditions of

humanity. However, good education is more than the dispassionate transmission of information.

In teaching religion the challenge is to present the history, stories and practices of religions in

a manner that will not violate students’ rights to freedom from the imposition of religion, while

at the same time encouraging a critical dialogue between students and religion. The argument

of this thesis is that this can be attained in the classroom when teachers understand the aim,

content and method of indoctrination and that the focus of teaching is support for students in the

quest for personal meaning.

Central to this dissertation is the important role of religious narrative and story. Students

gain access to the complex world of religion through an exploration of the stories that are

important to religions. In a discussion between the student’s personal stories; the stories of their

families and their culture; and the significant stories presented in the religions of the world,

students are better prepared for a meaningful life.

This approach to teaching religion in the public school is offered as a corrective to the

overly cognitive and technological outcomes that have dominated public education in recent

years.

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 PREFACE

For public education to be comprehensive, it is my contention that the religious dimension

of life and the common struggle of humanity to find personal meaning and authenticity must be

a part of this endeavour. The public school curriculum is often dominated by scientific and

cognitive outcomes with little attention to the development of fundamental spiritual and human

values. Therefore, it is important for the student to hear the voice of the poet, the artist, the

philosopher and the religious genius. Religious education can provide this voice in public

schooling and assist toward the ultimate goal of education, which must be to direct the student

toward human and essential ends, rather than merely technical competency. As Alfred North

Whitehead states:

Education is the guidance of the individual toward a comprehension of the art of

life; and by the art of life I mean the most complete achievement of varied
activity expressing the potentialities of that living creature in the face of its actual
environment.1

My claim is that religious education in the public school should provide students with a

vehicle for developing a coherent philosophy of life. At its best, religion has always wrestled

with questions of passion, commitment, authenticity and meaning. Its distinct epistemology and

content allows students to examine their own world view, as well as the world view of others,

thus providing them with methods, skills and attitudes helpful in living the worthwhile life.

Through this dissertation I will advocate the development of the student toward philosophical,

spiritual and religious ends, rather than narrow cognitive outcomes.

My argument centres on the belief that teaching religion in the public school should not

’Alfred North Whitehead, The Aims of Education and Other Essavs. London: Collier Macmillan Publishers,
1929, p.39.

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 u
be confessional, nor limited to the interpretation of a single religious tradition. Through an

education toward religious understanding, the student is encouraged to develop skills,

motivations, attitudes and behaviours that demonstrate a sensitivity to all religions and in

dialogue with the human experience of religion draw personal meanings from them. This

dissertation is rooted in the belief that fuller human development can be achieved only when the

religious dimensions of personal, cultural and global experience are considered. To do less is

to give the student a substandard education. Furthermore, religious education must be cognizant

of the pluralist society that has developed in the West in recent years. Through an exploration

of our "multi-faith" world, the student is caused to reflect upon his or her personal and commu­

nal systems of meaning. Thus a multi-faith religious education encourages students to understand

the religious aspirations of humanity, while helping them assess their personal life stance.

In Chapter 1 ,1 argue that the word "religion" has both a broad sense (commitment to a

world view) and a narrow sense (commitment to a particular religion.) In our pluralistic society

the public school should encourage religious commitment in the "broad" sense but not in the

"narrow" sense. In considering the major objections to religious education I conclude that most

objections centre ou the issue of indoctrination and the nature of religious belief in the "narrow"

sense of religion. These objections can be overcome, provided that religious education taught

in public schools does not violate the rights and freedoms of children, the family and the

religious community and the the society in general. This is the concern of Chapter 2. Through

an examination of the three major criteria of indoctrination it is my conclusion that a non-

indoctrinary religious education is possible provided that teaching religion remains committed

to educational and spiritual ends and does not succumb to particular religious faith ends. While

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 1U

I acknowledge that public education is concerned with the formation of knowledge and beliefs,

the delicate relationship between religious communities and public consensus in a pluralistic

society demands that teaching religion should concentrate on common fundamental beliefs rather

than on comparisons between religions and religious communities.

The search for a rationale to justify teaching religion in the school is the substance of

Chapter 3. Faith development as defined by James Fowler is considered and rejected as a basis

for teaching religion in the school. A more helpful approach is suggested by Philip Phenix who

sees teaching religion as important to the quest for meaning. It is this quest for meaning that is

central to Chapter 4. In this chapter I contend that teaching religion in the school is best

approached through the vehicle of religious stories, rather than the study of religious dogma.

Story and narrative have recently been recovered as significant elements in religious life. Story

provides students with access to religious understandings in a form that can be helpful in their

personal development. The very nature of story-telling raises religious questions such as, "What

does this story mean?" Therefore, if religious education in the school is to encourage the quest

for meaning then the use of religious story is a logical foundation.

Once a rationale and method has been established, then a set of aims and objectives can

be suggested. In Chapter S, I argue that multi-faith religious education has specific aims, a

particular content and a distinctive teaching method. The Religious Education Curriculum

Project in Queensland, Australia, has developed what I believe is an effective model. A diagram

and description of this model is examined with particular interest in the use of story and the quest

for personal meaning.

Religious education, like other components of a comprehensive education, must help

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 iv

students to lead a meaningfu l life. The aim of this dissertation is to suggest one way in which

this could be achieved. I will argue this through reference to written works, and build my case

by assembling those arguments that agree with my position and use them to refute those

arguments opposed to my position. Central to this dissertation is the opinion that the

development of personal reflection is a central goal of education. Therefore, I will apply my

personal reflection and my experience as a mature person to the material I have assembled.

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

PREFACE i

CHAPTER 1 RELIGION AND EDUCATION I

Some Uses of the Word "Religion" in Education 3

Religious Pluralism 7
Toward and Openness Between Religious Groups
and Public Schooling 11
Objections to Religious Education in the Public
School 15
Conclusion 22

CHAPTER 2 INDOCTRINATION AND RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 23

Religious Education and Public Schooling in Ontario:

The Judgement of the Ontario Supreme Court 24
Teaching About Religion 27
Three Major Criteria for Indoctrination 29
1. The Method Criterion 30
2. The Content Criterion 35
3. The Aim or Intention Criterion 37
The Role of Religious Beliefs 40
Beliefs and Religious Education 44
Toward a Non-indoctrinary Religious Education 47
Conclusion 53

CHAPTER 3 THE RATIONALE FOR MULTI-FAITH RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 54

Philosophical-Educational Rationale for Teaching Religion 55

Philosophical-Spiritual Rationale for Teaching Religion 59
Developmentalism as a Rationale for Teaching Religion 62
Faith Development as a Rationale for Teaching Religion 64
1. Faith Development and Religious Experience 67
2. Faith Development and Universal Human Experience 71
Feeling, Emotion and Affectivity in Religious Education 73
Conclusion 78

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 vi

CHAPTER 4 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION AND THE QUEST FOR MEANING 79

The Spiritual Meaning of Education 79

The Loss of Meaning in Modem Life 81
The Role of Story and Meaning in Religious Education 86
Creating Meaningful in Everyday Life 94
The Meaningful Life and Religious Education 97
Conclusion 99

CHAPTER 5 MULTI-FAITH REUGIOUS EDUCATION:

AIMS, OBJECTIVES, STRUCTURE AND CONTENT 101

Aims and Objectives of Multi-Faith Religious Education 102

The Structure of Multi-Faith Religious Education 109
Concluding Note on the Role of the Teacher 113
Conclusion 114

BIBLIOGRAPHY 116

APPENDIX A 122

APPENDIX B 126

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 CHAPTER 1

A general knowledge of religion is necessary to form a well educated person...it is an essential

function of the educational system to instill knowledge about religion, as well as to develop the
ideals, attitudes and values derived from our heritage, of which religion forms so great a part.*

RELIGION AND EDUCATION

Religion is one of the great unbroken threads of human experience, tracing its roots back

to the dawn of history.3 It is therefore a subject worthy of study and essential to an educated

view of the world. The exclusion of religious education from the public school is seldom based

on the premise that religion is irrelevant or unimportant. In fact some would argue that it is too

important to be left to public schools. When the issue is raised opposition usually comes from

either those who support learning about the role of religion in human experience but are critical

of religious teaching that advocates a commitment to a particular religious world view, or from

those who believe that children should only learn about their own religion. In the first view, the

opponents of religious education are troubled by the potential violation of children’s right to

freedom from the imposition of religion. In the second view, it is the violation of parents’ right

to inculcate their religion in their children that provokes opposition.

The development of a programme of religious education in the public school must centre

therefore on introducing the student to an area of human experience called "the religious" rather

2
Religious Information and Moral Development Toronto, Ontario: Department of Education, 1969. p.23 &
24

3"A Brief Concerning The Goals Of Education In Ontario As They Relate To The Full Development Of Each
Student" (unpublished paper) by The Ecumenical Study Commission on Public Education, Hamilton, Ontario: 1988.

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 2

than leading the student to commitment to a particular religion, or even to religious commitment

in general. In this chapter, I will argue that most of the objections to religious education in the

public school can be resolved by a non-confessional and multi-faith4 approach to religious

education. If the central aim of the teaching of religion in public education is to initiate students

into a genuine understanding of religion and to develop a personal world view in dialogue with

major religious themes, then the concerns of those opposing religious education can be

minimized. A comprehensive education demands that students encounter the great religions of

the world. This view is rooted in the premise that the general goal of educatiou is the induction

of students into personal, societal and global knowledge and that the particular goal of religious

education is to provide students with both knowledge about religion and a methodology adequate

to critique religious world views.

Religious education is one place in the school curriculum where the "large" questions of

life can be addressed. To exclude knowledge about religion from the curriculum is to imply that

schooling is not concerned with the question, "How shall I live?" Questions of life’s meaning

have been addressed by the world’s religions since the beginning of human civilization. The

recent exclusion of the teaching of religion in modem Western education has left a legacy of

religious illiteracy and the loss of religious insight into the problems facing our world. The

corrective to this is the re-introduction into modem schooling of a personal reflective approach

^The Ecumenical Study Commission on Public Education in Ontario has defined Multi-Faith religious education
as, "an approach to teaching religion that treats as authentic the faith experiences of individuals and the religious
communities active on the world stage. This approach does not reduce religions to the lowest common denominator,
nor does it present a ’smorgasbord’ of religious diversity... In an educational context students are encouraged to
consider the meaning of religion in the lives of those who practice it and to develop ways of understanding and
examining the phenomena of religion." The Submission of the Ecumenical Studv Commission on Public Education
to The Ministerial Inquiry on Religious Education in Ontario Public Elementary Schools. Ontario: 1989, p.4

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 3

to the study of world religions. By focusing on the contributions that religions have made to the

human quest for meaning, identity and authenticity, the student will gain both an increased

knowledge of religion and the ability to discuss these important matters. The introduction of

religion into the public school will necessitate a challenge to our present educational system and

its obsession with technical competency. To restore religious education in the school demands

that the aims of education include an understanding of the religious view of life and the spiritual

values that sustain a meaningful life. To put it another way, consideration of the spiritual and

religious world-views of both students and society must be recognized as an element in the

education of children.

SOME USES OF THE WORD "RELIGION" IN EDUCATION

The teaching of religion in the school is complicated by the fact that there is no

commonly accepted agreement regarding how to approach this area of human experience within

the public arena. In my view, however, while it is not possible for public education to establish

a common "theology" of religion, it is possible to establish common presuppositions regarding

how religion might be studied in the school. Just as religion has established itself in the

university as a field of human study, so a method can be developed in the public school which

will provide educators with a common ground for teaching religion. As Wilfred Cantwell Smith

has suggested, there is a unity among religions, but it is a unity of process not content. He says:

I have no reason to urge a thesis of unity among "the religions of the world." As
a matter of fact I do not find unity even within one so-called "religion," let alone
among all. The unity that I see and whose vision I am advocating is not of

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 4

religion, but of religious history...5

Smith’s point is an important one. Too often the teaching of religion assumes that at their base

all religions are similar. The "Golden Rule" is often given as an example of an ethical code

common to all religions. The study of mysticism is also used to promote a shared base for

religions and religious experience. However, if religion is to be taught in the public school

without offence to the majority of religious people, than these approaches are not acceptable.

The commonality we discover in religion is more often a factor of human aspirations and a

commonality of process than of common practice and doctrines.

The concept of the religious has both a "broad" and a "popular" interpretation.6 The

"popular" interpretation of the religious includes those who have a:

belief in the supernatural (or magical), belief in providence, tradition, community,

ritual, interest in profound experiences, an ethical system, a worldview, a
preoccupation with the "large questions" of life.7

In this popular sense, religious education is the nurturing of individuals into accepting the beliefs

and practices of a particular religion. Religion is seen as a cultural pattern:

Like all culture it is, at base, a meaning-seeking activity that, from the view-point
of the observer, is interpreted as a human construction. Like all culture it consists
of a system of symbols. The symbols are principally myths and rituals but they
also include objects, natural phenomena, clothing, odours, actions and so forth.
For those observers who study a religion from outside, the symbols must be
learned...For the believer, the enculturated, the symbols have become signs.

5Wilfred Cantwell Smith, Towards a World Theology: Faith and the Comparative History of Religion
London: The Macmillian Press Ltd. 1981, p.4.

‘This point is well made by Clive Beck in Better Schools: A Values Perspective. London: Falmer Press, 1990,
Chapter 14 'Religious and Spiritual Education."

7ikid.. p. 158.

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 5

Intuitively they bespeak their meaning.8

Therefore, when the topic of religious education is raised, many have difficulty separating the

study of religion from indoctrination or inculcation into a religion. While I will argue in Chapter

2 that indoctrination is inappropriate in the public school, it must be recognized that enculturation

and socialization —the immersion of an individual in the symbols, myths, practices and beliefs

of a community culture — is fundamental to human life and should not be regarded as a

pernicious activity. Don Santor, chairperson of Ontario’s Ecumenical Study Commission on

Public Education, states:

While it is appropriate to condemn indoctrination, it does not automatically follow

that socializing children into the moral standards of society or even nurturing the
"spiritual" side of their being is indoctrination. Socializing and nurturing
children, which may be defined as the act of promoting the growth or
development of the child, includes the process of encouraging children to reflect,
internalize and even act on the moral and spiritual values and beliefs that are
beneficial to the individual as well as the society...9

The word religious may also be interpreted in a "broad" sense in which to be religious

"is strongly evaluative: to be religious in this sense is desirable by definition."10 Some would

substitute the word spiritual for this broad sense of religion. When religion in the broad sense

becomes a part of education, it provides learning with a teleological dimension. Alfred North

Whitehead in his philosophy of education, brings religion and education together in this way.

He states that:

Robert B. Crotty, "The Teaching of Religion in a Secular School: The South Australian Experience,"
Religious Education Vol.81. No.2. Spring 1986. p.312

9Donald M. Santor, in an unpublished paper titled, Religious Schools: Triumph for Pluralism or Challenge
to Democracy. (A discussion paper for the Ecumenical Study Commission) 1991. p.21.

10Beck, op.cit.. p. 159.

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 The essence of education is that it be religious...Pray, what is religious
education?...A religious education is an education which inculcates duty and
reverence. Duty arises from our potential control over the course of events.
Where attainable knowledge could have changed the issue, ignorance has the guilt
of vice. And the foundation of reverence is perception, that the present holds
within itself the complete sum of existence, backwards and forwards, that whole
amplitude of time, which is eternity.11

In this sense religion has to do with questions of ultimate meaning and particularly the values that

sustain human existence. For Ninian Smart "all value-questions have in principle a religious

aspect, in fact it is more practical to see the deeper value-questions as religious."12 It is

therefore arguable that all of life is a religious quest, in this broad sense.

With the continued confusion over the use of words "religious" and "religion," some have

suggested the use of the word "spiritual" to describe the human quest for ultimate value:

It is an educational aim to nurture the spiritual growth of children. Instead of

pumping concepts into young minds, let them first become aware of transcendence
by encountering the experience... We ought to so that the inner life is real and
valid and not to be hidden.13

Teaching religion in the public school begins with two presuppositions. First, everyone is

religious or spiritual in the "broad" sense. That is, all people have a set of metaphysical

assumptions; we are all open to transcendent (although not necessarily supernatural) realities and

ideals.14 Secondly, students need information and understanding about religion in the "popular"

11Alfred North Whitehead, Tiie Aims of Education. London: Collier Macmillan Publishers, 1929, p. 14.

12John A. Sealey, Religion in Schools: A Philosophical Examination. (Studia Philosophiae Religionist Vol
9) 1982. p. 126.

13Jack G. Priestly, "Religion, Education and Spirituality," in Ernest L. Johns ed., Religious Education
Belongs in the Public Schools. Toronto: published by the Ecumenical Study Commission on Public Education,
1984, p.35.

I4Beck, Q P .c it. p.162.

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 7

sense, if they are to be considered educated. The rituals, practices and beliefs of religions are

the data from which the study of religion is drawn, and although formation in a particular

religion is inappropriate in the public school, personal spiritual formation is a legitimate activity

in public education in a pluralistic society.

RELIGIOUS PLURALISM

Public education exists in a society with a plurality of beliefs, meanings and values. The

sub-groups which make up our society are diverse in religion, ideology and class. If a common

vision of "the good life" is to be a reality, then a dialogue between these groups will be

necessary. Clive Beck has suggested that,

pluralism...requires a respect for the needs and choices of others and a willingness
to engage in the delicate art of compromise whereby the different needs of
different people are met as far as possible.15

The heart of a pluralistic vision of society is the development of tolerant attitudes;

knowledge and information about differing groups, and a respect for the rights and freedoms of

others. With regard to the public school, the delicate art of compromise must occur between at

least four competing groups: parents, who have a right to provide direction in the education of

their child ren ; children, who have a right to experience a degree of freedom and empowerment

through their education, and to receive care and an education that equips them from adult life;

society, which has a right to have citizens who are capable of participating meaningfully in the

democratic process; and various "sub-groups," who have a right to have their beliefs and

practices respected by others in the society.

15ibid.. p. 60.

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 The school already does a good job at meeting the needs of these four groups. However,

there is always a danger of allowing the rights of one group to overshadow the rights of another,

in the name of either efficiency or deliberate manipulation. Religion is one area in which the

rights of these four groups often come into conflict.

Parents in our society are viewed as having the right to "impose" their religious views

on their children.16 This is not seen as a pernicious activity, provided physical or psychological

abuse is not used. In fact, parents are generally encouraged to inculcate religious values and

virtues into children from the earliest age. The right of parents to impose religious views on

their children is guarded in our laws, largely because of our conviction that the family is the

basic social unit within society. In this case, the freedom of the child from the imposition of

religion is subservient to the freedom of the parent to impose religion at least to a degree. To

alter this relationship between parents and children would be to change fundamentally the nature

of our society.

While recognizing parents’ rights in die religious upbringing of their children, the law

also acknowledges the rights of the child to be free from parental imposition when they become

adults. Legal responsibility is given to individuals at eighteen years of age, thus freeing them

from their parents’ legal control. The hope of most parents is that worthwhile values and

traditions have been inculcated and will remain a significant part of their children's lives. The

child’s freedom is different in both degree and kind from adult freedom. Most often children’s

freedom is thought of as the freedom to "become,” rather than the freedom from control and

16Article 26:1 and Article 26:3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations, signed
by Canada in 1948, recognizes the right of the parent to choose their child’s schooling. "Parents have a prior right
to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their child." To downplay parents’ involvement in their
children’s education will at best offend this declaration and at worst be regarded as illegal.

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 9

authority. Good education and good parenting will often reduce the freedom of the child, in

order to form habits, reduce dangers and control the child’s environment. Provided the objective

(and consequence) of control is to teach the value of self-control and self-determination, this

reduction of individual freedom is valid so long as it is not taken too far.

Both parents and children exist in a larger societal context. In many communities, the

school has a significant role in shaping community values. It is the right of the school within

society to teach methods of inquiry, facts about the world and its population, commonly held

assumptions, values and beliefs, and a vision of a worth-while life. Beyond the family

environment, the school must have the right to present to *he student accurate data concerning

the nature of the world. Unfortunately, schools have often failed in this area by restricting

information and teaching concerning controversial matters because they fear parental reaction.

Teaching about human sexuality, political education, moral and values education and religious

education have until recently been excluded from the common curriculum, primarily because they

highlight the plurality of opinion present in contemporary society and are therefore areas of

potential conflict.

The school’s right to present accurate information to students is also limited by the

religious rights of the parents. While the school may wish to counter some religious opinions

and prejudices of the students, in the delicate balance between parents’ rights and freedoms and

the school’s rights and freedoms it would be unwise to completely disabuse students of the

religious beliefs acquired through their family or religious community, even if those beliefs are

against the development of a common vision. While it must be acknowledged that this weakens

the very foundation of public education, it is important to recognize that the delicate art of

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 10

compromise necessitatex a degree of freedom of religious opinion within a pluralistic society.

Carl Bereiter makes this point when he states that:

[Pjeople’s values and aspirations are often profoundly tied up with their children.
If we allow parents to practice any religion but forbide them to raise their children
in that religion, we make a travesty of religious liberty.17

Finally, the views and opinions of various religious sub-groups in society should be

respected even if they are not accepted by the majority. This is the case even if many religious

sub-groups are sceptical of pluralism. Michael Grimmitt has identified two responses among

religious sub-groups toward pluralism:

For some religions and religious traditions, pluralism represents an open

possibility for the discovery of a new religious "self", a deeper religious and
moral awareness of humankind’s spiritual vocation within the world, a freeing
from the chains of religious tribalism. For others pluralism is to be eschewed and
seen only as the vindication of a religious tradition’s vocation to be separate,
exclusive, the elect through whom humankind’s spiritual vocation is preserved and
through whom humankind may ultimately be redeemed.18

Often the views of a minority are not adequately treated by the majority in schooling in particular

and society in general. However, it should be recognized that opposition to the teaching of

religion in the public schools frequently comes not from those who think it is done badly but

rather from sectarian groups within major religions who believe that they should not engage in

open dialogue with those outside their group. Christian and Islamic fundamentalists, Jewish and

Hindu conservatives fear the loss of the uniqueness of their religion if it is taught as one religion

among many. For public education to be viable these views must be tolerated, even if they

strike at the very heart of pluralism.

17Cari Bereiter, Must We Educate?. Toronto: Prentice-Hall, 1972, p.45.

18Michael Grimmitt. Religious Education and Human Development: The Relationship Between Studying
Religions and Personal Social and Moral Education. England: McCrimmon Publishing Co. Ltd., 1987, p.24S.

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Educators should not critique the theologies that underpin religious groups. They should

however, allay the fears of some minority groups by being sensitive to their views while

acknowledging that they hold contrary opinions. Although many religions do not advocate

openness to other religious views, Michael Grimmitt suggests that:

[E]ducadon endorses the value of being sensitive to, and respectful of, other
people’s views; being tolerant of people who are different from ourselves; being
open-minded’, etc.19

If freedom is regarded as the only inalienable right, or even if it is regarded as the most

important one, there will never be a reconciliation of the four groups we have been discussing.

Clive Beck has stated it well when he suggests that freedom is but one of the basic values

hum ans pursue, and accordingly the emphasis placed on it must be limited by other

considerations.20

TOWARD AN OPENNESS BETWEEN RELIGIOUS GROUPS AND PUBLIC

SCHOOLING

Multi-faith religious education depends upon an open dialogue among religious faiths and

between religious faiths and the school community. While many conservative and fundamentalist

religious groups will attempt to persuade educators that there is no possibility of openness

between religious faiths, it can be argued on the other hand that many religious groups have

profited by borrowing bom other religious communities. At their strongest, religions are able

to m aintain a healthy identity, while pursuing openness toward others in a pluralistic society.

19ibid„ p.245.

“ Beck, op.cit.. p.dS.

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The development of religious tolerance within society is an important responsibility of

public education. Intolerance within the classroom and society at large is unacceptable in a

multi-cultural society. Nevertheless, it exists and is nurtured by several factors in our culture.

Harold Coward has outlined live causes that he believes contribute to intolerance within our

society.21

First he suggests the biological factor found in our predisposition toward exclusive love.

It is a natural part of the human condition that we show preference to those within our group.

Family, cultural or religious groups all call for fidelity to the group. They encourage die valuing

of the 'insider” over the “outsider." This is problematic when hostility and aggression is

exercised toward those who do not belong to the group. With the lost of empathy toward other

groups comes the beginning of intolerance.

Next, Coward argues that there is a psychological basis of intolerance. I believe there

is a significant connection between this factor and the "biological" factor. While the preference

for the "in-group" is a natural expression of our humanity, it is maintained by an "ego-

attachment” to our groups. For Coward:

[0]ur natural tendency is to see our own cultural, linguistic and religious choice
as the truth...and the one others should adopt if they choose to live among us.
They could just as well choose to believe and behave as we do, but yet they
wilfully make what to us is an inferior choice.22

Intolerance toward others is further supported by a philosophical stance. As Coward

Quoted from Glenn Watson. The Report of the Ministerial Inquiry on Religious Education in Ontario
Elementary Schools. Toronto: The Ontario Government Bookstore, 1990. Harold Coward, “Can Religions live
Together in Today’s World? Intolerance and Tolerance in Religious Pluralism,” Pluralism. Tolerance and
Dialogue: Six Studies. University of Waterloo Press, 1989, p .l.

a ibid.. p.3.

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suggests, we "see" the world through our own conceptual "glasses," which have been carefully

prepared by our culture and our religion. For many people "reality is seen in only one way,

through one received set of concepts, with little awareness of the possibilities of other conceptual

systems. n23 When enculturation and socialization occur in reaction to those outside the group,

exclusivity and intolerance becomes a basic stance of the group.

Perhaps the most important basis for intolerance in the religious areas comes from a

community’s use of scripture and the theological implications that arise from its interpretation.

In several major religions, truth is regarded as revealed to the founders of that religion. Religion

with its basis in God’s revelation to humanity and in particular to my group, will see its own

scripture as superior to the scriptures of others. Hence, an intolerance can be born and

reinforced by the theological deliberations of one’s religion.

The fact that religious intolerance exists is for some people the basis for excluding

religion from the school curriculum. Glenn Watson, Chairperson of The Report o f the

M inisterial Inquiry on Religious Education in Ontario Schools, noted that some individuals

referred:

to examples of violence, hatred, prejudice and conflict which they attribute to

religious differences. These characteristics are evident in the study of the history
of mankind since its beginning. It does not appear to be the position of historians
that these problems were always, or only, generated by religious differences. In
some cases, that would appear to be one of the contributing factors.24

Watson maintains that there is no evidence that religious intolerance has caused more suffering

for humanity than racial, ethnic, class or cultural intolerance in general.

23ibid— p.5.

24Watson, Q P .c it . p.39.

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Intolerance is a factor in any pluralistic society. However, the answer to intolerance is

education, not silence. Coward states this well when he writes:

Requirements for true religious tolerance have one basic prerequisite for their
success, namely, that all participants have accurate information about each other’s
religions. Fulfilling this prerequisite is probably the single largest obstacle to the
achievement of true tolerance. The majority of people today are illiterate in their
own religion as well as in the religion of others.25

As Canadian society has incorporated a greater plurality of values and opinions in the last few

decades, the need for a religiously literate population has become even more important.

However, merely informing students about other religions is not adequate to the task. Religious

education must provide the student with a positive life stance toward the members of other

cultural and religious groups. Tolerance and openness is a beginning, but good education will

demand a more open relationship with others in our society.

Donald Evans has suggested that openness does not only differ by degrees, but there are

different kinds of openness which form a cumulative series of stages.26 Evans has identified

five stages of openness: Erst, a tolerance of others and a willingness to allow them to hold their

beliefs; secondly, co-operation in practical projects of human concern (This stage is most

important in a society with a plurality of values and beliefs and one which strives for a common

vision); thirdly, entering into dialogue with another religion with the goal of understanding the

other’s point of view. (The multi-faith religion class must attain to at least this stage of

openness); fourthly, an empathetic and respectful friendship where Christian, Buddhist, Native

"^Coward, op.cit.. p. 17.

"6Donald Evans, from an unpublished paper "Christian Openness to Other Faiths,” University of Toronto,
1987.

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Canadian and others share spiritual resources; and finally, intimacy with those of differing faiths.

Given the fragile nature of the relationships between religious groups within society, the

multi-faith religious education class can normally only aspire to the third level in Evans’s

scheme, that is, dialogue. Because of the danger of violating the rights and freedoms of

individual, of fam ilies and religious communities, the classroom teacher will need to limit pursuit

of the ultimate goal of education, which is intimacy, to avoid conflict between religious

communities and the school. Even with this restriction, however, Evans’s scheme is helpful.

A religious education that moves from tolerance to dialogue will provide the student with many

of the necessary skills and attitudes for life in a pluralistic society.

OBJECTIONS TO TEACHING RELIGIOUS EDUCATION IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOL

In recent years, some educational policy makers have maintained that the teaching of

religion is inappropriate in public education. This view is strongly expressed by K. M.

Kryzanowski, past president of the Alberta Teachers’ Association who states:

I do not see religious studies as a necessary ingredient for a complete education.

I believe that the study of religion is a matter which is the prerogative of the
home and the church and ought not to be mandated for the public school
curriculum.27

I will list and briefly consider here six reasons which are commonly given for excluding the

teaching of religion from the classroom. A more detailed discussion of these issues will take

place in later chapters.

^From a talk by K.M. Kryzanowski, reproduced in the Alberta Teacher’s Association Religious Studies and
moral education Council Newsletter. Vol.9, N o.l, August 1982, p.7.

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1. "Outsiders” cannot understand the religious views of "insiders."

Some believe that a religion can be understood only by those committed to that religion.

To educate religiously is to indoctrinate into that religion. In their view, an outsider’s perception

is a distortion of the true meaning of the religion. As a British Schools Council Working Paper

puts the case:

Religion cannot be understood simply from the outside. It is like stained glass
windows in the cathedrals. You see them from the outside, and they are nothing,
grey and colourless. You see them from the inside and they are wonderful, full
of life and colour. Unless they are understood from the inside, religious dogmas
and rituals seem grey and sapless, if not absurd.28

Roger Marples is also sceptical of children’s ability to "understand" a religion other than their

own.

What is doubtful...is the possibility of pursuing that approach whereby children

are supposed to understand the phenomenon of religion from the point of view of
the adherent, while at the same time remaining free to reject those beliefs.29

On this view the possibility of true religious education in a non-religious environment is

significantly limited. However, Marples and others who take this position choose to use the

word "understand" in its strongest sense. It is possible to suggest that children can "understand"

another religion or culture to a degree. The idea that only understanding in its fullest sense is

acceptable in religious education is unrealistic in the classroom and probably in the religious

community as well.

Following the philosophical investigations of Ludwig Wittgenstein, Marples has suggested

28
Schools Council Working Paper 3 6 , Religious Education in S e c o n d a ry S c h o o ls . England: Evans/Methuen
Educational, 1971, p.49.
29
Roger Marples, “Is Religious Education Possible* Journal o f Philosophy o f Education. Vol. 12, 1978.
p. 82.

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that an individual must share in the "form of life" in which the language game in question is

played. From this basis he presents five questions concerning our notion of religious

understanding. They are:

(i) What is it to understand the concepts involved in a language game--in particular

that of religious discourse?

(ii) What are the implications of the theory for the truth of claims made within such
a field of discourse?

(iii) What is the relationship between a claim made in religious discourse and the
belief of the claimant or the one who is said to understand the claim?

(iv) Are there any criteria of rationality to which we can appeal in deciding whether
or not to play a particular language game or fall in with a particular form of life?

(v) What are the implications for (religious education) where this is taken to mean the
development of religious understanding.30

I will take up some of these question in Chapter 2 in discussion of the issue of religious

indoctrination and religious belief. Suffice it to say here that Marples like many who support

this argument, places the highest value on rationality and make no room for belief as a

progressive and developing experience in the individual.

2. Religious beliefs are unintelligible.

Some people m a in ta in that religious knowledge is based on the experience and living out

of beliefs that are not publicly verifiable and therefore has no place in a public educational

system. While this view has an affinity with the one above, it goes further in assuming that

religious language is meaningless and therefore inappropriate in the child’s education. In contrast

30Marples, op.cit.. p.83.

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to this view, multi-faith religious education does not attempt to support or refute the myriad of

religious beliefs active in the world’s religion. Rather, it aims:

to provide students with the conceptual tools necessary for religious literacy and
to teach them how to use these tools in the process of religious discourse.

Regardless of whether or not religious beliefs are intelligible, their role in motivating religious

believers to action necessitates their study.

3. The integrated approach: religion is best cover in other areas of the curriculum .

Others hold the view that in a society that promotes liberal education, religion is already

covered in many parts of the curriculum. History, English, Art, Music and Social Studies can

provide an adequate vehicle for teaching about religion. It is unnecessary to have religion as a

separate part of the curriculum. However, the experience in the United States of America casts

doubts on this view. The call for the introduction of teaching about religion in the public schools

of the U.S. is based on the conviction that "integrated" religious studies has failed. Educators

in the United States cite many examples of religious illiteracy in the American population.

4. Public education is a "non-religious" activity.

From this perspective it is believed that religious education is unnecessary in the overall

development of the child. Because public education is perceived as a secular activity, the role

of schooling is defined as preparing students academically and socially and

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is often seen as too "spiritual" since religion has historically prepared people for the "next world"

and is therefore inappropriate to the goals of public education. This commoa view is expressed

by Ian Bruce Kelsey, President of Canadians United for Separation of Church and State. He

objects to a religious education that becomes religious instruction or the teaching of a religious

faith as if it is the only faith. For Kelsey,

the school is not in the business of teaching or dealing with the divine. The
church is. The schools deals with a worldly or secular or non-religious sense of
things. The church turns the world upside down and views things from a purely
spiritual sense of things. If it isn’t doing that it’s not doing its job.32

While one may argue with Kelsey’s theology of the church, his concern about schools as places

for nurturing faith is a common one. However, Kelsey like many educators and concerned

people does recognize the right of the school to teach religious information. He believes that his

argument against religious instruction and faith nurture,

in no way prevents the school from teaching about religion. Our young people
need very much to know why particular religious-minded individuals and groups
think and act the way they do. Ultimately, study of these religions and their
followers will bring greater tolerance, respect and admiration of diverse peoples
and diverse religions.33

Many people confuse religious education with what has historically been called "religious

instruction." The term "religious instruction" is a legacy from a time when religious teaching

in Ontario schools was exclusively Christian. This term was used in the Education Act of

Ontario until 1990, when the Act was struck down by the Ontario Court of Appeal. This

decision has challenged educators to discover a nam e for the activity of teaching religion from

32Ian Bruce Kelsey, "The Power of Prayer," Canadian School Executive. V ol.l, No.6, December 1981.
p.4.

33n>id.. p.4.

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a non-indoctrinary, multi-faith position. While a satisfactory name has yet to appear, there are

several possibilities. A strong contender is the term "religious studies" or "religion studies."

This usage was proposed by Glenn Watson in the recent ministerial inquiry into religious

edcation:

The subject title "Religious Education” should be discontinued and replaced by the
more appropriate designation of "Religion Studies." The use of the word
"religious" appears to have certain connotations for the purpose and nature of the
program that should be implemented, especially if the current title of religious
education is interpreted to employ educating for the purpose of making one
religious, or more religious... the designation of this curriculum area as "Religion
Studies” would denote studies about religion and about various inter-relational
aspects of religion.34

Until a satisfactory name for the teaching of religion in public schools becomes more widely

accepted, the name "religious education" can be used to describe a non-indoctrinary, multi-faith

approach to teaching religion.

5. Religious education is the preserve of the fam ily and faith community.

There are two sides to this argument. First, some hold that religious education should

be pursued in the family and the religious community, not in the public school system. Because

religious education is equated with "faith development," many educators believe it has no place

in public education. They argue that the history of religious teaching and indoctrination are

inseparable and the Christian church, until recent times called the activity of teaching the

Christian faith, indoctrination. Therefore the teaching of religion should remain the preserve of

church and family; it has no place in public education.

34Watson, op.tit., pp.59-60.

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Secondly, those who support private religious schooling also believe that religious

education is the preserve of the family and the religious community. In their view the school

is an extension of their religious world view and as parents in a free society they have the right

to religious schooling for their children. Many have recently argued that as tax paying citizens

they should have access to public resources for the education of their children in the religion of

their choice. While this debate is beyond the scope of this thesis, suffice it to say that in a

pluralistic society understanding and respect for other religious traditions is essential to social

harmony. While the family remains the place of traditional religious nurture, the role of the

public school must be to encouraged the nurturing of students in the nature and meaning of

religion. Information and knowledge about the religions of humankind cannot be restricted to

believing communities. In one sense these religions belong to all of us.

6. The need to maintain social harmony.

Opposition to religious education in schools often comes from those who believe that in

a pluralistic society religious education can only be divisive. There is always the danger that a

particular religion will be promoted to the exclusion of others, or that a religion will be

denigrated in the classroom. Therefore, on grounds of social harmony, it is better to exclude

religion from the curriculum. However, few educators today would promote the notion that

"ignorance is bliss." On the contrary, ignorance is dangerous. In my view, the complexity

of religions and their relationships within our society is cause for increased teaching of religion,

not its exclusion from the curriculum.

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CONCLUSION

I have attempted in a preliminary way to respond to the above objections. However, given

that these objections are commonly raised, there are some significant barriers to a universally

acceptable religious education programme in the public school. Accordingly, a more through

discussion of the issues is needed. In particular, three major questions must be asked and

answered. First, is religious education a worth-while subject to be taught as part of the common

curriculum in the public school? Secondly, is the teaching of religious education even possible

in the public school? And thirdly, if it is worth-while and possible then what aims, methods and

outcomes are appropriate to the teaching activity? I propose to argue not only that religious

education is worth-while and possible, but also that it is imperative if the full development of the

student is to take place.

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 CHAPTER 2

Indoctrination only begins when we are trying to stop the growth in our children of the capacity
to thinlr for themselves about moral questions. If all the time we are influencing them we are
saying to ourselves ‘perhaps in the end they will decide that the best way to live is quite different
from what I am teariiing them; and they will have a perfect right to decide that’ then we are not
to be accused of indoctrinating.
*R.M.Hare

INDOCTRINATION AND RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

The history of Christian religious education provides many examples of indoctrination.

This is not, as some might suggest, because Christian education is a pernicious activity but rather

because religious education "is the transmission of comprehensive belief systems, whose

verification and operability depend upon a student’s rational and autonomous acceptance."35

Religious education, like political and moral education, has traditionally required that an

individual give assent to a set of "doctrines" or live by a set of "principles".

Instruction in doctrines is an important part of the concept of indoctrination. However,

the concept of indoctrination cannot be based simply on etymology. In recent years, educators

responsible for the teaching of religion in a public setting have struggled to develop an

understanding of religious education that is rooted in the history of religion and sympathetic to

the promotion of personal autonomy and critical-reflective thinking. Barry Chazan suggests that

good religious education:

would be concerned both with the t r a n s m i s s i o n and justification of the heritage as

35Bany Chazan, ‘Indoctrination and Re!:gious Education* Religious Education. July 1972, 67, pp.243-252.

23

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well as with p r e p a r a t i o n of the young for an eventual free and reasoned decision
vis a vis acceptance or rejection of such a heritage.36

In Chapter 1 ,1 outlined some of the objections raised to teaching religion in the public

school. In this Chapter I will argue that religious indoctrination is one of the greatest barriers

to teaching religion in the school. For religious education to play a part in children’s education

it must be taught in a free and reasoned way. In this Chapter I identify three fundamental

elements in the discussion of indoctrination. They are:

(i) The meaning of indoctrination has shifted in this century from a synonym for
teaching in the religious realm, to a pejorative term in education.

(ii) The content of religious education includes religious beliefs, attitudes and
behaviours for which there is no common agreement in society. Therefore,
religious teaching is more susceptible to the charge of indoctrination than, say, the
t e a c h i n g of mathematics for which there is an agreed philosophical basis.

(iii) It is possible to teach religion in a non-indoctrinary way provided a critical

openness is maintained. The success of educators such as Gabriel Moran in the
field of Catholic education and Barry Chazan, John Hull, Robin Barrow and
Michael Grimmett in education generally confirms the position that religious
education can be both religious and non-indoctrinary.

Through an analysis of the concept of indoctrination and an understanding c: the role of

religious beliefs in religious education one is able to give some content to the question, ”Is

religious education always indoctrination?”

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION AND PUBLIC SCHOOLING IN ONTARIO: THE

JUDGEMENT OF THE ONTARIO SUPREME COURT

The recent judgement by the Ontario Supreme Court regarding religious education in the

36i b i d .. p.252.

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public schools of Ontario has provided educators with a new opportunity to teach religion in

public schools.37 Far from banning religious education, the court has outlined a way in which

religion can be taught to students without violating the individual rights and freedoms guaranteed

by the Canadian Charter o f Riphts and Freedoms. In its judgement the court ruled that for

religious education to be in harmony with the Charter, it must not be indoctrinary. The ruling

states:

It is conceded that education designed to teach about religion and to foster moral
values without indoctrination in a particular religious faith would not be a breach
of the Charter. It is indoctrination in a particular faith that is alleged to be
offensive.38

Therefore, according to this interpretation, the aim of religious education in the public school

must be to introduce students to the world of religion, provide them with information about the

phenomenon of religion, and supply them with a method that enables the study of religion for

personal and cultural enrichment.

At least two major issues arise from the Court’s decision. The first is whether educators

have die ability to distinguish between religious indoctrination and religious education.

Secondly, the decision begs the question "How can a teacher teach about religion without

teaching religion?" The Court has attempted to answer these and other question by suggesting

37The Supreme Court of Ontario, Court of Appeal, No. 364/88, Between: The Corporation of the Canadian
Civil Liberties Association, James Millington, Nancy Millington. Edith Louise Hough and Elizabeth C. Sebestyen.
And: The Minister of Education and the Elgin County Board of Education. Heard September 11 and 12 1989. This
court challenge arose from comp lain ts that the Elgin County Board of Education allowed a “Bible Club" to operate
within the school. This was regarded by a number of parents as indoctrination into fundamentalist Christianity.
The subsequent Appeal was broader than the Elgin County concern. The application to the Supreme Court sought
an order to declare that the compulsory of the Christian religion in the school was an infringement of the
rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

38jfejd., p.3

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an eight point test to identify religious indoctrination in public education.39

1. The school may sponsor the study of religion, but may not sponsor the practice
of religion.

2. The school may expose students to all religious views, but mat not impose any
particular view.

3. The school’s approach to religion is one of instruction, not one of indoctrination.

4 The function of the school is to educate about all religions, not to convert to any
one religion.

3. the school’s approach is academic, not devotional.

6. The school should study what all people believe, but should not teach a student
what to believe.

7. The school should strive for student awareness of all religions, but should not
press for student acceptance of any religion.

8. The school should seek to inform the student about various beliefs, but should not
seek to conform him or her to any one belief.

There are significant problems with this test. It is important to note that if these criteria were

applied to the rest of the school curriculum, few subjects would pass the test and many would

be declared indoctrinary.

There are however significant advantages in accepting this method of separating

indoctrination from teaching. While the recent decision may be flawed on epistemological

grounds, it nevertheless provides a starting point in our quest to develop an acceptable approach

to religious teaching in public schools. Over the past one hundred years public education has

increasingly been seen as a secular, non-religious activity. This has created the mil Jcen

39
This test was taken from Religion in the Public Schools. (1986), a publication of the American Association
of School Administrators, p.33, which in turn was quoted from an earlier statement of the Public Education Religion
Studies Centre, Wright State University.

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impression that the teaching of religious knowledge has little or no part in the curriculum.

PubKc education has no mandate to create the "religionless" society. On the contrary public

education is largely the servant of society. Its chief role is to be the bearer and transmitter of

that which society deems worthwhile. While the practice of religion in our society may not

always be deemed as worthwhile, nevertheless, many people are religious and therefore, it is it

is important for public education to analyze and inform students of this significant phenomenon.

For the short term, this decision has settled the debate over whether or not religion can

be taught to school students in the province of Ontario. The intent of the Court’s decision is to

say yes to teaching religion, provided that it is presented to the student in an "objective'' manner.

The only type of religious education appropriate in the public school is that which gives equal

respect to the religions of all people and is conducted in a manner that encourages informed

discussion. What is also interesting in the aftermath of this recent ruling is that those in religious

communities and those responsible for public education have generally accepted that the final

arbiter of Canadian societal values is decided by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

TEACHING ABOUT RELIGION

Significant in the recent court decision was the distinction between teaching of religion

and teaching about religion. The call to teach about religion in public education has a long

history.40 In the schools of the United States of America, recent Supreme Court decisions have

te a c h in g about religion is a term which will be defined and developed through this dissertation.
Suffice it to say that it is an approach to religious education that takes seriously the student’s right to freedom from
the imposition of religion and stands in contrast to confessional religions education. A recent document advocating
teaching about religion is titled R eligion in the Public School Curriculum: Questions and Answers (1988) This
brochure was jointly sponsored by fourteen religious and non-religious organizations. It is available through:
Americans United Research Foundation, 900 Silver Spring Ave. Silver Spring, Md. 20910.

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encouraged the belief that teaching about religion in the public school will not violate the

students* guaranteed constitutional right of freedom of religion. Justice Clark’s landmark

decision in the Supreme Court of the United States of America in 1963 has been echoed in recent

debates about religion in the public school in Canada. It insisted that:

...one’s education is not complete without a study of comparative religion or the

history of religion and its relationship to the advancement of civilization. It
certainly may be said that the Bible is worthy of study for its literary and historic
qualities. Nothing we have said here indicates that such study of the Bible or of
religion, when presented objectively as part of a secular program of education,
may not be effected consistent with the first amendment.

In the current debate over religious education in Canada it se ms that the courts have used

these legal decisions in the United States as models for the teaching of religion in Canada. As

noted earlier, the eight step process of identifying indoctrination was taken with little alteration,

from a set of guidelines on religious indoctrination published by the Public Education Religion

Studies Centre at Wright State University. While these definitions will help legislators with the

problem of indoctrination, they provide little help to educators struggling with the presentation

of religious ideas to students in the classroom. In fact, many educators do not believe that it is

in the best interests of the child to teach about religion. John Sealey, one of those educators

writes:

It seem; to me that the use of the word "about" to qualify "religion” is a rather
naive way of skirting problems such as indoctrination on the one hand, and what
is sometimes called "confessional" religion on the other. But these problems are
often problems of method rather than content, and problems of method cannot be
dismissed by a word.42

41Quoted from Donald J. Weeren, Educating Religiously in the Multi-Faith School. Calgary. Alberta:
Detselig Enterprises, 1986. p.8.

'"John Sealey. Religion in Schools: A P h ilo so p h ic a l Examination. (Studia Philosophiae Religionis: Vol 9)
1982. p.66

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The use of the word about to describe the teaching of religion is flawed on at least two

counts. First, some have argued that to teach about X is to teach X.43 To teach a student about

mathematics, or about geography, or about literature is to teach that subject. Unless the

objective is to teach only peripheral issues in religion, then it is largely meaningless to

differentiate between the teaching o f and the teaching about religion. Secondly, the use of the

word about places too much emphasis on the content of religion rather than the interactive role

between the student and the subject, as he or she comes to understand religion in personal and

societal dimensions. Talk of teaching about religion gives the mistaken impression that to

understand a religion means to gather facts and information about that religion. In fact, if this

approach is followed, the most important aspect of learning in this area is neglected, namely, the

development of a personal life stance established in dialogue with religion.

Because religion is in a class of subjects prone to indoctrination, some believe that by

introducing the word "about” the possibility of indoctrination will be minimized. However,

content is only one of the grounds of possible indoctrination. What follows is an analysis of

other grounds for the charge of indoctrination.

THREE MAJOR CRITERIA OF INDOCTRINATION

An analysis of the literature on indoctrination in the philosophy of education reveals that

there are at least three major schools of thought in this area. Educational philosophers have

attempted to identify indoctrination by isolating its observable characteristics in the teaching

process. Most acknowledge that there is more than one criterion for the claim of indoctrination

43ib id .. p.65.

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 30

operative in the teaching activity. However, each school of thought highlights particular

characteristics, traits and activities which are claimed to be foundational to the concept of

indoctrination. The three major criteria for identifying indoctrination in teaching that have been

discussed in the literature are:

1. The methods employed in the educational activity

2. The content of the educational activity and

3. The intention or aim of the teacher in the educational enterprise.

1. The Method C riterion

The "method" position is represented by R.F. Atkinson, W illis Moore, John Passmore

and (to some degree) T.F. Green. Atkinson draws a clear distinction between indoctrination and

instruction when he states that instruction and training are teaching methods that give due regard

to the field of knowledge in question, while indoctrination and drilling are inappropriate methods

because they impose "doctrines" on the student.44 For example, according to Passmore the

method of drilling in teaching religion is inappropriate because, "indoctrination is a special form

of drilling in which the pupil is drilled - e.g. by way of catechism - in doctrines and in stock

replies to stock objections to doctrine."45 For Passmore, as for Willis Moore, the activity of

drilling becomes reprehensible only when it is associated with a particular content, that is,

religion, politics or morality. While teaching by drilling may be an appropriate method in the

“^ . F . Atkinson. "Instruction and Indoctrination” in R. Archambault ed.. Philosophical Analysis and

Education. London: Routiedge & Kegan Paul. 1905, p. 173.

45John Passmore. "On teaching to be critical’ in R.S. Peters, ed.. The Concept of Education. London:
Routiedge & Kegan Paul, 1967, p. 194.

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 31

teaching of multiplication tables or spelling, the use of such methods in the teaching of beliefs

and doctrine is for Moore and Passmore a violation moral autonomy of the student.

For Atkinson the principal criterion for an activity to be called instruction is the presence

of rational enquiry. To use the authority of tradition or to treat the student as a means rather

than an end is to violate the Kantian categorical imperative and to engage in indoctrination.46

However, this notion is too strong for Green47 who prefers to see instruction and indoctrination

on a continuum of activities in which all teachers are engaged to some degree.48 Green

suggests that the point at which indoctrination becomes inappropriate is relative to the ability of

the child to use rationality in the forming of his or her beliefs. Teachers are guilty of

indoctrination, in a pejorative sense, primarily because they are in the business of forming the

child’s beliefs. When those beliefs are formed through influence and authority rather than

reason, the teacher is indoctrinating. Green suggests that while indoctrination may be

unavoidable with young children, it is most harmful when applied to the teaching of older

children and adults because it denies them freedom to make moral choices. In later education

beliefs must be formed and altered through reason and evidence, and not through influence and

authority.

Thus both Green and Moore argue that some degree of indoctrination is unavoidable in

teaching. Nevertheless, they both hold the view that in a democratic environment, education is

^Atkinson, oo.cit.. p. 174.

^T .F . Green, "Indoctrination and Beliefs" in I.A. Snook ed.. Concepts of Indoctrination. London: RouUedge
& Kegan Paul, 1972, p.25ff.

48A diagram of Green’s teaching continuum is provided later in the Chapter. The continuum is most helpful
in the discussion of religious beliefs.

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 32

the ideal method of transforming individuals; provided that indoctrination is held to a minimum

it is acceptable.49 Teaching becomes a pernicious activity when the methods used include

‘stacking the deck' in order to ensure the student arrives at particular beliefs; when stilted,

incomplete or one-sided arguments and deliberate falsification or suppression of the evidence are

employed so that the student will arrive at a predetermined conclusion. When these methods are

used, the teaching is indoctrination and propagandizing and is avoidable.50

By and large the argument against indoctrination based on the method criterion has to do

with either ignoring or violating the canons of evidence or deliberately falsifying the evidence

to arrive at particular ends. Sidney Hook suggests that "indoctrination is the deliberate use of

non-rational means or the dishonest use of irrational means to induce belief."51 The major flaw

in the argument of those who propose this understanding of indoctrination is their attempt to

define indoctrination negatively when dishonest and unethical practices are employed, while

holding to a more positive view when it is used to inculcate such principles such as democracy,

freedom, truth telling and so on.

Method is not the sole issue, since methods appropriate to other parts of the curriculum

may be inappropriate in teaching religion. John Wilson highlights this when he asks the

question:

what is the difference between hypnotizing a boy to believe in communism and

hypnotizing him to master A level physics? Plainly it is not a difference in

49
Moore, op.c-L. p.98.
50
see T.F.Gn-en’s TV T ^ h fag Continuum, later in this chapter.

5'Sidney Hook quoted is Mary Anne Raywid, "Perspectives on the Struggle Against Indoctrination,''
Educational Forum. 48. Winter. 1984, p. 144.

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method, it is rather a difference in subject matter.52

While we may believe that hypnotism is a poor educational method in any area of the

curriculum, nevertheless, we recognize that it may be acceptable in one field of study but

reprehensible in another. In my view indoctrination is always a pejorative term and should

not be used to refer to early education that is non-rational in character. As Raywid has

suggested, "what has only recently come to many ... is the awareness that a large number of the

beliefs and dispositions acquired by adults are also shaped by non-rational means."53 An over

emphasis on rationality comes from John Wilson when he suggests that indoctrination is negative

or positive depending on whether a particular educational activity increases or diminishes

rationality.54 Unfortunately, Wilson gives the impression in his article that rationality is the

only goal of the educational enterprise, rather than seeing that non-rational means can be equally

non-indoctrinating and equally significant in the development of a worthwhile life.

The strength of the method argument is the place it gives to the activity of teaching.55

By acknowledging that there is an activity called indoctrination in the teaching continuum. Green

and others have recognized the significance of the rational aspects in education. As noted, the

activity of indoctrination should be regarded as pejorative and not applied to early childhood

education. Nor should it be used as a synonym for nurture in a faith community, unless the

teaching activity is regarded as pernicious. Socialization or some other non-pejorative term is

^John Wilson, "Education and Indoctrination” in T.H.B. Hollins,ed., Aims in Education: The Philosophic
Approach. Great Britain: Manchester University Press, 1964, p.26.

53Raywid, op .c it. p.144.

^John Wilson, 'Indoctrination and Rationality” in I.A. Snook op.cit.. p.21.

55Here I am referring particularly to T.F. Green’s The Teaching Continuum.

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more appropriate to describe early religious, cultural and moral education. Gatchel, in "The

Evolution of the Concept of Indoctrination," suggests that the word enculturation also shows

promise of filling this need.56

The strength of words such as enculturadon and socialization is that they recognize the

le g iti m a c y of non-rational activities in early education, while recognizing that all education must

be open ended. The process of early religious socialization is important, for it is in this

environment that the child’s fundamental belief system is established. Professor Dean Martin’s

helpful article titled "On Certainty and Belief” advocates a strong religious socialization of

young children. He writes;

It will be evident however, that religious convictions, like common sense

certainties must be amenable to being taught as hinges upon which so much else
turns... In the course of being taught innumerable things of an empirical nature
though without mention or thought - the belief that physical objects are real...
Since fundamental religious beliefs do not form a part of the warp and woof of
our customary judgements concerning the world and instead run against the grain,
they must be taught explicitly isolating them and stating them the assimilation of
the learner. In a manner unfitting for the empirical principles of judgement the
central beliefs typically become the subject of direct inculcation.57

What saves Martin’s position from the charge of advocating indoctrination is his notion that the

aim of this process is to "enable the candidate independently to begin to discern how other beliefs

are built upon.. .and relate to these foundational convictions. "5S The teaching process must help

students recognize their fundamental beliefs and understand how those beliefs affect present

thought and action. The grounds for believing something to be true are as important as the

56Richard. H. Gatchel, 'Evolution of Concept of Indoctrination in American Education" Educational Forum.

XXm March. 19S9. p.9.

^Dean Martin, 'On Certainty and Belief’ Religious Studies. 20. December ’84, p.609.

58ibid.. p.609.

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beliefs themselves.

2. The C ontent Criterion

The argument that the content of the educational enterprise is what sets it apart as

indoctrination centres on die notion that in the first instance indoctrination means the inculcation

of doctrines. The debate over the use of the word "about" is a content argument. While the

"content" school of thought acknowledges the role of method and intent, it also asserts that

whatever else indoctrination may be, it obviously has something to do with doctrines, which are

a species of belief. Gregory and Woods see indoctrination occurring where specific beliefs are

being transmitted from the teacher to the student.39 The standard examples cited are religious

doctrines, particularly those of the Roman Catholic Church, political doctrines represented by

a Marxist-Leninist philosophy, and the liberal doctrine of the inevitability of human progress.

A more specific definition of doctrines in this sense comes from Antony Flew, who suggests that

religious and political doctrines are those beliefs,

(i) that if not false, are at least not known to be true;

(ii) that are part of an ideology or a system of beliefs which leave it uncertain as to
how the truth of die beliefs within the system are to be assessed;

(iii) and that have implications for conduct in important areas of our lives.60

The proponents of this school of thought are concerned that when the educational content

is religious it is most often based on speculative and improvable beliefs. They suggest that the

59I.M.M. Gregory and R.G. Woods, "Indoctrination: Inculcating Doctrines’ in Snook, op.cit.. p.72.

^Antony Flew, quoted in Barbara Ellen Houston, The Paradox of Moral Education: An Attempted Resolution,
unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, University of Western Ontario, 1977.

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content of religion is beliefs for which, at best, there is no convincing or publicly acceptable

evidence.61 Therefore, indoctrination occurs when speculative information is presented to the

pupil as secure and certain. According to the content criterion, indoctrination is limited to the

sphere of people’s most basic beliefs, their world views and the philosophies on which they base

their lives.

While I recognize that die verbal root for the word "indoctrinate” is to inculcate

doctrines, this should not blind us to the development of the concept of indoctrination in recent

years. By centring on doctrines and particularly religious, political and moral doctrines, we

could fail to see indoctrination operating in the areas of science, history and economics. If we

broaden the content argument to suggest that indoctrination may occur in any situation where

basic beliefs are being formed, then the argument loses its force for we are back to the idea that

all education is to some degree indoctrination. Many would argue that all disciplines draw their

basic beliefs and assumptions from non-rational sources and are therefore open to indoctrination.

Barry Chazan sums it up by saying:

Indeed, contemporary philosophers of science and epistemologists have gone to

great lengths to show that the principles of verification in sciences themselves are
constructs and substantive structures which the scientist creates and/or accepts.62

An important observation on the content argument, however, is that the three areas of

religion, politics and morals are the main theatre for indoctrination. While I have suggested that

these three areas are not the only theatres of indoctrination, and that scientific theory and

historical hypothesis are verifiable and not paradigmatic, nevertheless the activity of

6IChazan. o p .c it. p.245.

“ Two examples of this axe Thomas S. Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Chicago: University of
Chicago Press, 1962, and Stephen Toulmin, The Philosophy of Science. New York: Harper and Row, 1963.

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indoctrination is especially visible in religious, political and moral education. Chazan notes that

religion, politics and morality are potential arenas for indoctrination because these involve

comprehensive belief systems.63 The content criterion reminds us that some areas of education

are more susceptible to indoctrination than others. The learning of the multiplication tables by

drill or spelling by rote, in my opinion, is not indoctrination and even the learning of religious

knowledge by rote is not necessarily indoctrination. However, the learning of religious or

political dogma with the view to establishing unshakable beliefs in the student, is indoctrination.

3. The Intention o r Aim C riterion

This school of thought is best represented by R.M. Hare64 and J.P. White.65 Hare has

suggested that,

...indoctrination only begins when we are trying to stop the growth in our
children of the capacity to think for themselves about moral questions. If all the
time we are influencing them we are saying to ourselves ‘perhaps in the end they
will decide that the best way to live is quite different from what I am teaching
them; and they will have a perfect right to decide that’ then we are not to be
accused of indoctrinating.66

According to the intention criterion, indoctrination only occurs when the teacher is trying to

implant unshakable beliefs in the student, in a manner that does not allow personal reflection.

As I. A. Snook states it, "a person indoctrinates p (a proposition or set of propositions) if he

^Chazan, o p .cit. p.251.

64R.M. Hare, "Adolescents into Adults" in T.H.B. Hollins ed.. Aims in Education. Great Britain: Manchester
University Press, 1964.

^J.P . White, "Indoctrination” in R.S. Peters ed., The Concept of Education. London: Routiedge & Kegan
Paul, 1967.

66Hare, o p .cit. p.52.

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teaches with the intention that the pupil or pupils believe p regardless of the evidence."67

Snook’s critique of indoctrination highlights the role of the school and the teacher, acting

on the authority of the school, as the indoctrinator. As does the following quote:

If schools attempt to initiate children into a particular religion, if, that is to say,
they take particular steps with the intention of committing children to a set of
beliefs, they are guilty of indoctrination. For we have defined indoctrination as
the intentional implanting of belief so that it will stick, by nonrational means...68

This is in contrast to the method argument which considers the learner in the classroom setting

as central to the activity of indoctrination. In Snook’s view, it is the teacher who fails to give

reasons 'a d attempts to establish beliefs in the student, without due regard to adequate evidence,

thus making the activity of teaching indoctrination:

.. .the reason most people think that indoctrination is morally reprehensible is that
it makes it difficult or renders the individual incapable (i.e. capable only with
difficulty) of engaging in rational enquiry in a certain area. It inhibits or prevents
the individual from being able to question the validity of the beliefs if she so
chooses or pre-induces her not to so choose.69

While it is difficult to establish whether or not a teacher is intentionally indoctrinating,

nevertheless the observer can identify to some degree the intention to indoctrinate by examining

the method and the content of the teaching activity and thereby discovering whether or not there

is an intent to indoctrinate specific beliefs based solely upon authority rather than evidence. If

there is a pursuit of truth built on reason and evidence, it is less likely that the teacher is

indoctrinating. R.S. Peters clearly declares this in the following passage:

67I.A. Snook in Barbara Ellen Houston, op.cit. p.78.

68Robin Barrow. The Philosophy of Schooling. 1981. Quoted in John Sealey, Religious Education:
Philosophical Perspectives. London: George and Unwin, 1985, p.62.
69
Houston, o p .cit. p.54.

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indoctrination is intended to produce a state of mind which constitutes the relevant

achievement, in which the individual has either no grasp of the rationale
underlying his beliefs or a type o f foundation which encourages no criticism or
evaluation of his beliefs (e.g. appeal to authority).70

In my opinion the intent argument is the weakest of the three. Indoctrination is

indoctrination regardless of the good or bad intentions of the teacher. In fact, it could be argued

that good intentions are often the very source of indoctrination. The weakest aspect of the

intention argument is the difficulty in concluding whether or not a teacher intends to inculcate

beliefs without due regard of the evidence. Often there are factors influencing the teaching

activity such as time limits, curriculum demands, or the teacher’s own inability to see the whole

truth, that put the teaching process in danger of indoctrination.

R.M . Hare acknowledges that both method and content have a profound bearing on

indoctrination. Hare is careful in his analysis to recognize the non-rational dimension of

education, particularly evident in the teaching of young children (probably the age group most

susceptible to indoctrination and where the greatest number of charges of indoctrination can laid).

Hare concludes his lengthy argument by stating that:

...if a teacher is willing to engage in serious and honest discussion with his p-r. is
about moral questions to the extent that they are able, then he is not an
indoctrinator even though he may also, because of their age, be using non-rational
methods of persuasion. These methods are not as is commonly supposed, bad in
themselves; they are bad only if they are used to produce attitudes that are not
open to argument. The fact that a teacher does not himself have such attitudes is
the guarantee that he is not an indoctrinator.71

7°Peters, quoted in Houston, op.cit.. p.78.

71H ue, op.cit.. p.54.

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THE ROLE OF RELIGIOUS BELIEFS

While the development of specific religious beliefs is not the primary objective of

religious education, it is indisputable that students will adopt specific religious beliefs, opinions

and attitudes in the process of such education. Therefore, the role of the teacher must be to

encourage the development of a critical-reflective openness in students and challenge them to

hold opinions and beliefs with integrity and openness. This will keep religious education out of

the area of indoctrination, while maintaining a commitment to the formation of the student in the

religious area of life. John Hull has noted that:

.. .it is only sensible that there should be a strong commitment to rational religious
beliefs provided they are held in the spirit of critical openness and with the
contemplation of the possibility (although not die expectation or the likelihood)
that they may be false.72

The danger for religious education in a public setting is that dogmatic assertions rather than

critical reflection will become the objective. As Hull has argued, dogmatic assertions introduced

to children at a young age will become barriers to further education. In contrast, beliefs that are

open to the light of examination and held in tension with the evidence that supports and

contradicts them encourages personal growth.

Of all the beliefs a person can hold, religious beliefs are often held most rigidly. Many

individuals who are open-minded in most areas, guard fiercely their religious beliefs against the

intrusion of knowledge and information that could change their minds. An illustration of this

comes from a recent conversation in which it was suggested to a young woman that the shepherds

in the Christmas narrative were created by the author of the Gospel of Luke to make a

^JohnH ull. "Christian Nurture and Critical Openness* Scottish Journal of Theology. Vol.34, No. 1.1981,
p.26.

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theological point; that is, even the poor and the outcast were welcome to worship the Messiah

king. When this interpretation was offered to the woman she responded by saying, "I don’t

believe that. If one part of the Bible is made up, then who is to say that all of the Bible isn’t

made up and if it is all made up then we can’t believe any of it."

It is a powerful system of logic that enables people to protect their central belief system

at the cost of dismissing new evidence and interpretations. If the woman in this story could be

dismissed as uneducated than the task would be easier. However, she is a well educated and

psychologically healthy individual. This woman's statement is a religious affirmation based on

central beliefs and supported by an intricate pattern of socialization and communal

reinforcement.73 Thomas Green has called those fundamental beliefs about the nature of the

world "enabling beliefs;” they are those beliefs that are psychologically central to the individual,

and if in the teaching process enabling beliefs are challenged students can experience a

psychological discomfort.

For teaching to be life changing, two conditions must be met. First, an enabling belief

such as truth telling must be taught in such a way that the child recognizes the essential

conviction that belief carries. A passionate commitment to truth is an essential part of education.

Secondly, although enabling beliefs are not necessarily proven by the weight of evidence, an

open, reflective instructional method should give students the opportunity o consider how

worthwhile their beliefs are in the light of new information. If it is necessary, students should

73An open and objective study of beliefs is rooted in what Green calls "enabling” beliefs. These are those
beliefs without which no others beliefs can be warranted and these are the only beliefs that at all cost must be
affirmed. Fnahliwg beliefs include truth-telling, rationality, freedom and hope. These beliefs are the ground and
the aim of knowledge. They are maintain^ in the student by a quest for knowledge that is neither apathetic nor
fanatical.

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 42

be encouraged to accept beliefs that enrich their lives and abandon those beliefs that are

unhelpful.

To return to the story about the woman, her problem was two fold. First, she was unable

to see that if an author uses a literary device to make a point, it does not necessarily follow that

this is intentionally deceptive. The truth of the narrative rests in the insight in the story, not in

the mere retelling of events. Secondly, this woman’s belief in the historicity of the shepherds

is not itself an enabling belief. Rather, it is a belief based on the enabling belief that "God

always tells the truth.” In the argument she has confused a challenge to her belief in the

historicity of the shepherds with a challenge to her enabling beliefs. Her religious socialization

has taught her that truthful beliefs are validated by authority, not by evidence and personal

reflection.

Many people accept the principles of literary and historical criticism and apply them to

making sense of the things they read, yet they are unable to apply the same methods to religious

texts The need to protect basic religious belief systems is so strong that it can lead individuals

to violate common sense and learned critical methods. Religious education in the religious

community is often responsible for establishing this type of belief structure. It is a system

supported by conditioning and indoctrination. My personal view is that indoctrination is

inappropriate even within the religious community, but a defense of this position is beyond the

scope of this thesis.

A most helpful model which shows the activities we associate with teaching and the

relationship between beliefs and the methods used in the process of establishing these beliefs is

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suggested by T.F. Green in his Teaching Continuum.7*

The Teaching Continuum

Behaviour, Conduct Knowledge, Beliefs

Intimidation Training Instructing Propagandizing

... . 1 ....... 1 ' 1 . -

Physical Conditioning Indoctrinating Lying

Threat

The Region o f Intelligence

In Green’s teaching continuum, the central axis between training and instruction is

movable. The challenge for the religion teacher is to keep the activity of teaching in the centre

of Green’s continuum, that is, within the region o f intelligence. Green’s continuum is particularly

helpful in the area of religious education when we are dealing with enabling beliefs. By giving

greater consideration to the grounds on which our beliefs stand, the possibility of indoctrination
t
can be minimized, thus leaving students with the capacity and freedom to evaluate their own

conclusions and beliefs. As Green states:

Construction is an activity of teaching in which relatively greater weight is given

to die grounds of belief and hence instruction may still be successful when for

74Thomas F. Green, "A Topology of the Teaching Concept" in Activities of Teaching. London: Routledge
and Kegan Paul, 1972, p.34

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 44

some good reason the student rejects the belief the teacher meant him to
accept.75

Green does not believe that this method will diminish the conviction with which beliefs

are held. On the contrary, enahling beliefs such as truth-telling and trustworthiness will be

encouraged in a system that promotes open reflection. He notes:

.. .a due regard for truth involves a passionate and unswerving loyalty to certain
"pecific beliefs; although it involves a kind of fanaticism, it is an unyielding
co mmitment to just those beliefs which will not permit the fanatic to develop.7

BELIEFS AND RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

Green’s Teaching Continuum focuses the activity of teaching on the process of arriving

at beliefs and the manner in which those beliefs are held. In teaching, this will require the

teacher to challenge students’ beliefs held through faulty logic and indoctrination. The teacher

may at times produce a dissonance in the student’s belief system, pardculary when beliefs are

shown to be in error. There is a significant relationship between the beliefs people hold and the

way they create meaning in their lives. A loss of common beliefs can cause a decrease in one’s

sense of meaning. However, it must be realized that the converse is also true. When beliefs are

established and maintained through reflection and examination, there is an increase in the

meaning one has in life. The disequilibrium experienced when beliefs are challenged and the

subsequent loss of meaning occurs when the authority that supports those beliefs is challenged.

In teaching religion, students should be confronted with the possibility that some of the

75ibid.. p.32.

76M4.. p.54.

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 45

religious beliefs they hold could be in error. That is they are in contradiction to other personal

beliefs. Open critical reflection demands that the significant role of error in personal reflection

is recognized. It is the failure of our beliefs to produce meaning that strongly testify to the

notion that education must involve a continuous critique and an ongoing renewal basic beliefs.

In the religious realm, the discovery of erroneous beliefs can lead the student to doubt the

validity of those beliefs. Therefore, in the teaching proems doubt is helpful in challenging and

redirecting the learner. As Mark Webb states:

...the sensation of doubt is an internal warning system that there is some

inconsistency in the subject’s heiiefs. It calls attention to the inconsistency and
provides the impetus for fresh inquiry to resolve it.77

When religious beliefs are called into question, the effect is felt : 1 other parts of a

person’s life. While religious beliefs are not always enabling beliefs, it could be argued that

e n a b lin g beliefs are always religious (in the "broad" sense of the word.) This I believe was

Alfred North Whitehead’s understanding when he suggested that all education was religious. The

fu n d a m e n ta l distinction between religious beliefs and other beliefs is illustrated by the differences

in how the validity of a belief is tested. E.M . Adams notes:

...one does not have to believe a scientific theory in order to put it to the test of
action based on it. But one does have to believe religious claims in order to put
them to the test of whether they will work in redirecting and enhancing one’s
life.78

When a religious belief is c h a l l e n g e d , the individual’s m e a n i n g *ructure is questioned. Anthony

Kenny calls this the individual’s noetic structure. He explains:

^M ark Webb, 'Religious Experience as Doubt Resolution* in E. D. Klemke, ed., The Meaning of Life.
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1981, p. 84.

78E.M.Adams. 'Accountability of Religious Discourse* in Klemke, op.cit. p.3

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Let us call the assemblage of beliefs a person holds together with the various
logical and epistemic relations that hold among them, that person’s noetic
structure.79

A noetic structure is held tightly together because it provides a contour to a human life and a

sense of meaning and conviction that the present belief structure is better than no structure at all.

Kenny illustrates his point by referring to the relationship between the arrival of new

information and our existing noetic structure. For example, an individual believes in the

existence of a place call Australia. That belief is rooted in his noetic structure and while it may

be supported by empirical evidence, conviction about the existence of Australia is more

fundamental then evidence. If someone produced an atlas of the world which did not contain

a map of Australia, the individual would assume that th *. map was wrong, rather than concluding

that Australia did not exist. If after much investigation it was proved that Australia did not exist,

the individual’s noetic structure would be called into question. All the other information that had

come to the person in the same way, that is through early socialization and authority, would be

called into question. A new way of thinking would have to be developed so that new meanings

could be experienced.

The teacher in presenting information to students is continuously challenging and shaping

their noetic structures. In the realm of religion this is particularly significant because many of

the religious beliefs children hold have come from their families. Therefore, the teacher’s

sensitivity to the learning experience is vital. While always encouraging openness and reflective

thinking, the teacher must allow room for students to retain at least for a while religious beliefs

that the teacher may think unsound. Rather than challenging religious beliefs, even if they are

79
Anthony Kenny. Faith and Reason. New York: Columbia University Press. 1983, p. 12.

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based in religious exclusivism, the teacher would often do better to encourage particular religious

or spiritual traits helpful to the students* development. Religious education can strengthen

enabling beliefs particularly when they express the human qualities of sympathy, benevolence,

justice, humility, truth-telling and so forth. By strengthening these qualities in the student,

religious beliefs can be better held with conviction and tolerance.

When this approach to teaching is applied to the area of religious narrative, the teacher

will be obliged to allow children to interpret the story to meet their own needs. Sometimes this

will produce an affective response, while at other times the student will look for answers

resulting in beliefs. Either way, the child is responding to the images, myths and thoughts in

the story and discovering appropriate meanings.

As noted earlier, the belief that life has meaning provides an individual with an enabling

belief.80 Some beliefs are more significant than others primarily because they are

psychologically central to the individual. Therefore, in the learning process the teacher must

attempt to establish enabling beliefs in students in such a way that two conditions are met.

(i) The enabling belief is taught in such a way that the student recognizes that
conviction is an essential quality of an enabling belief. To teach a due regard for
truth without encouraging a passionate conviction for truth will rob the student of
an enabling belief.

(ii) An enabling belief, while not proven through reason or evidence, is nevertheless
strengthened by reflection on broader human experience.

TOWARD A NON-INDOCTRINARY RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

An analysis of the three major schools of thought on indoctrination and an understanding

"V .F . Green, "Indoctrination and Beliefs” in Snook, o p .c it. p.25.

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of the nature of religious beliefs is essential to clarify the concept of indoctrination and to

construct a working theory that will assist in deciding whether or not a particular activity is

indoctrination. No single criterion is adequate to the task of defining indoctrination. Therefore,

one approach may be more appropriate than another in a given situation. Neither content nor

method nor intent is sufficient to define an activity as indoctrination: rather, each criterion is

helpful in its own way. If, in attempting to define the concept of indoctrination, one keeps the

learner as the locus of activity, as William Casement suggests,81 then the following questions

become significant in defining indoctrination:

(i) Is there the use of methods that are efficient in establishing uncritical and closed
minded beliefs in the student?

(ii) Is there a disregard for the fact that religious belief is a subject area highly
susceptible to indoctrination?

(iii) Is there a ‘stacking of the deck’ and a limiting of student’s access to the reasons
and evidence that support religious beliefs?

(iv) And is it the teacher’s intention to implant beliefs in the student that are
unshakable and unquestionable?

In this re-clarification of indoctrination the term remains pejorative and there is no attempt

to define indoctrination in terms of pure rationality. I suspect that a significant part of the

problem in defining indoctrination is the dogged commitment of many analytical philosophers

to a purely rational education. In their writings there is little appreciation of the formative

aspects of the emotions or the physical and the spiritual dimensions of human life, and little

understanding of the legitimate role o f socialization.

81
"...this important point seems to have been missed by those philosophers who argue about the relative
importance of method vs content vs intent. Their arguments are misleading in that they tend to shift emphasis from
consideration of the learner." William Casement, "Another Look at Indoctrination," The Journal of Educational
Thought. Vol. 17. No. 3, December 1983, p.237.

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 49

Mary Anne Raywid does recognize the importance of the non-rational dimension of

education. She states:

...o u r original encounter with reality leaves all of us imprinted with the idea that
(this reality) is inevitable and cannot be otherwise ... [then quoting Berger and
Luckman, she w rites]... the child does not internalize the world of his significant
others as one of many possible worlds. He internalises it as the world, the only
existent and only conceivable world.82

If this early socialization is to be recognized as a natural and normal part of life, it is important

that later teaching bring these early attitudes, beliefs and feelings to the surface and provide an

open, critical environment in which they can be criticized and reappropriated. The teacher

becomes the indoctrinator only when he or she restricts children’s growing desire for freedom

and limits the questions they may ask.

Historically religious education has been rooted in an authoritarian approach to education.

A significant number of educational philosophers have criticized the teaching of religion in

schools because it has foiled to provide an open and reflective approach to learning. Anthony

Flew writing in a confrontational manner, states:

...the most widespread and the most successful program of indoctrination is that
of the schools which maintain their separate and independent existence precisely
in order to inculcate belief in the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church. Any
philosophy of education which is to be...adequately relevant and realistic has got
to face this fact.83

Robin Barrow makes a similar, though not so provocative charge when he writes:

...if schools attempt to initiate children into a particular religion, if, that is to say,
they take particular steps with the intention of committing children to a set of
beliefs, they are guilty of indoctrination. For we have defined indoctrination as

^Raywid, o p .cit. p. 147.

Antony Flew, 'Indoctrination and Religion,' in Snook, op.cit. p. 106.

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the intentional i m p l a n t i n g of belief so that it will stick, by nonrational m eans...84

While both Flew and Barrow have a strong case in that historically religious education in both

public and religious schools was often religious indoctrination. Nevertheless, it is unreasonable

to claim that religious education is always religious indoctrination in those settings.

If a teacher attempts to initiate students into a particular religious understanding, and if

that teacher gives reasonable evidence in favour of the particular religious idea, and if this is

conducted in a critical, questioning environment, then it would be difficult to maintain the charge

of indoctrination. While the teacher may be persuading or influencing students and an individual

committed to another world view may not find the activity particularly worthwhile, persuasion

is still a legitimate activity in teaching.

Because the relationship between teacher and students is based largely upon the authority

of the teacher supported by the institutional authority of the school and state, the danger of

indoctrination always exists. This is complicated by the role of authority in religion. Much

religious teaching and many religious doctrines find their source of authority in tradition. R.S.

Peters has used Max Weber’s analysis of cultural authority to consider the cultural base for

episteraoiogical claims. In Weber’s view there are three different authority systems, each with

a different ground of legitimacy. They are:

(i) Legal-Rational authority - based on legality and rule keeping.

(ii) Traditional authority - based on the sanctity of traditions.

(iii) Charismatic authority - based on heroism and exemplary character.

While Peters recognizes that education in schools is rooted in both legal-rational and traditional

^htobin Barrow. The Philosophy of Schooling. 1981. Quoted in Sealey, o p .cit. p.62.

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authority, he nevertheless suggests that authority as the basis of knowledge is at best an

expediency, which can be jettisoned once the student has grasped the true basis of knowledge,

which is reason and evidence.83 The validity of an institution, notes Peters, depends on an

appeal to auth

ority; whereas in knowledge there is no such ultimate appeal, because knowledge is based on

reason and evidence and therefore the findings of the slowest student can shatter the most

cherished theory of a great authority.86 The use of authority as a principle of procedure in the

teaching of religions is, as Peters suggests, an immoral way to treat the child.87 When the

transmission of knowledge is taken seriously and due regard is given to the role of reason and

evidence as epistemotagical foundations, then a non-indoctrinating religious education can

! develop.
i

| The British religious educator John Hull believes that a critical openness saves religious
i

education from a blind faith in authority. The religious indoctrinator according to Hull, believes

i that;
I ...the authoritarian decree is right because of its power alone. The authoritarian
person is right because he says so, the authoritarian book is true because it claims
to be. Here openness becomes disobedience and criticism is impudence.88

By appealing to a charismatic or traditional base for authority in religious knowledge, the

religious indoctrinator violates the method criterion. Reason and evidence are needed as much

8SR.S. Peters, Ethics and Education. Atlanta: Scott, Foresmaa and Co., 1966, p. 159.

“ ifeid., p.34.

^R-S. Peters, Ai^thnrjjfy aiyi Responsibility in Education. New York: Atherton Press, 1967, p.91.

^John Hull, op.cit. p.26.

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in religious education as in any educational activity. Although it is obvious that the evidence

needed to support religious belief is of a different nature from that which is needed in the

empirical sciences, evidence is nevertheless required.

A critical openness to the study of religion will save the teacher from the charge of

indoctrinating by providing students with world views other than their personal religious view.

The student should consider the valid claims of other world views - religious, atheistic and

humanistic - if they are to develop beliefs, opinions and attitudes helpful in the pursuit of a

m eaningful life within a pluralistic society. When students are provided with another point of

view, their assumptions are broadened and the basis of their knowledge increased:

It is only sensible that there should be a strong commitment to rational religious

beliefs provided they are held in the spirit of critical openness and with the
contemplation of the possibility (although not the expectation of the likelihood)
that they may be false.89

When critical openness is stressed as a method of teaching in religious education, students

are brought to understand and evaluate the underlying rationale for what they are learning. It

is this understanding of the basis of their knowledge, that is, reason, evidence and theories, that

saves teaching from being indoctrination. As R.S. Peters suggests, indoctrination is:

...that which involves either merely the inculcation of beliefs or the addition of
a rationale which discourages the evaluation of beliefs e.g. the appeal to authority
as a backing.90

It has been this appeal to authority and the content of religious education that has given it its

place in the history of indoctrination. The word indoctrination only became a pejorative term

^ Ib id.. p.34.

90Peters. Ethics and Education, op.cit.. p. 168.

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when it was recognized that a knowledge claim must be based on evidence and reason rather than

traditional authority. As W.D. Hudson has noted, "Anything properly called religious education

must aim at la u n c h in g a pupil on his own voyage of discovery into that dimension of life."41

CONCLUSION

In this Chapter I have argued the position that teaching religion will always involved the

teacher in examining the religious beliefs of the students. This activity will inevitable bring the

teacher into the realm of indoctrination. For religious education to be free from indoctrination

the teacher must use methods that promote open inquiry and create a climate in the classroom

in which the student’s religious beliefs can be freely examined. However, while it can be

established that religious education can be taught in the public school through a non-indoctrinary

approach, the question still remains "On what grounds does this approach to teaching religion

stand as a worth-while activity within a comprehensive education?" This issue is taken up in the

next Chapter.

91W.D. Hudson, "Is Religious Education Possible?" in Glen Langford and D J. O’Connor. New Essavs in the
Philosophy of Education. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1973, p. 192.

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 CHAPTER 3

Prior to h»«ng religious or irreligious, before we come to think of ourselves as Catholic.

Protestant, Jews or Muslims, we are already engaged with issues of faith. Whether we become
non-believers, agnostics, or atheists, we are concerned with how to put o ar lives together and with
what will make life worth living. Moreover, we lode for something to love that loves us,
sntneriiing to value that gives us value, something to honour and respect that has the power to
sustain our being.
- James Fowlsr

THE RATIONALE FOR MULTI-FAITH RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

The rationale for religious education in the school must ultimately rest on educational,

philosophical and spiritual grounds. The strength of the recent move to "multi-faith” religious

education in Great Britain has been the commitment of religious educators to the same general

educational goals that govern all parts of the curriculum. One of the risks in promoting religious

education in the schools is that the traditional role of religious instruction will be used as a

primary justification of its place in the curriculum. This must not be the case. Derek Webster

has stated strongly his conviction that educational goals are the only appropriate justification for

religious education in the school. He writes:

A justification can only arise from an argument about the distinctive nature of
religious education, and not from a view about its merit as an instrument for the
furtherance of the aims of other subjects in the curriculum...The warrant for
religious education in the curriculum rests on its educational significance.
Religious education is about a distinctive way in which men and women express
their experience of life. This means that it is valuable as an area of knowledge.
Ultimately its justification does not arise from the legislation which prescribes it,
nor from the strength of public opinion. Rather it is worthwhile for what it is

54

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itself...92

The traditional argument based on die premise that the teaching of religion, and specifically

Christianity, has an unchallengeable place in public education fails to recognize the cultural and

religious mix in contemporary society. This approach is based on a static view of society; one

that wishes to impose a cultural legacy on the present.

While several countries have laws that require the teaching of religion and specifically

Christianity in die classroom, in recent years these requirements have generally been called into

question. The experience in Australia, Canada and Great Britain suggests that a more productive

approach is to argue for the teaching of Christianity and other religions because of their

important historical and contemporary role in the development of society and their continued

importance in the quest for personal meaning. There is no problem if a society deems that the

teaching of a particular subject should be a compulsory part of a comprehensive education. This

is problematic only when authority or historical precedent becomes the justification for teaching

in this area of knowledge. Teaching religion in the school rests on its value as a significant

element of comprehensive education.

PHILOSOPHICAL-EDUCATIONAL RATIONALE FOR TEACHING RELIGION

Two contemporary educational philosophers, Paul Hirst in Britain and Philip Phenix in

the United States, have invited educators to ground their religious education in general

^durational theory and to recognize that there are a complexity of epistemological goals in

92Deiek H. Webster, "Religious Education in State Schools” in V.AIan MacClelland ed., Christian Education
in a Pluralist Society. London: Routledge and Regan Paul, 1988, p.55.

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religious education. Whereas Paul Hirst distinguishes several "forms of knowledge" or "forms

of life” which are neither equatable nor reducible to any other form , Phenix begins with an

existential base and defines six "realms of meaning" in the educational process. Hirst’s forms

of knowledge are listed as follows:93

Form s of Knowledge

(i) Formal logic and mathematics.

(ii) The physical sciences.

(Hi) Truths of a mental or personal kind.

(iv) Moral judgement and awareness.

(v) Aesthetics (literature and fine arts).

(vi) Religion.

(vii) Philosophy.

Following Wittgenstein, Hirst differentiates these forms by identifying the fundamental

and central concepts in each. For example, there are fundamental concepts in religious knowing

that can be identified and understood only by recognizing a religious epistemology. Therefore,

for education to be comprehensive the teacher must "initiate” the student into all forms of

knowing, including the religious form. Richard Peters concurs with this approach when he states

that "within the domain of objective experience and knowledge, there are such radical differences

of kind that experience and knowledge of one form is neither equatable with, nor reducible to,

93This list is adapted from Michael Grimmitt, Religious Education and Human Development. Great Watering.
Essex. England: McCrimmon Publishing Co. Ltd., 1987, p.20.

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that of any other form ."94

Hirst and the others from the University of London Institute of Education have provided

educators with a rationale for religious education in the school based on the grounds that

religious knowledge is an epistemological "given” and therefore a worthwhile activity in

education. W hile Hirst may have established a convincing rationale for the teaching of religion,

his claim that the religious "form of life” has been derived simply through rational argument,

without consideration of its ability to bring meaning to the student, is problematic.

A more satisfying approach is postulated by Philip Phenix, who begins his philosophy of

education with the notion that teaching is a process of engendering essential meanings. He

d is tin g u is h e s six distinctive ways in which human beings make sense of their experience.95

They are as follows:

Realms o f Meaning Discipline

(X) Symbolics Ordinary language, mathematics, non-discursive

symbolic forms

(ii) Empirics Physical sciences, life sciences, psychology, social

sciences.

(iii) Esthetics Music, visual arts, arts of movement, literature.

(iv) Synnoetics Philosophy, psychology, literature, religion, in their

existential aspects.

(v) Ethics The varied special areas of moral and ethical

concern.

94Paul Hirst and R.S. Peters, The Louie of Education. London: Routledge and ’ -gan Paul. 1970, p.65.

9SPhilip Phenix, of M«miny New York: McGiaw Hill. 1964, p.28.

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(vi) Syuoptics History, religion and philosophy.

According to Phenix, students are educated when they have a general understanding of all six

"realms of m eaning" which provides students with the ability to elicit meaning from the

variegated content of hum an experience. Religion falls into the realms of both Synnoetics and

Synoptics. By Synnoetics Phenix means the realm of life concerned with our understanding of

human nature and of the relationships between human beings. Religion, in this category, plays

a vital role in the quest for a meaningful life. By Synoptics he means the realm of life concerned

with constructing a coherent pattern of meaning. In this category, religion is defined in the

"broad" sense. All people have need of a comprehensive system of value. By bringing

together a the Synnoetic realm of meaning with the Synoptic realm, Phenix’s system helps

students integrate all other meanings into their life. He writes:

Religion is concerned with ultimate meanings, that is, with meanings from any
realm whatsoever, considered from the standpoint of such boundary concepts as
the whole, the Comprehensive, and the Transcendent.96

Phenix’s contribution to the debate about teaching religion in the school is his commitment to

education as a search for meaning. Education therefore, can be effective only when it is rooted

in our knowledge of human nature and our need for meaningful activity.97

The fragmentation of knowledge into distinct subject areas has left modern education with

a compartmentalized view of the human being. The fields of biology, psychology, anthropology,

sociology, economics and political science hive developed distinct goals and methodologies

which are in isolation from other disciplines and often in conflict with each other. Arguing for

96ifeid.. p.7.

"ib id .. p.29.

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a unifying concept, Phenix concludes that the concept of "meaning" provides education with a

necessary goal and method based on an understanding of human nature. Michael Grimmitt °'so

takes up this issue in his call for a religious education that answers the question "What does it

mean to be human?" He states:

...w e should note that a religious view of man and of the human condition
consists of an interpretation of human "being" and human "nature" using religious
categories of thought and understanding which combine to produce a coherent
framework of meaning.98

It is to the idea that "meanings" should underpin our educational philosophy in general and our

philosophy of religious education in particular that I will return in Chapter Four. Suffice it to

say here that both Hirst and Phenix are helpful in providing both an epistemological and

existential rationale for the teaching vf religion in the public school. In the long term, these will

be grounds that educators will turn to in developing programmes of reiigious education.

PHILOSOPHICAL-SPIRITUAL RATIONALE FOR TEACHING RELIGION

Religious education in the public school will require educators to rethink some of the

assumptions of modem education. The French philosopher Jacques Maritain, writing in 1930

contended that there are two major categories of notions concerning humanity; the purely

scientific idea of hum ankind and the philosophical-religious one. Maritain argues that the current

bias toward the scientific idea of hum anity has brought us to a cul-de-sac in educational theory.

The over-depende**ce on a sense-experience model of education and the exclusion of a robust

discussion of the philosophical and religious ends of education has weakened the value base

98
Grimmitt, zp.riu. p. 91.

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necessary for the quest for human meaning and has deprived schooling of humane ends and

outcomes.

A necessary corrective to this situation is a fundamental shift in the metaphors that govern

the way we envisage education. Unfortunately, modem education regards discussion of the

philosophical and religious ends of education as weak, ostensibly because these ends are not

tangible, visible or quantifiable. Nevertheless, a major shift is necessary if public education is

to fulfil its own goal of schooling pupils in that which is ultimately worthwhile.

The public educational system is to a large degree a reflection of our society. The

strength of public education in the past has been its ability to hold in tension the diversity of

religious, political and cultural groups, while also seeking to discover the core values that enable

us to construct a vision of life together. The political and philosophical vision at the centre of

our educational system has largely been the liberal-scientific view.

It is my view that only a philosophical-religious-spiritual view of humanity is large

enough to incorporate the essential, intrinsic and technical ends of education. The assertion that

the scientific view of humanity fails to address the ontological content of human existence calls

modem education to account for its over-emphasis on technical outcomes. By not addressing

questions of being, essence and existence, modem schooling provides only a partial response to

the true end of education. Religious education on the other hand invites public education to deal

with such questions and thereby restores the philosophical-religious aim of education advocated

by many educational philosophers in this century.

It is not my intention to reject the claim that one of the major outcomes of education is

technical competence. However, this goal has unfortunately overshadowed the primary focus

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of all education, that is, the development of spiritual, intellectual and moral capacities. Maritain

brings this into sharp focus when he states:

We may now define in a precise manner the aim of education. It is to guide man
in the evolving dynamism through which he shapes himself as a human person -
armed with knowledge, strength of judgement, and moral virtues - while at the
same time conveying to him the spiritual heritage of the nation and the civilization
in which he is involved, and preserving in this way the century-old achievements
of generations. The utilitarian aspect of education - which enables the youth to
get a job and make a living - must surely not be disregarded, for the children of
man are not made for aristocratic leisure. But this practical aim is best provided
by the general human capacities developed. And the ulterior specialized training
which may be required must never imperil the essential aim of education."

As Maritain suggests, the utilitarian aspects of schooling are important, but it is the quest

for spiritual values that makes practical education meaningful. A fundamental justification for

the teaching of religion in the public school is that a comprehensive education must provide

students with practical and theoretical skills in the area of personal values; life stances; core

cultural values; and spiritual values such as wonder, awe and mystery. While spirituality is

traditionally associated with religion in the narrow sense, religious (and spiritual) education in

the public school should be concerned with developing in students broad skills, attitudes and

resources, discovered in the world religions (and elsewhere) and adapted by the student in a

personal philosophy of life. As Derek H. Webster has suggested

Clearly, if [spirituality] is to have value for education it needs to have relevance

within and without religions. It requires rooting within the human person and
needs to function within a network of concepts whose relative importance is
established.100

A philosophy of religious education that attempts to be truly multi-faith must be able to

Jacques Maritain, Education at the Crossroads. New Haven: Yale University Press. 1943.

100Derek H. Webster, op.cit.. p.66.

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provide a defence against the charges of religious syncretism, superficiality and reductionism.

The tgnginn we discover in developing a philosophical rationale of religious education in the

public school is the same tension we confront in other parts of contemporary society. We deal

with these issues daily, because we are in a "post-Christian" era. No longer can the Christian

church or the fh ris tia n belief system demand preferential treatment in the political realm. This

is not to say that the Christian church many not be involved in an "apologetic” and "evangelical"

role in society at large. Rather, the "apologetic" and "evangelical" activities are inappropriate

as official activities in the public sphere.

DEVELOPMENTALISM AS A RATIONALE FOR TEACHING RELIGION

A major shift in the way educators thought about teaching religion came with the

publishing of Ronald Goldman’s book Readinessfo r Religion. 101 Goldman, basing his research

on Piaget’s structure of intellectual development, suggested that a developmental approach could

provide the necessary rationale for religious education in modem society. Piaget postulated that

the child passes through three stages of intellectual development. These stages can be simplified

to:

1. Intuitive: (pre-operational, unsystematic and ego-centric) Piaget believed that

this stage was operative until the age of seven or eight.

2. Concrete: (content orientated) The child is concerned with the why questions.
This stage lasts from eight years until about thirteen years.

3. Abstract: (formal operations, hypothetical and deductive reasoning) This stage

operates from adolescence into adulthood.

l0iRonald Goldman. Readiness for Religion: A Basis for Developmental Religious Education. London:
Routledge and Kegan Paul. 1965.

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Applying these principles to the teaching of religion in the British school system, Goldman

concluded that much of the child’s religious teaching was either irrelevant or inappropiate to their

development. Theological and doctrinal teaching often violated both the moral autonomy of the

child and the child’s own developmental time clock. Goldman observed teachers presenting

overly abstract concepts to children who had a "concrete” view of life. Therefore, Goldman

advocated a religious education that was in step with intellectual development of the child. He

states:

Religious growth is not something separate from the rest of the child’s
development. It is an interpretation of all his experiences, which he relates to
what he believes to be the nature of the divine. In a sense religious growth is
dependent upon all growth, since unless the child has a fairly wide range of
experiences to draw upon, he cannot begin to interpret and relate them to a
theological world view. In other words, there is a time lag between general
experience and the interpretation of it.102

Goldman and curriculum developers who followed him had two major concerns. T*

were:

1. The child’s limited experience excluded them from understanding the "adult"
concepts in religious literature in general and the Bible in particular.

2. Because of the child’s "intuitive-literalism” introducing the Bible to them at too

young an age would mean the child would need to "unlearn” much in adult life.

Goldman has made a valuable contribution to the field of childhood religious thinking in

demonstrating that much of the symbolic nature of religion is lost on young children. However,

he failed to recognize that the answer to this problem was not to keep religious literature away

from children, but rather to assist children to "be in the religious story." In my view the limited

experience of the child will not be remedied by withholding religious literature from the child.

ia2feid., p.26.

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Only by exposing a child to a wide range of religious stories and concepts will he or she advance

to a more sophisticated understanding of religion.

FAITH DEVELOPMENT AS A RATIONALE FO R TEACHING RELIGION

While Goldman was an early exponent of developmental religious education, his

conclusions were too narrow to provide a comprehensive theory for religious education in the

public school. His goals for religious education were ostensibly cognitive and gave little

attention to other important goals of education. The theory developed by James Fowler is far

more ambitious giving central place to the quest for meaning.

The literature surrounding faith development103 reveals at least three major areas of

concern, which give rise to significant questions about the adequacy of a developmental view of

faith as a comprehensive rationale for teaching religion. First, does Fowler’s approach to

religious or spiritual growth adequately represent the dynamic nature of religion as people

experience it? Secondly, is the "image* or "metaphor" of development a helpful one for

religious education? Thirdly, how adequate is Fowler’s definition of the word "faith,"

particularly when it is used in the context of public education? Because Fowler intentionally

chose to call his scheme "faith development” rather than "religious development" or "spiritual

development,” a clear definition of the word faith is essential. Yet it seems that Fowler has

confused the issue by moving too easily between a religious definition of faith as "ultimate

concern" and the common use of faith as "trust in” someone or something. Further, there is the

I03While the idea of development or growth in the religious life has always been a part of the world’s religions
and Christianity in particular, it was Janies Fowler who is responsible for promoting the concept of "Ruth
Development" as a synonym for religious growth. Consequently, I will sometimes refer to "James Fowler’s
approach" and at other times to "faith development." In both cases I am referring to the same notion.

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question of whether or not the first use of faith as "ultimate concern" actually has reference to

a universal experience of humankind in the same way that the second does? Fowler’s theory is

based on limited research within the Judaeo-Christian tradition. Therefore, one might ask, does

faith development have validity in other religious communities? Do Hindus or Taoists or

Muslims experience faith as ultimate concern? This raises problems with the universality (so

important in human developmental schemes) of Fowler’s approach.

Having raised these questions I will consider Fowler’s method. What is original in his

scheme is that he has brought theology, the study of comparative religion, and moral

development together into a comprehensive scheme called faith development. He has expressed

his indebtedness to at least two Christian theologians, H.Richard Niebuhr and Paul Tillich.

From Niebuhr, he has borrowed the notion that the teleology of human development is located

in the "Kingdom of God." From Tillich comes the definition of faith as "ultimate concern."

And a third influence on Fowler is the research of Wilfred Cantwell Smith. Unlike the former,

Smith is not a theologian but rather a scholar in comparative religion. By bringing these

theological and religious assumptions to bear on the developmental frameworks suggested by

Piaget, Erikson and Kohlberg, Fowler believes he has concieved a unique and helpful approach

to understanding the religious life. He states:

When I became aware of the research and theories of Piaget and Kohlberg, I
began to sense that the broadly phenomenological understanding of faith I had
learned from Paul Tillich, H.Richard Niebuhr, and Wilfred Cantwell Smith,
would be susceptible to structural-developmental investigation.104

Fowler’s mentors, Niebuhr, Tillich and Smith, had each wrestled with a definition of

104James W. Fowler, "Life/Faith Patterns: Structures of Trust and Loyalty,’ in J.Berryman, ed.. Life Maps:
Conversations on the Journey of Faith. Waco, Texas: Word Books, 1978, p.35.

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faith, Niebuhr in a sociological context, Tillich within the philosophical-theological area and

Smith w i t h i n the broad parameters of the world’s religions. Each had arrived at a definition that

recognised faith as a universal experience. Hence Fowler notes that he learned to think of faith

as:

...a universal human concern. Prior to being religious or irreligious, before we

come to think of ourselves as Catholic, Protestant, Jews or Muslims, we are
already engaged with issues of faith. Whether we become non-believers,
agnostics, or atheists, we are concerned with how to put our lives together and
with what will maka life worth living. Moreover, we look for something to love
that loves us, something to value that gives us value, something to honour and
respect that has the power to sustain our being.105

Beginning with the assumption that human beings develop intellectually, morally and

spiritually; and that faith can be defined as a universal experience, Fowler approaches faith

development as an epistemological problem or "a kind of knowing."106 In Fowler’s scheme

this is a religious kind of knowing, one that is distinct from belief in propositions such as "God

exits" or "God is love," and more in harmony with personal knowledge that finds its meaning

in one’s source of ultimate value. This conclusion is not unlike Phenix’s notion that human

meaning ultimately rests in the religious realm, defined in the "broad" sense. To be fully

developed in Fowler’s scheme one need not hold particular religious beliefs, but rather one must

have a truly ultimate centre of value. Commitment to values such as justice or compassion

toward all humanity are prized in Fowler’s scheme.

Fowler’s reliance on Kohlberg’s theory is strong at this point. For Kohlberg, a person

is morally developed when he or she arrives at a particular moral decision or action, guided by

105James W . Fowler. Stages of faith: The Psychology o f Human Development and the Quest for M eaning
San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1981, p.5.

106ibid.. p.98.

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personal reflection and commitment to a Rawlsian notion of justice.107 So when Fowler brings

together Tillich’s notion of "ultimate concern" and Rawls’ principle of universal justice he has

the goal of faith development. However the question whether universal human development is

accurate to religious experience must be asked. In the next section I will consider this question

with particular consideration to die idea of religious conversion.

1. Faith Development and R eligious Experience

Fowler’s developmental process is not limited to the cognitive development of the child.

For Fowler the individual passes through a series of stages, each more developmental^

sophisticated than the previous one. The movement from one stage to the next is largely

predictable, based on the intellectual and emotional structure shared by all people. Fowler has

adopted developmentalism rather than proving it; therefore, the fundamental question "Do

religious people really develop?" is left unanswered.

The concept of development has had tremendous influence in western thought.

Development is orthodoxy in economics, politics, psychology, education and many other fields

of human endeavour. However, some have the question, "Is development an idea that has out­

lived its usefulness?" While I am unqualified to speak at any length on development in

economics, several feminist philosophers have suggested that development, interpreted as

progress, is hindering humanity from building a just and equitable society. With regard to

religious thought many modem commentators believe the idea of religious development locks us

107See Lawrence Kholberg, The Philosophy of Moral Development. Harper and Row: San Francisco. 1981.
in particular Chapter 8, "Moral and Religious Education and the Public Schools: A Developmental View. * pp. 294-
305.

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into a patriarchal and hierarchical vision of life. Development, in my view, remains a he'pful

image in religion and education. However, there is a present need to explore other images and

metaphors of growth if both religion and education are to remain dynamic forces in the

individual's life.

Fowler, in my opinion, is too uncritical of the image of development. In fact when some

evidence that development may not account for the way people experience religion is

demonstrated, Fowler generally ignores it, or construes it to fit a developmental framework. An

example of this is the way he handles the idea of religious conversion. For Fowler, conversion

is dealt with as the content of faith, while maintaining that the structure of faith, that is

development, is left unaltered by the religious experience of conversion. The literature on

conversion is a healthy corrective to this notion. Contrary to Fowler’s assumption it indicates

that with religious conversion changes occur in both die content and the structure of faith. Lewis

Rambo suggests that:

...conversion is a significant re-centring of one’s previous conscious or

unconscious images of value and power, [there is] the conscious adaptation of a
new set of master stories in the commitment to reshape one’s life in a new
community of interpretation and action. ”10<>

This view of conversion is collaborated by the Catholic theologian Bernard Lonergan.

He suggests dun when conversion occurs in the lives of individuals:

...it is not merely a change or a development; rather, it is a radical transformation

on which follows, on all levels of living, an interlocking series of changes and

108Lewis Rambo. 'Psychological Perspectives on Conversion’ Pacific Theological Review, vol. 13. no.2.
Spring. 1980, p.22.

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developments.109

Both Lewis Rambo and Bernard Lonergan see the dynamic of human life centred in the

acts of conversion or fundamental change. While conversion is a religious term, it can be used

in the sense that individuals change their enabling beliefs. Based on this notion, Lonergan has

developed a theory of conversion which incorporates three elements. They are:

(i) Intellectual Conversion.

This is the move in the individual from the empiricist view that
knowing is like looking to a recognition that knowing is
experiencing, understanding, judging and believing.

(ii) Moral Conversion.

In this case there is a movement from the infantile desire for
satisfaction to an embracing of human values.

(iii) Religious Conversion.

This is falling in love with or being grasped by ultimate concern.

Each of Lonergan’s conversions reflects on aspects of self-transcendence and the

experience of transformation. Perhaps what separates Lonergan’s view from Fowler’s is that, for

Lonergan, these conversions are like a fresh start, a new beginning and a pathway to further

development and clarification of the meaning of life, while in contrast, Fowler images each

stage of development as a necessary precursor to the one that follows. One cannot miss a stage

of development in Fowler’s scheme. This is not the case with Lonergan’s approach. Here

conversion is a radical restructuring of one’s life; development ceases to be the gradual

movement from one stage to another, it becomes a dynamic interaction between the individual

109Benard Lonergan. "Theology in Its New Context,* in Walter Conn. ed., Conversion: Perspectives on
Personal and Social Transformations. New York: Alba House. 1978, p. 13.

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and the experiences he or she encounters. The consequences of Lonergan’s view are that the

experience; of human life radically alter the very structure of how people relate to the world.

There is a shift in their noetic structure and the/ act differently from how they acted before the

experience. They now see things in a different light and act with a different structural pattern

from the one they used prior to the conversion experience. While the experience of conversion

does not fit the way all people have encountered life or religion, it is fair to say that the notion

of a pattern for religious stages of growth that is sequential and hierarchical cannot be regarded

as the universal experience of all people either. In particular, it will not adequately describe the

experience of those who have had dynamic encounter with religion in their lives.

Religious conversion is a phenomenon that illustrates the difficulty in maintaining a notion

of religious growth patterned on other forms of human development. Development in general,

with the implication of a steady building block image, is not always a helpful metaphor in

u n d e r st a n d i n g religious growth. The image of development has a firm hold on our understanding

of religious growth. The exclusion of other metaphors for religious growth, is an unhealthy

development in education in general and religious education in particular, primarily because in

excludes the validity of many people’s experience of life.

Modem f e m in is t religious educators are a case in point. Maria Harris, a Catholic

educator, asks the question, "Why does religious growth have to be imaged as moving ahead,

why can’t we image it as moving to the heart of things?" Harriet Miller in a relevant article,

"Human Development: Making Webs or Pyramids”, draws her conclusions from how women

experience religious growth. She writes:

There is a need to represent in the mapping of development a non-hierarchial

image of human connection to show in the vision of maturity the reality of

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interdependence.110

Both Harris and M iller represent a growing awareness among women that the central images and

metaphors of religious education exclude their experience of life. As a metaphor, development

has a powerful hold over us. It is by and large the way we image the world today. While it does

capture a part of die picture of how students learn, it cannot be regarded as the only way.

2. Faith Developm ent and U niversal Homan Experience

Faith is not a centre of value for Fowler, it is the onty centre that gives human life its

ultimate meaning. While others have suggested that human life centres on a cluster of values,

Fowler believes that only a "monotheistic" centre can provide people with ultimate meaning.

This raises the difficulty of how the word faith is being used by Fowler. He discusses the

evolution of the word and concludes that in contemporary use it has two major meanings. First,

to have faith is to believe in the existence of something or someone. Faith by this definition is

an essential aspect of all human life. That is, it means to have trust enough to act. One might

say, "I have faith in this chair, that when I sit on it, it will not collapse. O r "I have faith in the

honesty of my friend." Faith by this definition can be measured by degree. It need not be

absolute or have a transcendent reference. If my friend is dishonest or the chair collapses under

my weight, I may be surprised or shaken, but my world view and my centre of value and

meaning will remain intact because my faith in this chair or this person is not intrinsically related

to the meaningfulness of the world.

110Harriet Miller, ’Human Development: Making Webs or Pyramids’ in Fern M. Giltner, ed., Women's Issues
in Religious Education. Birm ingham, Alabama: Religious Education Press, 1985, p.lS7.

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Secondly, to have faith is to "rest our hearts upon something."111 For Fowler, this

second sense involves devoting ourselves to something or someone that has an intrinsic excellence

or worth and promises to confer value on us.112 While all people have a value centre, is it

reasonable to postulate that only a monotheistic, transcendent centre is adequate for human

development? This is an important question because Fowler’s system focuses on this second

sense of faith and purports to explain and chart the human quest for meaning. In the final

analysis Fowler is not constructing a theory which considers the development of religious people

(in the narrow sense;) rather he is advocating that all human beings find ultimate meaning in

faith. Consequently, those who articulate their sense of meaning in this form are classified in

the higher stages, while those whose centre of meaning is less unified and not ultimate are

classified at a lesser stage of development.

By emphasizing faith as the central focus of the human quest for meaning, it is not clear

how Fowler distingt hes his scheme from other schemes that deal with the meaning of human

life. From Mary Ford-Grebowsky’s study of Carl Jung and the Benedictine mystic Hildegard

of Bingen, she suggests that Fowler has confused ego development with faith development.113

She notes that the first four stages of Fowler’s scheme concentrate on the ego development of

the person, while stages five and six are essentially spiritual development. She arrives at this

conclusion by suggesting that in stages 1 through 4 the individual, according to Fowler is

dominated by his or her personal concerns. If this is the case it would make awareness of

1Uibid.. p. 18.

1,2ibid.. p. 18.

113Maiy Ford-Gr&jowsky. “Flaws in Faith-Development” Religious Education. Vol.82. no. 1. Winter. 1987.
pp.80-93.

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transcendent values virtually impossible for younger people. 1 1 4 It is only at stages five and

six u a t a truly transcendent understanding of the self can emerge. If, as Ford-Grabowsky

suggests, the transcendent is limited to the final stages of development, then Fowler’s definition

of faith as u lt i m a t e concern is not appropriate to the earlier stages of development.

Part of the answer to this problem lies in the willingness to restate faith development with

less emphasis on the Tillichian notion of faith. As Erik Erikson has noted, the infant is faced

with the resolution of a basic dilemma, "Can I trust the world or is the world basically

mistrustful." The theatre in which this problem is acted out is the relationship between the child

and the primary care givei. If the child’s faith in those closest to him or her is reinforced, then

a basis for future trusting relationships can been established. If the contrary is the case, then

other experiences will be necessary to establish a disposition of trust *oward the world.

Essentially, this is the development of the se’i or the ego.

This is no less the development of a religioi s perspective on life, and within Fowler’s

scheme the development of a trusting eg0 is suggested as development of faith. Nevertheless,

it would be a difficult task to prove that the infant’s sense of trust in a caring person is in any

sense Tillich’s "ultimate concern." Rather t!.e child’s trust is a disposition toward faith, which

will require nurture and experience if it is to develop into an experience of ultimate concern.

Fowler claims a universal application for his scheme and is careful not to exclude the '&

who call themselves "non-religious." When one commits one's being to a unifying, ultimate set

of values, theisbc or non-theistic, then the individual has a faith perspective on life.

Nevertheless, for faith development to claim any sense of universality it must:

II4ibiu.. p. 85.

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(i) Framing its theological roots. Christian theology is an obvious base for Christian
development, but it cannot be seen as foundational to Hindu, Buddhist or Islamic
development. It is also problematic for non-religious human development.

(ii) Gather information from people of religions other than Christianity. Fowler’s
sample consists of a small number of people from only the Christian and Jewish
tradition.

(iii) Make a stronger case for the argument that for all people it is better to have a
unified, ultimate centre of values, rather thgn a diversity of centres. I believe that
the former is significantly better than the latter, but the literature of frith
development is yet to prove the case.

While such comparative approaches are beinj developed, faith development is still able to

provide us with insight into Christian religious growth.

Whereas Kohlberg’s moral developmentalism was able to provide a foundation for the

teaching of values in the public school, this will not be the case with frith development. While

the attempt to root the discussion of religious development in the human quest for meaning is

helpful, Fowler’s scheme is too narrowly Christian to be helpful in establishing a rationale for

teaching religion in the public school. As noved earlier, Phenix’s broader understanding of

meaning in every aspect of the curriculum is a more helpful approach. And teaching religion

is an important element in bringing meaning to that curriculum.

FEELING, EMOTION AND AFFECTIVITY IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

The cevelcp mental vk*vs considered so far do not give significant attention to the area

of emotion, feeling and affectivity in education. The British philosopher John M acM ioay, on

the other hand, recognizes the fundamental relationship between feeling and thinking,

understanding and experience when he says:

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...what distinguishes a religious understanding from a merely intellectual one is

that the former is not merely an understanding of the teaching of Jesus or its
development by others, but an understanding of oneself and one’s own experience
in the light of that. 1 1 3

The understanding of one’s personal experience in an encounter with the world’s religions is a

significant goal of religious education. The studies of childhood religiosity indicate that religious

experience in the broadest sense of the word is a dynamic in the education of the child. Edward

Robinson has referred to the religious experiences of childhood as "the original vision.” For

Robinson the experiences of religion in their earliest forms are not imaginative fantasies but "a

form of knowledge and one that is essential to the development of religious understanding. " 1 1 6

The form of knowledge Robinson is suggesting is the self-authenticating experiences of

childhood, those experiences that bring people to an awareness of their true self, with a sense

o f identity, freedom, beauty and responsibility.

The religious feelings of childhood are not open to intellectual analysis, primarily because

they are intuitive and affective ways of knowing. Intuitive feelings form a significant part of

the way people respond to art, music and literature. Intuition locates itself in the individual as

a Reeling of personal power; "I know it is true because I feel it” is an authentic response to

aesthetic and religious experiences. The religious educator John Westerhoff has called this way

of knowing the "responsive-intuitive mode.” It is characterized by experiences of "chaos,

surrender, mystery, imagination and surprise and it is nurtured by the arts and non-verbal

115John MacMurray, Reason and Emotion. London: Faber and Faber, 1935, p.245.

116Edwaid Robinson, The Original Vision: A Study in the Religious Experience of Childhood. New York:
Seabury, 1983, p. 16.

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activities. It is expressed through symbol, myth and ritual. " 1 1 7 For many people the

encounter with abstract and non-physical power through the medium of art is a self-authenticating

experience. In his reflection on religious experience, Alister Hardy suggests that:

Knowledge of this wider dimension of life may be seen by an individual as life-

enhancing, or he may recognize it as a special force which gives him added
confidence and courage. As a result of their experiences they are led to prayer
and religion . 1 1 8

There is a relationship between feelings of awe, love, trust, courage, freedom, beauty,

personal power and religion. The feeling or sensation of these human qualities is the stuff of

religion. F undam ental to the religious quest is both the experience of these qualities and the

ritualizing of them. To experience a moment of awe calls the individual to live authentically to

that encounter. That is to say, feelings of awe can develop in the individual a reverence for life

that may be expressed in personal devotion or ethical behaviour. It is in religion that we see

these experiences ritualized. As both Robinson and Hardy have observed, religious experiences

are experiences of both personal power and personal knowing. They have a structure, a content

and an aim. One could postulate that they even have a logic.

The student needs to be educated affectively and cognitively. It is obvious that some

educational activities require a high cognitive response: for example mathematics education.

However, it is also apparent that the best mathematics students are those who have a "feel" for

the subject. A good teacher will use surprise, imagination and feelings to attract students to the

subject area of mathematics. The teaching of religion demands an equal emphasis on feeling and

117John Westerfaoff IE, ‘Values for Today’s Children" Religious Education. Vol. 75, No.3, May-June,
1983, p.252.

U8Alister Hardy, The Spiritual Nature of Man: A Study of Contemporary RcUaw? .Exwriepg. Oxford:
Clarendon Press, 1979. p .l.

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thinking.

An essential factor in the affective dimension of religious education is the ongoing

development of trust in the student. In an ultimate sense, suggests Sam Keen, trust "is to believe

in some unknown sense everything in the world is connected and benevolent. " 119 Trust is, for

Keen, the converse of paranoia. Healthy people do not believe they are the centre of the

universe, nor do they believe they are persecuted by cosmic forces. Rather than attempting to

control the world, the person with a developed sense of trust can let go and rest in universal

benevolence.

The fundamental work of Erik Erikson concluded that children face an early psychological

drama between trusting the benevolence of the universe or mistrusting the world around them.

If they conclude that the world is not a trust-worthy place they will carry that legacy of mistrust

into adult life. For Erikson the interconnectedness between emotional development and adult

religious development is essential. He states:

Trust born of care is in fact the touchstone of the actuality of a given religion.
All religions have in common the periodical childlike surrender to a provider or
providers who dispense earthly fortune as well as spiritual health. 1 2 0

The development of trust between a primary care-giver and the child in infancy is the precursor

to all future relationships, whether they are human relationships, relationships with the divine

or a sense of interconnectedness with the universe. All need the primary experience of basic

trust. For education this meaning a continual emphasis on nurturing children to become trusting

adults.

119Sam Keen, I.ife Mapt, New York: Haiper and Row. 1981. p.113.

120Erik Erikson, Childhood and Society. Great Britain: Triad/Granada. 1977. p.225.

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CONCLUSION

While recognizing that schooling can often limit meaning in student’s lives, nevertheless,

generally public education is an activity that both widens and deepens student’s knowledge and

experience of the world. In teaching religion students are on the road to being educated when

they have an adequate knowledge of religion; have developed an attitude cf respect and

sensitivity to religions; and are able to draw upon the resources of religion to help them live a

meaningful life. As well, religious education must also cultivate students’ interest is religion.

For the religious education of children to be comprehensive it must encourage the development

of both the affective and cognitive aspects of the individual. The affective will include emotion,

feelings and attitudes; while the cognitive will include thinking, reflecting and interpreting. In

general, the cognitive thinking aspect of religious teaching is promoted in the classroom, while

the affective aspect, often associated with indoctrination, is minimized. My argument is that

both are necessary if the student is to develop a knowledge of religion and positive attitudes

toward all people - religious and non-religious - in the "popular” sense o f the word. This will

provide an effective rationale for teaching religion. One that takes seriously the multi-faith

dimension of our society and recognizes the multi-faceted nature of human beings. In the next

Chapter I will argue that this difficult relationship between the affective and the cognitive can

be achieved through the teaching of religious narratives and significant cultural stories.

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 CHAPTER 4

The universe of the child is the universe of imagination - of an imagination which evolves little
by little into reason. The knowledge which has to be given to the child is knowledge in a state
of story, an imaginative grasp of the things and values of the world.121
•Jacques Maritain

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION AND THE QUEST FOR MEANING

A strong argument for religious education in the school is based on the relationship

between religion and the quest for meaning in life. It may be that this very issue is one reason

why religion has been excluded from many schools. By its very nature a subject proposing to

introduce students to life’s meanings is full of pedagogical and philosophical dangers. However,

as I have previously argued, it is the lack in modern education of the quest for life’s meaning

that has weakened schooling and robbed it of significants in the lives of students. An education

defined within the narrow parameters of technology has no place for questions of ultimate

significance or personal meaning.

THE SPIRITUAL MEANING OF EDUCATION

Victor Frankl has suggested that human beings experience meaning in their lives in at

least three ways:

(i) Through what they are able to give to the world in the form of
loving and creating.

121Jacques Maritain, Education at the Crossroads. New Haven: Yale University Press. 1943. p. 60.

79

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(ii) Through what they receive from the world in the form of those
who love them.

(iii) Through standing up for what they believe in. The commitment
to human values brings meaning into their lives.

Loving relationships bom of conviction and commitment to human values can provide students

with a substantive meaning system. If the aims, goals and outcomes of education are rooted in

compassionate dialogue between the student and the teacher; between the student and the subject,

and between students, then human values can become personally meaningful.

For E. F. Schumacher education is about the transmission of values; but as he goes on

to say, "values do not help us pick our way through life unless they have become our own, a

part, so to say, of our mental make-up. " 1 2 2 Schumacher is convinced that itisthe

metaphysical values that provide an individual with convictions and personal meaning. He says:

Education cannot help us as long as it accords no place to metaphysics...if the

teaching does not lead to a clarification of metaphysics, that is to say, of our
fundamental convictions, it cannot educate a man and consequently cannot be of
real value to society. 1 2 3

Schumacher is in accord with Frankl when he advocates a comprehensive education that assists

students in developing an ethical-metaphysical centre in their life . 1 2 4 Schumacher believes that

it is from this centre, established around a number of "value-laden metaphysical ideas," that the

teacher moves to help students clarify their personal convictions and solve problems. 1 2 5

122E.F. Schumacher, Small ia Beautiful. New York: Harper and Row. 1973, p.75.

123ibid.. p.86.

124While Schumacher has used the term ’metaphysical' and Frankl and Heschel talk of ’spiritual" values. I
believe there is enough commonality in the direction of their tasks to say that these terms can be used almost inter­
changeably.
125
Schumacher, op.rit.. p.87.

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By taking this approach the teacher is able to cover Frankl's three ways of meaning. As

students act in loving and creative ways upon the experiences in the classroom, they experience

a sense of potency and vitality which in turn brings meaning. Secondly, students recognize that

they are in dialogue with the information or experience and information or experience is acting

on them, challenging them to reflect upon and modify their ethical value centre. Thirdly, as

students make personal c o m m i t m e n t* ; to their deliberations they experience the power to be

authentic. Schumacher sees this process as the task of this generation. By re-constructing a

metaphysical approach to education, the results will achieve a vital and healthy search for

meaning within our society. 1 2 6

THE LOSS OF MEANING IN MODERN LIFE

Modern schooling has often contributed to the loss of meaning in the lives of many

because it has failed to provide a connection between the classroom and the world beyond. By

and furnishing students with a fragmented view of knowledge, modem pupils are often ill

equipped to discover meaning in their personal lives. E.D. Klemke challenges educators to face

the urgency of this condition:

[W]e may rank the question of the meaning of life as the most urgent of all, or
as one of the most urgent of all. Most of us do End the question to be one that
merits serious attention. Part of its urgency stems from the fact that it is re'ated
to many other questions that »ice us in our daily lives. Many of our decisions
depend... on how we answer the question of the meaning of life . 1 2 7

Klemke roots the question of the meaning of life in the activities that make up our daily lives.

126ibid.. p.93

127E.D. Klemke "The Question of the Meaning of Life" in E.D. Klemke ed.. The Meaning of Life. England:
Oxford University Press, 1981, p.4.

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Meaning is a very personal experience and one must experience meaning in life if one is to

participate purposefully. While some will devote their lives to daily reflection on life’s meaning,

for most people the daily activities they engage in provide them with meaning. For some the

discovery that their life has meaning can be so profound that it causes a significant change in

their life’s direction. Yet for others, it may provide just enough motivation to carry on their

daily work, even if that work is relatively meaningless.

There is a strong connection between the quest for meaning and the desire to live a

purposeful life. A loss of purpose in daily activities and a loss of meaning in life will render an

individual incapable of functioning adequately. Leo Tolstoy writes of such an experience in his

autobiography, Confessions:

Five years ago something very strange began to happen to me. I was overcome
by moments, at first, of perplexity and then of an arrest of life, as though I did
not know how to live or what to do. And I lost myself and was dejected...these
arrests of life found their expression in ever the same question, "Why? " 1 2 8

For Tolstoy the loss of this "enabling belief” caused him to despair of all his activities. This

depression continued until, after a time of painful reflection and personal examination, he slowly

regained purpose and meaning. Through observing the lives of common people, Tolstoy’s life

was reshaped around simplicity of both thought and action and the religious convictions of faith

and hope. He writes:

No matter what answer faith may give, its every answer gives to finite existence
of man the sense of infinity...in faith alone could we find the meaning and
possibility of life...that faith was the knowledge of the meaning of human life in
consequence of which man did not destroy himself, but lived. 1 2 9

I**Leo Tolstoy, *M\ f j.ifession* in E.D. Klemke ed.. op.cit.. p.9.

129ibid.. p. 17.

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For Tolstoy the quest for personal meaning in life led him to embrace a simple peasant

like religious faith. However, this is not always the case. The search for meaning is a religious

pilgrimage (in the broad sense of "religious”), while it may lead to religious faith and

commitment to a particular religious tradition, it may also lead to a simple acceptance of life as

meaningful. The Preacher in the Book o f Ecclesiastes also faced a loss of meaning in life.

"Vanity of vanities! All is vanity...All things are wearisome; more than one can express...I saw

all the deeds that are done under the sun; and see all is vanity and a chasing after the wind. ” 1 3 0

I .flee Tolstoy, the Preacher embarks on a journey toward wisdom and meaning only to be

frustrated and finally arrive at the simple conclusion, "There is nothing better for mortals than

to eat and drink and find their enjoyment in their toil. This also I saw was from the hand of

God; for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment. " 1 31

For many, die desire for meaning comes when there is a shift in the centre of their values

and beliefs. While people experience a degree of comfort, satisfaction and purpose in life, their

system of "waning remains intact. However, when through crisis or deep reflection that system

fa ils, then the search for new meanings begins. This experience has been documented by Victor

Frankl who observed men and women in the concentration camps of the Second World War lose

the meaning of their existence. Frankl suggests that they allowed their inner hold on moral and

spiritual values to subside and consequently they fell victim to the camp's degenerating

influences. The loss of that which they valued deprived them of their will to live and they

130EccIesiastes Chapter 1, verses 1 and 8, (New Revised Standard Version)

131ibid.. Chapter 2, verses 24 and 25.

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 became ’objects to be extenninated. " 132

While institutions and communities can help moi’id a centre of meaning in the individual,

the prim ary force or will to m eaning is a unique and personal endeavour. For Frankl, only a

personal vision of meaning will satisfy the criteria for a centre of meaning. The ability to

imag in e and focus on a loved one, or die development of a sense of humour when confronted

by such horror, were inner strengths that could transform the horror of the concentration camp

into a bearable tragedy. This approach to meaning was for Frankl a spiritual discipline calling

forth a response from one’s inner being. Frankl writes of one opportunity he had to speak to

the prisoners in his hut. He said to them:

...human life, under any circumstances, never ceases to have a meaning, and...
this infinite meaning of life includes suffering and dying, privation and death. I
asked the poor creatures who listened to me attentively in the darkness of the hut
to face up to the seriousness of our position. They must not lose hope but should
keep their courage in the certainty that the hopelessness of our struggle did not
detract from its dignity and meaning. I said that someone looks down on each of
us in difficult hours - a friend, a wife, somebody alive or dead, or a God - and
he would not expect us to disappoint him. He would hope to find us suffering
proudly - not miserably - knowing how to die. 1 3 3

Faced with such horror, Frankl used both religious and non-religious imagery to engender hope

in those in despair. It enabled them to take personal responsibility for their suffering and see

it in relation to a larger context.

Some people can live worthwhile lives with relatively little reflection on life’s ultimate

meaning. When tasks, events and relationships are satisfying, participation in them provides

meaning. However, when purpose declines and crisis upsets basic beliefs and attitudes, the

l33Victor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning: An Introduction to Loqotherapv. London: Hodder and
Stougbton. 1964, p. 10.

l33ibid.. p.83.

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structure that facilitates meaning begins to collapse and the individual is confronted with a loss

of meaning. Abraham Heschel puts this eloquently when we writes:

Unawareness of the ultimate is a possible state of mind as long as a man finds

tranquillity in his dedication to partial objects. But when the tower begins to
totter, when death wipes away that which seemed mighty and independent, when
in evil days the delights of striving are replaced by the nightmare of futility, he
becomes conscious of the peril of evasiveness and the emptiness of small
objects. 1 3 4

As in Frankl’s and Heschel’s observations, when the immediate things of our life are removed,

or we no longer find satisfaction in them, then the ultimate meaning of our lives and our place

in the scheme of life is called into question. This has been called by the Christian theologian

Paul Tillich "the anxiety of meaninglessness" and the "loss of ultimate concern. " 1 3 3 But most

importantly, what often leads to this disintegration of an individual’s life meaning is not, in the

first instance, the loss of belief in the ultimate, but rather the loss of purpose in the immediate

experiences of life. When activities and relationship cease to have a symbolic reference in

transcendent qualities, meaning is depleted from both the immediate and the transcendent.

For Tillich and Frankl the recovery of meaning demands a personal commitment, taking

responsibility for one’s life. The individual who is confronted with meaninglessness must have

the "courage to be one’s self, ” 1 3 6 even the courage to take upon one’s self the

m eaninglessness of the present situation. Tillich uses the image of the artist confronted with the

m<*'' ^ 9 of life and disillusioned with previously held values. He suggests that in the face

of such lon elin ess and separated from the sources of creativity, that liberation will come when

'^Abraham Heschel, Mgn iff Nfft Alvtff New York: Farrar. Straus and Young, 1951. p. 191.

135P*ul Tillich, The Courage to Be. New Haven; Yale University Press, 1952. p.47.

136ih1d ., p. 143.

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he has the courage to embrace his loneliness and separation. 1 3 7 For Tillich it is not only the

act of doing something that brings meaning, it is also the act of being someone.

THE ROLE OF STORY AND MEANING IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

The recovery of personal meaning in life is not merely an individual task. Personal

meaning is forged in dialogue with the human community. Meaningful participation in life

demands that people have access to the wealth of human experiences that have in the past

sustained human meaning. The realization that the myths of our culture, religious and secular

are stored in stories is well illustrated by Laurens Van Der Post in his examination of the culture

of the Kalahari Bushman. He writes:

The supreme expression of his spirit was in his stories. He was a wonderful
story-teller. 'Hie story was his most sacred possession. These people knew what
we do not; that without a story you have not got a nation, or a culture, or a
civilization. Without a story of your own to live you haven’t got a life of your
own. 1 3 8

Through his examination of religious literature, Sam Keen has concluded that both religious story

and "great" stories have been fundamental instruments in the transmission of human wisdom and

meaning. He writes that throughout history,

the story served the diverse functions of philosophy, theology, history, ethics and
entertainment. It served to locate the individual within the concentric circles of
the cosmos, nature, the community and family, and it provided a concrete account
of what was expected in that darkness which lies beyond death. 1 3 9

137ibid.. p. 143.

138Laurens Van Der Post, Patterns of Renewal. Wallingford, Pennsylvania: Pendle Hall Pamphlets. 1962,
p.97

139Sam Keen, To a Dancing God. New York: Harper and Row, 1970, p.97.

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A story or narrative has the capability of locating an individual within a larger context and

creating an effective medium in the quest for personal meaning.

By introducing students to die literature of religious stories and the great spiritual tradition

of humanity, we are granting them die privilege of citizenship in die human community.

Through stories they can be taught what it means to live in this world with all of its dangers and

joys, possibilities and potential failures. Stories provide students with a "safe" environment in

which to explore their own feelings and the feelings of others. This can be done in the security

of the im agination and without the danger of failure or the fear of reproach. There is nothing

simplistic about the great stories of the human tradition. The reality of the story world and the

reality of life itself often intersect, thereby convincing students that their life can be rendered

meaningful when incorporated into the experience of the story. Stories are a fundamental part

of the way we structure meaning within our personal lives, our families and in society in general.

Story in its broadest sense provides pupils with an imaginative vehicle to accomplish the life-long

task of meaning making.

Goldman's contention that a literalism will develop in children if they are introduced to

religious literature a too young an age, stands in contradiction to Bruno Betdeheim’s notion that

children need a plethora of stories to resolve their emotional equivocations. 1 4 0 Fairy tales,

suggests Bettleheim, help children in both their emotional development and their ego

development. In my opinion, religious stories can perform a similar function. It is only through

religious stories (in die broad sense) that children have access to the mythic ground on which

140Bruno Bettleheiin, The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairv Tales. New York:
Alfred A. Knopf, 1977.

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culture is based.

One dilemma for the teacher is that stories can so engage children’s imaginations that they

fail to develop a critical sense regarding the religion being studied. If both thinking and feeling

are important in religious education, teaching must assist students to develop skills in evaluating

die stories they hear. In the early stages of children’s religious education, teachers should not

imply a literalism to stories that are mythic or fictitious. Rather they should encourage

imaginative interpretations, so that by adolescence, students will have an understanding of the

way myths, sagas, legends and narratives bring a "truth-bearing” quality to a culture.

There is a growing corpus of literature that advocates the telling of stories to children to

encourage emotional and psychological development. 1 4 1 Much of the work done in this area

has centred on the use of fairy tale; and the primary work in fairy tale and the emotional

development of the child, as previously mentioned, has been done by Bettelheim. By telling

children the great fairy tales of human tradition they are exposed to the world of myth, metaphor

and symbol. This provides an opening for the great religious stories which attempt to wrestle

with the human condition. Bettleheim suggests that the story must contain both information

about the world and information about the child’s deepest feelings. In reference to fairy-tales

he states:

...fo r a story to truly hold the child’s attention, it must entertain him and arouse
his curiosity. But to enrich his life it must stimulate his imagination; help him to
develop his intellect and to clarify his emotions; be attuned to his anxieties and
aspirations; give full recognition to his difficulties while at the same time

141This is particularly the case in Jungian psychology where the role of myth, ritual and archetype are
emphasized. Marie Louise von Franz’s Interpirtation of Fairy-Tale, provides a good introduction to the
psychological development of the child through fairy tale. Another field of study which considers theuse of
literature as a therapeutic tool is Bibliotherapy. Eleanor Frances Brown’s Bibliotherapv and Its Widening
Applications is a helpful survey of tins area.

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suggesting solutions to the problems that perturb him . 1 4 2

Betttefreim expresses the interconnectedness of thinking and feeling, intellect and emotion

and shows how these two dimensions of a single individual come together in a story. The goal

of Bettleheim’s educational philosophy is to assist children toward healthy psychological

development. Stories, in this case fairy-tales, clarify children’s emotions, stimulate their

imagination and provide solutions to fundamental human dilemmas.

Bettelheim argues that for most of human history the growth of children’s intellectual and

emotion life, apart from immediate experiences in the family, depended on mythical stories,

religious stories and fairy-tales:

[S]ince these stories answered the child’s most important questions, they were a
major agent of socialization. Myths and closely related religious legends offered
material from which children formed their concepts of the world’s origin and
purpose, and of the social ideals a child could pattern himself after. 1 4 3

Mythical and religious stories answer children’s most important questions in life. They

provide a means by which children are socialized into the larger human community by conveying

the fundamental myths, rituals and symbols which serve as reference points for their developing

sense of the value of human life. Even the images of evil presented in the classic fairy-tales are

helpful in children’s development. Fairy-tales, like other mythic stories present notions of good

and evil as stark polarities. The complexity of moral debate is most often simplified into a battle

between good and evil. These caricatures are important in the moral development of the child,

for they reinforce the fundamental belief that ultimately the world !; a trustworthy place and

14*7
‘’Bettelheim, op.cit.. p.5.

I43ibi&, P-24.

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good eventually triumphs over evil. This in T.F. Green’s terms is an enabling belief, necessary

to live a worthwhile life:

In practically every fairy-tale good and evil are given body in the form of some
figure and their actions, as good and evil are omnipresent in life and the
propensities for both are present in every man. It is this duality which poses the
moral problem, and requires the struggle to solve it...presenting the polarities of
character permits the child to comprehend easily the difference between the two,
which he could not do as readily were the figures drawn more true to life, with
all the complexities that characterize real people. 1 4 4

Religious stories in general and fairy tales in particular, present children with clear images

of good and evil; success and failure; morality and immorality. As children enter the story, they

are directed toward identification with the hero or the heroine and encouraged to recognise that

by following a particular path, they can participate in the victory of the main characters. The

ability o f the story to provide a solution to the d ilemma it raises assists children in developirg

critical reflection on, and clarification of, their emotional responses.

This does not preclude children from experimenting with violating the cultural norms and

feeling the evil intentions of the villa in . On the contrary, by identifying with the villain in the

story, children can explore their own feelings of evil and wrong doing, without experiencing the

natural or real consequences of their actions. Bettelheim believes that a major weakness in our

contemporary society is our belief that we must protect children form exposure to evil. He notes:

There is a widespread refusal to let children know that the source of much that
goes wrong in life is due to our very own natures - the propensity of all men for
acting aggressively, socially, selfishly, out of anger and anxiety. Instead we want
children to believe that, inherently all men are good. But children know that they
are not always good; and often, even when they are, they prefer not to be. 1 4 5

144ibid.. p.5.

145ibid.. p.7.

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By concentrating oa the psychological development of children, which includes feelings,

emotions, intellect and a psychic posture toward the world, we are primarily concerned with

children’s ability to integrate life’s experiences with their own sense of an inner realty.

Developmentalty children can not violate their internal perceptions of the world. Through die

of Jean Piaget, we have recognized that children have an internal developmental time

clock and through continual encounters with the external world, their inner reality is harmonized

with the outer reality of the world. A psychologically healthy person is one who has passed

through several developmental phases and is able to create meaning in his or her life through an

integration of external realities with internal perceptions.

In my consideration of story in the development of children, 1 suggest that they should

be encouraged to deal with crises first in die story world and then, once they have developed

confidence, in the "real” world. It is through stories that students can gain necessary life

experience and discover images of hope asd symbols o f benevolence, necessary for healthy

adulthood.

The story is a vehicle for the child to gain access to human values and emotional stability.

Values such as courage, honesty, faithfulness, hopefulness and so on, are symbolically

represented by story characters. Through the imaginative interplay between the story world and

the "real” world, children develop a noetic structure necessary for a meaningful life. The rich

source of metaphors and characterizations in stories provides an action that stimulates maturity,

thus providing children with a narrative structure to their experience. The link between story

and meaning-making is so important that psychoanalyst Janies Hillman believes that:

those who have a connection with story are in better shape and have a better
prognosis than those to whom story must be introduced one integrates life as

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story because one has stories in the bade of the mind (unconscious) as containers
for organizing events into meaningful experiences. 1 4 6

The teacher assists children in integrating meaningful experiences into their lives by introducing

story at three levels. They are:

(i) The stories o f the culture.

This includes fairy tales, religious stories, classical stories
and significant contemporary stories.

(ii) Family stories.

The myriad of events and experiences that have occurred in our
family, that come together to make us who we are.

(iii) Personal stories.

By integrating human experience into children's personal narrative
they are assisted in developing a narrative structure that helps
answer the question "Who am I?"

By repeating particular stories, the teacher communicates to students what our

society values. When teachers tell a religious or mythical story they are saying to children

"Contained in this text are things that are important; in fact, here are values on which you can

build your life.” The use of literature in communicating values to children has a long history.

Plato in The Republic emphasizes the value of story in the development of students:

Shall we allow our children to listen to any stories written by anyone, and to form
opinions the opposite of those we think they should have when they grow up? We
certainly shall not. Then it seems that our first business is to supervise the
production of stories, and choose only those we think suitable, and reject the
rest. 1 4 7

Historically the story has had an important role in socializing the young. While care is

146James Hillman, "A Note on Story’ in Francelia Butler and Richard Rotert, Reflections on Literature for
Children. Hamden, Connecticut: The Shoe String Press, Inc., 1984, p.8.

147Plato. (trans by Bernard Bosanquet, The Cambridge Series) The Education of the Young in The Republic
of Plato. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1900, p.47.

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 necessary in the selection and presentation of stories, the benefits of introducing students to

religious narratives should not be underestimated. For Richard Darling, stories can be

preventative vehicles: a little vicarious injection with die problem in a story, can inoculate

children agaitnrf a hard case of the same kind o f experience in their later development. Or it may

be therapeutic, bringing to children similar experiences to their own and showing diem how

fictitious characters cope. 1 4 8 Darling’s notion of socializing children through literature has

some parallels with Bettelheim’s theory of emotional and psychological development through

fairy tale. While one should not see story as a panacea for all children’s developmental

problems, nor as the only way to teach human values, nevertheless it is reasonable to argue that

by introducing children to particular stories, they will be exposed to alternative views of life and

the world and will be provided with access to personal meaning and significant cultural and

historic values.

It is not only religious stories that can create personal meaning. Biography and

autobiography also have this power to give personal meaning. This is in some measure due to

the fact that personal stories participate in and draw their reference from the larger story of

human existence. We know that as we tell a story, a theme and a plot begin to emerge. The

characters in the story illustrate some larger truth about life, and by the mere telling of the story

we are able to grasp more clearly our own identity and the identity of the world around us. The

significance of autobiography stems from the fascination we have with story. Autobiography is

a dynamic literary genre, not because it is telling the life history of a person, but rather, because

148
Quoted in Felicity Ann O’Dell, S ocialisatio n Through Children’s Literature. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1978, p.4.

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through it we see the myths, symbols and stories of human existence expressed in the life of a

single individual.

CREATING M EANING IN EVERYDAY LIFE:

The search for meaning in life is at times a quest to discover ultimate reality. This is not

however, the only search for meaning. To discover meaning in the "little things” in life can be

for many the most important task. While the goals of the ultimate quest may elude many, it is

still possible to experience meaning in the family, the school and the community. Robert M.

Baird considers the family as a place where children are taught that meaning is created through

the stories that are told to them . 1 4 9 For Baird, family stories create meaning for the

participants, principally because they incorporate the teller (parents and grandparents) and the

listener (children) into a narrative history. In the telling of family stories the mundane is often

elevated to importance. The daily lives of past generations becomes the source from which the

present generation discovers the transcendent values that have shaped "my” family. In the telling

of anecdotes from the past, the teller weaves an invisible web that draws the listener into the

story and thereby establishes for the listener a sense of meaning.

The "non-ultimate" quest i'or meaning is an important one. In study about religion the

teacher may be tempted to present to children the notion that the religious quest is only a

mystical pursuit in search of reality at the limit of human experience. But religion in particular

and human life in general have sought to experience meaning in daily tasks. The economic,

149Robert M. Baird, "Meaning In Life: Discovered or Created" in Journal of Religion and Health. No.24.
117-124, Summer 1985, p. 123.

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political and personal struggles of daily human life are the source of human experience. As

Baird has suggested:

Part of what it m eans to be fully hum an is to create meaning by establishing depth

relationships, by committing ourselves to projects that give order and purpose to
our daily lives and by placing our lives in the context of meaning-creating
stories.

Baird's thesis is an important one. For him meaning in life is created rather than discovered.

Baird suggests that to talk of discovering the meaning of life is to assume that meaning is "out

there” hidden horn view. This will lead to the conclusion that experiencing a meaningful life

is beyond the capabilities of most people and that the mystical quest is the appropriate metaphor.

In contrast, we should see ourselves as "meaning-making beings,” responsible for creating much

of the meaning we have in life, l-ite the artist composing a piece of music or the sculptor

shaping a piece of stone, the individual engages in the creative activity of making meaning daily.

This is what Paul Tillich suggests when he states:

[I]n order to be spiritually creative one need not be what is called a creative artist
or scientist or statesman, but one must be able to participate meaningfully in their
original creations. 1 5 1

Baird's thesis is a helpful one because it directs us away from the well worn road of

religious mystical encounter, toward a fresh lode at daily experience. Nevertheless, it is

important to recognize that much of the richness of religious experience is found in the writings

of those who have discovered spiritual insight at the limits of human experience. While many

religious people are about the task of making meaning in their daily lives, they discover

l50ibid.. p. 123.

151THlich, op.cit.. p.46.

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something beyond their ability to create and this encounter can have a profound impact on their

lives. 1 5 2 Therefore, while daily activity can provide students with opportunities to create

meaning, die process must always be open to insight through discovery. Victor Frankl suggests

this when he says that "meaning is something to discover rather than invent. ” 1 5 3 Frankl is

arguing that a given sit_“tion has meanings that are beyond the subjective interpretations one

brings to it and one can encounter reality beyond reasoned activity. To exclude the possibility

of discovering meaning in life when one encounters the borders of human activity is to confine

learning and limit the wealth that "transcendent” religion has to offer. This is no better

expressed than in the writings of Rabbi Abraham J. Heschel. In his reflection on the human

capacity to experience awe he writes:

Awe is an intuition for the dignity of all things, a realization that things not only
are what they are but also stand, however remotely, for something supreme. Awe
is a sense for transcendence, for the reference everywhere to mystery beyond all
things. It enables us to perceive in the world intimations of the divine.. .to sense
the ultimate in the common and the simple; to fell in the rush of the passing the
stillness of the eternal. What we cannot comprehend by analysis, we become
aware of in awe. 1 5 4

I suggest that the task of students is to work at experiences, so as to elicit the meanings

inherent in them. And while some experiences demand creative activity, others need the quiet

reflection of a poet to draw out their meaning. The individual’s task is a personal one. As was

152A wealth of material concerning religious experience and mystical encounters has been collected at the
Religious Experience Research Unit at Manchester College in Oxford. This uniquely scientific approach to the
study of religious phenomena provides important evidence that religious experiences impact significantly on people’s
lives. Further information about the work of the Centre can be found in Alister Hardy. The Spiritual Nature of
MflK A fitwdv of Contemporary Religious Experience. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1979: Edward Robinson. The
Original Vision. New York: Seabury, 1983; and David Hay, Exploring Inner Space. London: Penguin. 1982.

153Victor Frankl, The Unconscious God. New York: Simon and Schuster. 1975. p. 113

154Abraham J. Heschel, I Asked For Wonder: A Spiritual Anthology. New York: Crossroad, 1988. p.3.

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shown in the discussion of story and family, people’s sense of meaning occurs when they are

personally incorporated in the family story. Louise Tyler posits that for people to improve the

quality of their lives they must "create and deepen the meaning of their lives. Human beings are

in essence creatures who create, discover, perceive, enjoy and act on meanings. " 155

THE MEANINGFUL LIFE AND RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

Meaning and value are closely related. In general what people value gives them meaning

and that which is meaningful is valued and prized. However, it is the personal dimension that

separates values from meanings. Frankl notes:

[M]eanings refer to unique situations - and the equally unique persons confronting
them. In contrast to the meanings, which are unique, values are more or less
universal in that they are shared by whole segments of a given population. 1 5 6

While values and traditions can be transmitted, suggests Frankl, meanings cannot, because they

are essentially unique. They are mediated to one’s consciousness by personal experience. This

has implications for education notes Frankl:

In an age such as ours, in the age of meaninglessness, education, instead of

confining itself to transmitting traditions and knowledge, must see it principal
assignment in refining the individual’s conscience —his only capacity still to find
meanings despite the wane of traditions and values. In other words the crumbling
of universal values can be counteracted only by finding the unique meanings. 1 5 7

Frankl’s approach to education compels the teacher to nurture students toward personal

commitment in the ethical realm. In Frankl’s view it is not possible to give students meanings.

155Louise Tyler, 'Meaning and Schooling" Theory and Practice. No.25, 53-57, Winter 1986, p.S4.

156Frankl, The Unconscious God, o p . c it. p. 1 2 0 .

157ibid.. p. 120.

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Rather the teacher is constrained to give an existential example of personal commitment to the

search for truth. By creating a context in which students can find meanings, the teacher avoids

the dangers of indoctrination on the one hand and irrelevancy on the other. This is of particular

importance in contemporary public education where a lack of confidence in tradition and a

plurality of world views necessitates the personal quest for truth. Writing in the context of

western society, Frankl expresses this well when he states:

In an age in which the Ten Commandments are losing their unconditional validity
in the eyes of many people, man must be equipped with the capacity to listen to
and obey the ten thousand demands and commandments hidden in ten thousand
situations with which life is confronting him. And it is these demands that are
revealed to him by an alert conscience. 1 3 8

Many of the problems faced in modem schooling are the consequence of the loss of

meaning in the curriculum. While modem school is strong at providing the student with a

variety of human experiences, it often fails to lead students beyond the mundane into an

exploration of the transcendent and an encounter with personal meaning. Nash and Saurman in

their article on higher education have suggested that what truly matters in schooling is that the

individual learns how to,

reconstruct their experiences, enlarge their vision of the possible and develop their
capacity to reach beneath the most gross daily events and see their meaning and
appreciate their design. 1 5 9

While I am in sympathy with Nash and Saurman’s conclusion, I do not want to see the school

ibid.. p. 120. Some may argue that the Ten Commandments never provided more than a rule based morality
and therefore all principled morality must go beyond these laws. This does not however reduce the strength of the
argument that contemporary morality and ethical behaviour must be a personal quest In fact some would say, the
answer to the question 'W hat is the meaning of life?" can only be given out of one’s whole being. Essentially one’s
life itself is die answer to the question of its m ining Morality is both ontological and existential.
te a
Robert Nash and Kenneth Saurman, "Learning To Earn Is Not Learning To Live: Student Development
Educators As Meaning Makers” Personnel and Guidance Journal. No.57, 84-89. October 1978, p.87.

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as an institution that teaches either skills or values. On the contrary, it seems to me that it is

imperative that students experience both dimensions of education at school. What is most

important is that schools return to what Nash and Saurman call "meaning-talk."

If students are able to find meaning in the activities in the classroom then they are better

fitted for worthwhile adult life. Schooling in our society is "real life" for students. iL’refore,

the student must be taught to create m eaning in the science class or the history class or wherever

learning occurs. So that even if these subjects are sometimes tedious, the student is better

equipped to find meaning in them and thus better prepared for present life and future

occupations, which also have their tedious moments. Clive Beck emphasizes this point when he

writes:

A school that is helping people in the present is more likely to be preparing them
for the future also, if we are finding school interesting, stimulating and helpful,
we will get more involved in it and. learn more. In this way we will be preparing
for the future as well. 1 6 0

CONCLUSION

Religious traditions have historically recognized that the heart (feeling) and the head

(thinking) are separate yet connected parts of the whole person. Religious education has swung

between these two poles, at times emphasising the heart and emotions and at times emphasising

the head and the intellect. The capability of the story to convey the deepest and most profound

of human experiences suggests its significant role in teaching religion in the public school.

Stories are used every day to communicate die mundane, the funny and *he sad. But they are

160 __
Clive Beck, Values and Living: Learning Materials for Grades 7 and 8. Toronto: OISE Press, 1983, p.77.

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also used to communicate the sacred, the transcendent and the profound. The teacher who

introduces pupils to the realm of religion must be aware that it is largely through story that the

sacred and profane moments of the past are communicated.

During the nineteenth century, story and narrative, as a means of conveying truth, came

under attack. Story seemed for the scientific age too crude and simplistic a method to convey

sophisticated ideas and concepts. Theologizing and demythologizing became the diet of religious

and learned people. However, through the work of those quoted in this chapter and many

others, story and narrative has been revived as a bearer of truth.

Perhaps the reluctance of the modern age to accept the fundamental nature of story stems

from the belief of the enlightenment that humanity has moved "beyond the primitive darkness

of myth into the full light of reason. ” 1 6 1 This age has prided itself on its scientific approach,

believing that we are in the noble tradition of the classical Greeks. However, as Sam Keen has

observed, it was the mythological world of the Greeks that gave their state a vibrant and lusty

love of life. By entering into the world of story students are able to affirm that there is a unity

in the world. In a story the intellect engages the emotions in a dynamic encounter with personal

meaning.

161Keen, To a Dancing God, op.cit.. p.97.

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 CHAPTER 5

The mltnml dimension of education contributes to freedom of thought, freedom of expression,

creativity, and the development of self-esteem and confidence in oneself and one’s potential.
There is also, however, the spiritual dimension. This development is very necessary for the
potwiti**! qualities virtues innate in all human beings to be revealed, supported and nurtured,
so individuals may achieve harmony within themselves, with others, and with the world in
which they live.162

MULTI-FAITH RELIGIOUS EDUCATION: AIMS,

OBJECTIVES, STRUCTURE AND CONTENT

In this final chapter I will develop an approach to teaching religion, incorporating a

rationale rooted the quest for personal meaning. As I have argued, such an approach must take

seriously pluralism and the development of tolerance toward religious groups. By exploring the

narratives religious groups hold as important, students can gain valuable insight into the religious

world. It is these insights students use as they develop their personal life stance. For religious

education to be meaningful it must have both a content and a structure. The content is drawn

from the variegated experiences of religious and non-religious people (see appendix B.) The

structure of religious education must give students access to this area of human life. The

Religious Education Curriculum M odel developed in Queensland, Australia is introduced in this

chapter as an excellent structure for achieving the desired goals and objectives of multi-faith

religious education.

lg The Report of the Ministerial Inquiry on Religious Education in Ontario Public Elementary Schools
Toronto: The Ontario Government Bookstore, 1990, p.33.

101

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 102

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF M ULTI-FAITH RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

Multi-faith religious education has been introduced into several countries in recent

years.163 As an approach to teaching religion it treats as authentic the faith experiences of

individuals and religious communities active on the world stage. This approach should not

reduce specific religions to the lowest common denominator, nor should it present a

"smorgasbord” of religious diversity. The goal of multi-faith religious education is not to make

comparisons between religions in order to show the superiority of one over the other. Rather,

in an educational context students are encouraged to consider the meaning of religion in the lives

of those who practise it and to develop ways of understanding and examining the phenomena of

religion and drawing personal meaning from this encounter.

A clear distinction must be made between nurture in a particular faith tradition and the

study of religious belief and practice for understanding and appreciation. While I have argued

that the former is the prerogative of the pupil’s family or religious community, the latter is a

legitimate educational activity in the public school. Building on the presupposition of the

"broad” definition of religion, that is, all people need a set of transcendent values in order to live

a meaningful life, it is possible to suggest a list of aims for public school religious education.

This list is not exhaustive nor are these aims ranked in any order of priority. The importance

163Andrew Blair has produced a helpful research paper titled The Policy and Practice of Religious Education
in Publicly-Funded Elementary and Secondary Schools in Canada and Elsewhere. Ontario: Ministry of Education.
1986. In tins paper he surveys religious education in several countries. Of particular interest are the multi-faith
curricula in Queensland, A ustralia and th e B irm ing h am Syllabus in E n g lan d . Both of these are examples of religious
education programs that are currently being taught in public schools. They are multi-faith in content and centre on
die questions of human identity and ultimate meaning.

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 103

of these is that they are firmly rooted in contemporary educational philosophy.164

1. To provide a place in the school curriculum where the student is confronted, in

an educational setting, with religious diversity and similarity. The strength of

public education is its ability to embrace cultural, racial and religious diversity

around die common vision of comprehensive schooling.

2. To help students develop an understanding of, tolerance of, respect for, and

possibly friendship with, the major religious traditions which are part of contem­

porary society. As students gain a deeper and wider knowledge of the religions

active on the international stage, they are encouraged to move from merely

religious tolerance to friendship with those of other religious backgrounds.

Fundamental to multi-faith religious education is the importance of bringing

students into contact with the religious history and religious diversity of their own

community. This may be accomplished by exploring the religious history of those

in the classroom or considering the lives of those in society who come from

different ethnic and religious backgrounds.

Coward suggests this:

Requirements for true religious tolerance have one basic prerequisite for their
success, namely, that all participants have accurate information about each other’s
religion. Fulfilling this prerequisite is probably the single largest obstacle to the
achievement of true tolerance. The majority of people today are illiterate in their

I64Thi5 list of aims v-as developed by the author and presented as part of the Ecumenical Study Commission
on Public Education’s brief, submitted to The Ministerial Inquiry on Religions Education in Ontario Public
Elementary Schools, (The Watson Inquiry) May, 1989.

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 104

own religion as well as in the religion of others.165

3. To develop religious literacy in the student. Teaching students how to use the

tools of religious discourse in the process of religious discussion is an important

taslr in teaching religion. The level of religious illiteracy in our society is high.

Without an understanding of concepts such as religious belief, faith and

spirituality, students are deficient in their ability to communicate in the world.

4. To equip the student to understand the significant influence of religion on the

fields of cultural endeavour such as art, architecture, music, literature,

philosophy, history and education. The educated person is comfortable in many

disciplines. Multi-faith religious education introduces students to the richness of

the cultural world, with the twin objectives of developing understanding and

empathy for die religious beliefs, practices and aspirations of others and fostering

the quest for personal meaning.

5. To explore the important role of non-religious movements and their contribution

to society. If students* religious education is to be rooted in an open, reflective

approach, the non-religious quest must be a part of that study. The common

human quest for meaning in religious and non-religious world-views provides

165Harold Coward, "Can Religions Live Together in Today’b World? Intolerance and Tolerance in Religious
Pluralism" Pluralism- Tolerance and Dialogue: Six Studies. University of Waterloo Press, 1989, p. 17.

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 105

with an honest look at the nature of the world around them.

6. To help students understand the relationship between human values and religious

practice. This can be accomplished by considering the significant role played by

religion in the formation of personal life. When students are encouraged to

examine their own life stances through an open dialogue with religious traditions,

the importance of spiritual values in personal formation becomes evident. A

broader religious and philosophical foundation will provide students with a firm

base from which to draw key skills, concepts and attitudes when making personal

decisions and life commitments.

7. To help the students develop intellectually and emotionally. Educators recognize

that as an individual progresses toward maturity, there are important religious

concepts and attitudes that must be addressed. Religious education builds a

healthy foundation for personal engagement in the world.

These aims in no way violate the child’s right to freedom of religion or freedom from the

imposition of religion. The teacher’s aim is to introduce students to both the content and the

structure of religion, with the purpose of initiating them into religious understanding so they may

freely choose their own religious or non-religious way of life. However, these aims do go

beyond teaching about religion. It is not only religious information that is important here, it is

also the students’ relationship to that information. Religious information should be presented to

students in such a way as to help them clarify their spiritual values. As I argued in Chapter 2,

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 106

die final goal of the teaching process is the creation not of unshakable belief in a particular

religion, but rather, of a conviction concerning the need for enabling beliefs, discovered in the

study of religion, and the fundamental place of religion (in the broad sense) in the quest for

personal meaning.

While significant emphasis has been placed on the personal outcomes of religious

education, the benefits to society should not be underestimated. As students develop particular

religious skills and attitudes, they are more likely to contribute to the building of a caring and

just society. This outcome of teaching religion is seen in the following ways. Religious

education strengthens the linkages between students and their families, between students and the

religious community to which they belong, between the school and the family, between the

school and the religious community and finally, between religious communities. While the

difficulties of a religiously pluralistic society was stressed in Chapter 1, the benefits of a

religiously diverse society should also be recognized. Religious education has as one of it aims

the development of social skills, particularly in building a sense of community in the classroom

and society. The religious education class is one place in the curriculum were religious

stereotypes and prejudices can be confronted and corrected and the richness of religious diversity

can be enjoyed. Through the discussion of religious world views and their impact on global

events, students will have the opportunity to deepen their commitment to social justice and

human rights.

While most religious experts recognize that one cannot fully understand religion from the

outside, nevertheless, students can gain insight into the beliefs and practices of a religious group,

through careful observation and cautious evaluation. If a degree of understanding is to be

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 107

achieved, then particular attitudes and skills are necessary for die development of an open and

reflective approach to religion (see appendix A.) Therefore, the objective in religious education

is always the development, in students, of a method of reflection that:

(i) retains a sensitivity to the insiders’ view of die religion, while maintaining a
critical distance in order to reflect on die personal implications of the religious
view.

(ii) develops a sympathy to the religious process of discovering meaning in life, with
a commitment to that process on a personal level.

(iii) is aware of religious indoctrination as an illegitimate method in religious teaching,

but sensitive to die need for enculturation and socialization in fundamental
enabling beliefs.

(iv) and centres on the acquisition of skills, attitudes and concepts necessary to
religious, spiritual and philosophical understanding.

From these aims, objectives and outcomes, it can be seen that the goal of religious

education is not the development of a dispassionate observer, but rather a student who is skilled

in seeking personal meaning in dialogue with religion. As Michael Griuunitt reminds us, there

is no value-free education nor do we desire such a goal.

We have already recognized that no method of study can be without some

presuppositions and that value-free methods are in fact, value-laden...education
is not a value-free process; nor does it seek a value-free context within which to
engage in, for example, die study of religions. The value-laden context of
education derives from its intent to bring about changes in the way in which
pupils understand themselves and die world; thus education’s aims and objectives
are, by nature, value-laden.166

This attempt to establish the goal of religious education as both the quest for meaning and the

166Grinmntt. Religious Education and H u m an rV v e ln n m c n t. op.cit. p.43-44.

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 108

objective study of religion is expressed in the Birmingham. Agreed Syllabus (1975). The resolve

to rescue religious education from religious indoctrination, is evident in the following statement:

The syllabus should thus be used to enlarge and deepen the pupils’ understanding
of religion by studying world religions, and by exploring all those elements in
human experience which raise questions about life’s ultimate meaning and
value...It should stimulate within the pupils, and assist them in the search for, a
personal sense of meaning in life, whilst enabling them to understand the beliefs
and commitments of others...the approach now is to study [religions] objectively
for their own sake...167

Grimmitt sees this as a flawed objective. In his mind, the quest for meaning and an objective

approach to religious education are incompatible, precisely because objectivity suggests a value-

free education.168 Suffice it to say that the use of the word "objectivity" in this context has

more to do with distancing religious education from religious instruction than robbing the student

of a worth while education.

Rather than being fearful of commitment in religious education, the approach taken should

embrace a strong dedication to the values inherent in a multi-faith religious education. As B.R.

Singh states, one of the objectives of multi-faith religious education must be "to explore the place

and significance of religion in human life and to make a distinctive contribution to each pupil’s

search for a faith or life-stance by which to live.169 Therefore religious education cannot be

a purely objective, dispassionate and value-neutral conveying of religious information. Rather,

religious education is concerned with the search for truth; not whether one religion is true and

167Citv of Birmingham Education Com m ittee (1975) pp.4-5, quoted in Grimmitt. Religjpug EdvatiPtLaa4
H um an Development. O p.cit. p.42.

168For an extensive discussion of this point see Grimmitt’s argument in Religious Education and Human
Development o o .d t. p.42ff.

169B.R. Singh, "The Phenomenological Approach to Religious Education for a Multi-faith Society* in
231-247.
C hurchm an, p p .

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 109

another is false, but the quest to discover truth about humanity told in part through the stories

of the world’s religions. This is problematic when religions make exclusive claims of divine

truth. Nevertheless, the study of religious beliefs and practices and die path to salvation and

ffnlightenment proclaimed by religions can bring students into an encounter with their own life

stance. Religious education in the public school can claim to be the search for religious truth

(in the broad sense), yet recognizing that the objective is the development of a personal life

stance and not the nurture of a student in a particular faith tradition.

THE STRUCTURE OF M ULTI-FAITH RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

A group working at developing an approach of the kind I have outlined is The Religious

Education Curriculum Project in Queensland, Australia. This project was established in 1975

with the purpose of developing curricular materials for use in religious education classes in that

state. As a model it was uniquely developed with the intent that it could be used in public

schools to study either several world religions, or one religion in particular. The model is

designed to provide classroom teachers with a structure helpful in the exploration of religious

knowledge and personal experience. Its unique contribution to multi-faith religious education

lies in the way it identifies the elements of teaching religion and suggests a working relationship

with those elements.170 The model can be diagrammatically represented as follows: (continued

on next page.)

170Religiou3 Education Curriculum Project, Reliyious Education: Teaching Approaches. Queensland, Australia:
Curriculum Services Branch. Department of Education, 1987, p.5.

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The RECP M odel for Religious Education171

E xtm pkt ExtmpUt

Family Family

T H E RECP MODEL FOR RE

Local World
Religious Pu j Uc
community
community life

Traditional Family Human

Belief Experience
Systems

Local
com m unity

Individual
Patterns
of Belief

In my view, the RECP model provides an excellent structure for achieving the goals and

objectives for multi-faith religious education I have proposed in this thesis. The three sources

of content - Traditional Belief Systems, Individual Patterns of Belief and Human Experience -

provide the teacher and the students with a structure for meaningful discussion. Drawing from

traditional belief systems represented in society, the teacher has access to several elements of a

171Religious Education Twarfijng Approaches Religious Education Curriculum Project. Department of

Education, Queensland, Australia, 1987. p.3 This project was developed by a team of religious educators in
consultation with die Queensland State Education Department The project was developed in such a way that it
could be used for die teaching of Christianity in schools that choose that content or in with a multi-faith content
in schools that choose that approach.

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 Ill
given religion or religions. For example the first circle centres on the traditional belief systems

of the world’s religions:

(i) The stories from the sacred scriptures of a particular religion.

(ii) The actions of the participants of the religion, specifically those

which express the beliefs and faith of the participants.

(iii) The ethical and moral behaviour encouraged by a religious group

(or groups) as a way of being in die world.

(iv) The stories of the significant people in die religion(s), particularly

the stories of the founders and reformers of the religion(s).

(v) Stories that validate the beliefs and die actions of the followers of
a religion, in particular the grounds believers give for particular
actions.

(vi) The rituals of the religion(s), with particular emphasis on the

practice of worship.

(vii) The patterns of community life of the religious group(s) and the
way community is developed and nurtured.

From a study of the actions of a religion (or religions), students are able to identify several key

doctrines and teachings active in the religious community. Of particular interest to the study of

multi-faith religious education is the way these beliefs satisfy the believer’s quest for ultimate

meaning.

The second circle of study is the area of human experience. To assist students in locating

the studied religion(s) within their experience of the world several elements are necessary. They

are:

(i) Stories about people’s life experiences, particularly where people

have been motivated to action through religious impulse.

(ii) Common experiences in human life. The practices of religion are

diverse. Therefore the student must be introduced to common

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 112

unifying themes in religion and human experience.

(iii) Exploration of both the negative and positive feelings aroused by

topic.

(iv) Exploration of the connections between the topics studied and

common, everyday life in order to help students see the relevancy
of the study.

(v) Presentation of activities to make life experiences concrete in the

classroom, leading to high levels of involvement by the student.
The classroom is a microcosm of both religious experiences and
common human experiences, therefore providing a religious
laboratory.

The teaching of religion has often been tedious because of a failure to connect the

information about religion with the experiences of the members of the religion and the present

experience of students. A corrective to this is to value students’ life experience and recognize

it as a significant component in the educational process. Religious education cannot be taught

effectively in any context without a discussion of how a particular religion addresses both issues

of ultimate concern and issues of current interest. Addressing the "big" questions and the "why”

questions of life is fundamental to any conversation with a religion, but they must be rooted in

students life experience.

The third circle in the RECP model considers the students’ individual patterns of belief

and meaning. It is at this level that students personalize the dialogue with the particular

religion(s). Ways in which this is accomplished include:

(i) Sharing personal experiences and stories, of both a religious and

non-religious nature.

(ii) Exploring the ways in which students give expression to their

beliefs in daily life.

(iii) An open reflection on the feelings and thoughts aroused through

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 113

examination of new material.

(iv) On-going classroom interaction on general life issues which

provide students with personal meaning.

Throughout the educational process, the student should be encouraged to develop personal beliefs

and attitudes regarding the religious beliefs and practices raised by the topic. The goal of

religious education is not to refute those beliefs, nor is it the task of the teacher to develop

particular religious beliefs in the student concerning the religion(s) being studied; rather the goal

is to clarify and e xamine the students* beliefs within the context of human meaning.

CONCLUDING NOTE ON THE ROLE OF THE TEACHER

While I have focused on the goals, structure and content of multi-faith religious

education, the role of the teacher is obviously crucial. Many teachers, regardless of their

religious convictions, support the philosophy of religious education I have outlined. Multi-faith

religious education does not require teachers either to suspend their own religious beliefs and

values or to fabricate beliefs they do not hold. What is required, however, is a commitment to

the pursuit of religious knowledge and an open and professional approach to developing religious

understanding in students. Teachers must be committed to educational goals and accept that the

proper outcome of religious education is sensitivity to the religious quest, awareness of the

richness of religious culture, and a knowledge of the place of religion in human experience.

To teach religion teachers need the following characteristics, professional attitudes and

teaching skills.

(i) an appropriate knowledge of the topic and access to more

information;

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 114

(ii) an appreciation of the differences between empirical knowledge,

experience, faith and opinion;

(iii) an awareness of the variety of beliefs and attitudes amongst and

within major faiths. This is particularly important for teachers
whose own experience of religion has been entirely within a clearly
defined tradition;

(iv) sensitivity to both the religious and non-religious backgrounds of

the pupils;

(v) an openness to the ideas and attitudes of the pupils; and

(vi) a respect for the beliefs and practices of those faiths and minority
groups which contribute to the life of our society.

Because the teaching of religion deals with the life stances of individuals and

communities, there are some special qualities and sensitivities demanded of the teacher in this

area of the curriculum that may not be require in other areas. However, with adequate teacher

education in pedagogical theory and the philosophy of multi-faith religious education, the

classroom teacher can provide students with a constructive religious education experience.

CONCLUSION

The content and structure of religious education in the public school should include

teaching at three levels. First, students must learn how to approach the study of religion. The

methods and approach to a multi-faith type of religious education must be clear to them, so that

misinterpretation is limited. Secondly, students must acquire a body of information about

religions. When they are members of a "uni-religious” society, this is especially important.

Thirdly, students must learn how to enter into a dialogue with this information and appropriate

this knowledge to their own personal quest for meaning. Primary sources for suet study include

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 115

p*r<nnal experience, religious literature and stories and contact with living faith communities.

Assisting students in understanding, both abstract religious concepts and fundamental

human values necessitates die teacher starting with the religious and cultural backgrounds of

students and moving toward the wider experience of religion. The content of religious education

and the method of teaching must be appropriately structured to p.ovide for student’s intellectual

and emotional development. As I have argued in Chapter 4, when the curriculum has a narrative

base, students have better access to the world of religion. An overly doctrinal approach violates

the essence of religious understanding and restricts the younger student’s comprehension. When

the study of religion is centred in an understanding of religious story, students are able to locate

themselves within the story, and thus draw personal meaning from the narrative.

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APPENDIX A.

KEY SKILLS, CONCEPTS AND ATTITUDES IN

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 172

The "knowledge explosion" has made it mote difficult to think of religious education in

terms of a "body of knowledge" to be acquired. The question "What ought pupils to know?"

must give place to the question "How can they be equipped to deal with religious questions and

to understand religious phenomena?" Then when die student encounters aspects of life that call

for religious perception, they will be able draw upon cognitive and personal skills to interpret

the religious phenomena.

Pupils engaged in the field of religious education require abilities in three areas. Mainly,

(a) the development of cognitive skills in order to recognize, examine and analyze
religious phenomena,

(b) an understanding of religious concepts and their role in the life of the believer,
and

(c) the development of attitudes helpful to the study of religion.

The following list is an attempt to identify many of the skills, concepts and attitudes

172This appendix represents an adaption of some materials developed by the Schools Council Project on
Religious Education based at the University of Lancaster, England in tbe 1970s. See for example a paper by Donald
Hoxder in "Religious Education in Primary Schools: Report of a Conference" published in 1974 in mimeograph
form by die Schools Council.

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appropriate to the study of religious education. Many of the "tools" needed in this endeavour

are shared with other academic subjects. For example the ability to pursue a logical line of

enquiry, the capability to discern whether a passage is meant to be interpreted as poetic or literal

and some concepts like what constitutes a social class, are shared with other subjects in the

Humanities. The object of this list is to draw attention to the "tools" most needed by a pupil

wishing to understand religion in its various expressions so as to come to responsible conclusions

about religious questions.

I. KEY SKILLS

1. The ability to determine what is factual and to know what constitutes reliable
evidence in the religious field.

2. The ability to think and act objectively in relation to a view that affects one
emotionally.

3. The ability to pursue a line of enquiry to make connections, think logically,

recognize what is of primary importance and know how to seek relevant
information.

4. The ability to examine a statement and to conclude as to whether it is literal,

poetic, metaphorical or some another literary from.

5. The ability to make intelligent choices on the basis of different kinds of evidence.

6. The ability to enter imaginatively and empathedcally into the personal experience,
intentions, beliefs, myths and desires of others.

7. The ability to appreciate the influence a social group has on one and the capacity
to act responsibly and independently within that group.

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8. The ability to recognize religious issues and respond appropriately to them.

9. The ability to identify "authentic" religious experience and to distinguish it from

empty formalism and pretence.

D. KEY CONCEPTS

1. The dimension of mystery undergirding experience. For example the existence

of the cosmos, self-consciousness, birth, life and death, the sense of beauty, and
good and evil.

2. What is meant by a religious approach to life and how it differs from other
approaches such as the scientific and the aesthetic.

3. The kind of insights and motivation provided by religious faith.

4. The place and significance of religion in human life.

3. The sociological and psychological forces that influence the religious quest.

6. The importance of conscious and deliberate choice and commitment.

7. The practice of using words, objects, gestures to symbolise an attitude or a belief.

8. The principles by which different statements may be separated and classified. For
example an historical statement, an empirical statement, a metaphorical statement
and so on.

9. The language of religious discourse and the rationale by which the meaning
behind terms like God, worship, ritual, vocation may be ascertained.

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 126

10. What is meant by personal and human values.

11. The qualities that constitute a healthy spiritual life and constructive personal
relationships.

12. What is meant by religious experience including terms like wonder, awe. "the
numinous" etc.

m. KEY ATTITUDES

1. Curiosity: an interest in one’s own religion and a desire to better understand the
religion of others.

2. Ingenuity: the desire to use one’s wits in making connections between religious
phenomena.

3. Integrity: the concern to accurately understand the religion of others.

4. Fair-mindedness: a respect for honest and open inquiry into the beliefs and
practices of religious and non-religious people.

5. A healthy self-esteem.

6. An acceptance and appreciation of others and a sensitivity to their needs and

aspirations.

7. A respect for the earth and a "reverence for life."

8. Wonder and awe in the presence of true mystery.

9. Personal responsibility and determination in the quest for meaning, purpose and
value in life.

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APPENDIX B

THE CONTENT OF MULTI-FAITH RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 173

Early Childhood

An introduction to religious festivals, such as die Christian celebration of

Christinas, Easter and Pentecost; the Hindu Diwali (Festival of Lights); the
Jewish Rosh Hashanah (New Year) and Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement); and the
Islamic Maulud-un-Nabi (Birthday of the Prophet).

A presentation of aboriginal spirituality and its historical and contemporary role

in the life of native Canadians.

A description of rituals and customs celebrated in the family and the religious
community.

Stories from the world’s religions, particularly those that centre on wonder and
mystery.

Developing relationships with others, illustrated from the stories of world

religions.

The teaching of themes such as caring, trust, thankfulness, courage, forgiveness

and other basic human values.

The importance of personal relationships such as love for one’s friends and
responsibility for die earth and humanity.

Later Childhood:

How people express their religious ideals in family life and through community

>nThe following list was written by the author in consultation with the Ecumenical Study Commission of Public
Education. It was originally adapted from B.R. Singh "How to Teach and to Ensure a Good, Sound Religious
Education through a Multi-faith Approach at the Primary School level" in Educational Vol. 13, No.2,
1987, p. 142.

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service.

The expression of religious faith through rituals and symbols.

The importance of sacred places to religious and non-religious people.

Sacred writings such as the Bible and the Koran and their influence in the lives
of people.

The biographies of the founders and great people of the world’s faiths, including
humanism, and how religion influenced their lives and actions.

An introduction to religious concepts such as the dimension of mystery

undergirding experience, e.g. the existence of the cosmos, birth, life, death, the
sense of beauty, good and evil and so on.

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