Bianca Rosu

November 27, 2019

Religion is a very delicate subject in a multicultural and diverse society but in spite of that we shouldn’t stop teaching it. In this essay I am going to argue why religion should be taught in public schools and also I will focus on a few ways to do so.

I really think that religion is uniquely powerful in the way that creates meaning, motivates and helps believers to cope with the hardest moments of their life. It orients and defines them. Religion plays an important role in social studies content and is difficult to ignore, especially because of current world events. Like geography for example, is something that needs to be studied and understood. But can schools really teach about religion? The answer is yes.

It’s a common perception that schools should not be allowed to teach about religion, but students have been studying religion’s role in the historical, cultural, literary and social development of the U.S. and the world for decades. And in today’s divisive world, increasing understanding about world religions has never been more important. There is a crucial period in which a child begins to ask questions about life and wonder about the origin of existence, they should find their answer within school walls throughout the religious literacy.

There has been much publicity in recent years highlighting how ignorant U.S. citizens are about religion. The 2010 U.S. Religious Knowledge Survey conducted by the Pew Research Center which is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world (the most recent available of its type), revealed that only 66 percent of Christians surveyed knew that Genesis is the first book of the Bible, fewer than half of Americans knew that the Dalai Lama is Buddhist, and even fewer knew that Shiva and Vishnu were associated with Hinduism. The limitations are even more apparent when considering history. How can knowing the Christian Beatitudes explain the Crusades or the Inquisition or Christian support for chattel slavery? (D. Moore, par. 3, 4).

Teaching students about religion is a balanced objective that has been incorporated into California’s History–Social Science (HSS) Content Standards since 1998, and is also part of the new HSS Framework, points out Juliana Liebke, a social studies curriculum specialist for San Diego Unified School District, who says “people are constantly surprised by this. Teaching about religion is not the same as teaching religion, because we are not proselytizing. We are just teaching facts about belief systems of various religions, to understand how the narrative of world history has unfolded,” (qtd. in Goodwin, par. 8).

But who are to blame for most Americans ignorance about religion? Many believe that American public schools are against all religions. Although many educators and administrators may have anti-religious opinions, they nevertheless should respect and tolerate students from religious families. Some have even suggested that religion may have the answer to most of the ills that face public schools and the American society at large (Jeynes par. 2). Certainly, there are many examples of actions taken by teachers and principals in public schools that appear anti-religious in nature. It has become almost common-place to hear testimonies of Bible study clubs blocked from having access to their schools, children suspended for bringing a Bible to school, children forbidden from reading the Bible on a school bus, and children forbidden from giving their friends Christmas cards (Jeynes par. 5). None of these schools action are legal but they happened. And then if you take a step back you realise that this is how the religion becomes a delicate subject where most teachers are trying to avoid it and because of that many publishers have found it easier to remove any reference to religion from their textbooks, avoiding the topic of religion altogether rather than seeking to accommodate conflicting viewpoints.

Religion in education is too often getting a bad press. But religious education emphasises respect for others, regardless of their beliefs, race or social status. In our diverse society, children need an understanding of other principal religions and other world views.

The authors Samuel J. Ayers and Shelly Reid in “Teaching about Religion in Elementary School: The Experience of One Texas District” talk about the importance of teaching about religion and also explain the one Texas school approach to religion that is academic and not devotional. That the school may sponsor study about religion but may not sponsor the practice of religion. And I do agree with this aspect. I really see it as a need to teach about the religion but what schools should not do is to press for student acceptance of any one religion and what it needs to be done is to strive students awareness for religion. In this way they will be informed and they will be educated about all religions without promoting or denigrating any religion. The authors also say that “the school may inform the student about various beliefs but should not seek to confine him or her to any particular belief” (qtd. in Ayers, 16) which means that is always good to let students know about one religion’s beliefs and rituals but never try to restrict their beliefs in one prefered religion.

I think that very few teachers are adequately or properly trained to teach appropriately about religion. There are no standards for teacher certification but the ones who are well prepared to do so, they can help students understand, respect, appreciate, and learn from others with differing worldviews. This can help produce a generation of citizens who will promote greater respect, tolerance, harmony, and peace on school campuses (at all levels), in the workplace, in neighborhoods, in the global community overall. Beside the qualified teachers, what it matters also are the books that help professors to complete their mission in teaching about religion. So one important way of teaching it is using proper books that meet the requirements.

More than 20 years ago, the Supreme Court has ruled that religion can be taught in the public schools, as long as it is done in an academic, impartial way (Doerr, par. 6). However, there are very few textbooks that could meet these requirements. Books by John B. Massen, John M Swomley and two other authors are recommended. Edd Doerr mentions in the article “Teaching about religion in public schools” that there are only a few books that can follow these rules. Three books published by Americans for Religious Liberty are useful books to read when studying the religion in education issue: Myths About School Prayer by John M. Swomley, Home Schooling: The Facts by Albert J. Menendez, and Public Education and the Public Good by Robert S. Alley. As Edd Doerr presents in his article a series of books that he consider being useful when teaching about religion, I like the fact that he is really involved in this issue and he does a selection of some books that meet the Supreme Court’s criteria because nowadays is easier to be against the idea of educating students about religion than actually finding a way to teach about it and at the same time to avoid the dispute and controversy among parents and professor.

In one of the interviews with Andrew Henry, which is currently pursuing a Ph.D in Religious Studies at Boston University, he speaks about the benefits of the religious literacy in public schools. His answer to the question “Should public schools teach about religion?” is a positive one. He says that “it can eliminate the harmful stereotypes like islamophobia and also can aid the social cohesion, how we get along with each other and how us as a society work together to get over shared problems” (Should public schools teach about religion?). Andrew Henry also ads that whether we are religious or not or like religion or not, “religion it’s been a huge cultural artistic philosophical and political force throughout our species history” (Should public schools teach about religion?). He says that the religion “should be though in classes as social phenomena and not as indoctrination or teaching the religion as true and that teaching world religions in general will make for a more balanced tolerant and effective public” (Should public schools teach about religion?).

Another way that we can expose our students to religion is to create a curriculum in ways that directly will not promote or denigrate a particular religious tradition. The National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) are using thematic strands framework for developing any social studies curriculum. Using these strands and the expanding communities approach (Hanna 1963) as a curriculum planning framework, they can successfully provide suggestions and guidelines for appropriately teaching about religion across grade levels in public elementary classrooms (Dever, par. 6). So historically stories about religion are being used, religious celebrations, auto visuals or even guests as vehicles in teaching about religion. This approach can be fun and beneficial when trying to educate about such a delicate subject. Using student’s curiosity about certain topics makes the teaching way easier. The table below reflects one of the examples of a guide for Curriculum Development for students in public schools. And as we can see the religion can be studied from many points of view, culture, evolution, society, individual development, consumption or civic ideals.

Furthermore I will present reasons why religion should be taught in public schools. First reason is because I consider that this actually may help shaping a student’s attitude towards cultural diversity. Even though David Saperstein, a director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, thinks that teaching about religion would just create more controversy and that the state should just remove religion as a subject of study, I disagree. Clearly, in this way, the education about religion becomes the responsibility of each parent at home, but failing to cover religion in public schools, however, implies that it is not an important element of life. On the other hand, “In learning about different religions, children receive a vital component of their education.” (Sapertsein par. 8).

Another reason why religion should be taught in school is that the incorporation of education about all religions would promote some of the primary goals of multicultural education: respect and tolerance for cultural differences and also would reduce prejudice and discrimination aimed at minority groups (J. Moore par. 10). For example, for most Americans, Islam remains a little-understood religion, and Muslims are often stereotyped as religious fanatics and terrorists. The vast majority of Americans receive their information on Islam from the popular media, which often misrepresents Islamic beliefs and practices and perpetuates myths, distortions, and misconceptions. This is unfortunate, and teaching about Islam, like all religions, would just presents students opportunities to expand their knowledge and understanding of the world, also would develop tolerance for religious and cultural diversity, take an active and informed role in American politics, and develop critical thinking skills that could generate viable solutions to religious, political, and cultural conflicts (J. Moore par. 14).

After the sad serie of events on 9/11 many muslims have been victims of discrimination in the United States, they were exposed to repetitive attacks, including murders and vandalism against mosques and temples. But all these actions can be reduced by exposing students to knowledge about all religions like Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism or Islam and explain the relationships between them and doing that can create more tolerence among us.

But there is hope. By educating children about the world’s many religions, historical and modern alike, we can show them that each faith is simply one culture’s attempt to explain the unknown. They can learn about religion from the perspective of an anthropologist, with a proper balance of intrigue and detachment, and gain true insight into the origin of the world’s many belief systems.

As religion teaches ethical values many will argue that teaching religion in school is an excellent way to teach values to children. Because many religions do have strong ethical and moral values in them, people feel that school can be a great place to start for introducing ethics and morals into children’s lives.

Works Cited

Ayers, Samuel J. “Teaching about Religion in Elementary School: The Experience of One Texas District.” Social Studies. Jan/Feb2005, Vol. 96 Issue 1, p14-17. 4p. 2 Black and White Photographs

http://www-tandfonline-com.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/. Accessed 26 Nov. 2019.

Doerr, Edd. “Teaching About Religion.” The Humanist, Nov. 1998, p. 42. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A57388736/OVIC?u=cuny_ccny&sid=OVIC&xid=3cfded27. Accessed 15 Nov. 2019.

Dever, Martha T. “The 4th R: Teaching about Religion in the Public Schools.” JN Social Studies, Sep/Oct2001, Vol. 92 Issue 5, p220. 10p,

http://www-tandfonline-com.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu. Accessed 27 Nov. 2019.

Henry, Andrew. Should Public Schools Teach About Religion. ReligionForBreakfast,Oct

23, 2015, https://youtu.be/SBx3qaIm1Qc. Accessed 27 Nov. 2019.

Moore, Diane L. “Public School Students Need to Study Religion”. “Public Schools Can’t Ignore Religion” found in Education Week website, October 10, 2018. Accessed 15 Nov. 2019.

Moore, James R. “ Why Religious Education Matters: The Role of Islam in Multicultural Education.” Multicultural Perspectives, Jul-Sep2009, Vol. 11 Issue 3, p139-145. 7p,

http://www-tandfonline-com.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu. Accessed 27 Nov. 2019.

Saperstein, David. “Banning Books Isn’t the Answer.” The New York Times, 10 Mar. 1987. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A176186700/OVIC?u=cuny_ccny&sid=OVIC&xid=18b8aff7. Accessed 20 Nov. 2019.

Southey Lewy & Stafford Betty (2007) “How to expose fourth and fifth graders to religion and spirituality in a public school classroom”, International Journal of Children’s Spirituality,I12:3,325-330, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13644360701714993. Accessed 27 Nov. 2019.

William, Jeynes H. “Are America’s Public Educational Institutions Anti-Religious?” Education, 1998, p. 172. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A53257934/OVIC?u=cuny_ccny&sid=OVIC&xid=bb18d46a. Accessed 21 Nov. 2019.