“Societal cohesion, interfaith relations, mutual understanding.” These are popular phrases I often hear from our politicians and leaders when talking about the modern Britain we all want to live in.
But what do they look like in practice and how do we meaningfully embed them in our society?
My mind turns to a place that seems to have been forgotten. Religious education in our schools. For young people in our society, it offers that increasingly precious thing: a place where intellectual curiosity and the innate human desire to understand each other come together.
What takes place in these classrooms is a meaningful exploration of not just pupils’ own beliefs, but also those of others. Lessons and discussions that are the foundation of those values we so often speak to.
And this is why I am so profoundly troubled that one of the greatest educational assets is under threat at a time where misperceptions are fuelling conflict between different groups in our society.
What is religious education? Last year, I published an open letter calling on those from the world of work and business to back the subject. I was met with support, but also mild surprise. I remember being asked on Radio 4’s Sunday Programme: can the subject really help with the world of work in the 21st century?
At its best, I don’t think we fully appreciate – nor understand – what the subject can do. Speaking to teachers and their pupils I’ve come to realise this is a subject that can transform the way young people think about not just themselves, but the world around them too.
For young people, this is an entry into one of the most enriching intellectual experiences of their life. Pupils study the religious – and non-religious – responses to life’s biggest questions. The nature of the universe, where we derive our ethics, the existence of God.
And in doing so these lessons create those critical thinkers we value most in our society: humane, empathetic, curious, intellectual. Well versed in how to debate and argue from a different perspective, and able to treat those with different beliefs and ways of living with respect and care.
These are the fundamentals of how we resolve conflict, understand the experiences of others. Reflect, listen, agree or disagree and above all partake in the deeply human experience of what it is to question and derive our own understanding of the world around us.
I believe most adults would value time in our schools for this. But all too often the connection between the type of society we want to live in, and the subject best placed to serve this seems lost.
Numerous reports and statistics speak to this travesty. One in six pupils at Year 11 are not taught the subject. An Ofsted report recently described the curriculum taught in many schools as “insufficient for a complex world”. The subject continues to undergo a problem with specialism, with more lessons than any other being delivered by those who teach it as a second subject.
The reality is that tens of thousands of pupils across the country are missing out on a vital part of their education. And at present there seems to be no political will to deliver the decisive action needed to change this.
Last November, the Lords Minister for Faith, Lord Khan, gave a moving address in Coventry, highlighting the interfaith work that brings together people from different communities and backgrounds across the country.
There is no reason why this should not be happening in every one of our schools too. In RE teachers, we have some of the most passionate and dedicated teachers in the country, able to lead discussions on complex, sensitive topics that draw on the day’s events.
There are a number of quick wins for the government. The Religious Education Council has worked to offer schools the resources and framework needed to teach high-quality RE built on the latest research and best practice. They have also produced a National Content Standard, setting a benchmark for what parents should expect from a high-quality religious education curriculum. Backing these initiatives and rolling out high-quality RE centred around a religion and worldviews approach to every school is vital.
The Department for Education must also do better to ensure schools comply with their obligation to teach the subject to all pupils, supporting school leaders to find space on their timetable and hire the best teachers.
Years of neglect must also be undone. The teacher training bursary has been restored, but a national plan for the subject – similar to what we saw with music – would see the quarter of a million pupils who take the subject each year at GCSE receive their fair allocation of resources.
All this will only be driven by a full reckoning with what we risk losing when it comes to RE. If we want our children to grow up in a mutually respectful, cohesive and integrated society, built on an intellectual understanding of different religious and non-religious worldviews – then we must back the subject that serves this. Otherwise we will discover that just paying lip service to these values is not enough.
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Source: Politics
