Outline the case for the inclusion of R.E in Schools and discuss the view that R.e can make a positive contribution to life in a contemporary plural society.
..., Islam, Buddhism, Christianity or any other known Religion in the world. The unfortunate problem with Religious Education is that the approach to teaching it is somewhat a ‘closed approach’ (Greer. J & McElhinney). This seems to be largely due to the fact (specifically referring to Northern Ireland) that the Christian Church has always been a major influence on the syllabuses of R.E, which has left very little room for any minority faith to have a say. However throughout my research it has become evident that there has been a move toward a more open approach to the teaching of R.E in which pupils can be presented with the other Religions of the world, but the main bulk of any syllabus has been the particular Religion of that country. So the underlying question is ‘should R.E be included in schools or is it of any use in a contemporary plural society such as Northern Ireland?’ I will now consider how the present Northern Ireland core syllabus has come about and outline the case for the inclusion of R.E in schools in Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland is perhaps a good example of how R.E can make a positive contribution in a contemporary plural society. A lot of teachers in Northern Ireland would much rather prefer to avoid teaching R.E simply due to the religious and political barriers which exist in the country. However in my opinion the correct approach taken to The teaching R.E has the potential to help brake these barriers down through helping pupils to understand both the protestant and catholic Religions as well as the other world religions. However the separate schooling system in Northern Ireland still makes it hard for pupils to accept one another as the separate schooling system remains a barrier itself. In the 1980’s Catholic schools took a confessional approach to R.E, one in which the teaching of religion was largely influenced by the Catholic Church and most emphasis was placed on actively taking part in the Catholic sacraments. On the other hand the protestant schools took a more unsystematic and non- confessional approach, perhaps this was due to the number of denominations within the protestant faith, meaning there was only room for basic teaching of scripture, to ensure indoctrination didn’t take place by teachers taking a specific denominational approach. So up until The Education Reform (N.I) Order (1989) each system of schooling took its own approach to R.E and the Churches of both the catholic and protestant faiths laid down the criteria for R.E in the schools. This meant there was very little room left for the teaching of other world religions and so it may be well said that until there was a move toward a more broad and inclusive R.E syllabus, the method of teaching R.E in northern Ireland could have been regarded as ‘indoctrinary’ especially towards children of the minority religions. In my opinion this left pupils intolerant of other people in society with a different religious background and therefore R.E had little positive contribution to the community in Northern Ireland. Apart from the 1944 Education Act, the most significant changes took place for the teaching of R.E in Britain in1988, under the Educational Reform Act, set down by the conservative government. The significance was that schools in Britain were to receive a prescribed curriculum, on which R.E was to become a compulsory subject and was regarded as important as any other subject on that curriculum. However, although this proved to be successful in mainland Britain, the case for R.E in Northern Ireland remained somewhat different for a society which was separated because of religion and politics, and of course the separate schooling system itself remained a problem. Therefore, It wasn’t until The Education Reform (N.I) Order (1989) that a core syllabus for Northern Ireland was Proposed. Many of the same characteristics of the order remained the same as set down by the conservative government; however some changes were made to suit the differing circumstances in Northern Ireland. The order involved the four main churches in Northern Ireland coming together to form a draft syllabus for both the Catholic and protestant schools in the country. The drafting group decided that the syllabus would be of a mainly Christian nature, but also the syllabus for the catholic schools would remain the same. There was still little evidence of a move towards teaching a broader syllabus. The syllabus suggested three attainment targets for R.E. which were; a focus on the Bible and life of Jesus, church history and Christian dimensions of personal and social morality. However it stated (Para 2.7) that “an approach to other world religions may be taken at G.C.SE and ‘A’ level standards of R.E”. Although this showed the syllabus changing to suit a more cotemporary plural society, the Minister of Education, Jeremy Hanley was still not convinced that this was enough in 1992 he commented on this by saying “ I intend to take steps to ensure that schools are encouraged to include the study of other world religions within their total religious education programme.” (Ministers letter to the drafting group chairmen, June 1992). This was made evident when in 1993 the new core syllabus for Northern Ireland was released formally and undertaken by schools. The core syllabus for Northern Ireland has had many positive contributions to the society. Firstly the syllabus has helped make a move towards away from the traditional approach to R.E or referring to Greer & McIlhinney, the syllabus has become more open. In relation to the ‘model syllabuses’ , proposed by the School Curriculum and Assessment Authority (SCAA) in 1994 we learn that one of the aims of R.E was to help pupils “Develop a positive attitude towards other people , respecting their right to hold different beliefs from their own, and towards living in a society of diverse religions.” (SCAA, 1994). This has been evident in the N.I core syllabus. Pupils have become more aware of the different religions that exist within the small community of N.I and in my own experience of R.E this has encouraged cross community work between the separate communities, hence the separate schools in Northern Ireland. With specific reference to the political and religious barriers in the country, R.E has helped and is continuing to help the situation by making children more aware of the beliefs of others, hence promoting a more tolerable community. Secondly the drawing up of the core syllabus has been beneficial to the controlled schools (protest sc...