Secularism isn’t a
value neutral force in education and attempts to exclude faith from the
classroom risk anti-religious indoctrination, according to a new report. [1]
The report,
by Professor Trevor Cooling of Canterbury University, criticised opponents who
claim that faith schools shouldn’t be able to consider religious criteria when
selecting pupils.
The report, entitled
Doing God in Education, published by the theology think-tank Theos, argues that
all education is value driven and shaped by school
leaders.
It cautions: “The
objection to so-called neutral approaches, then, is that they privilege secular
worldviews and are in danger of implicit anti-religious
indoctrination.
“They are not, in
other words, neutral.”
Commenting on the
report, Theos director Paul Woolley, said: “The idea that education is
religiously neutral or objective is indefensible.
“Teaching is shaped
by our understanding of which virtues we should practise, what qualities we
should value, ultimately of what kind of people we should
be.”
The report also
contains a strong refutation of critics of faith-based admissions, saying: “The
opposition to selection in faith schools is based on the assumption that
religion is an irrelevant criterion.
“But it has been
argued throughout this report that this assumption that religion is clutter is
wrong in its portrayal of the nature of human knowledge, ideological in its
dependence on humanist beliefs and probably anti-religious in its negative view
of faith.
“To utilise it as the
defining feature for the charge of discrimination is, therefore, itself unfair
and exclusive.”
The report’s findings
were welcomed by Prof Leslie J Francis from the University of Warwick who said:
“Trevor Cooling nails the absurdity and illogicality of the secularist position
that tries to silence religious voices in the educational
arena.”
Earlier this month it
emerged that faith schools had dominated a league table of the best performing
primary schools in England once again.
The official tables,
composed by the Department for Education, show that nearly two thirds of the
best primary schools are Anglican, Roman Catholic or
Jewish.
The success of
faith-based primaries comes despite the fact that they account for just one in
three schools nationally.
Barbara Jarrett, head
of the country’s top-performing faith-based primary, said: “It’s all about
shared values. We expect our children to be respectful, care for each other, be
committed and hard working. Our values reflect the values of our
church.
“And we encourage
children to have a love of learning and a belief in their own ability to do
well.”
Mrs Jarrett, who
heads St Wilfrid’s Catholic Primary in Sheffield, added: “There is a real crisis
in our education system today, we call on the Government to learn lessons from
faith schools.”
This year’s league
table revealed that 289 schools in England gained “perfect” results by ensuring
that all of their pupils met the standards expected for their age group. Of
these schools 61 per cent were faith schools.