Teaching About Religion: Reaching Consensus

Reaching Consensus

There have been a number of endeavors to reach political consensus
across different constituencies with regard to how public schools should
deal with religion. The ultimate goal is usually to distribute these conclusions
to wider audiences as "consensus guidelines" and thereby make influential
a particular interpretation.

Process. Some religious, civic, and/or educational organizations may meet
together and strive to reach agreement Or, initiators will set forth a statement
and seek to get others to "sign on." Or, there may be blending of strategies.

Product. A publication, typically in pamphlet form, with explanatory and
supportive rationale. It is made available to educators and the general
public. The guidelines may speak not only to how educators should go about
teaching about religion, but also to the extent to which the groups support
making religion a part of the school curriculum.

Organizations that will endorse one set of guidelines for educators may not
endorse a very similarly worded set of guidelines. For a good example,
compare two sets of guidelines (A and B) as to exactness of meaning in
their wording.

Both sets of guidelines (A and B) have been circulated widely. B was
published subsequent to A. At first glance, the two may appear to be the
same. What would underlie the reluctance of a group to endorse B that
would quite willingly sign A?

ITEM A: Guidelines from "Religion in the Public School Curriculum:
Questions and Answers"
- The school’s approach to religion is academic, not devotional.
- The school may strive for student awareness of religions, but should not
press for student acceptance of any religion.
- The school may sponsor study about religion, but may not sponsor the
practice of any religion.
- The school may expose students to a diversity of religious views, but may
not impose, discourage, or encourage any particular view.
- The school may educate about all religions, but may not promote or
denigrate any religion.
- The school may inform the student about various beliefs, but should not
seek to conform him or her to any particular belief.

The above six guidelines were originally published by the Public Education Religion
Studies Center at Wright State University. The pamphlet from which the guidelines and
following "Q&A" portion was excerpted has been endorsed by seventeen organizations,
including these which have made materials available for teaching about religion in the
public school curriculum: American Federation of Teachers; Americans United Research
Foundation; Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development; National Council on
Religion and Public Education; and the National Council for the Social Studies.

The pamphlet also provides answers to other questions, among them:
Q: Is it constitutional to teach about religion in public schools? (A: yes, with explanation
provided)
Q: Why should study about religion be included in the public school curriculum?
Q: Where does study about religion belong in the curriculum?
Q: How does teaching about religion relate to the teaching of values?
Q: How should religious holidays be treated in the classroom? (and so on)

ITEM B: Guidance from "A Teacher’s Guide to Religion in the Public
Schools"
Another six guidelines for teaching about religion in public schools—all of
which derive from the same source and are somewhat comparable to the
original (bulleted) guidelines listed in Item A, above—were published in
1999 by the First Amendment Center.

- The school’s approach to religion is academic, not devotional.
- The school strives for student awareness of religions, but does not press
for student acceptance of any religion.
- The school sponsors study about religion, not the practice of religion.
- The school may expose students to a diversity of religious views, but may
not impose any particular view.
- The school educates about all religions, it does not promote or denigrate
any religion.
- The school informs the student about various beliefs, but it does not seek
to conform students to any particular belief.

The six bulleted guidelines immediately above have been endorsed by the following
organizations: American Association of School Administrators, American Federation of
Teachers, American Jewish Committee, American Jewish Congress, Anti-Defamation
League, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, Baptist Joint Committee
on Public Affairs, Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, Christian Educators
Association International, Christian Legal Society, Council on Islamic Education, National
Association of Elementary School Principals, National Association of Evangelicals,
National Association of Secondary School Principals, National Council of Churches of
Christ in the U.S.A., National Council for the Social Studies, National Education
Association, National PTA, National School Boards Association, Union of American
Hebrew Congregations, Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America.

Comparing Guidelines: Discussion

Eleven of the organizations endorsing Item B are the same as those
endorsing Item A, whereas ten are different. It is important to discern that the
wording in the six newer guidelines differs from their earlier representation,
presumably to reflect general agreement among these particular concurring
organizations that the school curriculum requires more teaching about
religion than it now possesses. This pamphlet has been widely distributed
and remains more readily procurable than the previous consensus Q&A
document (from which Item A was excerpted). It also provides extensive
discussion that supports a stronger encouragement to educators that
religion be part of the school curriculum.

As Item B states (p.3), "In the social studies especially, the question is no
longer "Should I teach about religion?" but rather "How should I do it?"
Accordingly, there is considerable accretion of force to certain items.

Whereas the earlier agreed-upon guidelines clarified for educators what is
constitutionally permissible (the school may…), this consensus more clearly
venerates the concept of public schools teaching about religion. Some color
highlighting and italics is provided to facilitate comparison of the two
versions.

- The school’s approach to religion is academic, not devotional. [unchanged]

- The school strives for student awareness of religions, but does not press
for student acceptance of any religion.

[Original wording: The school may strive for student awareness of religions,
but should not press for student acceptance of any religion.]

- The school sponsors study about religion, not the practice of religion.

[Original wording: The school may sponsor study about religion, but may not
sponsor the practice of any religion.]

- The school may expose students to a diversity of religious views, but may
not impose any particular view.

[Original wording: The school may expose students to a diversity of religious
views, but may not impose, discourage, or encourage any particular view.]

- The school educates about all religions, it does not promote or denigrate
any religion.

[Original wording: The school may educate about all religions, but may not
promote or denigrate any religion.]

- The school informs the student about various beliefs, but it does not seek
to conform students to any particular belief.

[Original wording: The school may inform the student about various beliefs,
but should not seek to conform him or her to any particular belief]

Last updated: 08/01/01