Religion and Schools

The issue of religion in schools is considered a hot topic among debaters. Religion can be defined as “a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects”, according to Dictionary.com.   Religious issues arise when dealing with the practicing and teaching of religion.  When dealing with religion in practice, “In Illinois, a federal judge ruled against a state law requiring public school students to observe a moment of silence meant for prayer or personal reflection at the start of each school day.  District Judge Robert Gettleman said the law was an unconstitutional breach of the separation of church and state.”  (Calefati, 2009).  I agree with this whole statement completely. I say this because it is crucial to see the word “prayer” being used in the law.  Prayer is usually associated with religious practices, especially in churches. When an atheist saw this particular word, this person knew they had a chance to take down and get rid of the law.  However, I believe the atheist may not have so much luck in trying to bring down the law if “prayer” was not mentioned within it.  A moment of silence is neutral to everyone, including atheists.

When dealing with religion in teaching, “For the past 20 years, Texas’s science curriculum has required students to explore and critique “the strengths and weaknesses” of all scientific theories.” (et al.).  This practice was neutral and fair concerning any old or new theory that came into existence. However, opposition has developed to change the curriculum. Both sides have great arguments to support their claims in keeping or changing the twenty year practice. “Scientists testified before the board that the “strengths and weaknesses” language is unacceptable because there are no scientifically verifiable weaknesses to Darwin’s theory of evolution.”  “Some parents who spoke before the board said that their children had been intimidated and ridiculed by biology teachers when they questioned evolution and that there is nothing wrong with debating a theory that is not proven fact.” (et al.)  It seems that both sides are almost evenly matched.  I believe one of the only routes to satisfy both sides is to make a compromise between the two. In Christian thought, I know I could possibly create a story that would say Noah definitely had an ark, and the animals in it were the evolutionary ancestors of today’s animals just to pacify both sides who utilize creationism and evolutionism.

Whether people want to accept this or not, religion will always have a place in schools. Religion seeks to explain the universe, according to Dictionary.com, which means this one word can encompass many types of educational disciplines, including science.  I sometimes wonder if people would realize that modern education could be considered religion, especially according to the definition mentioned earlier in the essay. Modern education is based on a set of beliefs and practices agreed upon by a number of people, right?

References:

Dictionary.com (n.d). Retrieved September 30, 2011, from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/religion

Calefati, Jessica. (2009, January 22). “Religion in School Debate Heats Up.”  U.S. News. Retrieved September 30, 2011, from https://elearn.mtsu.edu/d2l/lms/content/viewer/main_frame.d2l?ou=2975445&tId=19133302

Historical Perspectives
Entry #1
September 16, 2011

Innovators and “makers” have made huge impacts on today’s education system.  I chose Horace Mann as my innovator because of his proven leadership skills. “Mann comprehensively surveyed the condition of the state’s schools, established training institutes for teachers, increased the length of the school year to six months, and gathered support for more funding for teacher salaries, books and school construction.”  One of the most important parts of this statement dealt with increasing the length of the school year for children. Increasing the amount of time spent in school meant that children would spend less time in activities that would not improve their school-based education, such as working manual labor that would not fully be a major investment into the future of society. Also, a self-explanatory statement mentioned “He often argued for public education in economic terms, saying that it would increase the wealth of individuals, communities, the state and the country as a whole, while teaching respect for private property.”

Mann continues to influence schools today because schools still have training institutes for teachers, the current school year is only three months extra than his original six, funding for school buildings, teachers, and supplies are still being sought , and the truth of how education can benefit members of the community and the community itself still holds true today.

I chose Frederick Taylor as my “maker” due to business aspects being applied to education.  “Men like these, and the brilliant efficiency expert Frederick W. Taylor, who inspired the entire "social efficiency" movement of the early twentieth century, along with providing the new Soviet Union its operating philosophy and doing the same job for Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany;….” This entire statement is important because it reveals that Taylor is a huge influence on socialism, an idea that “educates” its followers to serve certain corporate based institutions such as governments and even schools such as universities. Frederick continues to influence schools today because most schools from different education levels do educate and encourage their students to have careers involving corporate-based institutions.

Going off of initial impressions, I believe that innovators were molding their students to serve the community as a whole, while “makers” were molding their students to serve corporate-based entities such as governments, for-profit corporations, and universities. It also occurred to me that many of the “makers” came from business backgrounds and were self-made moguls who may have not been fully educated, while many of the innovators graduated from secondary and post-secondary schools, making them understand some of the issues needed to be addressed in the different levels of education.