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BS: USA religious education in schools
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BS: USA religious education in schools |
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Subject: BS: USA religious education in schools From: GUEST,Tunesmith Date: 09 Oct 13 - 08:45 AM How much time is spent on religious education in US schools? Is it treated as a separate subject? ( i.e rather than being part of history and social studies ). And are stories from the Bible part of any religious education in the States? |
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Subject: RE: BS: USA religious education in schools From: sciencegeek Date: 09 Oct 13 - 09:06 AM The purpose of separation of church and state in the US Constitution is to preserve religious freedom... no single faith denominion can assume control over the political machinery the way it had in Europe. Because there were so many different religious groups that settled in America and schooling was a haphazard affair until near the end of the 19th century religious instruction was done mainly thru the individual churches aka Sunday school. So kids went to public school to learn "reading,'riting & 'rithmatic". There have also been the alternative schools run by various religious organizations. They needed to conform to the educational standards of the state, but would also include religious instruction as part of the curriculum. That help any? |
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Subject: RE: BS: USA religious education in schools From: GUEST,Tunesmith Date: 09 Oct 13 - 09:13 AM So, in state schools, there is no separate, dedicated "religion education" subject? |
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Subject: RE: BS: USA religious education in schools From: Phil Cooper Date: 09 Oct 13 - 09:30 AM There wasn't formal religious education in public school when I went in the 60's and 70's. However real Christmas Carols were sung in music class and songs like Harvest Home around Thanksgiving. Considering I had many fundamentalist relatives I got to hear about their beliefs all the time outside of school. |
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Subject: RE: BS: USA religious education in schools From: sciencegeek Date: 09 Oct 13 - 09:32 AM the proper term would be public schools - ie. funded with taxpayer money, usually property taxes and additional funding with state and federal money. Other than references to religion as part of the teaching of history, no religious instruction is provided. It's a practical solution ... school prayer was ended when non christian parents objected to having their children forced to pray or "be subjected" to feeling out of place. Not the most tolerant attitude... but understandable when reviewing how it all came to pass. We may have religious freedom, but are still struggling with religious tolerance. And the fundamentalists of all denominations are not helping matters in the least. Have you ever wondered why the conservative right spends so much time trying to brand our President as a Muslim??? They are pandering to religious intolerance to undermine the credibility of the legitimate administration. A very fascist tactic that whould be morally repugnant to any charitable and humane person. |
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Subject: RE: BS: USA religious education in schools From: GUEST Date: 09 Oct 13 - 09:45 AM The US and Canada do not have national curriculums/curricula. Education programs are decided by state or provincial/territorial governments, and then 'school divisions' implement the programs with various courses adapted to local areas. In Catholic schools the Catholic religion is taught. In Public schools (Canada) religion is not allowed to be taught unless it is comparative. In Alberta, a province in Canada, a credit can be earned for 25 hours of class/supervised study. All courses have exams (although there are a few exceptions). In Alberta and the Northwest Territories students require 100 credits to graduate with some courses being mandatory. The following explains it. "High School Diploma Graduation Requirements High school graduation requirements ensure students get the basic education they need to do well in their further studies and careers. To receive an Alberta High School Diploma, students must complete a full range of compulsory, core subjects as well as optional courses that broaden their knowledge and skills. Diploma requirements are set by the Minister of Education and include 100 credits in compulsory and optional courses. Schools are required to provide 25 hours of instruction for each credit. Most courses are worth either three or five credits, and the average course load is 35 credits per year. A student must earn 100 credits in order to graduate from high school in Alberta." from http://www.education.alberta.ca/parents/educationsys/ourstudents/viii.aspx That's likely more than you want to know, but there you have it. |
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Subject: RE: BS: USA religious education in schools From: Bill D Date: 09 Oct 13 - 10:07 AM The practical/de facto side of the issue is that although *public* schools are not allowed to officially sanction religious teaching from any particular viewpoint, it very much depends on where you are. Some states...or areas within a state.... are so heavily populated by one basic religious group that deviations from the 'letter of the law' are tolerated or ignored-- some rather defiantly. If 98% of the teachers, students, staff and local judges, mayors and school board members are fundamentalist Christians, the 2% usually find that protests about prayer, religious clubs and meetings, displays, signs...etc. will be ignored or punished by social pressure. In large urban schools with a wide diversity of cultures, the rules are mostly followed....formally. (When I was in intermediate school in Kansas many years ago, my science teacher 'informed' his 7th period class that they WERE to be the chorus that recited the Bible readings at the Christmas program. No.. there were no Jewish, Muslim or atheist programs, and NO ONE was asked if they wished to opt out of a religious program.) |
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Subject: RE: BS: USA religious education in schools From: Rapparee Date: 09 Oct 13 - 12:05 PM Out this way, the LDS Church has a "Seminary" across from each high school, off school property. The Mormons buy the land and erect and staff the building. Students can go there whenever they have free time from their classes, etc. or before/after school. If you REALLY don't like public schools you can homeschool your kids. This is fine as long as they meet certain basic requirements, proven by testing. |
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Subject: RE: BS: USA religious education in schools From: Ebbie Date: 09 Oct 13 - 12:24 PM As early as the 1940s, religious instruction was not given inside the public schools in Oregon. I remember - once a week and for one year only, I think - trooping with other third graders to the church a block from our elementary school for Bible study. Those whose parents did not opt for it remained in the class room. The main thing I remember from the experience - aside from the freedom of leaving the classroom in the middle of the schoolday- was that it was boring. |
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Subject: RE: BS: USA religious education in schools From: sciencegeek Date: 09 Oct 13 - 12:37 PM Since our public schools were pretty poor, my mom scrimped together the money to send my brother & I to Catholic school. Not so hot on teaching you how to think for yourself, but by gosh we learned the basic skills of math, reading and writing at an early age which stood us in good stead later in life. Since we got a full period each day of religion, we didn't "need" Sunday school... and I remember the occasional Monday morning when we couldn't enter our classrooms until after the nuns had scrubbed the desks clean of the various four letter words that had been scribbled on them by the public school kids who had been there for Sunday school. Guess it didn't take hold as well as intended. |
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Subject: RE: BS: USA religious education in schools From: Q (Frank Staplin) Date: 09 Oct 13 - 01:19 PM Alberta is a mixed bag. IN Alberta (Canada), Some towns such as Morinville have only Roman Catholic schools. Non-Catholic children are not excused from religious classes. Parents complained to the Alberta Human Rights Commission but they refused to consider the complaint. The Greater St. Albert Catholic Schools System refused to allow secular children to opt out of classes stressing religion or sexuality. National Post 15/02/12 and other papers. This is a problem in a number of small communities, especially in the northern part of the province. In Alberta, in general, parents make a choice; Catholic system, public schools, or private. Home schooling is also allowed. Both the Catholic and public systems are supported by tax money, so the money is split according to number of students enrolled in the two systems. Religious and sexuality teaching in the Catholic system departs radically from the programs in the public schools, where any religious instruction must be comparative. In other words, parents decide according to their religion. Private schools have a large market in cities like Calgary; some are completely secular, others advertise that they are Christian-based. The Calgary Islamic system operates accredited schools within the greater Calgary community, offering kindergarten through grade 12. The Calgary Jewish Academy offers similar schooling, up to grade 9. I believe the other Jewish school also covers grades 1-9. |
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Subject: RE: BS: USA religious education in schools From: Rapparee Date: 09 Oct 13 - 02:05 PM We have a Lutheran school and a Catholic school here in town, as well as a "Christian" day care for pre-schoolers. As long as the kids learn arithmetic, reading, writing (in cursive!), history, grammar, spelling, civics, and music I don't care what else is taught (although a second language would be nice -- I had to wait until high school, and then it was Latin). |
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Subject: RE: BS: USA religious education in schools From: GUEST Date: 09 Oct 13 - 02:41 PM Q, in Alberta there are I think two Catholic school divisions that are in fact called the Public system because the majority of people in the district are Catholic. One is St Albert and I can't recall where the other is or was. In those areas the non-Catholic school division is called the Separate system. |
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Subject: RE: BS: USA religious education in schools From: Jack Campin Date: 09 Oct 13 - 05:17 PM At one point there was an interesting contrast between the British and New Zealand school systems. Religion was the one subject that British schools were all legally required to cover. In NZ, it was the one subject state schools were legally forbidden to teach. When I was at school in NZ, most schools had a short prayer before the day officially started - the formal hours started at 9.00 but you better get there by 8.45. (This cheat had a name which I forget). There were books about most world religions in the school library, but no formal lessons in religion at all. If the school was to have introduced a subject among the possibilities I didn't get, I'd have found Japanese, piano or typing more useful. |
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Subject: RE: BS: USA religious education in schools From: Q (Frank Staplin) Date: 09 Oct 13 - 05:42 PM Yes. Saint Albert- Greater St. Albert Catholic Regional Division No. 29 St. Albert Protestant Separate School District No. 6 Francophone Communities are allowed to administer their own schools and to provide French language instruction wherever numbers warrant. This adds still more division to the school systems. |
