Religions in Schools

There are very few topics that have caused more debates and hurt more feelings than the “Religion in Schools Debate”. This is a tough topic for many people since so many of us feel so strongly about religion. This nation was founded on freedoms and students should feel free to pray if they want. One of the key points of the debate is about schools having a designated time to pray. When we take away an opportunity to pray we are sending a message that prayer within these walls is incorrect. Thus, students feel they no longer have the freedom to express themselves through prayer. As sighted in A Parent’s Guide to Religion in the Public Schools, “All parties should treat one another with civility and respect and should strive to be accurate and fair.” (First Amendment Center) We must strive to make sure that our policies are fair to both Non-Christians and Christians.

The school is a place of education and everything that we do, as educators, should be based on such. I realize that prayer is not an education practice but a religious one. I also realize that having a designated time for prayer only sets the school up for lawsuits from parents who disapprove. Over time we have seen how taking a strict stand for religion has resulted in severe consequences that were negative for both the children and the school. As Norman Baurer stated, “Many Americans gradually came to realize that interfaith harmony and community goodwill could best be realized by keeping public schools neutral on religious questions.” However, having a time for prayer isn’t mandating that prayer must occur. We have to be careful not to take away the Christian’s rights as well. The opinion listed in the article said it perfectly “it is a student's personal choice whether to pray or reflect more generally; therefore, proponents say, the law does not force religion on public school children.” (Calefati, 2009) A Simple moment of silence is just that, a quiet moment. Nothing religious must occur, but it is an opportunity to allow students to pray if they so choose.

Personally, I am a Christian, so keeping God out of the school system is a completely foreign concept to me. I believe that God should be an integral part of every part of our lives, and seeing that children spend nearly 40 hours of week in the school building, I believe God should be incorporated there. I understand that we must be sensitive to other religions, however, and to that end I think that the least that we should do is allow a moment of prayer for children who do believe and have a relationship with God. We are not forcing prayer and we are not preventing prayer that way.

In closing, initially I understand the debate and see both sides of the argument. Reflectively, I realize the consequences of forcing the issue for both religious and non-religious families and children. Personally, I don’t want the government interfering with my ways of religion, so likewise I realize I cannot force my ways of religion on the government. Providing a moment of silence is a good compromise for all parties involved.

Reference:

First Amendment Center (1999). A parent’s guide to religion in public Schools. Retrieved on 9-29-11. Retrieved from: http://eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED440021.pdf

Bauer N. (1995). Likely implications of the thought of Dewey and James regarding a school prayer amendment. Retrieved on: 9-29-11. Retrieved from: http://eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED401177.pdf

Calefati, J. (2009). Religions in schools debate heats up. Retrieved on: 9-29-11. Retrieved from: https://elearn.mtsu.edu/d2l/lms/content/viewer/main_frame.d2l?ou=2975445&tId=19133302

Bianca, You Animal, Shut Up!

Even though we weren’t instructed to do so, I thought I would write a bit about the Bianca article. “Wow” is one of the only words that come to mind. In our country, and honestly across the globe, I am sure the problems dealt with in this article are universal. In an effort to do our best and to govern how students learn, we may indeed be forgetting the individuals that make up the actual classroom. I have never heard of the school system “Stealing our children”, but the idea makes a lot of sense. We mandate that people bring their kids to school, send them to court if they don’t, and then communicate only what we must back to them. It can seem like a “Deal with it Mom and Dad” mentality. This became quite obvious to me just a few weeks ago when we had to take my daughter to school for her first day. Since then we only get a glimpse into what is truly happening in my daughters life within the classroom. For the first time in her life we are given little control over her environment, but what can we do? With the mere number of students and the amount of work that goes along with the job, who has time to cater to each individual student or parent? We have to make the time for this crucial part of teaching. Students and their parents are real people with real needs and concerns.

Innovators and Makers

            One of my favorite topics is History. I love learning about the origins of our world today. Both of the articles about the history of education were quite inspiring and interesting. I have never stopped to look at the history of those who played such a role in shaping the school environment. There was one key difference in “makers” and innovators that stood out to me. Innovators go after education with a purpose, and “Makers” are those who make an indirect impact on education.

After looking at all of the achievements and hurdles that the innovators had to over come and what they changed, I look to Horace Mann as the maker that stood out above the rest. From equality to professional educators, they all made a difference but where did it all begin? Horace Mann is where the structure for modern education began.

A few years back I had the privilege of being a part of opening a new school, Scales Elementary. Although there was much excitement and an overwhelming amount of support, this was no small task for any of us that were involved. Horace Mann did much of the same, only he did it at a much higher level, and with much more at stake. We saw the need for an additional school, and he saw the need for a complete reform, reorganization, and a refreshed idea of what education should be.

The line in his biography that stood out the most to me was: “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.¹ “

Any one of these achievements would have been good, but to do all of them is simply amazing. I realize that the school system would have been smaller and simpler at that time, but what a great adjustment he made to the public education system. The quality and energy that goes into the beginning of anything carries with it so much importance, and Horace had to get this re-invention of the school system right. Even though he lived through a time of great social changes and unrest, he stayed focused on making the education system better.  

            The “Maker” that I felt influenced public education the most was Henry Ford. With his abilities to make transportation easier, the little schoolhouses were quickly becoming part of the past. People were able to move across our world easier than ever before, and thus had freedoms that they had never had before. Farming would fade from its dominant role as the job of Americans. Instead, city life and factories began to take over. Just like Ford’s design of an assembly line, schools followed suit.² Instead of several small schools; they began to combine into school districts. These districts would be more equipped to provide a better education. All of these advances hinged on the popularity of the automobile.

           

            Comparing the differences that the makers and innovators have made over the years is very inspiring. The world we live in needs “Makers” of education. Those people that will see something that needs to be done better and will spend their life fixing it. The kind of people that will put everything they can into making our world a better place for the children of the world. The world will always be full of innovators who demand that education change. The world needs those people who bring about such a change to the world that the education system simply must change to accommodate the changing world. The one thing I do know is that the education that my grandchildren will receive will be quite different from the one that I received.

1. School “The Story of American Public Education” Roundtable Publications. https://elearn.mtsu.edu/d2l/lms/content/viewer/main_frame.d2l?ou=2975445&tId=19133297

2. The Mackinac Center for Public Policy website.

http://www.mackinac.org/4926