Religion, Education and Diversity

A few weeks ago, I visited a spiritual and iconic place located in the mountains of Barcelona called The Abbey of Montserrat. The abbey is hidden amongst stunning mountains and charming nature, surrounded by hiking trails which are easily accessible for families.

Although I consider myself an atheist, I could not ignore the energy of the place and the nature around it. Walking around with my young children, we discovered different elements that recreate parts of the life of Jesus. My two young daughters (aged six and nine ) started asking questions about this person and why he was carrying a cross or was wearing?a crown of thorns – “Is he Gaudi?”[1] My youngest girl asked. These cute and ‘funny’ questions turned into a ?deeper interrogation that also started to arouse curiosity in me.

As a result, I decided to run a short, informal survey asking some questions related to religion and education to people from different beliefs, religions/denominations and educational backgrounds. In less than ten days I got 42 very interesting responses from across the world. The questions were very simple: What does it mean to ‘believe’ for you, in two to three words? How important do you think it is to teach religion in primary school? And why?

Some of the same words cropped up again and again when answering what it means to ?“believe”. These words were ‘faith’, ‘comfort’, ‘hope’, ‘trust’, ‘connect’, ‘satisfaction’ and ‘peace’. ?I also received one?poetic response that?I thought it was a beautiful way to describe this action – ‘dancing with the lights off’.

Nevertheless, the responses to the second question were more diverse and controversial and raised a few new questions. These are some of the answers about teaching religion in primary school:

“The core beliefs of most religions are very similar. We need a spiritual element to our lives. Understanding the main religions can serve to unify people.”

“….they need to learn values and spirituality more than religion.”

“It is important for kids at an early age to find or consider something/someone to believe in that will help shape their values, beliefs and practices as they face life and its challenges.”

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“I think it's important to build the foundation of students in faith to help the conscious mind and make sense of worldly things. It doesn't matter what religion but believing in a superior being who can comfort our hearts and understand us best. We need that to face the world to feel not alone and find our missions.”

During those difficult moments that we all face in the course of ?our lives, when we need to demonstrate resilience and keep hope alive, will spiritual connections help us ?cope better with stress and anxiety? Is this what we now call, ‘meditation’? Should we start teaching this aspect from the first year of primary school?

Other answers I would like to highlight were:

?“I think it helps them (children) to understand values and also teaches them empathy and understanding of different religions. Can help to understand the world better and gives them foundation to develop their own sense of place within it.”

“Important to give young children an idea of the world, and how some people (ex. Catholics, Muslims, etc.) see and believe how the world started. . However, when teaching this, it is vital to stress to young people that they have the right to choose to believe in that or not, instead of force feeding them beliefs adults have.”

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“I think kids should be taught civic science and religion, so they understand codes of behaviour, structure of values, and common purpose. That means treating other religions respectfully even if we disagree and learning to address fundamentalism in all its religious and civic forms.“

“Teaching about world religions is the better approach, because such instruction can help erase stereotypes of religious minorities”.

One of my daughters?attended a school in Ireland with a unique equality-based ethos; ethical education at this school being a key component. There, the pupils learnt about different belief systems as well as atheism, agnosticism and other world views throughout the year.?This school was an Educate Together primary school. During her years there my daughter learnt about, embraced and celebrated different religions and beliefs, and we did so with her. I noticed she was already in a much better position to understand other people’s beliefs and life experiences based on her learning experience. Now we are currently following the Catalan educational curriculum with a secular orientation that aims to guarantee freedom of religion and ideological belief. As far I am concerned, she hasn’t learnt anything practical or meaningful about religious beliefs and ideologies over the past year. When I compare this model with the Educate Together approach in Ireland, I observe that the Catalan model doesn’t help children much in developing the same level of empathy and respect towards other people’s beliefs and religions.

Although it is a personal choice to believe or not –“Kids need other insights and basic education and thoughts about life. We can’t fill kids with “baseless religious thoughts” sometimes without giving them the choice! We choose for them what to believe in! – religion is part of the past, the present and the future of the human experience, and perhaps it should not be ignored. In my opinion,?this inclusive educational approach is vital to achieving community cohesion.?

Likewise, most people tend to react to the unknown with fear and distrust. It can lead to misinterpretation, incorrect judgements, racism and discrimination against certain groups or individuals; and sometimes this happens without us being fully conscious of our reactions.

I genuinely believe in education and its role in stimulating free minds. So then, I wonder if primary schools, with a new, constructive and innovative methodology, should aim to provide a space where they can positively influence pupils to develop high levels of tolerance, respect and freedom when it comes to different beliefs and religions. Should the learning space encourage students to step into the unknown and accept differences? Should schools foster students to explore their spiritual path? There are many complex questions to answer, but I believe this is something worth debating with a respectful and tolerant attitude.

[1] Antoni Gaudí: A Catalan architect who has become internationally recognised for his work.