Kids on the coast

Primary school students at Queensland’s state schools are currently given the opportunity to attend religious instruction of up to one hour per week, taught by approved volunteer representatives of denominations and faith groups.

Once parents identify their child’s religion on enrolment, the child is subsequently placed in an identified RI program. Education Queensland’s policy says children who opt out of RI must be placed in an alternative activity and supervised in a separate area but, in many cases, this is not happening and children are expected to read in the back of the room.

Education Queensland acting assistant director-general David Manttan says RI classes are the responsibility of the principal and must be in line with departmental policies and practices. School management issues include managing alternative activities and the location of these activities, says Mr Manttan.

“Principals determine and monitor appropriate alternative activities for students who do not attend RI, which may include such activities as revision of class work, wider reading or doing research, and must also ensure that alternative instruction does not create educational disadvantage to students attending RI,” he says.

Speaking to parents whose children opt out, many feel their kids ARE currently disadvantaged. The most common concern seems to be the lack of allocation of a separate area for these children.

There are reports of children being sent to the back of the class, where they feel isolated from the group. One child said she felt alienated and “weird”. She asked her parents for permission to opt back in because of it.

Australia’s changing religious profile

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reports that Australia’s religious profile is changing and two significant trends are emerging.

Increased migration to Australia has led to the growth of some religious groups and a greater religious diversity than in the past. As Australia becomes more multi-cultural, there is a reduced affiliation with Christian traditions and a remarkable growth in other religions. The three main non-Christian religions practiced in Australia are Buddhism, Islam and Hinduism, and a 2006 ABS report states that 1.1 million Australians are affiliated with non-Christian religions.

The second trend identified in the 2006 ABS report is a strong growth in secularisation. In the 2006 census, 19% of the population stated they had “no religion”. This was a substantial increase from 1971, when only 6.7% had no religion.

Even more striking is a significant decline in Christian affiliation for generations X and Y (aged 20-39). The 2006 census results for this age group show that only 56% nominated Christianity, 7.4% belonged to a non-Christian religion, and the remainder nominated “no religion”. These are the current parents of primary-age children.

In this social climate, school communities need to ensure that religious instruction (RI) in state schools is relevant to the students, and that families who opt out of traditional RI classes are having their needs met in a sensitive and inclusive way.

Ethics classes – a meaningful alternative

One possibility that Queensland school communities may consider is a secular ethics class for children who have opted out of RI, so that they have a meaningful alternative during the time when their classmates are engaged in religious instruction.

A trial of secular ethics classes was recently piloted in 10 NSW primary schools, for children who had opted out of Special Religious Education (SRE) – the NSW equivalent of RI.

The NSW ethics trial is an Australian first, and each lesson explores an ethical dilemma. Students are encouraged to examine ethical issues like fairness, honesty, care, rights and responsibilities, and they discuss and resolve these issues through engagement in age-appropriate activities.

The 10-week pilot program was developed by experts at the St James Ethics Centre in collaboration with the Federation of Parents and Citizens of NSW. The lesson plans were designed by Professor Philip Cam, a University of NSW academic, who worked under the guidance of the curriculum branch of the NSW Department of Education and Training and the NSW Board of Studies.

St James Ethics Centre executive director Dr Simon Longstaff says the ethics classes sharpen and improve the children’s critical thinking skills while complementing and extending the work of primary school teachers who, through the school curriculum, already engage the children in activities that look at ethical issues.

“What you end up with as a result, is an opportunity to engage in meaningful activity for all children in NSW, and not just those who go to SRE,” he says. “It teaches them how to think about ethical issues in an environment where they can bring to bear their own cultural, religious and other world views, which they have derived from home or from their life in the community.”

The pilot is the result of a long campaign by parents of the NSW Parents and Citizens’ Federation over several years. Dr Longstaff says he was first approached seven years ago by a group of parents who wanted a program that looked at important questions that arise in the children’s lives. They wanted it without the theological or spiritual dimension that is an integral part of SRE without removing or damaging the existing programs in NSW schools.

“The thing that’s been really striking about this debate in NSW is that it’s been driven by parents of all faiths and no faiths who have this common concern for the welfare of the children who don’t attend SRE,” Dr Longstaff says.

Parents were concerned because in some NSW schools children who had opted out of SRE were made to sit outside the principal’s office “as if they had been naughty”, reports Dr Longstaff, and he adds that this is “unjust and it’s wrong”.

“Every effort should be made to ensure those who don’t go (to SRE) are not penalised for their conscientious choices in this matter,” he says. “Even if it’s done as an oversight, it should be addressed.”

Dr Longstaff explains that due to Australia’s multi-cultural environment, students in the classes come from very different backgrounds, and part of what they’re learning is “to respectfully engage with each other under a climate of examination”.

Through the pilot, children tap into philosophical thought that has developed in a range of different traditions across history. “Children have quite a sophisticated understanding of the core principles, which a lot of philosophers have worked at for centuries,” Dr Longstaff says.

The program focuses on ethical awareness and decision making, with trained volunteers facilitating class discussions on ethical issues. The volunteers are drawn from the local school communities, and most are parents of children attending the selected schools.

Informal feedback from the recent trial is positive, and Dr Longstaff reports that participants are enthusiastic. “Anecdotally, we’ve been having some fantastic responses,” he says. “I heard one little boy come out of the class and he said one word – ‘awesome’.”

An independent evaluation of the ethics pilot will be undertaken by the NSW Department of Education and Training, and if the Department approves an extension of the program, Dr Longstaff says the curriculum and lesson plans will be freely available to everybody for their use.

He suggests that even faith groups may choose to access the program, adapt the lesson plans and use them from a religious perspective. It’s also likely that the lesson plans will eventually be online, so they will be available for Queensland or any other state to access.

Queensland parents who would like to see the ethics program as an option for their children are encouraged by Dr Longstaff to take the lead “in the name of their children”, and he believes that the ethics program could certainly be introduced into Queensland schools, if parents want it to be available.

“It would just be up to the parent body to say ‘this is something we would like to do’, and to organise the basic infrastructure so they can make it available within their communities,” he says.

He wants to make it very clear that the NSW ethics classes are not an attempt to remove religious instruction from schools, and he says the aim is simply to provide meaningful activity for children who don’t want to do SRE for whatever reasons their parents have.

Queensland Council of Parents and Citizens’ Associations (QCPCA) president Margaret Black says she hasn’t had any feedback from parents on problems with religious instruction in state schools, and she attributes that to the clarity of the Education Queensland guidelines. “Most schools run very close to the line of the rules and regulations,” Ms Black explains.

Parents have the right to choose what they want for the child, and Ms Black says that’s why there is an “opt in” or an “opt out” for religious instruction. “There are always some people who believe that it [RI] shouldn’t be in state schools, but we believe that’s the parents’ choice,” she says.

Ms Black says that introducing ethics classes for children without a nominated religion would have to be a decision made by the entire school community, and she says the QCPCA would not support ethics classes unless it is a full school community decision.

If parents have concerns and are not happy with their school’s decision or procedures, Ms Black recommends that they talk to the school principal. “We encourage parents, whatever the issue, to take it up with the school in the first instance, and if they’re still not satisfied, there is a process from there,” she says.

Further reading

What I believe

Alan Brown and Andrew Langley

Published by Ken Fin, this colourful book explores the main religions of the world in an easy to understand way. Each religion includes history, day-to-day lifestyle, growing up in that faith, and different celebrations throughout the year. If you wish to supplement your child’s religious knowledge, or even suggest a text book for your school, this is a wonderful start.