Religious Observance in Scottish schools: Report on the Consultation
one: introduction
1.1 Background
In November 2002, The SCRE Centre at the University of Glasgow was invited to conduct a consultation exercise on behalf of the Religious Observance Review Group (RORG). RORG was established by the then Education Minister in August 2001. Its purpose was twofold: to review current guidance on arrangements for religious observance in schools; and to make recommendations in order that guidance to schools was relevant and appropriate for both students and staff.
Religious observance is a statutory requirement in schools under the Education (Scotland) Act 1980. However, parents have the right to withdraw their children should they wish. The original impetus for the establishment of RORG was an HMIE report entitled Standards and Quality in Secondary Schools: Religious and Moral Education 1995-2000. The HMI report stated unequivocally that many secondary schools were not following government advice in respect of the frequency of opportunities for religious observance. The advice provided in SOED Circular 6/91 was that secondary schools should provide at least monthly opportunities for participation in religious observance; and that primary schools at least weekly opportunities.
It is important to stress that RORG's remit was to provide guidance to schools in order to help them meet their statutory requirements in respect of the provision of opportunities for religious observance in schools. Neither the legislation, nor the continuing use of the term 'religious observance' were under discussion.
We should note at the outset that the number of responses received - 1,473 - far exceeded our expectations. In addition, many of the responses comprised lengthy appendices that expounded in some detail on the issues raised in the consultation paper. We are delighted that the members of the review group have availed themselves of the opportunity to scrutinise this material. We are sure that this will enhance their understanding of the challenges involved in providing a concise synthetic overview that does justice to the range and depth of views expressed.
The extent and depth of the response was in itself an early indication of the highly contested nature of some of the assumptions underpinning the consultation paper, and indeed of the current and future role of religious observance in Scottish schools. These are issues to which we shall return in the succeeding sections of this report. We begin, however, by outlining the scope of the consultation exercise and the research methods employed.
1.2 Scope and method
The research was conducted between November 2002 and March 2003. The consultation exercise itself extended over a longer period - between June 2002 and February 2003, and comprised three phases, the last two of which were concurrent. The research team became involved during Phase 2 and from the beginning of Phase 3:
Phase 1
The preparation and dissemination by RORG of a consultation paper entitled Review of Religious Observance in Scottish Schools; and an exemplar entitled 'A Muslim Story' ( see Appendix 1).
Phase 2
A series of six consultation meetings held at various locations throughout Scotland between June 2002 and February 2003. Members of RORG facilitated meetings and prepared brief accounts of the proceedings for the research team. Members of the research team were in attendance at two of the meetings. The participants included pupils, teachers; parents; and representatives from faith communities - chaplains from local presbyteries of the Church of Scotland; chaplains from the Roman Catholic church; and representatives from other denominations and religious organisations, e.g. members of local Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jewish and Bahá'í faith communities. Minority faith groups were particularly well represented at one of the consultation meetings. Secular interests were represented by the Humanist Society of Scotland, as well as other non-religious groups.
The review group was keen to involve young people in the consultation. Overall, the group achieved some success in eliciting the views of young people, as approximately 30 children's forums contributed their views, as did the National Youth Assembly of the Church of Scotland.
Phase 3
The development of a brief questionnaire prepared by the research team in consultation with RORG ( see Appendix 2 for an annotated version). The questionnaire was publicised at the six consultation meetings, and through the RORG website ( http://www.ltscotland.com/religiousobservance). Potential respondents could choose to submit their responses electronically or by post. Additional copies of the questionnaire and the consultation paper could be downloaded free of charge from the website. As is common practice in consultations of this nature, the deadline for submissions (12 February 2003) was at least 12 weeks after the questionnaire first became available.
1.2.1 The questionnaire
The questionnaire comprised 10 closed and one open question. It focused on the following areas in respect of religious observance:
definitions
aims
the consultation paper and the exemplar
parental rights to withdraw children
frequency of religious observance
location, space and time
facilitation.
1.3 Data processing and analysis
Data from the 1,473 completed questionnaires were entered on a database and analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The responses were categorised by type of respondent, and cross-tabulations performed in order to determine the extent to which different types of respondent held different views.
Responses to the final open question (Q 11 'Are there any other points you would like to make regarding religious observance in schools?') were analysed thematically. The research team devised a series of codes based on the analysis of the first 370 responses. These underwent subsequent modification and were applied systematically to the total number of completed questionnaires. Some respondents submitted lengthy written submissions in addition to or in place of the questionnaire. These were analysed thematically in the same way.
The research team also conducted a content analysis of the notes of the consultation meetings provided by RORG.
1.4 The Final Report
This report is based on our analysis of the 1,473 questionnaire responses entered on the project database by 12 February 2003; and a descriptive and analytical account of the issues to emerge from the six consultation meetings.
In order to make the report as concise as possible, we report the findings thematically, drawing upon both the questionnaire data and the evidence from the consultation meetings to elucidate the main findings.