Religious Observance in Scottish schools: Report on the Consultation
Appendix 1: Consultation paper: Review of Religious Observance in Scottish Schools
This Consultation Paper has four key themes that should be highlighted:
- the definition of religious observance as an educational activity within the context of Scottish schools;
- the idea that religious observance should be an activity for the enrichment of all members of the school community, staff as well as pupils;
- the idea that worship may on occasions be the natural response of some members of the school community to an act of religious observance;
- the distinction between organised worship and religious observance.
Preamble
Religious observance is a statutory requirement in schools under the Education (Scotland) Act 1980, which repeats the legislation of previous Acts in giving education authorities 'liberty to continue the said custom' and prohibits them from discontinuing it without a poll of local electors. Parents have the legal right to withdraw their children if they wish.
The HMIE report Standards and Quality in Secondary Schools: Religious and Moral Education 1995-2000 stated that many secondary schools did not follow the advice contained in SOED Circular 6/91, where the Secretary of State advised that secondary schools should provide at least a monthly opportunity for religious observance. As a result of this report the Education Minister within the Scottish Executive set up a Review Group to advise on how schools could meet this requirement. Despite the focus on secondary schools in the report it was decided to expand the advice to include primary schools.
The remit of the Group is as follows:
"To review current guidance on arrangements for religious observance in schools, taking account of the views of interested bodies and individuals including religious organisations, teachers, parents and pupils; to make recommendations to Ministers on any changes which are required to ensure that revised guidance to schools is relevant and appropriate for pupils, that it fulfils the requirements of the 1980 Act and also provides practical advice on religious observance."
In the standards and quality report HMI stated that they did not believe that many secondary schools were deliberately negligent but that headteachers found it difficult to take account of the Circular in ways which were meaningful in the social, cultural and educational contexts of the present day. Schools have difficulty because they are not sure what is meant by religious observance in a predominantly secular and increasingly multi-faith society.
What is meant by 'religious observance'?
The Review Group defines the term for use in schools in Scotland as community acts which aim to promote the spiritual development of all members of the school community and express and celebrate the shared values of the school community.
The Group believes that each individual within a school community has an entitlement to develop himself/herself as a spiritual being or 'whole person'. This entitlement includes being helped to recognise, reflect upon and develop a deeper understanding of the value and worth of each individual which comes from one's dignity as a person. Defined in this way, religious observance is educationally justifiable and contributes to the 'whole-person' development of all members of the school community.
Religious observance as defined above can be distinguished from an organised act of worship. Worship is a free response of an individual and a community to 'what is considered worthy of worship'. This response involves three elements: belief in the reality of the focus of worship, desire to offer worship to the focus of worship and commitment to life stances related to the focus of worship.
Where the school community, whether denominational or non-denominational, is continuous with a faith community, that community's faith in 'the focus of worship', may be assumed and worship may be considered to be appropriate as part of the formal activity of the school. Where, as in most non-denominational schools, there is a diversity of beliefs and practices, the Review Group believes that the appropriate context for an organised act of worship is within the informal curriculum as part of the range of activities offered for example by religions, groups, chaplains and other religious leaders.
The aims of religious observance are:
to promote the spiritual development of all members of the school community;
to express and celebrate the shared values of the school community.
In many schools there is a well-established tradition of using assemblies as a vehicle for religious observance, whether whole-school, year groups, stages or particular school groups such as houses. In any of these gatherings of the school community, the time set aside needs to be well planned to:
- provide opportunities for the community to reflect, with help, upon values, beliefs, commitments and hopes which are implicit in being human;
- provide opportunities for the school community to express and celebrate its shared values;
- give the school community time to reflect upon a range of stimuli from religious traditions and other sources such as literature, art and music;
- provide opportunities for the community to have space, stillness and time to respond to this reflection. In non-denominational, as well as denominational schools, the response of some members of the community may at times be in the form of worship, but for others it will be a period of meditation and reflection on what it is to be human or on the significant values of the school and wider community.
In the best practice, themes are carefully chosen to suit the school community's experience and understanding. The Review Group will develop exemplars that may help schools to review their present arrangements and provide genuine opportunities for the school community to reflect on educational and spiritual activities which enhance each member of the school community. An example of an exemplar is attached as an annex to this paper.
Annex
Consultation paper:
Review of Religious Observance in Scottish Schools - Religious Observance Exemplar
The following is offered as one possible model for structuring religious observance:
Rationale
Title
Aim
Introduction
Stimulus
Guided Reflection
Working out the Implications
The exemplar below makes use of a story as the stimulus. Stimuli should also be drawn from music, art, drama, poetry, films and television. The topic or focus may be provided by a range of sources: incidents which occur in the life of the school or in the local, national or international communities, a programme of values which the school wishes its pupils and staff to reflect upon, the annual cycle of religious festivals.
In the exemplar provided, the Guided Reflection is presented as an individual activity within the context of a whole school assembly. Where the religious observance takes place within a smaller group such as a class, an opportunity may be provided during the Guided Reflection for pupils to share their thoughts in pairs or small groups.
Rationale:
The stimulus for this assembly is a story which explores a range of inter-related themes - caring for others, the use of power, the need for practical wisdom/shrewdness. Pupils should be given the opportunity to engage with whichever of these themes, or any other theme, which they discern in the story. The richness of ideas which characterises a good story allows it to address the full spectrum of experience to be found in a whole school assembly encompassing both those who belong to the faith community from which the story comes and others.
Title:
A Muslim story
Aim:
To help pupils reflect on the issues raised in a story from the Muslim tradition.
Introduction:
The leader welcomes the pupils and staff to the assembly and invites them to enjoy a story from long ago and far away. As they listen, they have to try to work out which character in the story they admire most and why. The story may be told either as a straight narrative or as a dialogue with narrator and characters.
Stimulus:
One day, a poor man was walking along a busy street, in a bustling market town. On the street, there was an expensive restaurant. The man was tired and hungry. He had eaten nothing all day. His nose caught the smell of the food being cooked inside. He stopped and sniffed, smiled sadly and began to walk away. But he did not get far. The owner of the restaurant came storming out into the street.
"Hey you! Come here! I saw that! You took a smell of my food. Now you must pay for it."
"I am sorry, sir", said the poor man. "I have no money."
"No money! We'll see about that. You're coming with me to the Judge."
The Judge pondered for a while. He told them both to return the next day and he would pass sentence.
The poor man was very frightened. If the Judge fined him, he would not be able to pay. He worried all night long. When dawn came, he rose, said his prayers, and feeling tired and unhappy made his way to the court.
On his way, he saw Nasrudin the teacher. He asked Nasrudin for help. Nasrudin said he would go to court with him.
When they got there, they saw the Judge and the restaurant owner talking and laughing together. They were friends! The poor man knew he was in trouble - and he was right. The Judge ordered him to pay a huge amount of money. At once, Nasrudin stepped forward and said;
"My Lord, this man is my brother. I will pay the fine." He then took a small bag of coins from his belt and held it to the restaurant owner's ear. He shook the bag, so the coins jingled.
"Can you hear the coins rattle?" He asked.
"Of course, I can", replied the owner.
"Then that is your payment. My brother smelled your food - and now you have heard his money. You're quits."
The poor man was set free.
Guided reflection:
(Music could be played as the reflection period begins)
The leader should invite pupils and staff to reflect on the story, encouraging them to adopt whatever 'reflection technique' they find most comfortable, e.g. closing eyes, focusing on a particular object.
The leader should assist the process of reflection through a series of questions, perhaps on an Overhead Projector:
- Who are the different people in the story?
- How do you think the different people would have felt on the day of the incident, on the following day?
- Think of one word to describe each of the different characters.
- Who was the real victim in the story? Why?
- Why do you think the story was told?
This should be a period of quiet and peace with background music playing. Pan's Pipes music would be an example of the kind of music that would be appropriate.
Working out the implications:
The leader could make the point that this story has been told for countless generations to encourage people to think about their values and their behaviour. Pupils and staff are invited to consider what they have learned from the story. Is there anything which they have done recently which they would have done differently in the light of what they have learned?