9th September 2010
“Faith schools are terribly dangerous. Setting up these divisions based on faith is the starting point for people thinking of themselves as separate… Schools with a mixture of faiths seems psychologically more healthy.”
“Faith schools are terribly dangerous. Setting up these divisions based on faith is the starting point for people thinking of themselves as separate… Schools with a mixture of faiths seems psychologically more healthy.”
September 9th, 2010 at 2:05
Growing in a single world view will only promote a single world view. And when that single world view is shaken by reality, that new view may scare the individual, and we all know what fear leads to.
Kind of reminds me of the growing up difference between me and my older sister. She had never seen a black person before when she was a kid. So, one day on a bus ride, a black person stepped on the bus and it literally freaked her out. Took her quite a few years to finally ask my mom why they’re black. The whole entire time, she thought they were sick or something like that. When i grew up, I grew up with my best childhood friend being black, so I had no such thoughts about the difference. So, essentially, I grew up being culturally educated. Even more so in the fact that they’re Jahovah Witness, lol (obviously not strict in their faith).
September 9th, 2010 at 14:59
Professor David Canter is a British Psychologist so I guess he is referring to the education system here in the UK so here’s a bit about the UK school system.
In the UK roughly 30% of state schools are allowed to select children from one particular faith only. These schools are mostly Church of England or Roman Catholic. The schools teach students from the age of 5 up to the age of 18. Education in the UK is monitored by a government body called OFSTED who regulate and inspect all aspects of education except religious education in faith schools.
On average faith schools in the UK perform better than secular schools, however, most researchers put this down to demographics.
Competition for places at the best schools is fierce here in the UK One aspect of faith school attendance demographics is that many parents of no strong religious commitment will attend church simply to get their child into a faith school if it is the best performing school in the area. This in itself tends to boost the performance of faith schools.
September 9th, 2010 at 15:49
The UK should try experimenting with a few “Science Based” schools. Give them the same resources as the religious based ones and see how they compare over time.