3. Education
We are interested in education
for three reasons:
- we aim for the UK to be secular state with
no privilege or discrimination on grounds of religion or belief. The
continuing religious discrimination in our state school system is
therefore a concern for us
- we aim for Humanism to be better
understood as an ethical and fulfilling non-religious approach to life and
so we have an interest in ensuring that it features on the school
curriculum, especially since religions do
- most humanists see education as a vital process and have been rich contributors to both the philosophy and practice of education. We have an interest in promoting better education that will meet these aspirations because we promote humanist perspectives in public debate and policy
We concentrate on laws and
policies that are discriminatory and violate principles of human rights or
equality in state-funded schools or on matters where we have a distinctive
humanist view. For example we work for:
- an end to religious discrimination in
school admissions
- an end to religious discrimination in
school employment
- progressive reform of the school
curriculum
- inclusive assemblies in place of mandatory religious worship
Some of the issues we work on are
specific to state-funded religious schools (‘faith’ schools) while others apply
to education generally but are exacerbated in ‘faith’ schools. Because of this,
we also work generally for an end to the expansion of faith schools and the
reform of those that already exist into inclusive schools.
a. School Curriculum
One of our aims is to promote a
humanist perspective on public policy issues. Many humanists have had a
profound interest in education and so the school curriculum has naturally been
a focus for us. In practice, we concentrate on aspects of the curriculum where
the humanist voice is excluded or weak or where others are actively promoting
policies at odds with our principles.
Beliefs and Values Education (‘Religious Education’)
We believe that all pupils in all
types of school should have the opportunity to consider philosophical and
fundamental questions, and that in an open society we should learn about each
other’s beliefs, including humanist ones. We want a subject on the curriculum
which helps young people to form and explore their own beliefs and develop an
understanding of the beliefs and values different from their own; enriches
pupils’ knowledge of the religious and humanist heritage of humanity and so
supports other subjects such as History, English Literature, Art, Music, and
Geography; allows pupils to engage with serious ethical and philosophical
questions in a way that develops important skills of critical thinking,
reasoning and inquiry.
The usual contemporary
justifications for the subject of ‘Religious Education’ (‘RE’) in the school
curriculum – its contribution to social cohesion and mutual understanding, its
presentation of a range of answers to questions of meaning and purpose, and its
role in the search for personal identity and values – can best be served by
including humanist perspectives and non-religious students.
We therefore work for reform of
the current subject of ‘Religious Education’ so that it will become an
inclusive, impartial, objective, fair, balanced and relevant subject allowing
pupils to explore a variety of religions and non-religious worldviews, sitting
aside other Humanities subjects in the curriculum and with the same status as
them. We want this subject to be a national entitlement for all pupils and not,
as currently, drawn up on a local basis by each individual local authority.
In practice, our work in RE
focuses on ensuring non-religious perspectives are included (e.g. atheism
taught about clearly when beliefs about god are being taught, and Humanism
taught about as a non-religious approach to life) and opposing any confessional
teaching in state schools, where pupils are instructed in a particular religion
and denied their entitlement to a balanced and objective syllabus.
At present in most schools RE is
(meant to be) given according to a syllabus locally agreed by an Agreed
Syllabus Conference comprising committees representing the Church of England,
other religions and denominations, the teachers and the local authority. We
want this antiquated system abolished and prefer a national syllabus drawn up
by educational and other experts. Until such reform is achieved, we want humanists
to be admitted as full members of these Conferences and Humanism to feature on
the syllabuses.
We are willing to see the
parallel bodies, the local Standing Advisory Councils on Religious Education,
continue as a channel for consultation between teachers and local religion and
belief communities and want to see humanists included equally with religious
people on these bodies, as many increasingly are.
