Faith schools: the evidence
Over a third of schools in Britain are faith schools, yet their place within public education systems remains deeply contested.
Proponents of faith schools claim that they improve parental choice, achieve superior educational outcomes, and are better at promoting moral values. The evidence from the research strongly contests these claims.
Such research is often piecemeal and difficult to access, making it hard to gain a comprehensive view of the debate. This research bank is intended as a valuable resource for policymakers, politicians, academics and anyone else interested in the ongoing debate around faith schools in Britain.
Each entry provides an at-a-glance overview of the key evidence and central arguments made in a different study. The research bank is arranged chronologically within a number of key sections: social cohesion; performance; school choice; values; and public opinion.
Together, the evidence provides a compelling and comprehensive case against state-funded faith schools.
Social cohesion
The evidence in this section shows that faith schools undermine social cohesion by segregating pupils on religious, ethnic, racial and social grounds. By reducing contact between people from different social groups, faith schools foster exclusionary in-group dynamics that are detrimental to the wellbeing of a liberal, multicultural society. This evidence strongly undermines claims by supporters that faith schools facilitate social integration, promote a communal religious ethos and help to integrate minority faiths into the life of the nation.
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Faith‐based schools in England after ten years of Tony Blair
G. Walford (2008), Oxford Review of Education, 34(6): 689–699.
This article presents a review of faith-based schooling in England after ten years of expansion under the governments of New Labour. It charts the growth of faith schools, considers some of the underlying rationales for this programme (based on the belief that a faith ethos would generate higher academic results) and finds that: 'the evidence is at best mixed'. The paper shows that while faith schools have tended to produce higher academic results than non-faith schools, this can be explained by their selection of students from higher social classes, with faith schools taking a lower proportion of pupils who are eligible for free school meals. The author also points out that: 'in value added terms, their success is much less clear'.
The paper goes on to note that many faith groups do not want separate, faith-based schooling for their children and highlights substantial issues of ethnic as well as social segregation resulting from selection processes. It suggests that there is less chance of an education system producing social fragmentation and cultural tensions 'if schools have a mix of children from different social classes, ethnicities and religions. The desire for cultural continuity can be achieved without the need for separation'.
Catholic schools in Scotland and divisiveness
S. J. McKinney (2008), Journal of Beliefs and Values, 29(2): 173–184.
This study examines the extent to which faith schools in Scotland are divisive. Focusing on Catholic schools, and drawing on interview data with academics, Catholic leaders and educationalists, it finds that faith schools are divisive in five key ways: (1) their state funding; (2) their use of selective admissions processes; (3) social perceptions of their divisiveness; (4) their effects on social cohesion; and (5) their effects on the autonomy of children. The study finds that faith schools in Scotland are seen to be divisive socially, religiously and in terms of attitudes and beliefs that create, or promote, an alternative identity. The Catholic school system is also perceived to be a privileged system, with unfair employment opportunities for Catholic teachers in Catholic schools.
Religion, modernity and social rights in European education
E. Zambeta (2008), Intercultural Education, 19(4): 297–304.
This paper explores the role of religion in European education systems. It considers the historical context for the presence of religion in education systems (seeing this as a means of social control) and claims that the place of religion in state-funded schools raises 'fundamental questions regarding the social role of education institutions in modern representative democracies' with critical implications 'for the conceptualization of democracy, religious freedom and social rights'.
The paper claims that: 'the Enlightenment quest for social progress, rationality and emancipation, to a large extent, gave way to the aim of maintenance of social stability and reproduction of existing social hierarchies', and argues that enlightenment thought is now 'in danger of being silenced' in schools due to the growth of religious fundamentalism. The author writes that the expansion of religious schools is creating a 'new politics of segregation within education', and warns that faith schools can promote xenophobia, racism and homophobia. The article observes that: 'When, in the name of safeguarding religious identity, young people are deprived from access to the basic premises of modern knowledge and science, religion is transformed into a force of obscurantism'.
Religious control of schooling in England: diversity and division
S. Ward (2008), Intercultural Education, 19(4): 315–323.
This paper argues that faith schools have a negative impact on community cohesion and calls for their removal. It claims that: 'the idea that the religious ethos of faith schools improves educational performance is illusory', and argues that: 'the very definition of a faith school is that it must be exclusive and therefore divisive'. The author notes that:
There are only two distinctive features of faith schools: the curriculum and the selection of pupils. The faith school can preach and proselytize about a single religious faith, and it is allowed to select its pupils on the basis of their commitment to the faith. All other features claimed by faith schools such as a strong moral ethos, tolerance, good behaviour, high achievement are possible in a community school.
Intercultural education: religion, knowledge and the limits of postmodernism
D. Coulby (2008), Intercultural Education, 19(4): 305–314.
This paper discusses the role of religion in school systems. After highlighting some of the destructive aspects of religion (such as the opposition of the Catholic Church to the use of contraceptives during the AIDS pandemic) the paper examines the role of knowledge and tolerance advocated in the Enlightenment, and presents a critical account of the role of religion in educational settings in various parts of the world. The author claims that this is exacerbating 'the cultural division of communities'.
The paper argues that schools and universities are 'one of the main sites for the production and reproduction of religion', particularly when this involves the teaching of religion and religiously inscribed versions of history, and claims that: 'Religious nationalism still thrives in the schools of the UK'. It goes on to criticise the expansion of faith schools under the governments of New Labour, claiming that this 'adds an important additional divide in communities already fractured along the lines of race', and takes issue with claims about the popularity of faith schools, claiming that: 'a significant majority of people would prefer religious institutions to be kept out of schools'.
The paper concludes by considering the challenge that the institutionalisation of religion in schools poses to intercultural education and to postmodernity.
This paper is also freely available as a Word document from the University of Athens institutional repository.
Identities in Transition: A Longitudinal Study of Immigrant Children
R. Brown, A. Rutland and C. Watters (2007), Universities of Sussex and Kent, ESRC Report Reference No: RES-148-25-0007.
This project examined the relationship between young children with immigration backgrounds and their peers from the majority in the host society. It focused on the issues of identity and acculturation processes and their implications for psychological well-being and social acceptance, centring on the development of children's identities and acculturation orientations between 5-11 years old. Data are drawn primarily from a 12-month longitudinal study of 398 students from over 20 schools.
The study highlights the importance of school diversity, with higher levels of diversity being positively related to higher self-esteem, fewer peer problems and more cross-group friendships. According to the authors, these findings 'show that school ethnic composition can significantly affect the promotion of positive intergroup attitudes'. The report concludes that: 'These findings speak against policies promoting single faith schools, since such policies are likely to lead to reduced ethnic diversity in schools'.
A PDF copy of this report is available to download.
School Admissions: Fair Choice for Parents and Pupils
S. Tough and R. Brooks (June 2007), Institute for Public Policy Research.
This report argues that the current admissions system for school places is a cause of segregation by social class and ability and is likely to lead to systematic unfairness. This is especially the case for schools that are their own admissions authorities (such as faith schools), which are found to be more unrepresentative of their local areas than schools with admissions that are controlled by the local authority. The authors claim that a system of fair choice would take into account the need to achieve a balanced intake in every school, and call for a system of area-wide banding for all local authorities in order to ensure that schools admit pupils of all abilities. The report argues that this should apply equally to faith schools, meaning that 'religious faith would no longer take strict precedence over all other factors in allocating places'. They argue that this approach would also 'be compatible with schools maintaining their own distinct ethos, religious or otherwise'.
A PDF copy of this report is available to download.
Sharing crisps with someone different?
Social Cohesion, Diversity and Education Policy. I. Bruegel (August 2006), Submission to the Commission on Cohesion and Integration.
This report, which was submitted to the Commission on Cohesion and Integration, explores research into children's friendships in 12 English primary schools between 2003 and 2005. It found that school friendships 'cross ethnic and faith divides wherever children have the opportunity to make friends from different backgrounds' and observes that 'the positive benefits of mixed primary schooling, particularly for white children, extend into the early years of secondary school'. The research also shows 'that parents learned to respect people from other backgrounds as a result of their children's experiences in mixed schools'. The report concludes by calling on the commission 'to consider how far policies of enhanced school choice and the retention of existing faith schools have hindered integration'.
A PDF copy of this report is available to download.
Social Capital, Diversity and Education Policy
I. Bruegel (August 2006), Families and Social Capital ESRC Research Group, London South Bank University.
This study examined patterns of children's friendships in 12 English primary schools with significant variation in ethnic and faith diversity. The findings support claims that regular contact between members of different groups provides positive social outcomes. The children involved in the study 'saw faith schools as isolating groups of children from one another', and the report noted that: 'day-to-day contact between children has far more chance of breaking down barriers between communities, than school twinning and sporting encounters'. It concludes by stating the need to consider 'How far policies of enhanced school choice and the retention of existing faith schools have hindered integration'.
A PDF copy of this report is available to download.
Without prejudice: an exploration of religious diversity, secularism and citizenship in England
(With particular reference to the state funding of Muslim faith schools and multiculturalism). K. Moti Gokulsing (2006), Journal of Education Policy, 21(4): 459–470.
This paper examines the issue of religious diversity, with particular reference to the state funding of Muslim schools and their impact on secularism, citizenship and multiculturalism. The author suggests that New Labour's policies on education were contradictory – promoting an enterprise culture through knowledge and skills with secular outcomes, but at the same time pursuing an increase in state-funded faith schools.
The paper goes on to discuss the English, French and US systems of dealing with religious diversity in schools, and questions whether faith schools contribute to the common good rather than the particular good of the faith community. The author notes that: 'The problem of Britain as a pluralist society is to find some social cement to ensure that people with different moral religious and ethical values as well as social, cultural and linguistic traditions can live together with a degree of harmony', but argues that while faith is an integral part of the daily life of many communities, 'religion approaches life in terms of non-negotiable absolutes whereas education is about challenges to and changes of often strongly held views'. The paper concludes that 'secularism and citizenship in schools are not best served by the state funding of faith schools', and makes a number of proposals for educational reform.
