Tags: Faith Schools
Ep 50: The Church of England's influence over education
Posted: Tue, 25th May 2021
What does it mean for a school to be 'C of E'? And how far does the Church of England's influence extend over state-funded education?
The NSS has recently published two reports dealing with the Church of England's influence over schools. The first, 'Religiosity inspections: The case against faith-based inspections of faith schools', examined the ways in which the Church of England uses such inspections to impose its own agenda on the schools within its remit. In 'Understanding Christianity and the study of religion and worldviews: How the Church of England has gained control of Religious Education', former RE teacher Chris Selway examined the structure of RE in England and Wales.
In this podcast, Emma Park speaks to Chris Selway along with Matthew Hill, a former headteacher who contributed to the 'Religiosity inspections' report. Both speakers draw from their own experience of teaching to explore the ways in which some schools are being pressured to encourage proselytising, and the effects which this can have on students as well as teachers. The speakers argue that the C of E must be held to account, and that the way RE is taught needs fundamental reform.
Watch this episode on YouTube | Direct MP3 Link | Transcripts
Follow Emma on Twitter: @DrEmmaPark
Notes
- Understanding Christianity and the study of religion and worldviews: How the C of E has gained control of religious education
- Religiosity inspections: the case against faith-based reviews of state schools
- Faith groups have no business inspecting schools – Stephen Evans
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Ep 46: Forced marriage and the importance of RSE
Posted: Tue, 30th Mar 2021
A marriage can be forced even if it doesn't involve the threat of physical violence. In some faith communities in Britain, young people's freedom to choose their future spouse can be denied in subtler ways.
In this episode, Emma Park speaks to Eve Sacks about arranged and forced marriages in the Haredi community. Eve is a board member at Nahamu, an organisation which aims to counter religious extremism within Britain's Jewish population. Eve argues that the crucial problem with forced marriage is that it deprives participants of their autonomy, as well as putting them at risk of more concrete harms.
Emma is then joined by Megan Manson, the NSS's head of policy and research, to reflect on the role of Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) in reducing the risk of forced marriage. They discuss the importance of making RSE mandatory for all schoolchildren, and the difficulties of allowing religious schools to continue to teach the subject 'within the tenets of their faith'.
Watch this episode on YouTube | Direct MP3 Link | Transcripts
Follow Emma on Twitter: @DrEmmaPark
Notes
- Improve RSE in faith schools to curb forced marriage, campaigners say – NSS
- Nahamu's Position Paper on Forced Marriage: Analysis of Arranged Marriage as Practised in Jewish Communities
- We cannot turn a blind eye to these forced marriages – Jewish Chronicle
- 'Normal' for them: Controlling the narrative of forced marriage and delegitimising damage – Yehudis Fletcher
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Ep 44: Post-Christian Britain and religion in schools
Posted: Tue, 2nd Mar 2021
This episode is about the place of religion in Britain today, both in society in general and in schools in particular. Emma Park interviews Linda Woodhead, professor of religion at Lancaster University.
In May this year, Linda will be giving a lecture series at Birmingham University entitled 'Values are the New Religion: Britain's post-Christian Culture'. The first part of her interview deals with her research into the decline of Christianity in Britain over the last 100 years, the reasons why this has happened, and to what extent non-religious people look for analogous systems to give their lives meaning and structure. During the pandemic, the NHS may even have become a surrogate for organised religion.
If Britain is becoming less religious, this raises the question of what its place ought to be in our education system. The admissions procedures commonly used by faith schools can unfairly discriminate against non-religious children. There are also many problems with the way Religious Education is currently taught. The Welsh government is reforming its RE provision: there is a strong argument for doing the same in England, but successive administrations have dragged their feet.
Emma is then joined by Alastair Lichten, head of education at the NSS, to reflect on Linda's words and give the NSS's perspective.
Watch this episode on YouTube | Direct MP3 Link | Transcripts
Bonus Ep 5: Academies report
Posted: Thu, 22nd Oct 2020
In this episode, Emma Park speaks with the NSS's head of education, Alastair Lichten, about the society's new report. The report reveals how academisation has enabled faith groups to increase their influence over thousands of schools, including those with no religious character.
With little public debate, religious governance has increased, while secular oversight has diminished. In Power grab: Academisation and the threat to secular education, the NSS says academisation and mixed multi-academy trusts (mixed MATs) have "seriously undermined community-ethos education in England".
Follow Emma on Twitter: @DrEmmaPark
Watch this episode on YouTube | Direct MP3 Link | Transcripts
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Ep 17: Thought for the Day | RE in Wales
Posted: Mon, 28th Oct 2019
In this week's episode, Emma Park is joined by Chris Sloggett and Helen Nicholls to discuss whether BBC Radio 4's Thought for the Day should still be exclusively for "speakers from the world's major faiths". John Humphrys, former presenter of the Today programmein which Thought for the Day is featured, recently criticised it as 'discriminatory'.
Emma also speaks to Stephen Evans and Alastair Lichten about a consultation on the reform of sex and religious education launched by the Welsh government this month. Proposals include making both subjects compulsory for all children regardless of their parents' beliefs; and changing their names, with sex education being replaced by 'Relationships and Sexuality Education', and RE by 'Religions and Worldviews'.
Follow Emma on Twitter: @DrEmmaPark
Watch this episode on YouTube | Direct MP3 Link | Transcripts
Notes
Reform Thought for the Day: the NSS's position
Thought for the Day – BBC Radio 4
John Humphrys criticises Thought for the Day
Welsh government considers ending the right to withdraw from RE and RSE: the NSS's position
'Ensuring access to the full curriculum': the Welsh government's consultation
Ep 16: Operation Christmas Child | Faith schools
Posted: Mon, 14th Oct 2019
In this week's episode, Emma Park speaks to Megan Manson about Operation Christmas Child, a programme that encourages schoolchildren and youth groups around the UK to send Christmas shoeboxes to children in developing countries. Those sending the shoeboxes may not be aware that they are being used as part of a conversion drive by an evangelical Christian charity, Samaritan's Purse. The case raises the question of whether 'the advancement of religion' should still be a charitable purpose.
Emma then speaks to Alastair Lichten about the NSS's revelation that 20,000 children have been assigned to faith schools in the state sector this year despite their parents opting for a non-faith school as their first choice.
The episode also features highlights from our 2019 Bradlaugh Lecture. Assistant head Andrew Moffat defended inclusive education in his talk 'No Outsiders: Reclaiming Radical Ideas in Schools'.
Watch this episode on YouTube | Direct MP3 Link | Transcripts
Notes
• Does Operation Christmas Child benefit the public?
• Samaritan's Purse Mission Statement
• Charities Act 2011, section 3: List of charitable purposes
• Complete videos of the NSS's Bradlaugh Lectures
• 20,000 children sent to faith schools against parental preferences in 2019
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