Local Issues in RE – Haiti

RE faces issues native to different countries as well as some global issues which it continues to grapple with. I would briefly touch on certain local issues in Haiti and cover a more global look.

Achieving an all-encompassing RE design has never been easy. In Haiti, the challenges of RE range from a conservative apprehensive Christian population to weak curriculum design amongst others. Haiti’s historical emergence shows that after independence, Catholicism was made a state religion. The state was thus, split between catholic and protestant groups in a battle for domination of Haiti. As a result of this, the major purveyors of education in Haiti were the Christians. Since the Christians in Haiti control the schools, and provision of education in the country, RE therefore, restates the Christian beliefs and worldviews. Consequently, RE in Haiti remains one sided and Christianized, glamorizing the Christian faith as the purest and divine while demonizing others, particularly Vodou. This ideological demonization sets Vodou apart, labelled as a fetish, devilish religion which should be abhorred. RE, thus, in Haiti lacks tolerance, accommodation, open mindedness and a genuine desire to understand others. An even more significant challenge of RE in Haiti is the need for a dependable method of knowledge delivery for maximum impact, as well as, instruments of this delivery. By methods of delivery I mean the modes of teaching RE for maximum retention and behavioral transformation, while instruments mean the teachers who would deliver the lectures. Since these teachers, more often than not, would be Christians, it requires professional open-mindedness to teach other religions without bias, condescension and condemnatory tone. Neutrality therefore, on the part of RE, teachers create a huge challenge for RE.

77 2.2.3.2 Global Issues of RE

Islamic issues on RE – Away from the national front, globally RE is equally plagued with a number of challenges which the world is still grappling with. One of these global challenges, and a significant one at that, is the challenge of Islamic education in RE. With the increasing rate of terrorism and its seemingly strong ties with Islam, as well as the demonization of Islam as a religion of war, there is an increasing neglect and discrimination against Islam. However, if our end is peace, then our means must be cooperation, acceptance and understanding. As diversity continues to embolden its position, there is increasing recognition and provision for Islam in RE. The most significant contributor to the challenges faced by Islam within the purview of RE is the mass media which litter the world with, often times, false information which discourage even Muslim parents from really patronizing Islam as a component of RE for their children, they would rather spend their resources in securing western education for their children.

Assessment Issues on RE – The already mentioned purposes of RE are meant to deliver through teaching and learning. The second issue is assessment. Every teacher would know that teaching, learning and assessment go together for at least two main purposes: assessment for learning and assessment of learning. In that vein, the big question is how we can assess achievement in RE. As John Keast puts it “assessment can get caught up in the philosophical issues about the nature and purpose of RE in the school curriculum”. Keast uses an attention getter when he stated that “We cannot pretend assessment is not, and has not always been, part of teaching RE.” Meaning that assessment is imperative in the process of teaching and learning so teachers of RE have always been assessing the progress and achievement of pupils and it is impossible to imagine that, in the case of England, in all the generations of teachers and cohorts of pupils there have been in RE

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since 1944 that no assessment has occurred, said Keast. The dilemma is there are some aspects of RE that cannot be assessed and one may be skeptical whether these aspects can be taught (John Keast in Broadbent & Brown, 2002; Watson & Thompson, 2007). For instances, pupils spiritual and moral development are very sensitive thus difficult to assess in the classroom. (Though there are challenges in teaching, learning and assessing spirituality many efforts are made by researchers to develop approaches to meet the requirements such as the working definitions of spirituality in education and the experiential approach to RE (Erricker & Erricker, 1999; Hay and Nye, 1998;

Hammond et al. 1990; Wright, 2000). Watson and Thompson also believe it would be inappropriate to regard pupils’ expressions of personal views and ideas (although integral to teaching and learning) for formal assessment. Watson and Thompson quote the draft document on assessment of the Birmingham agreed syllabus. It states:

The review and ideas people hold are constantly subject to such assessment. We may regard them as deep or shallow, ill thought out or well-ordered, badly supported or soundly argued.

What may be wrong is to assume there are set answers to perennial questions, or to assume that many of the most important concerns in religious life are open to public scrutiny or that everything should be made public.

The question is what can be assessed in RE? In England to assess pupil’s learning they come up with the so-called attainment targets (AT): Learning about Religion (AT1) and Learning from Religion (AT2). Most agreed syllabuses make reference to six areas of inquiry. These areas of inquiry help to provide a guide for teaching, learning and assessment in RE and have been used as the basis for many RE school curriculum. Here are the Six Areas of Inquiry (Key Concepts in RE):

1. Beliefs, Teachings and Sources (AT1) 2. Practices and Ways of Life (AT1) 3. Expressing Meanings (AT1)

79 4. Identity, Diversity and Belonging (AT2) 5. Meaning, Purpose and Truth (AT2) 6. Values and Commitments (AT2)

The following table presents key stages and programs of study that pupils/students are expected to cover in RE:

Table 2.2.3.2 a

The Agreed Syllabus requires the following religions to be studied in depth in these key stages, and other religions as appropriate

Key Stage Religions to be studied Foundation

Stage/Reception

Christianity and religions and beliefs represented in the class, school or local community

Key Stage 1 Christianity and Sikhism

Key Stage 2 Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism

Key Stage3 Christianity and revisiting the other major faiths building on knowledge of Islam, Judaism, Sikhism and Hinduism and Buddhism

Key Stage 4 Two religions, including Christianity

16-19 RE for All Beliefs systems and life stances as appropriate

Note: Adapted from (The Agreed Syllabus 2013, Cambridgeshire Country Council)

The following table represents the two attainment targets (AT1/AT2):

Table 2.2.3.2 b

The Ladder of Skills Eight-Level Scale for RE: A Basic Tool AT1

Learning about Religion and Belief

AT2

Learning from Religion and Belief 8) Analyze and contextualize… Synthetize and justify their views…

7) Account for, show coherent understanding… Evaluate Critically and personally

6) Interpret Express insights…

5) Explain

(Why, similarities and differences)

Express views

(in the light of religious teachings)…

4) Show understanding… Apply ideas

3) Describe … Make links…

2) Identify, retell… Recognize, response sensitively …

1) Recall, name… Talk about…

Note: Adapted from The Agreed Syllabus 2013, Cambridgeshire Country Council

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To answer the above question “what can be assessed in RE? According to The Agreed Syllabus three aspects can be assessed in RE: Knowledge, understanding, skills. Which for instance

“through the early learning goals in the Foundation Stage pupils will begin the process of being introduced to religious language, stories, celebrations and practices in the Catholic Christian tradition as well as developing a range of generic skills” (Level of Attainment in Religious Education in Catholic Schools 2000). However according to Geoff Teece learning ‘about’ religion and learning ‘from’ religion was intended to be seen as pedagogical strategies NOT attainment targets (Sally Elton-Chalcraft, 2015, p.18).

Neutrality Issues of RE Teachers – The third issue is neutrality. Neutrality is a very important issue in RE, considering the fact that the world has been hooked on a monochromatic education design, attentive alone to the native religion of societies. The creation of an all-encompassing curriculum to scatter its attention across all world religions is bound to hit the Jericho walls of discrimination and bias constructed by teachers. A man’s religion is a sum of all the beliefs and practices which he holds sacred to the exclusion of all other conflicting beliefs. There is some natural tendency towards the monopoly of religious superiority (the belief that one’s religion is purest and more sophisticated in comparison to all other religions). This was clearly echoed in Volf’s statement that, in the face of difference and disagreement, it is common for humans to want to exclude the other. (Volf, in Larson & Shady 2009). It therefore takes conscious and calculated open mindedness to accept other religions as worthy and on equal terms.

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Neutrality, from a religious angle, refers to a state of mind or disposition which treats all religions equally without favoritism or bias to anyone. Teachers therefore must assume a genuine neutral posture when teaching RE so that they do not overtly or covertly slander one religion and place another on a silver platter and so that every atom of condemnatory tonality is stripped from their voice. But despite the importance of neutrality, it has not been deployed in its full dose. This is because religion is an emotional issue which is entangled with the soul and mind of individuals.

Neutrality, at the very extreme, require emotional, value laden beings, who have become entangled with a particular set of beliefs and have been immersed in a particular pool of values to numb their emotions when discussing an emotional issue which conflict with everything they hold sacred or may fail their internal validation tests, more so, to instruct students with the same enthusiasm and emotional fervor with which they would teach their own religion. Neutrality thus presents a huge challenge. Martinez -Torrom & Durham (2012) add that Neutrality is very difficult to guarantee in this particular sensitive area.

To Warnock (1975), the need for this neutrality in RE knowledge transfer stems from two main fears which are: the fear of instructors consciously or unconsciously indoctrinating students and the subconscious of self-learning which often emerges when teachers fail to provide direction.

Warnock (1975) however presents her own argument against neutrality. First, she remarked that a teacher is a role model who must guide students responsibly with self-evidential examples of how the teacher navigates similar issues. The scholar added that the openness for students to agree or disagree is a calculated way to address the fear of indoctrination. In other words, the teacher according to Warnock (1975) shares her opinion in a way that is open to debate and discussion amongst students. Against Warnock’s is the fact that the first instinctive response of students of

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impressionable minds is imitation and repetition rather than debate. This implies that students are more like to take after their teachers’ choice than to question its validity. Warnock would have been exculpated from this oversite, if the age bracket to be subjected to this had been stated clearly.

In addition, Warnock’s idea implied that the teacher should carry his religion to the students with all emotional enthusiasm and significations. This has a tendency to lead to arrogant and subliminal conversions.

Kelly (1986) developed four variations of pedagogical neutrality which includes: exclusive neutrality, which avoids all controversial things; exclusive impartiality, which teaches one perspective as the truth; neutral impartiality, where a teacher’s view point is neutral; and committed impartiality, where teachers’ views are not disguised.

With the recognition of pluralism there is a demand for school to include different ethnicity, nationality, culture and religions in the teaching of RE, thus the demand for RE to be secularized (Smart, 1967). Ninian Smart argues for the secularization of RE and shifts its focus to the analysis of religion seen in a global context, yet still attempts to relate it to pupils’ personal and epistemology questions (Smart, 1968 cited in Jackson, 2004, p. 6). Due to the issues of religious difference, human rights, and indoctrination from both religion and secularization, RE teachers are asked to adopt a neutral view while teaching RE. A typical example is the introduction of Ethics and Religious Culture (ERC) program by the Ministry of Education of Quebec in 2008, which became a mandatory course for all elementary and secondary students in both public and private schools (Maxwell, Waddington, McDonough, Cormier, & Schwimmer, 2012). This program intent to increase religious literacy and combat some of misunderstanding around the differences in

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religious and cultural practice; however, as Arzina Zaver (2015) puts it, “… the implications of a neutral professional posture asked of its teachers have been difficult to translate into the classroom”. The implications involve distance teachers must maintain from their own worldviews, and this form of neutrality promoted by the Ministère de l’Éducation du Loisir et du Sport (MELS) contradicts the ethics of religious sensitivity and religious literacy promoted in the Bouchard-Taylor report (Bouchard & Bouchard-Taylor, 2008), mentioned Zaver (2015). Douglas Farrow (2009) challenges the ERC curricular aims by raising three points on (1) the impossibility of pedagogies to be neutral as they are rooted in specific philosophies and worldviews, (2) the marginalization of teacher voice and agency, and (3) the role of the state in promoting its values system through ERC (cited in Zaver 2015).

Prior to Arzina Zaver’s article Martinez-Torron and Durham (2012) conducted a report examining the implementation of RE across the world. The results show that a neutral, non-denominational type of RE has “been gaining momentum in various countries”; in examination of the practical problems of the implementation of RE, the teaching of such a subject requires teachers that are highly qualified in teaching moral issues, and also that “neutrality is very difficult to achieve in the particular sensitive area” (p. 22-23).

Conflict Resolution Skills – As the wind of globalization traverse national boundaries, it carries with it specks of diversity which settles overtime and lump people of diverse culture, religion, and world view into same social space. The occupation of same social space by these estranged groups means that there would at some point be interpositions and overlaps which would result in apprehension and conflicts. One of the aims of RE, therefore is to endue students with the requisite

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skills for conflict management and resolution. According to Blake & Morton in Madalina (2015), there are five typical responses to conflict which are the fight, avoidance, adaptation, compromise and collaboration. The fight is the least respected style, yet the most patronized, ironically. It is highly assertive and less cooperative. The avoidance style involves staying away from everything capable of resulting in conflict. The adaptation style promotes cooperation as it involves deemphasizing one’s own differences to fit into another’s design. The compromise, promotes high cooperation. It involves sacrifices from both parties in order to reach a middle ground. Finally, the collaboration style involves the fusion of beliefs and ideas to creating a lasting understanding and peace. Among the five styles, the collaboration, compromise and adaptation are the best styles for the achievement of peaceful resolution of conflict.

In his need’s analysis, Kelman (2016) argued that a large frustration of basic human desires constitutes a great danger to peace and social order in our society. Kelman’s theory rests on the assumption that all human societies have a set of collective psychological needs of identity, security, recognition, participation, dignity and justice and failure to fulfill these needs or not recognizing these needs sends a clear invitation to conflict or exacerbates conflict (Kelman, 2016).

Kelman argues that the lack of recognition for these vital needs motivated and sustained the Israeli–Palestine conflict. Kelman’s theory thus reveals that most of the local and religious conflicts in Haiti and the rest of the world are not far from the lack of recognition for these innate psychological needs. identifying and respecting these needs would clearly send a message of peace and cooperation. For Yang (2018), experts in conflict resolution and group matters, and scholars are important in the resolution of conflict. These experts and scholars provide assistance as mediators, arbitrators (Lewicki et al. 1992; Ross and Conlon, 2000). Yang’s suggestion

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immediately demonstrates the importance of RE scholars and teachers in nurturing excellent minds to work towards resolving conflicts. All of the above discussion by no means suggest the superiority of one method over another, or the strength of one approach over another, rather it is an exposition of diverse methodologies which should characterize conflict resolution attempts as there is no one size fit all.

However, to use these styles one must own a certain level of mastery in the use of certain skills.

These skills include: emotional intelligence to discern when issues are likely to degenerate into conflict, communication skills to bridge the barrier of apprehensiveness through discussion and analytical understanding of issues, which will allow for more in depth understanding of the cause of conflicts and their resolution from a very informed position. The above conflict management skills will provide interreligious groups with the required skills for dialogue which will further promote cooperation and peaceful coexistence.

Gender Issues in RE – Although significant progress is made in many nations, gender inequality is considered to be a worldwide issue, especially in aspects concerning education, violence, income, power and so forth. According to many authors, gender inequality is an attribution of religions (Cooray and Potrafke, 2011; Lehrer, 2004; Seguino, 2011, Seguino, 2016). The status of women and the power they wield has a direct bearing on the provisions of their historical accounts as well as the cultural and social set up of their communities, (Klingorová, 2015). Every religion promotes diverse beliefs and these norms furnish different social institutions and behaviors, culture and historical antecedents, hence, creating a unique status for women compared to other religious persuasion (Klingorová, 2013).

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According to Young (1983), all world religions, to a large extent, stifle woman within their societal designs. Women were only regarded, for the most parts, as participants and followers within their religious communities, (Hamplová, 2013; Renzett and Curran 1999). Islam particularly, reduces the woman to a mere sexual receptacle without a voice in religious gatherings and almost without clear liberties in society. According to Holm (1994), Krejci (2009), Islam exhibits a continued plummet of the place of women within its religious and social design in comparison with the recently increasing recognition of women rights in “advanced” religions. This implies that Islam relegates the woman to the bottom rungs of the ladder of rights and liberties and only affords them liberties as the religion prescribes. This discrimination against women which is not exclusive to Islam might be as a result of the patriarchal historical environments which all of the world religions were fashioned in (Nešpor, 2008; Seguino, 2011).

This implies clearly that the low feminine positions in religions is often borrowed from the societal social designs wherein these religions took roots. In other words, as the societal designs grows to accept women, religions over time, begins to reflect this acceptance and change of status. In addition, the feminist rise and respect of women in the West has translated into the recognition and respect of women in Christianity. On the other hand, the continued relegated place of women in the Arab world is still responsible for their insignificant place in religion. Religion often attribute

This implies clearly that the low feminine positions in religions is often borrowed from the societal social designs wherein these religions took roots. In other words, as the societal designs grows to accept women, religions over time, begins to reflect this acceptance and change of status. In addition, the feminist rise and respect of women in the West has translated into the recognition and respect of women in Christianity. On the other hand, the continued relegated place of women in the Arab world is still responsible for their insignificant place in religion. Religion often attribute