Sir, – I write in agreement with your letter writers (March 9th) from the providers of initial teacher education in their correct assertion that denominational education cannot be reduced to a single curricular area or programme, specifically a religious education programme delivered as part of the patron’s programme.
A religious education programme is not what makes a school denominational. In such schools, it is the religious ethos, grounded in a community and tradition of faith that informs the entire life of the school community, which gives the school its character. In Catholic schools, our religious ethos, grounded in the life and teaching of Jesus Christ, is the silver thread that runs through the life of our schools, defining our purpose, our way of operating and how we foster and enrich our relationships. It permeates throughout the curriculum.
The patron’s programme in schools of all patronage types is an integral part of the curriculum and this has been confirmed through engagement with the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment on the draft primary curriculum specification. This is consistent with the holistic approach of the draft specification and harmonises with the Catholic approach to education in particular, valuing as Catholic education does the balanced development of the entire human person; spiritual, moral, intellectual, emotional physical, and social.
This approach is grounded in the Catholic anthropology, our understanding of what it is to be human, in our ultimate purpose, meaning, and destiny. While there are some who hold to a fiction of an ethical view from nowhere, we acknowledge that all ethical views are grounded in a particular anthropology and, like other patronage types, we explicitly acknowledge where we are coming from. There is no neutral ethical standpoint.
I see no wisdom in an education system which attempts to ground itself in a bland, neutral ethical sameness, enforced through a uniform education system. A confident pluralism should be comfortable acknowledging differences in ethical and religious views. A spirit of respectful dialogue should be encouraged, where the somewhat messy reality of being human is encountered and embraced.
The International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights, to which Ireland is a signatory, commits states “to have respect for the liberty of parents . . . to choose for their children schools . . . and to ensure the religious and moral education of their children in conformity with their own convictions.” The education system, in supporting a variety of schools of different religious and ethical beliefs, should support this right to the greatest practical extent possible. The Catholic patrons continue to work with the State to assist it in its responsibility to support a truly pluralistic education system, reflective of the wishes of parents and communities.
Catholic schools, as part of their education programme, have long taught “religions, beliefs, and worldviews” and this is not a novel aspect of the new draft curriculum specification. The draft Social and Environmental Education Curriculum Specification proposes to move this aspect from its present position within the religious education programme and into history/geography. Catholic schools have no difficulty in addressing this. The church for many decades now has made it clear that Catholic educators’ approach to other religious and ethical beliefs should be a respectful dialogue and encounter with other points of view, rooted in a confident understanding of our own beliefs and tradition. – Yours, etc,
ALAN HYNES,
Chief Executive Officer,
Catholic Education Partnership,
Columba Centre,
Maynooth,
Co Kildare.
Sir, – I chose a Catholic school for my daughter, based on its long-standing reputation in our community and its inclusive and welcoming nature. Despite not being raised a Catholic, at no point in her primary schooling has my daughter been left feeling excluded on the basis of her religious beliefs. While sacramental preparation took place last year in her class, she was engaged in alternative educational activities during this time, along with others in her class who did not engage in sacramental preparation. As we live in a multicultural Ireland, we should be encouraging our children to engage with others in society regardless of their faith, instead of obliterating elements of spiritual formation, ethics and values education from our schools. – Yours, etc,
LORNA ROCHE,
Blackrock,
Co Dublin.