Should Collective Worship be a Statutory Requirement in all Schools? A Critical Discussion

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Student Number: 0901909

TH610- Research in RE

Student Number: 0901909

Should Collective Worship be a Statutory Requirement in all Schools?          A Critical Discussion

1870 saw the implantation of the Education Act. The 1870 Education Act set the structure for schooling of children from the ages 5 to 12. This act was the first educational act that began to govern what schools would teach and what the children would learn. Before the 1870 education act was introduced, the church was the main provider of schools in the UK. The schools the Church set up were for the ‘poor of the parish’. In today’s society the Church still makes up a considerable amount of a third of all schools in the main sector of England (Gay, 2003). Before 1870, as the church was the main provider of school in the United Kingdom, Religious Christian Education was a fundamental part of teaching.

In 1944 the Butler Education Act was introduced. Under the 1944 Act, religious education was to be a compulsory subject on the curriculum. The Butler Education Act of 1944 stated that a form of collective worship or prayer was mandatory in all state funded schools. This was to be integrated into all schools as part of Religious Education. It was compulsory in all schools across the UK, not only the faith schools but all state schools. The act aimed to instruct children in the Christian faith, an instruction that was to be reinforced by a daily act of collective worship. The worship that would take place must be broadly Christian in religion. In Religious Education in the Secondary School, Wright (1993) believes that ‘by teaching Christianity in a nurturing environment, the central values of faith would, so it was hoped [by the Government], become embedded in the hearts and minds of the nation’s youth’

However, the 1960’s brought a severe questioning of compulsory religious practice. With declining church attendance, England during the 1960’s was turning into a more secular culture and society. Furthermore in the 1960’s immigration brought new faiths and religions into the country. This opened the debate whether or not religious education should play a part in school life and the broadly Christian approach to teaching and learning began to be examined. With the influx of new and diverse religions in society, the Christian approach to teaching was scrutinized. The question arose that the new generation of children needed to understand, appreciate and welcome the diversity and multiculturalism that was fast becoming a part of Britain’s culture and customs. This is seen through the implementation of the 1988 Education Reform Act (ERA), a piece of legislation that would change the nature of education in England and Wales (Wright, 1993). The 1988 ERA combined with the 2004 Non Statutory Framework for Religious Education laid out certain aims and expectations of religious education in schools. The aims were to develop student’s knowledge of Christianity and the other principles religions in the UK. The induction of the 1988 National Curriculum shows how the UK’s teaching was changing to suit the multicultural society of Britain. The framework highlights the importance of understanding, awareness and familiarity of major religions within the UK. The curriculum shows the key role that RE has in our schooling system and the consequential national curriculum. Religious education opens children’s minds to difference between individuals. Not only does religious education give the children the knowledge and insight into different religions and the concept of faith itself, it strengthens and lays the foundations for children to base their moral judgements by assessing moral issues and debates. Collective worship aims to further develop on the moral judgements for students in school.

The execution of the Education Reform Act 1988 was an equally complex and divisive move by the government in regards to education. The Education Reform Act (1988) seemed to strengthen Christian morals in our schools but also incorporate and integrate the new multicultural, multi faith society that England had become.

Collective Worship was a prominent feature of the 1988 Education Reform Act. It stated that all pupils at a state school must be a part of a daily act of collective worship that was mainly Christian in nature.

Collective worship became a legal requirement within schools to extend the pupils social, moral, spiritual and cultural development (SMSC). However there is debate about how to define the term ‘spirituality’. Hay and Nye (2006) think that spirituality is inclusive whereas Erricker (2001) believes spirituality to be based on experience and the impact of these experiences on the child. Wright’s (2004) and Berryman’s (1997) both see spirituality linked to religion and a relationship with the Transcendent. This is the opposite of Watson (2009) and the Humanist Philosopher’s group (2001) who think spirituality is set apart from religion (Brendan, 2001). Wright (2004) and Berryman (1997) have the most prominent definition when related to the term ‘Collective Worship’ as labelled in the 1944 Education Act. This notion of spirituality being linked with Religion therefore is difficult to achieve in a non faith school as there are many differing faiths within the school so it is complex decision for the school to keep Collective Worship broadly Christian whilst trying to include all religions. However the DES in The Supplement to the Curriculum 11-16 (1977) highlighted that the word ‘spiritual’ not only referred to a religious concept but also inner feelings and beliefs. This idea of spirituality can resonant through collective worship in school with no religious character. Andrew Wright in his book Spirituality and Education (2000) defines spirituality by it’s...’relationship of the individual, within community...ultimate concern, value and truth...through an informed, sensitive and reflective striving for spiritual wisdom’ (p. 7). It is this understanding of spirituality and consequently the point of collective worship that makes it a necessity with in all schools, for all children, up and down the United Kingdom.

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The aim of collective worship can become lost within a constrained and hectic timetable and is often overlooked by teachers pressured by exams and results. Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural develop of children in school should be of paramount importance with collective worship being a tool to achieve this.

Moral Education refers to the responsibility of teachers to help young people to make decisions about how to treat themselves and others. Social Education helps students to understand the relationship between themselves and others, while cultural education helps them to explore their own sense of belonging and how that might ...

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