After a protracted period of curriculum development by the St James Ethics Centre, political lobbying and finally legislation, philosophical ethics classes have been made available for NSW primary students as an alternative to Special Religious Education (SRE) at the start of 2011.
Religion and Schooling in NSW - a potted history:
The history of education in NSW is both complex and fascinating, and deeply intertwined with various Christian religious groups. I have summarised the most salient points below, but you can find much more information at the following site:
NSW Government Education and Communities - Government Schools of NSW from 1848
Prior to the establishment of the Government School System, churches, particularly the Church of England were provided with funding to establish and maintain schools. This funding was necessary because of the nature of the convict settlement, there were insufficient voluntary resources to undertake the task. Thus, a very strong alliance between the State and the Church of England was formed, involving incorporation and large land grants.
In part due to protest from other religious denominations, a "common school" system was proposed by Governor Bourke in the early 1830's. Children from all denominations were to attend the same school to reduce costs of duplication. A book of scripture extracts was proposed, and local church clergy were to be granted access during school hours for the purpose of religious education in their specific denominations. However, this proposal was rejected by Protestant groups, and separate schools were continued by churches with Government subsidies.
In the later 1830's, Governor Gipps tried again to streamline the system, proposing separate schools for Catholic and (mixed) Protestant denominations. This time, Anglicans objected to the proposal, because it excluded a specifically Anglican doctrine being used in the mixed Protestant Schools. And so the separate schools with subsidies provided to Churches continued for several more years.
By 1848, an economic depression and changing demographics had resulted in a weakening of the power of the Anglican Church, and the existing subsidy system was no longer sufficient to either maintain existing schools or build new ones for the expanding population. A compromise was reached, whereby Government Schools were established in a system similar to that proposed by Governors Bourke and Gipps, but subsidies for specific church schools were to be continued.
Much of this system remains to this day, with funding per student being provided to both Government and Independent schools. A comprehensive analysis of this funding breakdown and it's implications is beyond the scope of this blog. If interested, you can view a report by The Australian Council for Educational Research, ACER here:
http://www.acer.edu.au/documents/PolicyBriefs_Dowling07.pdf
"Special Religious Education"
"Special Religious Education" in the NSW Department of Education and Training (DET) is defined as "education in the beliefs and practices of an approved religious persuasion by authorised representatives of that persuasion" This is in contrast to General Religious Education, defined as "education about the world's major religions, what people believe and how that belief affects their lives." General Religious Education is often referred to as comparative religion.
Specific reference to the current NSW Education Act, 1990, as at 22nd December 2010 can be located in Section 32, linked here: http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/sinodisp/au/legis/nsw/consol_act/ea1990104/s32.html?stem=0&synonyms=0&query=religious
The maximum hours per week is one, with the total number of hours per year not to exceed the number of weeks in the school year. Parents have always been able to opt their children out of Special Religious Education, as far back as the initial creation of the Public Schools Act in 1866, and this right was left intact in the 1980 and 1990 reviews.
The changing nature of Australian society has meant that there is an increasing proportion of people declaring no religious affiliation. In the 2006 Census, the figure had risen to 19% (from 0.04% in 1901). It will be interesting to see if this trend continues with the 2011 Census due in August this year. New Zealand, which has delayed its 2011 Census until 2013 because of the Christchurch earthquake, is expected to pass 50% "no religion" status at the next Census, with current estimates ranging from 28-73% depending on the definition used. (TeAra NZ)
Dr Sue Knight, in her Final Report on the NSW Ethics Course Trial, linked below, states the opinion that while a majority of parents would have approved of the Religious Education settlement at the time it was made in 1848, an increasing number of parents make the choice that their children not attend scripture classes. Thus, the need to provide an ethics-based course to run alongside scripture in primary schools is all the more pressing.
Religion and Schooling in NSW - a potted history:
The history of education in NSW is both complex and fascinating, and deeply intertwined with various Christian religious groups. I have summarised the most salient points below, but you can find much more information at the following site:
NSW Government Education and Communities - Government Schools of NSW from 1848
Prior to the establishment of the Government School System, churches, particularly the Church of England were provided with funding to establish and maintain schools. This funding was necessary because of the nature of the convict settlement, there were insufficient voluntary resources to undertake the task. Thus, a very strong alliance between the State and the Church of England was formed, involving incorporation and large land grants.
In part due to protest from other religious denominations, a "common school" system was proposed by Governor Bourke in the early 1830's. Children from all denominations were to attend the same school to reduce costs of duplication. A book of scripture extracts was proposed, and local church clergy were to be granted access during school hours for the purpose of religious education in their specific denominations. However, this proposal was rejected by Protestant groups, and separate schools were continued by churches with Government subsidies.
In the later 1830's, Governor Gipps tried again to streamline the system, proposing separate schools for Catholic and (mixed) Protestant denominations. This time, Anglicans objected to the proposal, because it excluded a specifically Anglican doctrine being used in the mixed Protestant Schools. And so the separate schools with subsidies provided to Churches continued for several more years.
By 1848, an economic depression and changing demographics had resulted in a weakening of the power of the Anglican Church, and the existing subsidy system was no longer sufficient to either maintain existing schools or build new ones for the expanding population. A compromise was reached, whereby Government Schools were established in a system similar to that proposed by Governors Bourke and Gipps, but subsidies for specific church schools were to be continued.
Much of this system remains to this day, with funding per student being provided to both Government and Independent schools. A comprehensive analysis of this funding breakdown and it's implications is beyond the scope of this blog. If interested, you can view a report by The Australian Council for Educational Research, ACER here:
http://www.acer.edu.au/documents/PolicyBriefs_Dowling07.pdf
"Special Religious Education"
"Special Religious Education" in the NSW Department of Education and Training (DET) is defined as "education in the beliefs and practices of an approved religious persuasion by authorised representatives of that persuasion" This is in contrast to General Religious Education, defined as "education about the world's major religions, what people believe and how that belief affects their lives." General Religious Education is often referred to as comparative religion.
Specific reference to the current NSW Education Act, 1990, as at 22nd December 2010 can be located in Section 32, linked here: http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/sinodisp/au/legis/nsw/consol_act/ea1990104/s32.html?stem=0&synonyms=0&query=religious
The maximum hours per week is one, with the total number of hours per year not to exceed the number of weeks in the school year. Parents have always been able to opt their children out of Special Religious Education, as far back as the initial creation of the Public Schools Act in 1866, and this right was left intact in the 1980 and 1990 reviews.
The changing nature of Australian society has meant that there is an increasing proportion of people declaring no religious affiliation. In the 2006 Census, the figure had risen to 19% (from 0.04% in 1901). It will be interesting to see if this trend continues with the 2011 Census due in August this year. New Zealand, which has delayed its 2011 Census until 2013 because of the Christchurch earthquake, is expected to pass 50% "no religion" status at the next Census, with current estimates ranging from 28-73% depending on the definition used. (TeAra NZ)
Dr Sue Knight, in her Final Report on the NSW Ethics Course Trial, linked below, states the opinion that while a majority of parents would have approved of the Religious Education settlement at the time it was made in 1848, an increasing number of parents make the choice that their children not attend scripture classes. Thus, the need to provide an ethics-based course to run alongside scripture in primary schools is all the more pressing.
NSW Ethics Course Trial
Final Report, October 2010
Prepared by Dr Sue Knight, University of South Australia.This 107 page report was funded by the NSW Department of Education (DET), to evaluate the success of the Ethics Pilot course held during Term 2 of 2010.
Summary:
The authors concluded that the course was:
* effective in improving the understanding of student skills in ethical decision making.
* The St James Ethics Centre model of course content and organisation was successful.
* that secular ethics and SRE can exist respectfully side by side.
Special Religious Education Handbook
Inter-Church Commission on
Religious Education in Schools (NSW) Inc (ICCOREIS)January 2011
Special Religious Education (SRE) is the formal name for the 'scripture' classes that have been in place in NSW for many decades. This handbook linked in the heading of this section is the manual outlining the structure and implementation of these classes, and it has recently been updated to recognise the introduction of Special Ethics Education classes.
Section 3.4 of the Handbook deals with the authorisation process for SRE teachers, provided by a member of the clergy or other authorised representative of the religion. This process can be contrasted with the recruitment process adopted by Primary Ethics, an outline of which is given on the Primary Ethics website here.
