The place for ‘Amen’ in schools

It cannot be denied that one’s religious traditions (or lack of) have an impact on the culture and identity of an individual where many have their day-to-day lives and opinions shaped by their spiritual beliefs. The significance of religion in school is only recognised by some, and many fail to acknowledge the diverse educational experience students have when attending a school of religious affiliation compared to one of a secular nature. I chose to raise the question of the extent of this impact and what its influence has on students attending such institutions.

As religion is such a vital aspect in contribution to the shaping of ones identity and has been such a significant player in history and society, it seems absurd that it would not be a subject compulsory for students to undergo in order to understand the fundamental aspects that define cultures around the world. It also seems absurd, however, to place student’s into segregated classes to undertake religious studies. ‘’The minute you step into this room, I want you to forget any religious beliefs you already have, when you come into this class, you will have an open, objective and impartial mind’’ My Catholic school religion teacher said on our first lesson of year 11 Studies of Religion. I recall this after reading a article off the Sydney Morning Herald by S. V. Hooft, outlining the importance of state schools must teach religion in moderation with its cultural and societal influences, and also doing so in a way that allows the student to make free decisions socially based on the content without being influenced by the teacher’s or school’s religious agenda. Subjects like Studies of Religion provided to students in year 11 and 12 poses as an effective way of educating students of a variety of religions and also spiritualism and the effects such beliefs and practices have on cultures and societies. This remains as an effective way of including religion into the modern education system as it caters for the ‘’concern for the learner as a free, rational, inquiring subject who needs to have a say in the construction of meaning and identity’’ (Rositter 2005, p23). Through covering multiple religions, the subject therefore is there to teach rather than preach.  Where there is a fine line between religious instruction and education.

Although there is the constant view that religion is a private and personal aspect of culture and identity and therefore has no place within the modern education system, this is to deny the fact that ‘’the boundaries between public and private spheres are constantly reconstructed and renegotiated, and very few social practices are limited to only one sphere… the increasing privatisation of religion… is therefore as problematic idea, because of the fluid borders between public ad private spheres’’ (Hemming 2011, 1063). Where ones culture and identity is shaped by both private and public features, and that social factors of an individual and also a society will constantly mix and overlap, where this view is more so embraced in religiously affiliated schools rather than state schools.

Having attended a Catholic School, I experienced constant connections of the Christian faith within my studies. Faith based practices during school and class hours brought students together in times of tragedy, calm in times of exam stress and community all year round. Issues of social exclusion were overcome through the inclusiveness of the practices to those of other and no faiths, where such students were often offered roles within the practices that were inclusive but did not conflict with their own religious adherence. I saw this in action at my graduation where the only two Islamic students of my grade joined in the Eucharistic celebration by choice through receiving a blessing, whilst remaining adherent to their own personal beliefs. This was a reflection of the fluid nature or culture and identity and how religion as a private aspect of a secular society was integrated into education without enforcement or intrusion into student’s educational outlook, as Christian ideology was never integrated into subjects outside of years 7-10 religion classes.

References:

Hemming, P 2011, ‘The Place of Religion in Public Life: School as a lens on Society’, Sociology, no. 45, pp 1061-1077.

Hooft, S 2012. Sydney Morning Herald Homepage. Available from < http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/society-and-culture/religious-classes-in-state-schools-must-be-about-teaching-not-preaching-20120301-1u5um.html > 25th October 2013.

Rossiter, G 2005, ‘Exploring Religion in School: A Commentary’, Journal of Christian Education, vol. 48, no. 2, pp. 19- 26.

‘They don’t all turn out like Ja’mie’

In light of the ABC’s return of our favourite private school satirical character ‘Ja’mie’ I saw it fitting to address the undeniable truths many of us see in such characters.

I recently read an article and what struck me was the title of ‘’ If you send your kids to a private school, you are a bad person’’. The article raised unsupported and extremist statements regarding the inconsistencies of state schools being due to the influx of students in private schools, and they solution for this would be to have all students attend public schools as there would then be equality. Although it’s not as simple as the writer makes it sound like it is, it did get me thinking and raise the question, what are the issues surrounding the discrepancies between private and public schools?

The social impactions that private and public schools implicitly release into society must also be recognized. Where ‘’ Heads of private schools agree that their structure and ethos is designed to instil a sense of entitlement and self-assurance that gives pupils the opportunity to reach the top in whichever field of endeavour they choose’’ (Hannah 2010, p10). That through the privileges that private schools provide, students of state schools therefore may feel robbed or be limited to opportunity in academic and also societal progression.

Earlier today I debated with another student regarding every students right to government funded education. As education is a fundamental right, funding is therefore essential to all, and that just because a student pays more by going to a private school that should not mean the government should ease its funds. The reality is, however, is this a fair way to treat students born into a low socio-economic status who cant afford the best education. Is their fundamental right to education downplayed and inflated by the fact that other students have a more privileged education experience because they have the money to? Wait a minute, isn’t this what the Gonski reform is all about?

An article published on the Sydney Morning Herald titled ‘’Abbott must make school education reform a priority’’ explores the issues of the Gonski reform, where it relied on standardized examinations such as NAPLAN to determine who needs the governments help. Clearly this poses as an issue, as just because students do well in literacy and numeracy, that does not indicate that the school is fairly funded and doing fine. The circumstances of students and the school socially and financially must be taken into account when it comes to government funding, and that is what I believe to portray the fact that a schools privilege is not determined by it academic standing or whether it is private or public. I attended a private school where only a few students would make it to university each year, where resources were limited and quality was lacking. Evidently, the issues of private vs state schools is merely an issue of complacency. Where the bar is equaled as funding to non- government schools is doubled to that of private schools.

References

Author Unknown 2013. Sydney Morning herald Homepage. Available from < http://www.smh.com.au/comment/smh-editorial/abbott-must-make-school-education-reform-a-priority-20131014-2vikg.html> 25^th October 2013.

Benedikt, A. Slate Homepage. Available from < http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2013/08/private_school_vs_public_school_only_bad_people_send_their_kids_to_private.html> 24^th October 2013.

Hannah, F 2010, ‘The ruling classes’, The Times Educational Supplement, no. 4898.

A Reflection on the Spectrum of Multiculturalism in Our Society

In the postmodern society what we are exposed to are large multicultural ideals. These ideals are representing the new advances in technology in the postmodern period that allows the inter-change of information from one part of the world to another in a manner of seconds. Additionally these ideals are also representing the society we are in and the values that society places upon acceptance and understanding of things that are different. But this suggests that something then, is normal? Au (2009 pg. 10) states that, 

“Often times, whatever is white is treated as normal. So when teachers choose literature that they say will deal with a universal theme or story, like childhood, all the people in the stories are of European origin; it’s basically white culture and civilization. That culture is different from others, but it doesn’t get name as different. It gets named as normal.”

What notions of multiculturalism can be reinforced if people continue to perceive one culture as normal, and others as not, as representing something that strays from the norm? With this idea, we see one contradictory aspect of this entire ideal of multiculturalism in the class room. Though we may pursue such ideals, and indeed we should as the acceptance of multiculturalism and the reinforcement of it as such, allows people to understand each other and grow. However whilst we do pursue such ideals, we must be aware of the contradiction our society places upon us in terms of multiculturalism, and that is the conception of what is deemed the normal. 

Furthermore, we can see how great an impact multiculturalism may have on our society, as depicted by Peter Adler in an article (Link Below) that explores the many notions of multiculturalism in our society and education. Adler states that, “A new type of person whose orientation and view of the world profoundly transcends his or her indigenous culture is developing from the complex of social, political, economic, and educational interactions of our time.” Which is referring to the social context that we are now exposed to, and this notion is most clear when exploring it in the classroom. As it is in the post-modern class room, an individual is exposed to a plethora of different individuals from different cultures, as such it is the optimal environment to reinforce the idea of multiculturalism. Therefore we can see how great an impact education may have on multiculturalism and vice versa. 

This is elaborated when Adler places the idea of the, “multicultural person” as central to his argument and adds that this identity marker may encompass a new type of person that is, “fluid and mobile, more susceptible to change, more open to variation”, and so reinforces the positive connotations that lie with the ideal of multiculturalism. These ideals of openness and susceptibility to change are all fundamental aspects that a student should incorporate into his being to further his academic career, and so we see a clear link between how the idea of multiculturalism may impact the class room. This also means that those individuals are more likely to then accept the multitudes of identities within the large spectrum of social cultures and accordingly grow into individuals that perpetuate a drive for equality. As such, the exploration and understanding of multiculturalism in education allows for an understanding of how it affects education and how ideals of multiculturalism can become an integral part of education and society.

References:

Article: http://www.mediate.com/articles/adler3.cfm

Au, W. (Ed.). (2009). Rethinking multicultural education: Teaching for racial and cultural justice. Rethinking Schools.

Race, Richard. (2011). Multiculturalism and Education: Contemporary Issues in Education Studies. Continuum.

JUST CHUCK SOME MONEY AT IT

The recent federal election which clogged up much of the media brought the nations and specifically parents and students attentions to the Gonski Review. It concerns school funding and recommends extra annual funding and a change in model for allocation of school funds. Consequently the government plans to utilise this “Gonski inspired model” for funding NSW public schools in the form of “equity loadings” (Tovey, 2013) in 2014. A recent article sheds light on how this will lead to some NSW public schools being disadvantaged whilst others that fit the criteria of “socioeconomic and indigenous disadvantage” (Tovey, 2013) are being advantaged by a scheme that supposedly promotes educational equity. I look to explore this issue of public school funding with the aid of scholarly work.

First I ponder what changes and impacts will result from this funding change to those schools that are set to benefit. Many schools will receive a much needed boost in funding including Western Sydney’s Cranebrook and Chester Hill High schools which will gain an extra $620 725 and $852 767 respectively. (Tovey, 2013)  One school principal receiving additional funds has cited it as a “huge benefit” (Tovey, 2013) as the school was accustomed to operating with a “limited budget.” (Tovey, 2013) I suppose in this case the gain for this and similar schools would be affording one of the most valuable resources in education, being quality trained teachers. This reasoning is supported by Teese (2007) who says poorer schools “give up trained teachers through high turnover… they give up more advantageous staffing through the formal equity of class size.” (as cited in Kenway 2013, p.295)

Additionally since this funding scheme operates on the parameters of socioeconomic disadvantage, it utilises the logical method of basing monetary allocation on the “capacity of the parents enrolling their children in the school to contribute financially towards the school’s resource requirements.” (as cited in Kenway 2013, p.298)  This is significant because it mitigates the great discrepancy that exists in background and SES in Australian education as the “top ICSEA value for 2010 [was] 1237 (extremely advantaged) and the bottom [was] 584 (extremely disadvantaged)” (Kenway, 2013, p.291) to promote success for students.

Moreover this is not only beneficial for students but for schools too with regard to competitiveness in the highly globalised field of education. This notion is supported by ideas demonstrated in the Gonksi Review (2011) “The most successful schooling systems internationally are those where students achieve to the best of their ability, without their background or the school they attend impacting on their outcomes” (as cited in Kenway, 2011, p.288)

Of equal importance is that this funding scheme is hindering some schools because “about 200 schools… will receive slightly less in the form of loadings in 2014.” (Tovey, 2013) These unfortunate schools, many that are in “low socioeconomic areas” (Tovey, 2013) include Mount Druitt Public School and Wiley Park Girls High school which both stand to lose the maximum capped amount of $50000. This is negative as it leads to “stratification of school education” (Kenway, 2013, p.296) which leads to a rise in low/middle fee private schooling. Consequently public schools are encouraged to emulate the “gold standards” (Kenway, 2013, p.296) of elite private schools to combat the middle class flight phenomenon because of the negative impact it imposes. The negative impacts I speak of include lowering performance standards of student cohorts, which is best explained by the Nous Group (2011), “The movement of a bright child from a low SES school to a higher SES school will undermine the quality of the remaining student body in the low SES school.” (as cited in Kenway, 2013, p.298)

On the other hand one optimistic view I can extrapolate is that such emulation is indicative of aspirations of schools to improve resources, accountability and performance. However, this is negated by the fact that emulation requires investment which is difficult to come by when budgets are decreased and private schools have “parents with deep pockets” (Kenway, 2013, p.296) and social economic advantage. Therefore students in schools that suffer budget decreases demonstrate the inadequacy of “hav[ing] access to the best possible education and a chance to realise their full potential can also be considered the moral imperative of schooling.” (as cited in Kenway, 2011, p.288)

I say it is useful to attempt to establish a “consistent set of principles and needs for the funding of all schools across Australia.” (Keating & Klatt, 2012, p.421) Though clearly there are winners and losers despite all campaigns of fairness as Julia Gillard had previously falsely stated that, “no school would lose a dollar.'' (Tovey 2013) It is unfair as some 200 schools will in a sense have monetary resources once accessible extracted from them while others are given the privilege of more resources. I consider this a privilege as not every school as discussed is entitled to it. Though I feel this is making inroads into a more effective and just education funding scheme.

References

Keating, J. Klatt, M. (2012). Australian concurrent federalism and its implications for the Gonski Review. Journal of Education Policy. Vol.28, No.4. pp.411-426

Kenway, J. (2013), Challenging inequality in Australian schools: Gonski and beyond. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education. Vol.34, No.2. pp.286-308

Tovey, J. (2013). 200 schools worse off in the new scheme.  Sydney Morning Herald. Published on October 23^rd 2013. Viewed on October 25^th 2013. <http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/200-schools-worse-off-in-new-scheme-20131022-2vz9n.html>