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By Steve Weatherbe
EVERY teacher faces them: students with minds of their own.
Well-handled, they are an inspiration. But what if the classroom rebellion takes
place in religion class?
Not surprisingly, Protestant teachers differ from Catholics on their response to
this sort of dissent.
Recently taking a close look at the issue from the Catholic perspective was
Graham McDonough, a University of Victoria (UVic) education professor who is
studying dissent under the auspices of UVic’s Centre for Studies in Religion and Society.
McDonough says Catholic teachers need a better theoretical framework for handing
the sometimes competing tasks of transmitting Catholic teaching, teaching
critical thinking and accommodating students with dissenting views.
In a public lecture at UVic October 7, McDonough said his interviews with religion
teachers in Catholic schools suggested that when students dissented from church
teaching in class – for example, in the area of sexuality – teachers were often resolving the matter by urging dissenters to discuss the
issue with their parents.
As a solution to the problem, says McDonough, “It’s limited and problematic. But I don’t mean this to be taken as a criticism of the teachers. They are doing the best
they can.”
All teachers must teach the public curriculum. Christian teachers must also
convey a Christian worldview – often to students with little knowledge in the area, who are thoroughly versed
in the individualistic values of secular society.
In such a situation, banishing dissent to the home “may provide some benefits,” says McDonough. But if the parents themselves are unschooled in Catholic
teaching or uninterested in discussion, dissenters may well feel discouraged
about their membership in the church.
McDonough proposes instead that Catholic teachers let their students know about
the breadth of opinion within the church on controversial issues – and even direct them to dissenters within the church, who have brought about
change in the past on issues outside the bounds of ‘infallible’ teachings such as the divinity of Jesus, the trinity or the immaculate conception of Mary.
McDonough says “fallible and ordinary” teachings of the church, which have changed recently, include some dealing with
religious freedom, and non-Catholic denominations and faiths. “Those things did not come about overnight. There was debate and discussion
first.”
McDonough believes that both in the classroom and the church outside the
classroom there needs to be room for public discussion, with nobody foreclosing
on the question by declaring their opponents to be “not Catholic.”
Danny Brock, a religion teacher at St. Andrew’s Catholic High School in Victoria and author of the book, Teaching Teens Religion: How to Make it a Favourite Class, agrees with McDonough on the importance of making dissenters comfortable and welcome in the classroom.
But he disagrees with directing dissenters to supporters within the church, or
who call themselves Catholic.
“The Catholic school has a mandate to teach the ordinary teachings of the church,” he says. He agrees with McDonough that things such as singlehood of priests are
changeable.
But the ones most hotly contested, such as the ban on artificial contraception
and abortion, represent the mind of the church – and cannot be presented as changeable.
But there are ways to teach eternal truths that include – rather than exclude – dissenters, says Brock.
“The first thing a student wants to know when he comes in your classroom is: ‘Do you like me?’ If you shut down a student for holding dissenting views, the student
understands that as : ‘You don’t like me’ or ‘You don’t respect me.’ So you may win the argument, but lose the student.”
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At a practical level, says Brock, his typical religion lessons begin with
students relating their own personal experiences in the lesson area. Next comes
the church teaching, followed by an effort at integration through more
discussion. He concludes with consideration of what actions flow from the
lesson learned.
There’s plenty of room for students to air their own opinions, says Brock, in a
respectful atmosphere that should model the church’s teaching on respect for all persons – while also leaving room to present church teaching.
Maybe there was a time when students came to class already formed in the faith,
he says, leaving the religion teacher with the job of merely teaching doctrine.
But most students come to Catholic high schools already formed in the secular
value of individual autonomy.
“We have to accept that. We have to evangelize them – meaning win them over – by presenting Catholic teachings in a way that makes sense, and is appealing.”
Harro Van Brummelen, acting dean of the school of education at Trinity Western
University in Langley – and a one-time high school teacher – says the older students get, the more likely they are to take dissenting
positions – but also, the more open they are to learning critical thinking.
“We teach students to take rational actions, rooted in an independent and
autonomous worldview,” he says. Teachers of religion, or any subject in a Christian school, are
responsible for conveying the Christian position – or positions.
“We require the students to know the teachings, but we encourage them to reach
their own opinion – as long as they can support it with logic and evidence.”
Van Brummelen recalls presenting the concept of Just War in religion class,
distinguishing among the Catholic, Reformed and Mennonite views. “You have to be honest that there are differences among Christians.”
Charles Peacock, headmaster at the Anglican Cathedral School in Victoria, says
the issue of dissent is less pressing in the Anglican context. “We are a broad church, less driven by dogma than the Catholics – and embracing a wide range of very disparate positions.”
Peacock says this allows the religion class “to address controversial issues head-on, and allow different opinions to be
expressed.”
Cathedral School teachers, he says, present the Anglican position – but also identify other positions.
November 2009
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