RE: Why should religion have any influence on our lives?
October 3, 2014 at 3:49 pm
(This post was last modified: October 3, 2014 at 4:24 pm by Michael B.)
Fidel. I think you're labouring under a gross misunderstanding about funding of faith schools.(For people jumping into this thread, Fidel and I are talking about schooling in the UK). The Catholic Church isn't giving them money (if we're talking about Catholic Schools). They are funded just like the comprehensive school down the road, except parents will help contribute to any funds required to pay the 10% of capital required for new builds. The comprehensive schools aren't failing because they are at a funding disadvanatge; they actually have a small advantage over the faith schools. They are failing because they aren't providing a good enough education, and so fewer people want to send their children there. Something is different about the ethos of faith schools which allows them to succeed on the same (or slightly lower) funding basis. So again, it's daft to think that closing what is successful and in demand is the way forward. Rather why not be prepared to learn from what works in, and what attracts people to, faith schools. It's so much better to aim to lift the poor schools than to try and achieve equality by closing the good schools. I suspect the academies will be the end of the old-fashioned comprehensive school, and having been to a dreadful one, I won't mourn their passing (my education was 'redeemed' by a brilliant sixth form college, which was a radical idea at the time but it was set up outside of the control of the Local Education Authority, and it flourished, and I flourished because if it).
As for public funding, I might as well ask why I should fund non-faith schools. You see, it cuts both ways. There is no impersonal 'public funding'. I am the public funding, along with other tax payers. Why should I pay for the type of schools you want? You can go and start your own private schools with your preferred ethos (but I bet they would still be as poor as the state-funded secular comps that you so want everyone to go to).
No, it would be dreadful to turn the clock back to the bad old days of Local Education Authorities trying to tell us parents what schools we want, and controllling intake by catchment. It's so much beter now that teachers, head-teachers, and parents have much more control over their schools. No government is going to turn the clock back now.
Like it or not, the Churches know how to run good schools (from our experience largely simply by freeing them of the political control of the LEAs and letting teachers and parents control their own schools, and from creating a culture that expects high standards, and gives the pupils the credit of believing that they can achieve high standards). That's why the government asked the CofE to take on possibly thousands more schools in the longer term.
As for the Catholic make-up of the schools our children went to, it ranged from about 50% to about 90% (depending on the school and the year). Personally I'm very happy with the suggestion that a certain number of places should be reserved for people outside of the faith comunity (obviously so long as they accept the ethos of the faith school as it is).
I think you're on a hiding to nothing wanting to turn the clock back to heavy state control of schools, trying to make all schools the same. It didn't work. No political party is going to go there again. The direction of travel is quite the opposite - we're seeing more and more freedom for our schools, but poor schools will not survive.
We should always look to improve schooling for all, but the trend to more, rather than less, freedom for schools, and more diversity of choice for parents, has been a successful and popular one. Long may it continue. I hope you, when you have children, are able to chose a school that reflects the values you hold dear.
Anyway, I'll leave it there, as I've had plenty of say on this thread.
Thanks for the discussion - it's been a good one.
As for public funding, I might as well ask why I should fund non-faith schools. You see, it cuts both ways. There is no impersonal 'public funding'. I am the public funding, along with other tax payers. Why should I pay for the type of schools you want? You can go and start your own private schools with your preferred ethos (but I bet they would still be as poor as the state-funded secular comps that you so want everyone to go to).
No, it would be dreadful to turn the clock back to the bad old days of Local Education Authorities trying to tell us parents what schools we want, and controllling intake by catchment. It's so much beter now that teachers, head-teachers, and parents have much more control over their schools. No government is going to turn the clock back now.
Like it or not, the Churches know how to run good schools (from our experience largely simply by freeing them of the political control of the LEAs and letting teachers and parents control their own schools, and from creating a culture that expects high standards, and gives the pupils the credit of believing that they can achieve high standards). That's why the government asked the CofE to take on possibly thousands more schools in the longer term.
As for the Catholic make-up of the schools our children went to, it ranged from about 50% to about 90% (depending on the school and the year). Personally I'm very happy with the suggestion that a certain number of places should be reserved for people outside of the faith comunity (obviously so long as they accept the ethos of the faith school as it is).
I think you're on a hiding to nothing wanting to turn the clock back to heavy state control of schools, trying to make all schools the same. It didn't work. No political party is going to go there again. The direction of travel is quite the opposite - we're seeing more and more freedom for our schools, but poor schools will not survive.
We should always look to improve schooling for all, but the trend to more, rather than less, freedom for schools, and more diversity of choice for parents, has been a successful and popular one. Long may it continue. I hope you, when you have children, are able to chose a school that reflects the values you hold dear.
Anyway, I'll leave it there, as I've had plenty of say on this thread.
Thanks for the discussion - it's been a good one.
