Religious Education and Community Cohesion

‘Every school – whatever its intake and wherever it is located – is responsible for educating children and young people who will live and work in a country which is diverse in terms of cultures, religions or beliefs, ethnicities and social backgrounds.’ (DCSF Guidance on the duty to promote community cohesion July 2007 DCSF-00598-2007)

‘By community cohesion, we mean working towards a society in which there is a common vision and sense of belonging by all communities; a society in which the diversity of people’s backgrounds and circumstances is appreciated and valued; a society in which similar life opportunities are available to all; and a society in which strong and positive relationships exist and continue to be developed in the workplace, in schools and in the wider community.’

(DCSF Guidance on the duty to promote community cohesion July 2007 DCSF-00598-2007)

The requirement on schools from September 2007 to promote community cohesion makes this aspiration particularly significant. From September 2008 Ofsted has included community cohesion as an important focus of Section 5 school inspections.

Religious Education (RE) provides a key context for children and young people to develop their understanding and appreciation of diversity through the study of religious and non-religious beliefs. It helps to promote shared values, respect for all, and to challenge racism and discrimination. In many schools this is achieved by providing a high quality classroom experience of RE enriched by opportunities to visit and meet with representatives from communities of religions and non-religious beliefs in the local area.

Good RE will promote community cohesion at each of the four levels outlined in DCSF guidance:

-the school community – RE provides a positive context within which the diversity of cultures, beliefs and values within the school community can be celebrated and explored;

-the community within which the school is located – RE provides opportunities to investigate the patterns of diversity of religions and non-religious beliefs within the local area. It is an important context within which links can be forged with different religious and non-religious communities in the local community;

-the UK community – a major focus of RE is the study of the diversity of religions and non-religious beliefs which exists within the UK and how this diversity influences national life;

-the global community – RE involves the study of matters of global significance recognising the diversity of religions and non-religious beliefs and its impact on world issues.

Where RE provides an effective context to promote community cohesion it has a focus on ‘securing high standards of attainment for all pupils from all ethnic backgrounds, and of different socio-economic statuses, abilities and interests, ensuring that pupils are treated with respect and supported to achieve their full potential’. (DCFS Guidance on the duty to promote community cohesion July 2007 DCSF-00598-2007). In order to achieve high standards, pupils’ progress in the subject should be monitored carefully and any under-achievement by particular groups tackled.

The role of RE in promoting community cohesion has been a major focus of Ofsted’s subject survey inspections during 2007/08.

Survey evidence suggested that RE is making a good or outstanding contribution towards community cohesion and this is now one of the distinctive strengths of the subject. In most schools, pupils were clear RE was one of the main contexts in which to develop their understanding of diversity and the importance of respect towards others – key threads of community cohesion. In some cases, pupils spoke powerfully about the way RE teachers were models of anti-racist attitudes in the school.

In most schools in the survey RE was making a significant impact on pupils’ understanding of, and attitudes towards, religious and cultural diversity. Pupils recognised two aspects of RE as important. First, RE provides much of the knowledge and understanding essential to an appreciation of diversity and the impact of faith in people’s lives. Second, RE was a ‘rare’ opportunity to express opinions and explore ideas and matters relevant to community cohesion.

In the best cases, schools had given careful thought to the way the subject can contribute to the promotion of community cohesion and had audited its impact alongside that of other subjects. Occasionally this work linked to wider involvement with interfaith networks or local authority and SACRE initiatives, although this was rare.

In some of these, RE additionally provided an important context for building bridges into the local community as part of the school’s wider commitment to engagement and extended services.

Examples of good practice seen in schools include:

• providing opportunities to explore controversial issues related to religion and belief in the modern world – including misrepresentations of religion in the media
• providing opportunities for representatives of ‘hard to reach’ religious communities to work with the school and develop confidence that their traditions were respected
• providing opportunities for pupils with strong religious and belief commitments to share their experience in a safe context and see that their faith is valued and respected
• providing enrichment activities, including fieldwork and visitors, designed as opportunities for first hand engagement with diversity of religion and belief in the local area.

Successful approaches linking RE to community cohesion.

• ‘Off-timetable’ theme days or assemblies related to, for example, Holocaust Memorial Day, often working in partnership with other subjects, most notably, citizenship. In one school the headteacher had used RE as a context for analysing patterns of religious/cultural diversity in the area, forging links with local mosques and between mosques and local churches, using these links to develop extended school and family learning opportunities.
• A school with a white mono-cultural intake had twinned with a school with a high percentage of pupils from the Muslim tradition to extend the curriculum enrichment opportunities for RE.
• Using focussed RE theme days to extend opportunities for pupils to explore cultural diversity in more depth, using visitors.
• A school in another white mono-cultural area which had investigated the range of parents with ‘global’ experience and invited them to contribute to RE and beyond. Another had built links through a local interfaith network project.

In order to evaluate the way RE is contributing to this important aspect of school life, schools might consider the following questions.

• Do pupils value the subject and do they recognise the contribution it makes to their understanding of different communities and ways of life?
• Do pupils have real opportunities to explore and gain first-hand experience of diversity of religion, belief and culture?
• Does RE provide a context to build relationships with the communities in the local area and particularly those groups who might be hard to reach?
• Does RE provide a voice for minority groups within the school, developing a culture of mutual respect and harmony?
• Does the school treat religions and non-religious beliefs seriously and model ways of building respect?
• Does the school know enough about the diversity of religions and non-religious beliefs within the local community and does it explore ways of making links with those communities?
• If the school is mono-cultural, how well is RE working to foster a broader awareness of cultural and religious diversity?
• Is the school providing enough opportunities for fieldwork and enrichment activities to extend the potential of RE to promote community cohesion?

Alan Brine (2008)