Educate Together

Written by Carmel Mulcahy

Wednesday, 01 December 2004

New Ethical Education Curriculum Learn Together, the title of the new ethical education curriculum for Educate Together schools, aptly captures the vision, which was first enunciated by the founders of the Dalkey School Project as early as 1975. At a public meeting that same year the group stated that their concept of multidenominational should be defined as the inclusion of all children of all faiths and none. Since the opening of the first Educate Together school in Dalkey in 1978, the principle that no child should be regarded as an outsider regardless of social, cultural and religious background or personal creed has been the cornerstone of all schools in the sector. Such an ethos permeates all interactions within the school communities and is based on the key principle of respect. It is not surprising that research conducted on the identification of core values in Educate Together schools highlighted respect as the overarching value around which other values were encouraged and fostered. The living out of this value ensures that a culture of equity exists which encourages communities of practice where everyone can feel a sense of belonging, security and esteem and where human dignity and freedom are recognized and respected. From a curricular perspective, the embodiment of the principles of Educate Together is actively studied in what is commonly referred to as the Core Curriculum. Under the National School system the Patron of the school allocates 30 minutes per day to deliver its religious programme. In Educate Together schools it has been the responsibility of the Patron body of the school to submit a statement on religious education as a requirement for recognition by the Department of Education and Science. Up to now schools offered individual programmes but in truth all programmes were based on the Educate Together Charter and had many common elements. The Educate Together Charter commits the movement to support the establishment of schools, which are multidenominational, co-educational, child-centred and democratically run. Unlike denominational schools, where the aim of religious education programmes is primarily to foster and deepen the child’s faith, the key aim of the Core Curriculum is to foster in each child knowledge and understanding of different value and belief systems in an atmosphere of critical inquiry and mutual respect. It is important that no aspect of the programme should exclude any child, parent or guardian. While religious and other symbols are studied as part of the programme and are expressed through celebrations, drama, music, poetry and artwork, no religious icons are displayed and the family is recognized as having the primary responsibility for the religious formation of the child. The Boards of Management of the schools facilitate groups of parents who wish to do so, to use school facilities for specific religious instruction classes outside of school hours. The Learn Together programme is a set of guidelines, which has been developed by the sector to support the growing number of schools. Patronage of schools within the sector has predominantly become the responsibility of the Educate Together body and with this role came the need to submit a statement on religious education for each school. Research had also indicated that new and emerging schools would welcome the support offered by the guidelines and that such a document would provide an opportunity to encapsulate the inclusive ethos of the sector in a curriculum that would be both functional and accessible to teachers and members of the school community. The Curriculum Development Committee worked on a voluntary basis for over two years to develop the programme and presented the work in progress for feedback and further comment at a series of ethos conferences. In keeping with the democratic nature of the organization, the views of students both past and present were sought on the final choice of topics for inclusion. The final document which is published this week is a beautifully illustrated and colourful publication which features the original artwork, stories and poems of children from Educate Together schools throughout Ireland. In drawing up and agreeing the content of the curriculum, much research was done on existing Core Curriculum documents that had been developed by schools. Research also identified that many of the innovative and exciting areas addressed by existing curricula may overlap with programmes which were subsequently developed by the Department of Education and Science such as the Social, Personal and Health Education Programme, the RSE Programme and the Walk Tall Programme. The challenge for the Curriculum Committee was to develop a programme, which respected the four key principles of Educate Together, supported the ethos of the sector, provided guidelines for teachers and respected the individual nature of all students. A possible greater challenge is to provide an opportunity for school communities to develop responses at curricular level to challenging issues in the search for meaning and purpose in life. The Learn Together programme identifies four key strands that emerged as critical to the delivery of the Educate Together ethos at curricular level: moral and spiritual, equality and justice, belief systems and ethics and the environment. Each strand is developed using a spiral approach that is age and stage appropriate. Teachers are encouraged to use a wide range of delivery methodologies, which recognize the multiple intelligences and in particular the range of learning styles that are present in all classrooms. The programme should allow an opportunity for reflection at both group and individual level in particular in relation to the strands dealing with moral and spiritual development and equality and justice. This last strand also features a section on activating equality through positive action that should appeal to all age groups. The biggest challenge of any curriculum is to guide children towards informed opinions and to provide them with the skills and attitudes to make value judgements, not just on impulse but on reflection. The Learn Together Programme seems poised to do just that.