British Identity and Faith Schools

Résumé du document

In February 2010, a report from the think-tank Civitas, the institute for the study of the civil society, claimed that some Islamic schools were promoting fundamentalist views. Therefore, British politician Ed Balls ordered Ofsted to investigate a small sample of faith schools to find out if they meet obligations to teach pupils about other religions and cultures. These recent investigations have raised the debate about faith schools and more generally about the conception of the British identity. The definition of the British identity partly depends on the conception of the society in which Britons live. Two visions of the British society are basically held. Either the British society is a "plural multi-cultural society" as defined by Professor Amartya Sen; or the British society is thought to be a mono-cultural society in which different groups, with different languages, traditions and religions, live side by side with little interaction.

Extraits

[...] Two visions of the British society are basically held. Either the British society is a “plural multi-cultural society” as defined by Professor Amartya Sen[1]; or the British society is thought to be a cultural' society in which different groups, with different languages, traditions and religions, live side by side with little interaction. In a so called ‘mono-cultural' society, the danger is that children are defined by their ‘community' and not by a line of criteria such as culture, language, literature, music or a common history which are really needed to complete an identity. [...]

[...] Many faith schools are argued not to do enough to promote racial and religious harmony. Because of the procedures they use to admit pupils, faith schools have a large tendency to be ‘mono cultural' schools, in which only one religion is represented and taught. However, the national curriculum which is supposed to be respected in faith schools states that schools have to promote ‘tolerance and harmony' between different cultures; it is hardly possible that children will properly learn how to live in a ‘plural multi- cultural society', such as the British society in such a ‘mono cultural' school. [...]

[...] This conception is a threat to the British identity which should not be linked to just one religion. Thus the definition of the British Identity ought rather be framed in such a way that allows the evolution of a plural multi-cultural society” - in which the interaction between all the cultures builds a common British identity, “rather than a mono-cultural society” in which the different identities just live next to each other without interacting, and thereby without creating one common British Identity. [...]

[...] Those concerns have raised a bigger debate about faith schools and their capability to provide a proper education for the children. Faith Schools in debate The term “faith school” was introduced in Britain in 1990 to replace the term “Church school”, which was a reference to catholic faith schools. There are 6,955 Christian faith schools in Britain, but since the 1990's Muslim faith schools have started to open; and asked to be defined as “faith schools” instead of “Church schools”. [...]

[...] Finally, arguments for and against faith schools can be put forward. However, faith schools –whether Christian, Muslim, or Jewish - might not be the best way to promote the values of a unified country. Faith schools tend to promote firstly the religion they are based on, before promoting the values of diversity. British identity, which is becoming ever more difficult to define, might need to strengthen the role of state schools to inculcate a common value of respect for the different communities. [...]