Taking the curriculum seriously

Educational Forum, The, Winter 2002 by Geisert, Paul G

Taking Religion Seriously across the Curriculum by Warren A. Nord and Charles C. Haynes. Arlington, Va.: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, (c)1998. 221 pages. ISBN 0-87120-318-9.

My work has for some time been focused on teaching about religion and nonreligion. Thus, it was in optimistic anticipation that I commenced reading Nord and Haynes's Taking Religion Seriously across the Curriculum. High hopes turned to disappointment, as I soon began to question the blend of eagerness and curriculum naivete that seemed to lead those religion scholars to press for distortion of school curricula to incorporate religion-challenges to extant subjects (e.g. science) and weighty problems associated with implementation of their ideas notwithstanding-- in the real world of public education.

TAKING NORD AND HAYNES SERIOUSLY

Given recent social religious trends, conditions within education were fertile for Nord and Haynes (1998). Their work arrived at a time when almost every state in the nation had moved to implement -teaching about religion" in their public schools or was in the process of doing so (Douglass 2000).

The authors set forth their thoughts on teaching about religion in public schools in just more than 200 pages. Despite the slimness of the volume, their ideas and proposals for change are large in magnitude and stated with assurance. Both Nord and Haynes have impressive credentials and background, and their manuscript garnered the joint imprimatur of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development and the Freedom Forum First Amendment Center. Hence, the suggestions and arguments in this little volume carry considerable weight with educators whose focus is on the "religion in education" arena.

Initial reactions to the book appear generally positive. As Dierenfield (1998, 3) noted, Nord and Haynes "have written a persuasive manifesto on behalf of (more) religion in the classroom." Streight (1999, 1) urged educators to "think about reading it, and reading it carefully, if you want a precisely articulated statement of rights and benefits-and perhaps even the obligation-involved in providing the study of religion and religions throughout the school curriculum." As Townsend (1998, 1) affirmed, "The two experts in religious studies and liberty issues describe why and how public schools have failed to take religion seriously and explain persuasively why they should and must."

Soon after the publication of the volume, Haynes and others employed its title within publications and in presentations before teachers at regional and statewide conferences, and the "take religion seriously" turn of phrase seemingly caught on (Haynes and Beauchamp 1999; Beauchamp 1999; Plummer 1999). The expression gave momentum for the topic in educational circles. Not only did "taking religion seriously" begin to permeate educational literature, but it also filtered into other contexts. For example, it has appeared as a title and thrust in milieu well removed from the original authorial intent. Focus on the Family (1999), for example, listed ways by which "parents, students, and educators can become active in taking the hope of Christ to their local public school."

Given this attention, we must consider the authors' plea for teaching about religion in public school curricula and in particular their call for inclusion of what they term "religious ways of thinking." Any proposal to take religion seriously across curriculum must, of course, also take curriculum itself seriously. As Noddings (1993, 135) argued, curriculum is foundationally significant for teachers: "It is the backbone of their work."

A BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE BOOK

Nord and Haynes (1998) have presented two major ideas, which correspond to the book's parts-"The Frameworks" and "The Curriculum." Part I ("The Frameworks") presents a well-developed and plausible argument that public schools should teach about religion. The authors developed the historical and legal background pertaining to teaching about religion in public education, and they examined the recent societal currents that have induced a number of disparate groups to support teaching about religion in public schools. In their view, schools now teach students to think in exclusively secular ways about every subject, and studies that center around religion will provide students a needed "critical perspective" on their secular studies.

In the book's second section, the authors directed their civic/constitutional and educational frameworks to a wide range of curricular areas, explaining where in the curriculum religion belongs and why. Part II forms the bulk of the book (140 pages). Its seven chapters press for curricular changes to counter what Nord and Haynes (1998, 41-44) called the secular emphasis of schools and an implied message that "religion is irrelevant in the search for truth."

RELIGION IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS

I have no quarrel with Nord and Haynes's complaint that teaching about religion was bypassed in recent decades in public school programs and curricula. Indeed it was, though there now appears to be clear movement in the authors' favored direction. As Piediscalzi (1998, 7.13) characterized the development, "The academic study of religion is appearing in the public schools. While courses and units on religion are being added to the curriculum and while textbooks are including religious issues and topics, very little attention is given to developing a unified purpose and set of goals."