06.11.2012
”Ethos Both a Habitat and a Way of Life” in Schools – Archbishop Tells Conference
The distinction between ethos and religious instruction in schools was highlighted by Archbishop Michael Jackson at a recent conference on faith–based education in Galway. The Archbishop was one of the speakers at Rethinking Education in Ireland which was organised as part of the celebrations of 150 years of the Jesuit School in the city.
“My heart regularly sinks when, in any discussion of education, the argument slides from ethos to religion classes in schools. The latter has become a battleground about denominational and doctrinal invasion of publicly funded space and time. The former, I think, is different and deserves to be considered as part of a contribution to the holistic educational experience of all involved in the school; it has, however, become embroiled in the former and is manifestly part of the controversy,” Dr Jackson stated.
He argued that ethos was quite different from religious instruction because it offered a shape to the life of a school which was informed and sustained by specific values. These, he said, shaped how people behaved towards one another and how they exercised the opportunities to think with responsibility and to form opinions with integrity, in the context afforded by education.
The Archbishop described ethos as being “both a habitat and a way of life and in the educational context has to do with developing instinctive relationships of responsibility and altruism leading towards good citizenship, whether Ireland succeeds in retaining at home those whom she educates or continues to export them in droves to other countries. First and foremost, ethos is about the quality of life of the school. This is often the most missed point”.
He observed that faith–based education had in recent times raised more questions and antagonisms than it used to. There were a number of reasons for this, he suggested, noting that Irish people today had greater confidence in challenging theocracies even though Ireland still had strong overtones of religious belief and practice. “The tension seems to me to be one played out by those who are ultimately using arguments against the existence of a God who intervenes in a transformative sense in the lives of individuals and communities for good and a Constitution which safeguards the entitlement of parents and guardians to have their children educated in an environment which reflects and implements in daily life their religious tradition. Such religious positions, it is argued, were taken up and embedded when there was a totally different world–view and therefore have no relevance in a ‘new and secular Ireland’,” the Archbishop commented.
However, he added, there was a further complication: “It is this: much of the contemporary debate in both educational and media circles luxuriates in kicking a tired institutionalized Christianity when it is lying on the floor. It does not take cognizance of the wider reality that religious belonging and expression worldwide is increasing and changing and is not ceasing to exist. It is not necessarily religion as we have come to know it through our own experiences of religion in our own lives.”
Dr Jackson said that there was another erroneous use of the word ethos when referring to tribalism, which made the use of the word problematic.
He felt that the concerns about faith–based education centred ultimately on the argument that public funding was being used for the purpose of religious indoctrination and that faith–content distorted the young mind. He argued that too often ethos and religious instruction could be confused because there was no real understanding of the difference. “Ethos properly understood has religious components but it not primarily religious,” he said.
He continued saying that Christian faith–based education in the Ireland of today provided a context for the pupil’s experience of the best of the values of Christianity and as Irish life develops and expands culturally and religiously, needed to offer this scope to other World Faiths. “It [ethos] provides a crucible in which caricature can be challenged and understanding can refute prejudice. This holds whether one belongs to a majority or to a minority. In this all–important respect, it is vital for the ethos for which I have a responsibility that there be diversity among the make–up of the school. Building diversity – what historically has been called pluralism – into this experience offers from an early age the grappling with issues of minorities as fellow human beings and therefore deserving of dignity and respect. Ethos, therefore, is not only a part of life but, in this context, is a definition of lived experience,” he stated.
To read the Archbishop’s full paper click here.