Author: Woodward

THE SCAA MODEL SYLLABUSES: A HUMANIST PERSPECTIVE
(or THE BAFFLING CASE OF THE MISSING THREE WORDS!)

John White

Retired Secondary Head of Department. For over 20 years he has represented Humanist tradition on SACREs, the RE Council and SCIFDE.

THE OMISSION OF THE ETHICAL TRADITION OF HUMANISM

1993 seemed at first to be a heartening year
for those of us who had long sustained a vision
of an approach to RE that was open, and
relevant to all our children. It looked as if we
had an opportunity to recommend a genuinely
inclusive approach that would finally show
the teaching  profession  that the old
"Christian R.I." (with its unhappy image of
indoctrination) was no more. The   two
residential conferences, convened by the
National Curriculum Council (later to become
SCAA), were probably the largest, broadest-
based and most representative gathering of
those concerned with RE ever held. The task
of those of us who were invited was to
produce guidelines for Model Syllabuses of
RE for the consideration of LEA Agreed
Syllabus Conferences.

The Aims of RE as set out in the draft
document prepared by the Conferences were a
summation of much of the thought and
dialogue that had taken place over the
preceding 25 years. They talked of "enhancing
pupils' spiritual and moral growth through
developing awareness of fundamental human
questions about life raised by human
experience, and consideration and evaluation
of religious and moral issues. "

This was to flow from "acquiring and
developing knowledge and understanding of
what it means to be a member of the Christian
and other principal religious faiths and ethical
traditions in Great Britain." *

Another Aim referred to "the teaching of the
world's great religious traditions and ethical
philosophies." *

This wording reflected the consensus view in
RE, exemplified in many Agreed Syllabuses
up and down the country, that any examination
of fundamental questions should include the
non-theistic responses of ethical traditions
such as Buddhism and Humanism as well as
the theistic positions of world religions. As the
RE Council put it:

"If RE is 'open' it is necessary for pupils to
learn that there are many who do not believe
or practise a theistic or religious world-view.
Indeed, if pupils did not learn this, it could be
said they were victims of indoctrination."
("RE, Attainment and National Curriculum": REC 1991)

So knowledge and understanding of "ethical
traditions/philosophies" was part of The Aims
of RE unanimously agreed in August 1993.
When SCAA published their draft version in
January 1994, the Aims were identical to those
drawn up by the conferences - except that
three words had mysteriously been removed.
The three words were "and ethical traditions."

THE DISAPPEARANCE OF THE
HUMANISM SUMMARY

Humanists, along with the other participants,
were invited by the NCC to submit a summary
of what a sixteen-year-old school leaver
should know of their tradition. This was
circulated at the conferences but was omitted
from the final version. (A copy can be
obtained from BHA.)

(It is interesting to note that these acts of
censorship coincided with the appearance of
DfE Circular/94 with its narrow, legalistic
wording on worship and with its threat to full
SACRE membership of Humanist representatives. 
One is forced to speculate whether
the heavy hand of the DfE, then presided over
by John Patten and Baroness Blatch, was at
work here.)

The teaching profession were quick to respond
to this discrimination. Protests about the
excision of "ethical traditions" were sent to
SCAA by a number of bodies, including the
leading teachers unions. The Association of
Teachers and Lecturers forcefully criticised
"the exclusion of Humanism from the
documentation."

The National Union of Teachers expressed the
same concerns, noting that "as many as 30% of
the population has no particular faith." The
National Association of SACREs made a
similar complaint. However, no attention was
paid to them and The Aims of RE in the final
documents appeared in their censored version.
As Professor Sir Herman Bondi, BHA
President, said in a letter in The Times :

“Is it the aim of the documents to make
propaganda by silence, to keep children from
religious homes from the knowledge that there
are non-believers in our midst? Or is it the aim
to make children from non-religious homes
feel that they are oddities and outcasts?”

THE THIRD PERSPECTIVE SYLLABUS

"ACADEMICS WITH NO FAITH IN SCAA'S
RE SYLLABUS HAVE DEVISED THEIR OWN"
ran the heading in the TES (29.7.94) about a
syllabus drawn up by a group of University
lecturers. The Aims of RE in this syllabus
make clear that RE

"does not seek to urge a particular religious
belief or religious belief in general upon
pupils.

Rather it is an educational venture which seeks
to contribute to the development of the
individual and society.

It is of relevance, interest and use to all pupils
whether they or their families are Christian,
members of other faiths, atheist, non-religious
or non-committed."

It should include "non-religious world views."
As a result, each page of the syllabus offers
suggestions for work on Humanism.

There has been considerable interest in the
syllabus (which is available from University of
Exeter School of Education, Heavitree Road,
Exeter EX1 2LU at £2.75 post free).

THE INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS RE SYLLABUS

Three weeks before SCAA made public the
Model Syllabuses, the independent schools
published their own syllabus, the work of a
broad-based Working Party and of extensive
consultation with over 800 schools. Its
Introduction states: "We are also aware that
many teachers and pupils will be affected by
non-religious interpretations of life, notably,
for instance, humanism. We would expect
reference to be made to these, especially in the
later Key Stages."

THE ABSENCE OF A THEMATIC APPROACH

Humanists share the widespread concern in the
profession that the SCAA   Models have
ignored the thematic approach. Many teachers
have followed this successfully, realising that
pupils find its approach to be positive,
motivating and unifying. Professor John Hull
believes that such an approach starts with "the
universal human quest - this is at least as good
as the assumption of starting with the quest
divided into different religious areas."

The SCAA Models are heavily content- laden.
In our opinion, they need theologians to
interpret and present them. The   average
classroom teacher is put off by their detail
and complexity.

THE SCAA GLOSSARY OF TERMS

Another strange omission occurred. The
handsomely-printed Drafts of the Syllabuses
appeared in January 1994. They included a
Glossary of Terms based on the booklet
which was originally produced by the RE
Council and the Secondary Examinations
Council in 1986, a booklet that many RE
teachers have found very useful, especially
with their GCSE students.

Its final section dealt with GENERAL TERMS.
This was unexpectedly deleted from the final
version. Was this perhaps because it included
such 'inflammatory' terms as AGNOSTICISM:
ETHICS: HUMANISM: LIFE STANCE and gave
definitions of FAITH: SPIRITUAL    and
WORSHIP that were broad-based and thus
inclusive of a non-theistic interpretation?

As I said in a letter printed in The Times
Educational Supplement:

"It seems that Orwell's '1984' is here and that
the significant section of the population who
lead humanistic lives have been declared
'unpersons'   and   pushed   down   the
memory-hole."