The education system is supposed to aid in various levels of child development. Of great importance is the expansion of the child’s intellectual capabilities. However, there are also other important aspects of development which the education system should achieve in children. Extra curricula activities are fundamental in the growth of the child just as the character development is also important. The character of the children is aimed to be positively influenced so as to produce better individuals who will run the country’s affairs. The character of an individual can be said to entail their attitudes, ethics and behaviors. Character has been discussed by Howard et.al (2004) as consisting of “values in action. Character . . . has three interrelated parts: moral knowing, moral feeling, and moral behavior (page 2).
Character education has been constituted of teachings that aim at helping the children to develop moral, civil and good mannered behaviors.
The incorporation of the biblical principles into the character education has been a debatable topic in recent times. Many scholars have had varied views on the topic especially when looked upon from the perspective of the legal structures of the country. The character education is such an important part of any child’s development. Every child in the country deserves to have an equal exposure to this development and it is for this reason that some concerns are raised on the suitability of having to include the bible teachings in it. As Huffman (1995) opines, the responsibility of education is to instill values and should not be fastidious on the issues that regards morality.
This paper seeks to show why it may not be the wrong thing to reconsider the inclusion of the bible teachings into character education. The legal guidelines that govern the public schools are clear on the issue of religious neutrality in the schools. However, it is important to look at how the inclusion of the bible teachings conflicts with the guidelines. Additionally, this paper seeks to identify how the inclusion may also conflict with the societal expectations of the public schools. For the purposes of clarity, the paper will only focus on the various aspects of the legal guidelines against some of the bible teachings in order to bring out the conflict. An important point to note is that the paper may be centered on the biblical teachings, bit this topic touches on all the established religious doctrines in the country.
The one thing that always stands out when this topic comes up is the constitution. The constitution of the US makes it clear that the congress have no authority to establish any religious foundation as superior in the country. The first amendment of the US constitution will be violated if the biblical teachings are included in the curricular. In the guidelines for the public schools, this is a fact that cannot be stressed enough. Every child is entitled to the enjoyment of the right that the constitution bestows upon the citizens of the country.
In view of the biblical teachings being a rich source of moral and ethical teachings, the guidelines have made an exception that the biblical teachings can only be taught in a manner that does not portray any religious inclination of the instructor. Furthermore, the instructor should approach the topic cautiously to avoid making an impression that they endorse the ideals that are contained in the bible to be superior to others from any other religious group. This always has the greater chance of bringing in conflict between the legal guideline and the way the teacher conducts the lesson which may be interpreted as religiously biased by the students.
The legal guidelines were drafted to safeguard the equality of persons in accessing education and most importantly to feel equally comfortable while in class. Additionally, in observance of the constitution, every individual in the US has the right to profess to any religion. In this light, it would require a lot of effort from the educators to include the bible in the character education program without showing an apparent favoritism to the groups that profess the bibles contents as religious. In order to teach the children how to be morally upright while using the bible, it will be practically impossible not to attach more weight on it as a sacred book. This will most likely spark some societal problems considering that the society comprises of people who profess to different religions.
According to the teachers’ guide, it is important for the educator to understand the role of the religion materials that they will use while teaching character education. The guide recognizes the irrefutable importance of teaching the virtues and civic education to the children. However, it specifies the need for objectivity from the educator, with care taken not to stray from academics to devotion (Haynes 1990). Inclusion of bible teachings may bring conflicts in that, as pointed out by Karen & Beth (2007), the bible not only offers a distinction between rights and wrongs, but goes ahead to promise divine bounties to those who uphold righteousness. Consequently, there arises a conflict on how such a bounty will be presented if the desired results of developing moral uprightness and ethical reason are to be instilled in the child while still maintaining the neutrality of religion.
In view of the societal expectations, the fact that the society is comprised of people from diverse cultures implies that they also profess to diverse religions. The trust that is accorded to a public school by the society members depends on how well the school delivers. When people send their children to school, they are confident that the children are going to learn and become better members of their society. If by any chance the child feels alienated in school due to their religion, it may make them feel inferior. As posited by Humphrey (2006), the only thing a parent wants is to raise their children in a manner that will make them better members of the society in which they belong. Let us take the society to loosely refer to a group of persons who are guided by similar values and beliefs. It then implies that, it would be a violation of the rights of such a parent, together with their children, if the children were taught religious doctrines that contradicted their society’s beliefs.
It is for this matter that the legal doctrines specified that the public schools can only teach about different religions. The distinction between teaching about the religion and not teaching the religion forms an important aspect of the character education instructions. For an educator to handle this program without inclination to any religion there has been provision of many training programs at districts levels. Indeed, for most states, these programs are designed at the district level to ensure their objectivity as well as to ensure there are no instances of favoritism of some religion will prevail. The question that keeps coming up on this issue, however, lies in the choice of the religious materials to include in the program.
If the program is to be designed from the district, the teaching guide suggests that educators should consult with the district to know which materials to include. Inclusion of the bible may be seen as inevitable by some people. It is the way it is to be used however, that is contentious. As put by Justin (2009), it is not the presence of God that should coerce the children into acceptance of the moral and ethical lessons that character education aims, but rather through fostering of critical reasoning and a desire for personal growth and development. It is for this reason that the bible remains in conflict with today’s society which has adopted the secular thinking and belief.
Another instant where the society may have expectations that are different from what the bible teaches is again brought about by the diversity of the cultures. For some reasons, the people in today’s society have different views on religion. While some are staunch followers of some doctrines, others may not even profess to any religion. The fact that the bible condemns, with authority, some acts in the society, means that it will inevitably impact on some people. When children are taught the bible as the point of reference on discerning what is right or wrong, they may begin to question their guardians on how right their actions are. According to Isaac & Michael (1971), this will definitely bring about instability in the family unit given the disparity in the cultures present in the society.
Character education is aimed at achieving the highest levels of moral and ethical convictions in school children (Howard et al 2004). In order to be effective, the educator needs the necessary materials to carry out their work. In this light, inclusion of the biblical teachings in the program has always been seen by many as a valid option. However, the legal guideline for the schools curtails the use of these teachings. Additionally, the society we live in today has adopted a secular approach to both the issue of education as well as in religion. For this reason, many of the above conflicts have been witnessed and how such conflicts are solved will determine whether the children will be exposed to bible teachings or not.
References
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Humphrey. M (2006). Living the Hero’s quest: Character Building Through Action Research.
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Justin Trottier (Oct 2009). The Role Character and Action of God: Atheist Humanist Perspective.
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