Observance of Religious Holidays - Research Paper Example

? Observance of religious holidays The research that has been conducted in this paper deals with the observance of religious holidays in theschools and the institutions. The legal issues involved in the observance of religious holidays have been explored with the help of this research. The outlook of the legal approach in honoring ideas and thoughts of different religions has been studied with the help of this research. The factors taken into consideration for framing policies on observing religious holidays by the schools and institutions have been explored with the help of this research. The role of the administrators in taking necessary steps towards observing religious holidays have been determined with the help of this research. The data and information collected for the purpose of research are mainly through the secondary sources of data. The data collected for the research is analyzed to find the actions taken by the schools and institutions in carrying out religious studies and at the same time not promoting the causes of particular religions. The usefulness of including lessons on the observance of religious holidays in improving the understanding of culture and history of the land among the students have been explained with the help of his research. Introduction Religious holidays have grown in number with the increase in population and increase in the number of religions. The advent of a pluralistic society and the increase in the number of students, teachers and staffs in the schools and institutions have led to the emergence of an important issue on the observance of religious holidays. The legal issues involved in the aspect of observance of religious holidays suggest that there should be equivalent outlook of respect towards all the religions. The schools and the institutions thus frame a policy of observing the religious holidays of all the religions keeping a balance with the academic deliverables of the school. The policies should be framed in such a manner that the no student and his parents would feel sidelined by the religious policies of the school. The role of the administrators is of extremely high importance as they are the implementers of the policy on religious holidays. The administrators are required to take due consideration of the excusal requests submitted by the students and the teachers for absence on the specific religious holidays. Research Problem The research problem is, “Study the history of observance of religious holidays. Explore the pros and cons of observing religious holidays, the policies of the schools and educational institutions, the legal issues involved and the steps taken by the administrators in observing religious holidays”. Literature review According to the pages of history, United Sates which was a land of few religions in 1776 developed into a country that professes countless religious beliefs throughout the nation. The children reading in the schools and colleges, staffs working in the offices are of different religions and vary largely from each other. The observance of religious holidays has thus turned into an area of concern for the college and the society. There are various pros and cons related to the observance of religious holidays. The observance of religious holidays is a sentimental issue and is dealt with sensitivity towards the people of different religions. The religious holidays observed by the different religions are creating a situation of conflict and confusion (American Academy of Religion, 2013). The increase in the number of religions leads to the increase in the number of religious holidays which is a point of concern as it poses a problem in the daily work of the schools and in the process of public education. The only way to bring a common solution to the problem of observing religious holidays in schools is to undertake a discussion that takes into account the points of similarity and differences in all the religions. The school must undertake policies to show respect to all the religions and display a shared commitment to the teachings and beliefs of all the religions. The teachers and students undertake the responsibility of finding a common path to the various religious beliefs and ideas. The policies on the observance of religious holidays take into account the contribution of religion in the history and culture of the country. The legal framework and the legal issues are important areas of consideration for the observance of religious holidays in public educational system. The school and its governing body, the administrator, teachers and the students along with parents take practical decisions in observing religious holidays. The ideal path is to show equal respect to all religions and treat the different religious ideas and beliefs on the same ground (Kemerer, Sansom and  Sansom, 2009). The legal system imposes certain guidelines on the roles of the schools with respect to the observance of religious holidays. The legal system defines the role of the administrators, teachers in spreading religious learning in the course of public education. The law ensures that the religious education and observance of religious holidays is done not for the purpose of promotion of any specific religion and its beliefs. The observance of religious holidays in the schools is done solely for the spread of religious learning. According to the court of law, the religious holidays are due to receive constitutional status if the religious holidays are observed to ensue the secular feature of the education institutions and nor to serve the interests of a specific religion. The lessons on the religious holidays are made an integral pat of the course curriculum in the schools (Imber and  Geel, 2004). This provides the students with the information on particular religions and provides a scope to the students in getting education on the heritage and contributions of the religion on the history and culture of the land. The importance of a particular region in a secular society is also explained through the learning of religious holidays. Thus the observance of religious holidays has been fully effective in developing a sense of tolerance and belief to all the religions in a society that is dominated by a wide range of religious beliefs. The inclusion of religious holidays in the curriculum of the school provides a learning opportunity for the students to study the aspects of different religions and its effects on the society. The observance of religious holidays are thus done based on the policy of the school which provides equal consideration of all religions and fosters the process of co-existence of people of different religions in a pluralistic society. Research Methodology The research methodology followed in undertaking this research on the observance of the religious holidays is with the help of existing data and information on the religious events in the past. At first a literature review is conducted on the history and culture of the land and the growth of a pluralistic society in the country. The endorsement of a secular approach and respect to the different religions on equal grounds has been studied as a part of the historical progress. The changing legal issues and the adaptability of the governing and administrative bodies in aligning themselves with the legal regulations in observing religious holidays have been studied. The secondary research methodology has been applied while undertaking this research study. The data collected for the purpose of research is the secondary data. The sources of data for undertaking the research study are online referrals, existing policy guidelines of the schools, legal regulations on the observance of the schools and a track record of the decisions taken by the administrators towards observing religious holidays and granting excusal requests for absence on the occasion of religious holidays. The secondary data that has been collected for the purpose of research is very reliable as it is obtained from the records of the school and the registers of legal regulations on the religious holidays. The secondary method of research has also been adopted to enable quick access of records and data on the religious holidays observed in the schools and institutions over the years. The instances of dissatisfaction and deviation in the behavior of a section of the students and their parents, staffs and the teachers have been observed during the research process. The recommendations in order to address the legal issues involved in the observance of religious holidays in an effective manner have also been pointed out during the research work. The role and duties of the administration in ensuring due respect to all the religions and also taking steps so that no student and their parents feel sidelined by the policies on religious holidays of the schools have been explored with the help of this research. Analysis and arguments as an administrator The observance of religious holidays is a historic event that takes place over the years. The legal issues involving the observance of religious holidays are concerned with the meeting the secular objectives of the state. The law on observance of religious holidays establishes equal importance to all religions and respecting the religious ideas and beliefs of all the people. An analysis of the policies of the school in observing religious holidays assert that there is adequate discussion held by the governing body in faming the policies of the school aimed at protecting the religious sentiments of all the teachers, students and the staffs of the school. The planning of whether to observe a particular religious holiday is undertaken in order to see that the policy promotes or inhibits the ideas and beliefs of a religion (Melton, 2011). The plan for observance of religious holidays takes into account the pros and cons related to the event. The plan to observe the religious holidays also takes into account the academic goals of the school and also protects the educational mission of the organization. The observance of the religious activities also considers the sentiment of people from other religions. It is ensured that the students and the teachers as well as the staffs do not feel sidelined by the observance of holidays not related to their religion. The school authorities should take into account the timing of observance of the religious holidays. The observance of religious holidays should not interrupt the flow of academics in the schools. A continuous stint if holidays are avoided by the schools as it breaks the flow of academic classes and the course. In some cases, it has been observed that the students and their parents put in excusal requests when the holidays belonging to their religion is not observed as a part of the state law and the policies of the organization. The excusal requests are dealt with due consideration. It is taken into account that the response to this excusal requests do not hurt the sentiments of the applicant. The school authorities generally intend to strike a balance between grant of the excusal requests and the impact on the academic curriculum due to the grant of the excusal requests. Under normal circumstances, the schools tend to pay due consideration to the application for religious holidays in order to restore a parity and give equal respect to all religions (Osborne and Russo, 2011). As an administrator, I would play an important role in delivering such approvals against excusal requests of students and their parents. By providing approvals to such excusal requests, I as a part of the school would be able to endorse the role of respecting the religious thoughts and beliefs of all religion and thereby undertaking a secular approach. As an administrator, I shall take note of the fact that there is a reasonable period of leave granted to the students so that they could carry out their religious activities according to their own tradition. Being an administrator, apart from arranging to grant authorized absence, I would also arrange to compensate for the absence of the students and staffs from the academic courses. The make-up classes and examinations would be arranged for the students so that they could cope up with the losses due to the absence on account of observance of religious holidays. I would keep in mind that the school is a place of engagement of people of all religions and faiths. My ultimate objective in the course of observance of religious holidays is to offer the space for religious liberty that would allow all the students and the staffs to participate in the educational activity with a free mind. This would lay the path of advancement of public education. Recommendation In order to lay the platform for providing religious liberty and adhering to the legal regulations of observing each and every religion with due respect, it is recommended that the administrator should undertake the following function related to the observance of religious holidays. In order to ensure that no student and their parents feel deprived by the policies on the observance of religious holidays by the school, the administrator should frame the policy on the number of days in which the religious holidays would be observed and then should inform the parents about the planned schedule of the religious holidays indicating the specific occasions in which the holidays would be observed. This would help the students and their parents to be informed of the religious holidays beforehand and this would help to reduce the complaints and dissatisfaction level of the students and the guardians (Gibbs, Weller, Gibbs and Weller, 2013). The parents and the students would also be in a position to plan for applying for the excusal requests for the religious occasions. The administrator and the school authority should be in direct contact with the pupils and their guardians and should take regular feedback to understand the religious sentiments of the teachers, staffs and the students belonging to various religions. The school authorities should also undertake the strategy of spreading the religious learning and contents on observance of religious holidays for the understanding of history and culture of the land. Limitations The limitations to the observance of religious holidays lies in the fact that in the course of paying due respect to all the religions and understanding the religious sentiments, culture and attitude of all the students, teachers and the staffs, the number of holidays observed by the schools are on the rise. The increase in the number of holidays leads to the loss of working days which impacts the delivery of academic curriculum. Apart from this, the grant of excusal requests by the students and parents for absence on religious occasions is difficult to deny as this might create discontent among a section of the population. The teachings on the ideas of different religions and the observance and understanding of the respect shown to the religious ideas and beliefs could create misimpression and biased behavior among a certain segment of the students and the teachers (DomNwachukwu, 2010). The religious ideas may cross each other and may create a situation of conflict. Conclusion The schools and the institutions determine the policies on the observance of the religious holidays which is in line with the legal regulations in the field. The policies of the school endorse secular attitude with equal importance and respect to all the religions. The administrators play an important role in executing the policies. The administrator is responsible to conduct a survey on religious sentiments of the population and display sensitivity in dealing with the religious idea and beliefs. The inclusion of the religious learning and observance of religious holidays in the academic curriculum helps in development of understanding of the culture and history of the land. The observance of religious holidays is also done in a manner that it do not interfere the main goal of academic process in the schools. Thus observance of religious holidays in a tactical manner helps in maintaining a healthy learning environment and fosters the growth of education process in the schools and the institutions. References American Academy of Religion. (2013). RELIGIOUS HOLIDAYS IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS. Retrieved from: http://www.freedomforum.org/publications/first/findingcommonground/B08.Holidays.pdf. DomNwachukwu, C. S. (2010). An Introduction to Multicultural Education: From Theory to Practice. USA: Rowman & Littlefield. Gibbs, D. C., Weller, B., Gibbs, D. and Weller, B. (2013). Making Sense of Religion in America's Public Schools. USA: Primedia E-launch LLC. Imber, M. and  Geel, T. V. (2004). Education Law. USA: Lawrence Erlbaum. Kemerer, F. R., Sansom, P. and  Sansom, P. A. (2009). California School Law. USA: Stanford University Press. Melton, J. G. (2011). Religious Celebrations: An Encyclopedia of Holidays, Festivals, Solemn Observances, and Spiritual Commemorations, Volume 1. USA: ABC-CLIO. Osborne, A. G. and Russo, C. J. (2011). The Legal Rights and Responsibilities of Teachers: Issues of Employment and Instruction. USA: SAGE. Read More