Education and Religion - Literature review Example

Education and Religion (Working a Cross Differences) Introduction Religion is a belief concerning the supernatural, divine or sacred; and the moral practices, codes, institutions, values and rituals associated with such belief (Humes, 2008). It is the sum total of answers provided to explain the relationship between humankind and the universe. Religion has taken various forms in different cultures and individuals (Sacerdote & Glaeser, 2001). Currently, there are many religions in the world. Debate on issues related to religion and education are common topics in the public (Brawer, Handal, Fabricatore, Roberts, & Wajda-Johnston, 2002). Religious groups are often at loggerheads with issues such as the teaching of evolution and creationism, school prayers, vouchers and use of school space by religious groups. Even though it is argued that religion plays an essential role in public education others, maintain that religion should be separated from public schools. The human society is dominated by education and region institutions. Each of these institutions is known to have great impact on varied outcomes of individuals (Blake, Smeyers, Smith, & Standish, 2007). Both institutions are known to be responsible for imparting values, knowledge and beliefs, which are considered to be important to the social reproduction of individual personalities and entire cultures. In addition, both religion and education grapple with issues of social change and societal stability reflecting the society even as they try to shape it (Humes, 2008). Education and religion are also related in that they act as objects of sociological study both acting as socialization institutions. Educational achievement has been linked to increase in civic participation and adult wages while religious participation has been linked to charitable giving, health and voting (Sacerdote & Glaeser, 2001). There have been great educational achievement in modern societies and it has been predicated that educational gains may influence religion (Thwing, 2010). However, little evidence has been provided to substantiate this prediction (Arthur, Gearon, & Sears, 2010). In spite this, analysis of trends in education and religion indicate a negative relationship since many countries have witnessed a decline in religiosity that are concomitant with educational gains (Brawer et al. 2002). Contrary to this, a number of studies have indicated a positive relationship between religion and education although some research has indicated that religious participation may be associated negatively with education (Grendler, 2006). The main challenge in this area is that achievement in education is a reflection of individual characteristics and incentives, which can impinge on religious participation. Education as a social institution Education is known to be a social institution, which is responsible for the systematic transmission of skills, knowledge and cultural values with a structure that is formally organized (Humes, 2008). Acquisition of certain skills and knowledge are essential for the survival of all societies. In less developed societies skills imparted may include fishing, farming, and gathering and self-preservation skills (Sacerdote & Glaeser, 2001). On the other hand, developed societies acquire knowledge and skills in order to be highly competitive in the job market. It is believed among functionalists that education contributes to the maintenance of society and provides people with opportunity for self-enhancement social mobility. It is believed that education is the influence exercised by adult generations on those that are not yet ready for social life. Functionalists assert that a cohesive order is founded on moral values and that schools should be responsible for teaching a commitment to the common morality. Thus, functionalists demand that students ought to be taught to place the needs of the group ahead of their individual aspirations and desires. On the hand, conflict theorists argue that education enhances social inequality and benefits the dominant class at the expense of the rest of the society. They argue that schools often promote class, gender and racial ethnic inequalities as some groups seek to maintain their privileged position at the expense of others. They further argue that access to quality education is closely related to social class (Brawer et al. 2002). Thus, education is seen as a perpetuation of existing class relationships. Some authors argue that school reinforces and legitimates the social elites by engaging in practices, which upholds the patterns of behaviour and the attitudes of the dominant class. Other authors assert that due to diverse backgrounds from which students come from, students have different cultural capital and culture (Humes, 2008). It is believed that parents from middle and upper income endow their children with more cultural capital that parents from working class and poverty-stricken families (Grendler, 2006). Since cultural capital is essential for acquisition of education, children with less cultural capital have fewer opportunities of succeeding in school. Thus, the educational system enhances values that sustain the position of elites in the society (Sacerdote & Glaeser, 2001). Conflict theorists’ belief that tracking, (the practice of assigning students to specific curriculum courses and groups based on their scores in tests, previous grades or other criteria), affects many students’ educational performance and their overall academic accomplishment seriously. Contrary to functionalists and conflict theorists’ views, symbolic interactionist’s lays focus on classroom dynamics and the effect of self-concept on grades and aspirations. Symbolic interactionists focus on classroom educational practices and communication patterns, which affect the self-concept and aspirations of the student such as labelling. Labelling is where a student is identified by others to possess a specified characteristic or to exhibit a certain pattern of behaviour (Sacerdote & Glaeser, 2001). Symbolic interactionists believe that labelling is directly related to the status and power of those involved in the labelling process, that is, those labelling and those being labelled (Grendler, 2006). They believe that teachers and administrators label students based on grades, written comments on deportment and placement in classes. Religion as a social institution Religion is a system of beliefs, rituals and symbols, which are based on certain supernatural or sacred realm, which guides human behaviour, unities believers into a community and gives life a meaning (Sacerdote & Glaeser, 2001). Through religion, answers to questions such as why we exist, why we die, why we suffer and what happens when we die are sought (Grendler, 2006). Contrary to science and medicine, which rely on existing scientific evidence to respond to such questions, religion provides explanation to theses issues in the realm of the sacred (Humes, 2008). Drastic growth in science gave rise to the idea that science could provide answers to questions, which had previously been in the realm of religion. Many authors believed that scientific knowledge could result in secularization (Brawer et al. 2002). Secularization entails a decline of religion in daily life and a corresponding increase in organizations that are highly bureaucratized, fragmented and impersonal. Religion is known to be a powerful social institution that is deeply felt and influential force in human society. Functionalists, conflict theorists and symbolic interactionists provide varied explanations on the relationship between society and religion. Functionalists lay focus on how religious beliefs and rituals can bind people together. Some belief that religion is a cultural universal, which is found in all societies since it, meets basic human needs and serves important societal functions (Grendler, 2006). Functionalists have suggested that religion serves three important functions in the society. First, they believe that religion offers meaning for the human experience. Second, religion promotes social cohesion and sense of belonging through religious teaching and practices, which emphasize shared symbolism (Humes, 2008). The third function of religion according to functionalists is that it provides social control and support for the government (Brawer et al. 2002). It is argued that religion provides social control through sacred symbols and beliefs, which establish powerful, pervasive, long lasting motivations based on the concept of general order of existence (Sacerdote & Glaeser, 2001). It also maintains social control in the society by conferring supernatural legitimacy on the norms and laws of society. Conflict theorists view religion negatively. They believe that ideologies systematic views of the way the world ought to be are embodied in religious doctrines and political values (Humes, 2008). They assert that these ideologies are aimed at preserving and justifying the status quo and retard social change. It is argued that capitalist use religious ideologies as a tool of domination to mislead the workers about their true interests (Brawer et al. 2002). This is the basis of the famous statement that religion is the ‘opiate of the masses’. Thus, they believe that people become complacent to their suffering and misery because they are taught that they will be rewarded after they die. It is thus argued that even though such religious teachings soothe the distress of the masses, any relief is illusionary (Sacerdote & Glaeser, 2001). Therefore, conflict theorists believe that religion unites people under a false consciousness that they share common interest with members of the dominant class. However, not all conflicts believe that religion retards social change (Grendler, 2006). Some believe that religion can be a catalyst for change. In spite this; all conflict theorists believe that religion reinforces the existing arrangements, especially the stratification system. It is further asserted that religion promotes conflict between groups and societies. It is argued that as religion attempts to provide meaning and purpose in life while at the same time promoting the status quo, religion is utilized by the dominant classes to impose their own control over society and its own resources. The attention of symbolic interactionists is focused on a micro level analysis, which examines the meaning given to religion by people in their daily lives. Many people believe that religion helps them to define themselves. According to some authors, men’s religion teaches people to submit and obey instead of thinking and confronting situations in a more realistic manner (Humes, 2008). Due to this, it is argued that monopolization of religious thoughts and doctrines by men have contributed to intolerance and the subordination of women (Brawer et al. 2002). Thus, religious symbolism and language creates a social definition of the roles of men and women. The influence of religion on education Since science is often acquired through schooling, many studies have been carried out to find out the relationship between education and religion. Religion in education is best understood by consideration of the influence the government has on the issue (Sacerdote & Glaeser, 2001). This allows one to see the position taken by the government on religion in education. The support or opposition of the government on region in education influences the teachers in relation to religious practices and religious organizations (Sacerdote & Glaeser, 2001). For instance, in America the 2001 No Child Left behind Act provides guidance on prayer in schools (Grendler, 2006). It is stated in the Act that public schools ought not to be hostile to the religious rights of their students and their families. The same Act forbids schools from devising rules, which put a stop to constitutionally protected prayer in schools and prohibits the government from sponsoring religious activity (Brawer et al. 2002). Thus, the US constitution allows multiple alternatives of religion in education. Some of the alternatives include private unobtrusive prayer, moments of silence, student initiated group prayer, released time, teaching of evolution and the establishment clause. Private unobtrusive prayer alternative permits students to engage themselves through their religion in unobtrusive ways during their free time just like they can express themselves in secular ways. Moment of silence is controversial issue in US since some states allows for moments of silence at the beginning of the day while others recommend that moments of silence as an alternative. The US Supreme Court supports the entitlement of individuals to exercise their religion in a postsecondary setting (Humes, 2008). The released time program is where students at public schools are allowed to attend parochial school off campus for part of the day. Teaching of evolution is permitted but students are not tested on the topic during state assessment and thus teachers are not required to instruct this specific topic. Thus, the influence of religion on education is dependent on the existing legislation of a country (Grendler, 2006). It has been documented that the average years of schooling throughout the world rose by over 70% from 1960 to 2000 and that this rise was universal across the world’s religions. However, the rise in educational gains has also seen an increase in the number of people who are not affiliated to certain religion. For instance, 4% of Canadian population was not affiliated to any religion by 1971 and this increased to 16% by the year 2001 (Grendler, 2006). In the US, the non-religion affiliated population rose from 5% to 14% during the same period (Brawer et al. 2002). This rising non-religion affiliated population in Canada and US coincided with growth in average years of education by 1.9 years in Canada and 2.1 years in US. This is an indication that educational gains influence negatively on religious affiliation. It has been argued by some scholars that scientific and educational advancement could lead to loss of religiosity. Some authors have suggested that there is intuition, which favours both positive and negative relationship between religion and education (Brawer et al. 2002). It has therefore been concluded by many scholars that secularization has not taken place and that religion is not meant for the poor or uninformed. Many surveys have not established any decline in religious beliefs and religious activity with an increase in income (Sacerdote & Glaeser, 2001). Some researchers have documented positive relationship between education and religion. It has been noted that in many multivariate regressions, church attendance explained mainly by educational factor (Humes, 2008). However, some authors have noted that the relationship between education and religion may change dependent on the empirical framework of an individual and that a negative relationship exists between religion and education at denominational level. Some researchers have also found out that there is no relationship between education and religion (Porter & Albert, 1977). Thus, it is suggested that one ought to be cautious about causal inferences in relation to education since there is no strong identification for education effect apart from other dimensions of development. It is argued that religious participation may be related to unobserved factors such as tastes for pro-social and networking activities. In the United States rise in religious attendance is directly related to rise in education status across individuals but inversely related with education across denominations. The positive impact of education on social connection is due to the treatment and selection that schooling creates people who are good at sitting still and creates social skills. Therefore, people who have better listening skills have lower costs of both social and school activities. The negative impact of education on religious believes comes from the fact that secular education lays emphasis on secular beliefs, which are at loggerhead with many traditional religious views. Studies have shown that the degree of religious belief is often omitted in the context of religion and education (Humes, 2008). Very few studies have explored the extent to which individuals believe that religious activity has some returns. It has been noted that measures of religious belief are correlated strongly to religious attendance and negatively related to education. Studies have shown that individuals that are more educated are less likely to believe in heaven, miracles, devils and the literal truth of the bible (Porter & Albert, 1977). In addition, definition of denominations is mainly based on their beliefs and sorting across denominations is weaker across denomination based on education than sorting across denomination based on religious beliefs. Therefore, religious beliefs are a factor, which is often omitted that is positively related to attendance and negatively related to education and is vital for sorting across denominations (Brawer et al. 2002). It is believed that the negative relationship between education and religious beliefs is due opposing contents of secular education and religion. It is known that current education lays emphasis on secular humanism rather than faith that is emphasized in religious beliefs. Pioneering social scientist thought that religion was disapproved by science and that religious belief was dispelled by knowledge (Brawer et al. 2002). Since secular education was influenced by this social scientist, their views had a great impact. Throughout 19th century, public education designed to replace catholic religious beliefs with a national secular belief system. Thus, it seems that education reduces religious beliefs. Research has found that religion provides spiritual returns and more earthly social returns (Brawer et al. 2002). These two aspects of religion are thought to be able to create oddities such as the micro-macro switch in the relationship between education and religion (Humes, 2008). On the other hand, studies have indicated that education is linked to the formation of ideological beliefs and to social involvement (Porter & Albert, 1977). It has been emphasized b y some authors that ideological correlation with education are ubiquitous and that they include attitudes toward God, race and international politics (Kay, 2010). Thus, it is argued that since sociability and changes in beliefs can be influenced by education, education can lead more educated persons to attend church more often but believe less in the things being preached. The value of religion in education The society expects that educated persons uphold certain moral standards. Religion helps to impart morality and thus social order in individuals (Head, 2005). Even though the diversity of religion in societies does not allow their incorporation in the educational curriculum, there is need to create time within school curriculum for students to attend to their religious needs in order to ensure future moral and orderly society (Porter & Albert, 1977). As seen above, schools or education tends to enhance social orders that exist in the society and thus promoting inequality. Thus, incorporation of religion in school curriculum could create common ground within a society and conformity that may reduce such social imbalances (Brawer et al. 2002). Religion will help to foster a sense of unity among students and perhaps enhance friendliness instead of the current society that is highly characterized by individualism (Salili & Hoosain, 2006). Religion in education will also help to enhance culture where common people will have common practices (Humes, 2008). With such values of religion, it is believed that educated persons will be less likely to be involved in crime, greed and immorality due to the religious knowledge and skills they acquire while at school. In addition, this will enhance tolerance for people with other religions. Conclusion Both religion and education acts as social institutions. Education is known to be a social institution, which is responsible for the systematic transmission of skills, knowledge and cultural values with a structure that is formally organized. Acquisition of certain skills and knowledge are essential for the survival of all societies. On the other hand, religion is known to be a powerful social institution that is deeply felt and influential force in human society. Drastic growth in science gave rise to the idea that science could provide answers to questions, which had previously been in the realm of religion. Many authors believed that scientific knowledge could result in secularization. Since science is often acquired through schooling, many studies have been carried out to find out the relationship between education and religion. It has been documented that the average years of schooling throughout the world rose by over 70% from 1960 to 2000 and that this rise was universal across the world’s religions. However, the rise in educational gains has also seen an increase in the number of people who are not affiliated to certain religion. It has been argued by some scholars that scientific and educational advancement could lead to loss of religiosity. Some authors have suggested that there is intuition, which favours both positive and negative relationship between religion and education. It has therefore been concluded by many scholars that secularization has not taken place and that religion is not meant for the poor or uninformed. In the United States rise in religious attendance is directly related to rise in education status across individuals but inversely related with education across denominations. Very few studies have explored the extent to which individuals believe that religious activity has some returns. It has been noted that measures of religious belief are correlated strongly to religious attendance and negatively related to education. It is believed that the negative relationship between education and religious beliefs is due opposing contents of secular education and religion. Even though the diversity of religion in societies does not allow their incorporation in the educational curriculum, there is need to create time within school curriculum for students to attend to their religious needs in order to ensure future moral and orderly society. Incorporation of religion in school curriculum could create common ground within a society and conformity that may reduce social imbalances. References Arthur, J., Gearon, L., & Sears, A. (2010). Education, politics and religion: Reconciling the civil and the sacred in education. London: Taylor & Francis. Blake, N., Smeyers, P., Smith, R., & Standish, P. (2007). Education in religion and spirituality. New York: Blackwell Publishers. Brawer, P., Handal, P., Fabricatore, A., Roberts, R., & Wajda-Johnston, V. (2002). Training and education in religion/spirituality within APA-accredited clinical psychology programs. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 33(2), 203-206. Grendler, P. (2006). Renaissance education between religion and politics. New York: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. Head, T. (2005). Religion and education. London: Greenhaven Press. Humes, E. (2008). Monkey girl: Evolution, education, religion, and the battle for America's Soul. New York: HarperCollins Kay, D. (2010). Education and religion: Their mutual connection and relative bearings. London: BiblioBazaar. Porter, J., & Albert, A. (1977). Subculture or assimilation? A cross-cultural analysis of religion and women’s role. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 16(4), 345-359 Sacerdote, B., & Glaeser, E. (2001). Education and religion. NBER Working Paper No. 8080. Salili, F., & Hoosain, R. (2006). Religion in multicultural education. New York: IAP Thwing, C. (2010). Education and religion: The Bedell lectures for 1926-27, and other addresses on construction and reconstruction in education. London: Kessinger Publishing. Read More