"ANTI-GAY" BOOK PUTS GOVE AT CENTRE OF FAITH SCHOOL TEACHING ROW

This article appears on the website of the Guardian today:

"Anti-gay" book puts Gove at centre of faith school teaching row

Education secretary says Equality Act does not extend to school curriculum – allowing faith schools to use homophobic material

By Jamie Doward

Michael Gove, the education secretary, is at the centre of an escalating row over how faith schools discuss homosexuality in sex education classes.

The TUC has accused Gove of failing in his legal duties by insisting that equality laws, which prohibit discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, do not extend to the school curriculum.

The TUC complains that the current situation sends mixed signals to the playground, because schools are legally obliged to condemn discrimination on sexual-orientation grounds but free to use religious materials that equality campaigners claim is homophobic.

Brendan Barber, the TUC's general secretary, wrote to Gove in December expressing alarm that a booklet containing "homophobic material" had been distributed by a US preacher after talks to pupils at Roman Catholic schools across the Lancashire region in 2010.

The booklet, "Pure Manhood: How to become the man God wants you to be", discusses a boy dealing with "homosexual attractions" which it suggested may "stem from an unhealthy relationship with his father, an inability to relate to other guys, or even sexual abuse".

The booklet, which claims that "scientifically speaking, safe sex is a joke", explains that "the homosexual act is disordered, much like contraceptive sex between heterosexuals. Both acts are directed against God's natural purpose for sex – babies and bonding."

Referring to the Equality Act 2010, which prohibits discrimination against individuals, Barber said: "Schools now have a legal duty to challenge all forms of prejudice. Such literature undermines this completely."

But Gove insists: "The education provisions of the Equality Act 2010which prohibit discrimination against individuals based on their protected characteristics (including their sexual orientation) do not extend to the content of the curriculum. Any materials used in sex and relationship education lessons, therefore, will not be subject to the discrimination provisions of the act."

Gove's response has triggered anger from the TUC. "Having written to the education secretary to express our worry about the distribution of homophobic literature in faith schools, his lack of concern is very alarming," Barber said.

A DfE spokesman insisted: "Any school engaging in the promotion of homophobic material would be acting unlawfully." But the row highlights a grey area over the teaching of sex education. A review intended to provide new guidelines on what was appropriate for schools to teach was kicked into the long grass when the last election was called.

"It would certainly be helpful if there was clarity as to what is appropriate for young people of all ages," said Ben Summerskill, chief executive of the gay rights group Stonewall. "The water could no longer be muddied by people pushing age-inappropriate sex material on the one hand and fundamentalist anti-gay religious materials on the other."

The row comes at the end of an extraordinary week in which the role of religion in society has come under acute scrutiny.

The chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, Trevor Phillips, said religious rules should be left "at the door of the temple" and give way to the "public law" laid down by parliament. Phillips said: "Once you start to provide public services that have to be run under public rules – for example, child protection – then it has to go with public law." Phillips spoke out after Baroness Warsi, the Tory minister, warned Britain was under threat from a rising tide of "militant secularisation".

Lord Carey, the former archbishop of Canterbury, warned that Christianity was being marginalised. Days earlier, the high court ruled that councils had no statutory power to hold prayers in meetings, while the Christian owners of a bed-and-breakfast lost an appeal against a ruling that their policy of restricting double rooms to married couples discriminated against a gay couple.

Concerns that faith matters are being marginalised at school has prompted the creation of a new coalition of faith groups and politicians. The Religious Education Council of England and Wales is to back the creation of an all-party parliamentary group that will focus on protecting religious education in schools and stressing its value to young people.

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION IN SCHOOLS IS "A PRIORITY" SAY MPS

This story appears on the BBC News website today:

Religious Education in schools is "a priority" say MPs

MPs have set up a new group to safeguard the teaching of religious education to pupils in England

By Judith Burns, Education Reporter, BBC News

The all party parliamentary group on RE wants the subject to be treated as a priority.

Last year 115 MPs signed a motion demanding a debate on including RE GCSE in the English Baccalaureate.

A government spokesperson welcomed the new group but said "the English Baccalaureate will not prevent schools offering RE GCSEs" Stephen Lloyd MP who will chair the group said the group would provide a real insight into the value of RE.

"In today's world where our children can be open to an enormous amount of misleading information I believe it is absolutely essential they are taught about different cultures and religions by trained, experienced RE teachers, allowing children to make informed choices," he said.

Mr Lloyd, a Liberal Democrat, tabled last year's early day motion on RE after the government left it out of the English Baccalaureate award to teenagers who get five good grades in key named GCSEs.

The subjects in the award are English, maths, science, a modern foreign language and a humanities subject - either geography or history.

Supporters of RE want to see it included in the humanities category.The new group has the support of a number of faith groups and RE teaching associations.

John Keast, chair of The Religious Education Council of England and Wales, said: "Recently the RE community has felt under fire and this represents an important step to give the subject a strong profile amongst parliamentarians."

"The coalition government is making policy decisions about academies, the national curriculum, qualifications and even teacher training provision.

"Directly or indirectly, all these will challenge how RE is taught to young people", he added.

The spokeswoman at the Department for Education said: "RE remains a statutory part of the school curriculum for every student up to 18. It is rightly down to schools themselves to judge how it is taught."

"We have been clear that pupils should take the GCSEs that are right for them and that we look to teachers and parents to help pupils make the right choice", she added.

SACRED SPACES: INSIDE OUT CONFERENCE AT JAIN CENTRE

At the Jain Centre, Oxford Street, Leicester, for a day-long conference sponsored by the Religious Education Council for England and Wales and the Council for Learning Outside the Classroom. It's an event for RE teachers and specialists to get together with representatives and workers from faith organisations to see how school visits to sacred spaces might be enhanced for the benefit of all involved, that the worth of learning outside the classroom might be more widely celebrated, embraced and supported.

Since we've been doing this at the local level recently (with two sessions of Sacred Spaces training at Leicester Cathedral in October 2010 - see blog entries for those occasions), it's appropriate that a national event on this topic should be held here. Attendees have come from as far afield as London, Manchester, Norwich and North Yorkshire.

The Council of Faiths exhibition is on show, giving those present the opportunity to see something of the diversity of faith communities in our city. Thanks to Rosemarie Fitton and Lalit Chhajed for putting it all up, while I conveniently had to duck outside to answer a phone call! This is the last time that Rosemarie will be shadowing me on her placement for her MA in Interreligious Relations at St Philips Centre for Study and Engagement in a Multi Faith Society (although I'm sure I haven't seen the last of her - nor is it the final time she'll be mentioned in this blog). By contrast, this is Lalit's first day as summer intern at the Jain Centre. He's come here through the same internship programme at De Montfort University through which we've recruited our intern, Rahat, who starts with us on Monday. Lalit also applied for our summer internship, but his clear and undoubted talents didn't quite fit with the post we'd advertised. Lalit is excited and inspired by social media; he's interested in helping faith organisations recognise and exploit its potential. He and I make tentative arrangements to get together soon and swap ideas about this common interest.

Sarah Lane Cawte (Chair of the Sacred Spaces Sector Partnership Group) introduces the day's programme and Smita Shah, President of Jain Samaj Europe and Treasurer of Leicester Council of Faiths, welcomes conference participants to the event, to Leicester and to the Jain Centre.

Janet Ingram, Education Officer for Leicester Diocese, kicks things off by talking about the "Faith Stories" format for visiting sacred spaces in Leicester, usually involving three different faith community places of worship and activity.

Putting that theory into practice, after a guided tour of the worship hall in the Jain centre, the group sets off for visits to the Nagarjuna Kampada Budddhist Centre in Guildhall Lane, followed by a stop at Leicester Cathedral before returning to the Jain Centre for a vegan lunch (without onions or mushrooms).

This is the time when everyone gets an opportunity to look over our exhibition and pick up some of our leaflets. I've also put out brochures for An Indian Summer, which features a strong contribution from Leicester Council of Faiths.

And in one of those recursive occlusions that social media presents so nicely, I've put the laptop on the table beside the leaflets, so that everyone can have a look at themselves (erm ...) looking at this (as it were).

After lunch, we hear short presentations by three attendees from different backgrounds about their experiences in relation to learning outside the classroom, through school visits: Alex Carlton, Education Officer at Southwark Cathedral; Jill Carr, Consultant for Leicester City Council on Religious Education, Community Cohesion, and Closing the Gap; Marilyn Bowles, Associate Tutor on the Primary PGCE course at Leicester University.

Next in the afternoon programme there are four workshops on offer:

Sharing spaces - developing collaborative learning days (Pam Elliott)

This workshop explores ways of working with other providers to maximise the learning potential of a school visit. Pam Elliott is a former Head of Religious Studies and has led the Education Department at Manchester Cathedral for the past five years. During this time she has worked with a range of Manchester institutions to create some unique learning experiences including "The Place of Peace", "A Shared Story", "Wealth and poverty Learning Days" and "Ho,man Hunt and Religious Art".

How to make meaningful contact with faith communities (Hannah Ashleigh)

This workshop considers the real value of visits and visitors and how to ensure that experiences gained from learning outside the classroom bring this personal dimension of faith to life. It looks are how to make the most of speakers who are invited to schools and how the use of stories, artifacts and photographs can make a real impact on learning about and from faith communities. Hannah Ashleigh is Education Policy and Projects Manager for the Board of Deputies of British Jews, where she is responsible for the planning, development and delivery and delivery of educational initiatives designed to promote the understanding of Jewish faith and heritage in schools and wider British society. She also works extensively in education policy, working with government and with colleagues from other faith groups on all issues that could affect faith schools and our diverse communities more broadly. she has a masters degree in Professional and Community Education and Development.

Developing an RE trail in your locality (Sharon Artley)

This workshop explores different themes for RE trails, how to set one up in your locality and look at available resources. Sharon Artley has been working in Religious Education for over 30 years - as a teacher, head of department and senior manager and (since 2003) as a consultant, lecturer, inspector and trainer. she has published articles, developed digital resources, lectured, run courses and delivered training, both locally and nationally and has a specific interest in the impact ICT can have on the delivery and outcomes of high quality RE. She is editor of the Sacred Space section of the REOnline website and jointly set up the RE trails website. she supports primary and secondary RE in the north of England and is currently working on three national RE projects. Sharon holds degrees in Theology and has a Fellowship in Holocaust Education with the Imperial War Museum.

Using a sacred space for learning and spiritual development (Diana Ives & Emma Anderton)

This workshop explores ways in which the Southwell Minster education team use the Cathedral with school groups to develop understanding of RE and give students the opportunity to gain a sense of spirituality for themselves. Diana Ives has lived in Nottingham for 20 years, teaching across the primary age range in schools in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire. She lives with her husband and two daughters. Emma Anderton grew up in Nottingham and has many year's teaching experience within the primary age group. she has two grown up sons and lives in Newark with her husband and daughter. For the last seven and eight years respectively, Diana and Emma have worked as Education Officers at Southwell Minster, the Cathedral church of the Southwell and Nottingham Diocese, which hosts 9,000 schoolchildren (and 900 teachers and accompanying adults) every year, aged 18 months to Sixth Form. The role is diverse and involves family, cross-curricular and some adult learning, as well as providing RE experiences.

I'm grateful to Sarah for giving me a few minutes in the final plenary session to say something about the Council of Faiths exhibition and use of social media.