Religion, Curriculum Issues

The First Amendment

Two portions of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution address religion: the Establishment Clause, which states that government “shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,” and the Free Exercise Clause, which states that government is barred from “prohibiting the free exercise” of religion. Both clauses are relevant to the curriculum designer: The Establishment Clause governs what schools may and may not do as they present academic material related to religion, and the Free Exercise Clause can be relevant in the context of student evaluation.

The Establishment Clause prohibits government from endorsing any particular religion, or from favoring religion over irreligion (i.e., atheism and other nontheological belief systems). As representatives of the state, public school teachers and administrators are required to ensure that instruction, forms of assessment, textbooks, and other materials used in class and their own comments do not violate that restriction. The study of religion and scripture is not prohibited, provided that such study does not cross the line between academic presentation (“teaching”) and religious advocacy (“preaching”). Thus, schools may promote awareness of religion and expose children to religious texts and worldviews, but they may not encourage students to be religious, nor may they advocate nor denigrate the beliefs of any particular religion.

The Free Exercise Clause offers students freedom of religious self-expression to a certain degree. This is relevant to the curriculum designer because it requires the careful development of rubrics for the evaluation of student performance on assignments that involve religion. Such evaluation must focus on religion-neutral standards, and students may not be penalized merely for expressing their own religious views in their work, provided they have met relevant academic standards. For example, a student should not receive a lower grade merely for expressing a personal religious viewpoint when it is relevant in a piece of written work. By contrast, a student need not receive academic credit for citing Genesis 1:9 in response to a science question involving plate tectonics.

An Integrative Approach to Religion in the Curriculum

The effective curriculum designer will incorporate religion into study and discussion wherever an understanding of religion's role in human history and culture can help foster a balanced and comprehensive understanding of the topic. In U.S. history, for example, incorporating information on the Parliament of World Religions in 1893 provides an opportunity to address the relatively long history of religious diversity in North America but also the relative invisibility of non-Christian communities at the time. The parliament was the first time many people in the United States encountered followers of Hinduism, Islam, and other religions. Holy texts themselves may be integrated into the curriculum; for example, familiarity with a Biblical story might [Page 1795]illustrate the meaning of a piece of literature, from Shakespeare to Melville to Rowling.

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