I am a life-long atheist. I didn’t have to deconvert and I’d go as far as saying that I’m anti theist, because I do think that religion is a net evil in the world. But here and now I share the planet mostly with religious people and for the majority of my teaching career I’ve been teaching at schools with large Muslim populations, so I’m well used to the month of Ramadan, where Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset. Thankfully, it’s moving backwards in the year, now being in early spring and no longer in the middle of summer. Those years were pretty hard. I won’t say I’m a fan of children not eating and especially not drinking, but I also understand that it’s important for the kids. Where religion takes a backseat for most of Germany’s Christians, it’s still at the centre of most Muslim children’s identity, especially of those who arrived from Syria in recent years. It’s not just religion, it’s a piece of home.
With that in mind, it’s important to me to support my students, all my students, in growing into the best version of themselves and they can only do that when they’re feeling safe, accepted and respected. We’re talking a lot about teaching kids respect and tolerance, but many colleagues simply don’t do that themselves.
I took over a year 5 ethics class* four measly weeks ago, and this week the Muslim kids practically ambushed me during break because of one of my colleagues. During class, one of the Muslim kids had not felt well and was tired. The teacher asked him what was up, he said he was fasting, and she turned around and audibly murmured about “victim religion”, which greatly upset the kids. How, I mean how on earth can you do that to kids? Does she think that any learning was happening after that remark? And most of all, does she think those kids will trust her when she tries to teach them about humanist values? In my experience, if you turn it into an “either your religion or being part of our community” situation, their religion wins. From that point on, any new idea will be seen as an attack on their faith. Also, they’re children. They’re still closely linked to their families of origin. If you bring them into conflict with their families, you put them in a position they shouldn’t be in.
Also, in my experience, if you treat them with respect, you can set some ground rules that will be accepted. My rule is that we don’t comment on how another person practises their faith. If or when to fast, or wear a hijab, varies greatly between groups and populations, and I especially don’t need any competition about who’s the best Muslim. I tell them that if Allah is almighty, he doesn’t need 5th graders to do his work. This works well for me. They understand that this rule protects them as much as it binds them. They know that their way is accepted and tolerated, and in return they tolerate others. That’s how you actually teach those values, and not by insulting 10 year olds who can’t argue back.
- In Germany school must provide religious education for Catholics and Lutheran protestants. If you don’t belong to those groups, you get ethics class. I teach them quite a lot and like them pretty well.
That’s why you are a good and caring teacher.
Those kids are lucky to have you as a teacher. I can’t imagine saying such a vile thing to a child as dismissing their distress and gaslighting them about ‘victim religions’.
Christianities major symbol is a brutally tortured and murdered man on a cross. Jesus is the archetype of a victim religion.
Can a Catholic or Protestant kid choose to take the ethics class instead?
Anat
They can. Until they’re 14 the parents have to agree, at 14 you become “competent in religious matters” and can choose yourself.
In Finland various religions must be taught in public schools, if there are several families requesting them (enough to form a small study group). I practice, I think it’s rare for study groups to exist for anything other than Lutheran education (which is the default, and until recently almost 100% exclusive option), secular ethics, Eastern Orthodoxy or Islam (at least Sunni). For anything other than the first three, there is said to be difficulty in finding teachers who are qualified by the high pedagogical standards.
Notably, one of the small legal privileges of the Lutheran church in Finland is that students cannot opt out of the default Lutheran education in school if they happen to members of the church. The membership is officially registered, usually as result of infant baptism, which until recently was (and still largely is) extremely popular even in not-really-religious families. Adults can easily resign their membership (Like I did at 20, and many others have done), but those under 18 need parental permission. Those under 15 cannot resign at all, except if their parents resign too.
That said, the modern Lutheran education has been very much developed away from the old school indoctrination style -- the original intent historically was indoctrination, and that is basically what originally necessitated the establishment of legal alternatives for minorities. In my time there was a lot of useful information about Christian mythology, its historical context and the history of Christianity. I think the latest version also has increasing emphasis on non-Christian religions and ethical thinking.
OTOH, one persistent function of religious education in Finnish schools seems to be instilling a vague religious identity in kids from otherwise secular families, and familiarizing them with Christian mythology and ritual. This is normalizing the prevalent sentiment that Lutheran Christianity is a cultural heritage rather than religion, and that it makes perfect sense to remain a member of the church regardless of whether you believe or practice the faith. This suits very well the Finnish Lutheran Church, which makes its income mainly from state-administered membership tax -- another legal perk -- rather than people actively participating and donating.
To be honest, I do not know how I would react in this case. Rationally, I would know the right response, but my disdain for everything religious could override my better judgment. Most religions are victim religions, especially the Abrahamic trio. And all of them are deeply irrational and nonsensical.
In CZ, religion is essentially not a thing at school. Religious education can be included on an entirely voluntary basis. The only stats I could quickly find say that only about 4,5% of elementary school kids attend religious education (Catholic). Czechs generally really do not give a fuck about religion, even those who proclaim to believe in “something”. And many have, just like me, a hard time understanding why people take it so seriously when it is so obviously silly. I do my best to avoid it and any conversations about it because for some unfathomable reason, people are really, really attached to these idiocies.