The Constitution stipulates that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” What implications does this have for teaching about religion? Below are some resources addressing this question. Be sure to check back with us — we’re continually adding links.
- In January 2010, the Center for Religious and Public Affairs at Wake Forest Divinity School released a report called Religious Expression in American Public Life: A Joint Statement of Current Law (PDF), which summarized how law answers some basic, key questions about religious expression.
- First Freedom Center’s free online book The Constitution and Religion in the Classroom includes chapters on the history of the Establishment Clause and how free exercise claims might enter the classroom, as well as a 22-minute documentary.
- Freedom Forum’s free online book Taking Religion Seriously Across the Curriculum, by Warren Nord and Charles Haynes, discusses Constitutional and curriculum questions regarding religion in public schools. Freedom Forum also offers lesson plans for teaching about the First Amendment.
- Then-Education Secretary Richard Riley spoke in 1995 on finding common ground between religions groups and schools regarding religious expression in public schools. His speech is called “Religion In The Public Schools: A Joint Statement Of Current Law.” Adherents.com offers a synopsis of Riley’s guidelines.
- See also the Education Department’s Guidance on Constitutionally Protected Prayer in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools
- Michael Streich’s article “Teaching Religion in Public High Schools” argued that “there are many good reasons why religion should be taught in the high schools.”
- Teaching Tolerance, from the Southern Poverty Law Center, frequently updates with new blog posts and also hosts classroom activities, teaching kits and its own list of recommended resources.
- A section of the Anti-Defamation League’s website focuses on religion in public schools, addressing religious holidays, religious display, student religious clubs and more.
- OABITAR (Objectivity, Accuracy, and Balance In Teaching About Religion) runs teachingaboutreligion.org, offering resources with an “educational commitment to pluralism” and “the professional understanding that public school teachers need to exercise a scrupulous neutrality regarding religion.”
- ReligiousTolerance.org added its 5,200th essay online in early 2010. Its goal is to publish work regarding “the full diversity of religious belief in North America.”
- The Religion and Public Education Resource Center (RPERC), based at California State University, Chico, provides general information about the ethical, legal and educational issues that arise in connection with religion and public education.
- The First Amendment Center’s Teacher Resources has everything from lesson plans to national and state social studies standards.
- The Interfaith Youth Core runs events and programs, particularly aimed at young people, aiming to promote mutual respect and pluralism among different religious traditions. Previous workshops have also focused specifically on accommodating and engaging with religious diversity in schools.
- PBS offers resources and activity ideas for teaching about religious diversity, aimed at teachers in grades 3-12. The site includes suggested print resources and links to other websites and videos that teachers can integrate into their discussions.
- The Religion and Media Interest Group of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication is an organization of scholars and media professionals that promotes discussion of media and religion from social science, historical, and other scholarly perspectives.
