Familes and Communities

On the list of things talked about in Chapter 3 Families and Communities in The Joy of Teaching by Gene E. Hall, Linda F. Quinn, and Donna M. Gollnick, I chose number six; Teachers cannot promote a religion in their classroom or any school activity. The first amendment requires the separation of church and state, however it doesn’t specifically say what to do about the church and education. Just because the First Amendment says there has to be separation between church and state, the public schools and religion do not have to be completely separated. Some people say that religion is a legitimate discipline that can be taught in public schools. In the text it says, “The fine line in teaching religion is to ensure that students are not forces to practice a specific religion as part of the class. Courses that indoctrinate or try to convert students to a specific religion are illegal. Public schools can neither promote not inhibit a religion. They must be religiously neutral, but protect the religions liberty of students. Teachers have a right to their own religious convictions. However, they cannot proselytize or promote their religion in the classroom.” (106). I believe this to be true because while the teacher can have whatever belief they want, they should not be able to promote their beliefs in the classroom. Everyone is entitled to his or her own system of beliefs. The Supreme Court has also ruled things having to do with religion in schools such as prayer in school, and the teaching of creationism, as not suitable to be taught in school because it interferes a little bit too much with the separation of religion from school.