Seek Truth – Honesty in Education

My current school’s badge says ‘Seek Truth’ underneath what looks like a cannabis leaf. It used to make me laugh thinking back to the 1970’s and the ‘Truth Police’ skulking the corridors in search for the ultimate holy grail of educational knowledge. Recently, as I have read blog after blog about the purpose of education, I have been thinking about the lies we tell children within the school system.  Not just the lies but the avoidance’s and taboo areas which are part of every day life which do not feature within primary education because they are seen as too controversial. Also, the fact that major parts of our education system are at odds with society and twenty first century living.

Within this blog I am NOT saying whether things are ‘right or wrong/ true or false’ but I am discussing the topic areas because I feel they are too important to continue to ignore. I say this because, rightly, there are more critical voices around individuals blogs (facts and evidence – where’s the research?) and at times it can feel like you are under a lie-detector as your thoughts and views are put to the test.

So here go’s:

1. When you die you go to heaven – religion in schools

Recently, for my headship interview, I was asked to deliver a ‘collective worship’ assembly. I am an atheist. I do not do GOD. I phoned the school up and told them this. Lucky for me they understood. We discussed it in interview and I was clear that I would allow the experts to do ‘religion’ within school and I was happy to work closely with churches and people of faith – in fact I would actively search this out from a community perspective which I feel is very important… (as I have done in all my previous schools both in Muslim and Christian communities) – but I am not going to lie and say I adhere to a religious point of view about life.

It amazes me how many teachers do lie though. I once had a conversation with the head of a diocese who said it would be fine for me to work for them… I find that strange. I come across many teachers and leaders working in faith schools who are not practicing the religion that are at the foundations of their school? They do this secretly, no questions asked and if pushed are happy to lie… Which I like to remind them is against pretty much most religious teaching. This asks the question – what is the point of religion in schools? From my perspective I really struggle with it:

“Christianity: The belief that some invisible cosmic Jewish Zombie can make you live forever if you symbolically eat his flesh and telepathically tell him that you accept him as your master, so he can remove an evil force from your soul that is present in humanity because a rib-woman was convinced by a talking snake to eat from a magical tree.” – anon

I am very aware that far more worthy, intelligent and brilliant people do believe and therefore I am not preaching an anti-religious curriculum. But I am asking if schools are the best places and seeing as we are living in an increasingly secular society we should also accept an atheists point of view in primary schools.

If we teach religion for a moral code…  If a religion defines concepts of right (virtuous) and wrong (sinful) behavior. Again, I struggle. I think that Tupac or most RAP artists could give you a ‘love your mother, brother and enemy’ speech to live your life by.

It’s time for us as a people to start makin’ some changes.
Let’s change the way we eat, let’s change the way we live
and let’s change the way we treat each other.
You see the old way wasn’t working so it’s on us to do
what we gotta do, to survive. 

From my perspective… With the many religions there is one clear truth. Only one of them can be right.

If we allow faith schools then why is a Creationist school any different?

It’s not like we say that humans and dinosaurs co-existed… or evolution has been disproved…

 2. Adults know best

Half the time, we really don’t have a clue what we’re doing. And yet we preach this all the time in school. I am not saying anarchy rules but the number of times we have been hypocrites in the name of keeping to the rules… E.g:

If we don’t punish you, you won’t learn for next time

Eat up your five a day,  and you will live a long and healthy life

Rather than: “You could die tomorrow. In a godless universe.”

What goes around comes around

The just world theory. But we know that bad behaviour is often unpunished (And perpetrated by those we are meant to trust – politicians, the justice system and the banks) and good behaviour is not something that will get you that far on all too many occasions.

That good will over come bad in the end… Does it? Is that what history has taught us?

You should never tell lies

At least not until you’re proficient enough to get away with it. And also when it comes to running a country or something really important. – We lie all the time…

Money doesn’t matter

Only if you have all-powerful oligarchs giving you everything for free, reinforced by politicians and the media. These myths allow the poor to be blamed for their poverty, and the rest of society to avoid taking any of the responsibility… Don’t be poor – be rich … the poor are lazy, drink too much, are not really poor but just bad at organising their money, on the fiddle, having an easy life on benefits or the cause of the deficit this country has…

3.You are special and unique

It’s statistically unlikely. – you are unique and yet you need to conform. The likelihood for most children is they will have an ordinary life. That’s not to say it won’t be wonderful – but they will not all be world famous, great scientists or artists and writers of renown. They will be ordinary people living lives like many millions of others.

Also, it’s great to be special and unique but if you are a teacher and gay – working in a faith school?  How truthful can we be here? We all know the answer to that – and it is wrong.Why should this be hidden behind a wall of silence when it is a basic fact of life?

OK! I am ranting… I lied to you all at the start when I said that I was not saying if things are right or wrong/ true or false. On another day I am sure I can find twenty arguments against what I have said in this blog. I am sure I will upset as many who think this is worth saying.  But what is important is the saying. That’s the freedoms we have in a democracy. I don’t have to face a polygraph, move around looking skittish, have poor eye contact, use my short term memory as an excuse. We are lucky that we live in a society that does not endorse lies…  or do we?