Notificación de excepciones

A recommendation of this research is that those involved in educational policymaking and curriculum development and design within the Irish context commit to a more robust engagement with religious diversity. This research offers valuable insight into the negative impact on students with minority religious identities caused by the decision taken by the NCCA to make the ‘World religions’ section of the syllabus optional. Taking into consideration the multiculturalism that exists in Irish society today, it is no longer acceptable to have an inter-religious section as an option on an RE syllabus. This research recommends a greater commitment to European policy documents on RE that support a learning about as well as from religions (CoE, 2008; Jackson, 2014).

This research has also shown how superficial engagement with non-religious worldviews, as indicative in the syllabus of the JCRE, further frustrates efforts at authentic inclusion. The positioning of content relating to non-religious worldviews in a section entitled ‘Challenges to faith’ reveals a faith bias. A recommendation of this research is for future curriculum development to engage more thoroughly with non-religious interpretations of life, rather than merely “acknowledging” their existence (DES, 2000). As referred to in the review of the literature, the CoE publication Signposts recommends the inclusion of non-religious worldviews within intercultural education. It further stresses the importance of identifying such worldviews as “cultural facts” which, like religious worldviews, are “complex phenomena” and not “monolithic” (Jackson, 2008, p. 67).

The findings of this research emphasise the negative impact of the current JCRE syllabus on students of RE who identify as having secular worldviews. A recommendation of this research is for those involved in curriculum design to draw from the CoE’s Competences for democratic culture (2016), as referred to in the literature review of this study, to aid the integration of non-religious worldviews

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within the new specification of the junior cycle. It is also recommended that the review of the senior cycle currently underway should take heed of this and not repeat the mistakes of preclusion when it comes to non-religious worldviews. It is paramount that those involved in curriculum design remain alert to curriculum choices which exclude the worldviews of some.

This research recognises the significant challenges attendant in the above recommendations for those involved in education policymaking and curriculum development and design. However, there needs to be a more coherent approach to how we cater for religious diversity within the RE syllabi, which includes the education of teachers on matters of intercultural education and religious diversity. As outlined in the literature review, the offering of “tips” for dealing with the religious diversity that exists in classrooms is insufficient. In order for the religious dimension of intercultural education to be authentically inclusive, greater investment is needed from the Irish Government. Teacher education colleges need to be equipped with the means to provide the necessary knowledge and skills right along the continuum of the professional development of teachers.

Previous decisions made by past governments show a reluctance to take a more definite position on intercultural issues. As highlighted by findings of this research, leaving the decision concerning religious dress for individual schools to permit or prohibit results in some minority faith students feeling discriminated against because of their religious identity. This research recommends that motivation for a more robust engagement with religious and cultural diversity should be born out of the argument of our shared humanity rather than arguments for expediency. Increased awareness and attention need to be given to the political instrumentalisation of religion, in the pursuit of attaining greater social cohesion. The language used, in public discourse, to illustrate why knowledge of different religions is important needs to uphold the argument for our shared humanity. This would ensure that motivation for inter-religious endeavours would be informed by an understanding that one’s own religious or non-religious worldview is enriched by mutual exchanges and encounters with the “other”.

5.5.1 Recommendations for the Irish Catholic Bishops

The Irish Catholic Bishops are invited to reflect on these findings, which offer insight into RE and school life as experienced by minority groups within a Catholic school. The research has shown that where an the inter-religious objective of RE is neglected, there are significant, negative repercussions for the reception of the subject as a whole. All students participating in this research, indiscriminate of religious or non-religious positions, echoed international research findings in expressing a desire to study different world religions and different non-religious worldviews. It is recommended that a greater focus on the inclusive nature of Catholic school identity be brought to the fore in the visions of the leaders of their schools.

149 5.5.2 Recommendations for Initial Teacher Education

Religious diversity is a reality within most Irish schools. Therefore, effective initial teacher education (ITE) in the multiple colleges of teacher education need to provide their student teachers with information about different religious and non-religious worldviews. Mullally asserts that future teachers will need to be equipped with the skills of “facilitation and moderation” required to ensure authentic inclusion (2017, p.127) . A review of teacher education programmes is needed to ensure student teachers are being equipped with the necessary skills for intercultural and inter-religious education. This research also highlights the lack of confidence some experienced teachers can feel with regard to their engagement with the diversity of beliefs, cultures and ethnicities present in their classrooms. Therefore this research emphasises the exigency for continued professional development in the area of intercultural and interreligious education.

Teacher education would also benefit from a higher enrolment of students from minority religious groups, to ensure a greater religious diversity within the teaching profession. As referred to in the literature review of this thesis, Devine (2005) has identified the mono-culturalism of the teaching profession in Ireland. The 2016 report, Study on the diversity within the teaching profession, produced by the Directorate-General for Education of the European Commission, identifies significant barriers to achieving a greater teacher diversity in many EU Member states. While data was limited, which in itself is problematic, the report finds that “teaching staff with migrant backgrounds are generally under-represented compared to the actual diversity of the learners” (D-G European Commission, 2016). A recommendation of this report to Member states is to strengthen the collection of data on teacher diversity to inform evidence-based policy.