A Common Vision for the Common Good: Religious Liberty and Religious Literacy in American Education

• In Event: Roundtable Session 30
  In Roundtable Session: Religious Diversity in and Beyond Higher Education: Building a Common Good Through Religious Pluralism

Abstract

A national coalition of scholars has formed with the objective of using the First Amendment as a framework to address issues of religious liberty and religious literacy in American education. The coalition consists of non-profit, non-partisan organizations (the Religious Freedom Center of the Newseum Institute and the Islamic Networks Group) and academic associations (the American Academy of Religion, the Society of Biblical Literature, and the International Qur’anic Studies Association) in partnership with academic centers (the Harvard University Pluralism Project and the Institute for Religion and Education at the University of Northern Iowa).
This presentation will examine the historical significance and civic purposes behind the coalition’s three-part strategic plan: (1) broadcast a national town hall meeting on religion and American education; (2) develop First-Amendment-friendly educational resources for middle, high school, and college teachers to teach about religion; and (3) offer accredited blended-learning courses about the First Amendment for pre-service teachers and education administrators.
The presenters will demonstrate how a First Amendment framework helps schools become laboratories of democratic freedom in which citizens learn to negotiate differences with civility and respect. This framework prepares schools to effectively navigate historically divisive issues about religion and education, thereby contributing to civility and mutual understanding. For these goals to be met, the curriculum must be enriched with the academic study of religious beliefs, ideas, practices, texts, artifacts, and communities. Furthermore, scholars and public and private schools must work together to prepare K–12 educators to provide instruction on religions and beliefs across the curriculum. In doing so, schools will help deepen the public’s understanding of the meaning of religions, religious freedom, and democratic citizenship in a pluralistic society.
By encouraging education communities to address these questions, this national coalition of scholars seeks to create a shared understanding across religious and political differences of the role of religious freedom and religious studies in American education.
1. Charles C. Haynes and Oliver S. Thomas (2011) Finding Common Ground: A First Amendment Guide to Religion and Public Schools. Revised Edition. Nashville, TN: First Amendment Center.

2. Walter Feinberg and Richard A. Layton (2014) For the Civic Good: The Liberal Case for Teaching Religion in the Public Schools. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.

3. Michael D. Waggoner, ed. (2013) Religion in the Public Schools: Negotiating the New Commons. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

4. Emile Lester (2011) Teaching about Religions: A Democratic Approach for Public Schools. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.

5. Warren A. Nord and Charles C. Haynes (1998) Taking Religion Seriously Across the Curriculum. Nashville, TN: First Amendment Center.

Authors

• Charles C. Haynes, Religious Freedom Center

• Nate Walker, Religious Freedom Center, Newseum Institute