What should a ‘Schools Charter’ for RSHE contain?
From September 2020, primary schools volition be required to teach historic period-appropriate Health Education as well as Relationships Didactics, and secondary schools volition exist required to teach Relationships Educational activity and Sex Education. Together these tin exist referred to every bit Relationships, Sexual practice and Health Pedagogy (RSHE). At one level, this thought is hard to fence with; later all, we live in a complex world, where young people are exposed more and more than to issues around sex activity and relationships at earlier and earlier ages, thanks to the general sexualisation of culture. And these issues are every bit complex and confusing as they have ever been. Merely it is also contentious and fraught with danger, since the dominance of 'identity politics' ways that whatsoever word in this surface area will be contested, and groups with special interests in the LGBTQ+ lobby will be ready and willing to press the case for item views to be taught.
In this context, what might the Church building of England (or any Christian group or denomination) want to say? Last week the Church of England Education department published Principles and a Charter for the teaching of RSHE in schools. Although the chief concern was in relation to Church of England schools, the Lease was potentially offered to all schools. As with all statements in this area, information technology received criticism from both sides of the argue.
LGBT+ campaigners were scathing in their evaluation of the proposals from the 485-yr-onetime institution. "Information technology'southward a classic bit of Church of England fudge," said Canon Jeremy Pemberton, who was stripped of his church duties following his 2022 wedlock to his long-term male partner.
"They are desperate to exist seen as right on and good and lovely, only they're not really, are they?" he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation, citing the institution's ban on same-sexual practice weddings in CofE churches. "You can't really have your cake and consume it, and that's what they want to practise," Pemberton added.
Not all campaigners were every bit dismissive as Pemberton:
Veteran LGBT+ campaigner Peter Tatchell said the latest communication from the CofE was "better and more inclusive than anything previously advocated by the Church of England".
Past contrast, Volition Jones, writing in Christian Today, saw the Charter as articulating a complete loss of conviction in the Church'southward teaching on sexual activity, marriage and relationships:
Overall this is a deeply disappointing document. While containing some valuable principles about respect and engaging with parents, it fails to grasp the opportunities offered by our education arrangement and the new RSE regulations to set out a distinctive Christian vision of what relationships and sex didactics might look like.
In a time when there is more confusion than always most romantic relationships and what information technology means to be male person and female, the Church of England still over again misses the risk to offering support to Christians trying faithfully to concord out a biblical vision to a culture that so often doesn't want to know.
Martin Davie likewise offers criticism, and on several points agrees with Will Jones, particularly on what they both come across every bit misinterpretation of what the Equality Act requires of education in this surface area:
It is truthful that that schools are covered by the Equality Human activity. Function 6 Chapter i of the Equality Act lays downwardly in detail how the act applies to schools. Still, it likewise specifically states that 'Aught in this Chapter applies to anything done in connection with the content of the curriculum.' This ways that the Equality Deed does non determine what should be in the RSHE curriculum. This argument is thus simply a red herring.
Some of these points are well fabricated, only I cannot assistance thinking that Davie is assuming that Church building schools are closed environments where the goal is only the making of Christian disciples, without recognising that the foundation of Church of England schools (with its historic assumption, oft from many years ago, of a context of Christendom) is quite different from that of Cosmic organized religion schools, where there is a clearer commitment to teach the Catholic faith. That, peradventure, is the root of our problem here.
Equally far equally I understand it, the goal of the Charter was to make a first, articulate public argument that the Equality Human action means that faith perspectives must be treated with respect and given space: there is no bureaucracy of protected characteristics, and then faith perspectives cannot be 'trumped' by a concern for the protected characteristics of any other group. And it is aiming to do that in a context where Christians involved in education have, then far, lacked either the awareness that this was the case, or the conviction to know how to respond to it. Merely at this point, we need to ask a question. Contentious issues related to sexuality and its identify in schools has been around for many years—so why is information technology that Christians have lacked confidence, information and resources? What has the Church building of England been doing all this fourth dimension, when other groups have been very busy producing resources that push a particular line? And how tin can we have been so far behind the curve on this issue that we can even recollect to have endorsed some of these resources, without critical evaluation, until some questions were asked and the endorsements were withdrawn?
And both Principles (apparently directed at Church schools) and the Charter (more widely aimed) raised a series of questions for me.
1. If the Charter can be used by anyone, then will we now see a Lease specifically for Church schools? If non, does the Church of England believe that in that location isno divergence in the arroyo to RSHE between the two? If so, what are Church schools really doing?
2. The Principles begin with two biblical texts:
Then God created humankind in his image, in the epitome of God he created them. (Genesis i:27, NRSV)
I have come in order that yous might have life—life in all its fullness. (John 10:x, GNB)
Just both have been either truncated (to remove mention of 'male and female person') or ripped out of context to detach the hope of life from the call to discipleship. Is that the best we tin can do in our use of Scripture?
3. The Principles document refers to the Pastoral Advisory Group guidelines for 'expert disagreement' in debates most sexuality. Only that is within the context of the Church, and specifically relate to the current disagreement on whether we should consider changing the Church'due south teaching. Is this really the context that we accept in Church schools?
4. The 'suggested prayer' for a first meeting asks for wisdom and the ability to listen to 1 another and work for the 'common good'. Merely it makes no reference to the idea that God might take a vision for sex and relationships which has been communicated in Scripture and Christian tradition. Should that not characteristic in Church schools' discussion? Where is the Bible?
5. The Charter begins by mentioning 'partnership with parents and carers' in deciding what happens in schools. But at that place is no mention anywhere of the role of parents and carers in instruction and modelling of skilful relationships in the home. Exercise we now believe that these central values should be delegated to schools, and the family has no part in pedagogy in this expanse?
6. The fifth point of the Charter raises the most questions:
- That RSHE will promote healthy resilient relationships set in the context of character and virtue development. Information technology volition reflect the vision and associated values of the school, promote reverence for the gift of human sexuality and encourage relationships that are hopeful and aspirational. Based on the schoolhouse's values it will seek to develop graphic symbol within a moral framework based on virtues such as honesty, integrity, self-command, courage, humility, kindness, forgiveness, generosity and a sense of justice but does not seek to teach only ane moral position.
There is no doubt that advocatingforms of relationship on their own, detached from questions of character and virtue, offers a sterile and legalistic approach to relational ethics. Simply is it actually the example that Christian ethics can exist reduced to virtue ideals, with no reference to the forms those relationships take?
7. Is 'human sexuality' a gift in this unqualified sense? And if so, does that apply to all 'sexualities'? And is all of life to be sexualised? Where is at that place a recognition that modern civilization seeks to sexualise every aspect of life, and where is the call to protect children from this?
viii. Is the position of the Church of England that we practise not 'seek to teach merely one moral position'? If not, how do we accost the job of articulating a singled-out perspective within a pluralistic culture? If this document was aiming to give Christian parents and teachers confidence, why was information technology not expressed at 'Nosotros seek to teach the Church's position aslope other views held within our society'?
I am quite enlightened that this Charter and the Principles are at the beginning of a process of offering resources—but because of these questions, I am not convinced that, in their current form, they are starting in the right place or heading in the right direction.
What, then, is needed for the next stage of the process, of developing more detailed resources? I would suggest three things:
ane. A statement that offers more explicit encouragement for Christian parents and teachers to expound the Church building of England'southward teaching about relationships, sexual activity and matrimony. If Christians involved in this demand to be given more confidence, who improve than the Education department itself to express and encourage this?
ii. Resources from the Church and from other agencies which will assist in this process. Ironically, the new volume produced past the non-religious grouping Transgender Tendency, about the importance of our bodies, might be a adept place to offset.
3. Resource for parents to assist them accost the problems of relationships, wellness and sex in the context of the home and connected with what is happening in schools. Just as effective Christian discipleship must happen in the habitation besides as in church building, surely this cluster of very personal issues must too exist addressed in the home, and non just delegated to the school environs.
I really expect forrard to seeing these developments and resources coming from the Instruction section—working in positive partnership with other agencies.
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