Separating Church and State in the Education System
The United Kingdom has had a turbulent history when it comes to its relationship with religion. From all the lives lost during the fight between Catholicism and Protestantism in the 16th and 17th century, it’s amazing to sit back and think about how prevalent religion still is in modern British society. Though the United Kingdom does not have an official religion, the monarch of the United Kingdom must be Protestant due to their dual role as the ruler of the UK and the Supreme Governor of the Church. From my time in the UK, I found myself fascinated with how religion played a role in British life, specifically in the education system. I have lived in the United States my whole life, meaning while I was growing up and attending public school, the separation of church and state was a residing basis for education. It was only if students attended private schools that religion would be taught and often it was only if the school was founded with religious beliefs. In my time in the UK, we were able to see schools at every level and learn about how they functioned and prepared their students for the real world. This was something I found the most interesting because it was directly related to my life and I could easily see differences between the British and American education system.
Starting from a young age religion is taught at British schools, something we could witness firsthand at the St. Paul’s Primary School in East London. In our trip to the primary school there were many things that I noticed that differed from how American elementary schools were set up. To start off, the children had different subjects than the typical American school system. Growing up, elementary school children are taught only a couple core classes such as math, reading, writing, science, and social studies. There were the alternating classes of gym, art, and chorus, however that was all that my school offered me. When visiting the primary school, I was very surprised by all the classes they offered. They had the basics such as maths, reading, writing, science, and social studies, but then they also had religion, cooking, gym, art, and a mental health aspect that I had never seen. The students were able to tell their teacher how they felt that day and what level their mental health was at, which was a very good and important practice that the American system could benefit from picking up. Again, I was fascinated with how religion was taught. Though the St. Paul’s Primary School was set up by the church of England, the religion class was not a conversion class. In fact, the religion class was set up to make sure their students were educated and tolerant of other religions – not just Protestantism as it was originally founded. This was especially interesting because the St. Paul’s Primary School has a majority of their students come from Bangladeshi immigrants since the location is right by the pier of the Thames. Their student population is very diverse and so it is important to diversify their relgion class. Educating the children on all different religions is something that helps make sure there isn’t conflict or intolerance in the future. Going into the different years’ classrooms I could see the different religions they were working on. Some of these were Judaism, Christianity, Ancient Greek, Ancient Egyptian, and Islamic religions. I was so blown away by the execution and impact of these classes, it made me want to write a piece of legislature right then and there.
The next school we visited was of a different social class as well as school. As mentioned earlier, St. Paul’s was a very diverse school, but also came from a less wealthy area of London. The school we visited after was Eton College, a secondary school for boys. Secondary school can be equated to the US high school. Eton College is one of the oldest and most prestigious public schools, costing around 40,000 pounds per year without any additional scholarship. In the UK public school equates to a US private school – a confusing factor for any US citizen. Eton College has about 1300 boys enrolled ages 13 to 18. These boys are taught the core courses however it gets a little more specified depending on what the boy chooses as his specialty when he starts preparing for university. This school intrigued me because it is unlike anything we have in the US. Boys have to be in full uniform almost all of the time, and their uniform is a full tuxedo that looks straight out of the 1900’s. Additionally, Eton College was founded as a Christian institution by Henry VI. At the heart of Eton College was the College Chapel, a dominant building on the campus. Though founded Christian, they do accept boys of different religions, or no religion, but still require that they worship in the chapel. The boys who practice a different religion can attend their own services on Sunday however during the week, all the boys are required to experience the chapel. They do this to pay tribute to what the school was originally founded on, and to accept what Henry VI would have envisioned.
The last school that we went to was at the top of the totem pole—University of Oxford. The University of Oxford was one of the most intriguing places we visited, and I absolutely fell in love with it. To many, myself included prior to our visit, University of Oxford seems like just one physical college. Instead of just one university, Oxford is a university system comprising of 33 different colleges. Though it sounds bizarre, upon visiting I became enamored with the way this university was set up. Each one of these colleges has their own house, dining halls and food, tutor system, and students but are still a part of the University of Oxford. Looking at the school system from a religious standpoint, it was certainly less impacted than the other two. About 27% of the colleges have their own chapel, an impressive number if you think of it from the aspect of university owned property. Additionally, their motto – seen everywhere, is “Dominus illuminatio mea” meaning “The Lord is my Light.” When talking to our tour guide, an Oxford grad himself, he informed me that less than 12% of their students study theology, which may sound like a lot but coming from the fact that theology was one of the first subjects offered and its long standing time, it seems to me odd that time would change it so. I could go on for days about the Oxford tutor system or the differences in how each college was set up, but instead I will simply say the University of Oxford was an experience I will never forget. I am lucky to have been able to travel in London for a month and do the things I did. The education system in London was one of the things I noticed most drastically contrasted the American education system, and for that I am grateful I had such an in-depth look at the different schools and the role religion played in them.
