What is a controversial issue? Implications for the treatment of religious beliefs in education

Abstract

Abstract An important debate in the literature on controversial issues concerns how to identify them. This matters for teachers because settled issues should be taught directively and controversial issues should be taught nondirectively. Teachers are professionally accountable for this decision. This article examines the contribution of Michael Hand to the debate with particular reference to religious beliefs. Hand criticises the behavioural and political criteria for their lack of attention to reason-giving and champions the epistemic criterion. Hand applies the epistemic criterion to reasoning in moral debate that relies on scriptural authority, which he argues is inadmissible because such reliance is unreasonable. The article argues that this reveals the weaknesses of the epistemic criterion because of over-reliance on the decisiveness of reason and failure to attend to the need for fairness. The diversity criterion is proposed as an alternative and the attitudes and dispositions that follow from it are described. Keywords: controversial issuesepistemic criterionMichael Handfairnessfaithrationality Notes 1. For example, in Australia in 2002 a federal programme of values education based around the promotion of distinctively Australian values was launched (http://www.curriculum.edu.au/values/values_homepage,8655.html). In 2007 the Organization for Co-operation and Security in Europe (OCSE) funded the development of the Toledo Principles for teaching about religions and beliefs in public schools. In 2009 in Britain the REsilience programme was launched with a view to building the confidence of Religious Education teachers in handling the contentious issues that arise from religiously inspired violent extremism (http://www.re-silience.org.uk/index.php/en/what-is-resilience). 2. See the RE Council for England and Wales Code of Practice for an example (http://www.religiouseducationcouncil.org/content/blogcategory/50/80/). 3. The word creationism here describes the position which asserts that God created the world literally as described in Genesis. The views of AC Grayling are an example of such a concern. See his pod cast at http://www.richarddawkins.net/videos/4890. 4. See http://curriculum.qcda.gov.uk/uploads/Statement-of-values_tcm8-12166.pdf. 5. See http://royalsociety.org/News.aspx?id=1153&terms=Michael+Reiss for the official statement. 6. See http://richarddawkins.net/articles/3119-letter-from-sir-richard-roberts-asking-reiss-to-step-down for correspondence and comment. 7. See also Hand (2003b) and Hand and White (Citation2004) for other articles in which Hand argues that religious faith can be rational. 8. This resonates with my own suggestion that teachers should distinguish between public secured truth and public controversial truth (Cooling Citation2007). 9. See also Christopher Wright (Citation2005) for another narrative based approach to biblical authority 10. The critical realist approach to religious education developed by Andrew Wright (Citation2007) is an example of an approach drawing on a post-secular view. 11. A dramatic example of how someone can change their judgement is that of the philosopher Anthony Flew who took a secular view of religion for most of his life and then dramatically changed his position (Flew and Varghese Citation2008). 12. http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/understandingthecurriculum/whatiscurriculumforexcellence/thepurposeofthecurriculum/index.asp. 13. It has to be accepted, though, that there may come a point when such restraint can no longer be justified, at which point someone ceases to be able to participate willingly in the system and has to campaign against it. That is why society should always pursue negotiation with different faith groups and should never take restraint for granted, as majorities tend to in their relationships with minorities.