Should Biblical History Be Taught In the Public Schools?
Stuart Nachbar
August 19, 2009
This week, USA Today Forum focused on the question of teaching about the historical development of the Bible and religion in the public schools.
My feeling is: why not, as long as a teacher does not promote a single interpretation of the Bible over others. Religious history and thought are already taught this way in colleges, including publicly supported schools. Biblical history study is not the same as Bible study in the church or synagogue.
But there are some questions:
Do school systems have the time to add another subject to their curriculum? Public schools have already increased the amount of time for test preparation under No Child Left Behind, and other subjects, notably the arts and physical education, have already suffered. Adding a subject could also mean a longer school day. Will teacher's unions go along?
Would a state government try to impose biblical history instruction as an unfunded mandate? Unfunded state mandates are quite unpopular with state school boards. They might be forced to make cuts in other programs to comply. All of a sudden, an idea that might be popular with parents will force school systems to make choices over other popular programs to cut.
Would state government take a dramatic step of mandating a text book, as the Alabama state Board of Education has done? Biblical history is a natural application for open source text books because an open source text could capture varied religious and historic viewpoints, and be cost effective for a public school system. The text approved by Alabama's board is produced by the Bible Literacy Project and relied on contributions from 42 scholars of various faiths. There have been no lawsuits over this book to date, but school systems would likely appreciate a choice of educational materials.
How much time is required to certify teachers? It is possible that social studies teachers could be certified to teach a biblical history course, but they will need time to study biblical history, too, if it had not been part of their academic instruction. Otherwise, a teacher is simply passing on information from a textbook, which is not the best way for students to learn. In addition, teachers need to learn how to grade assignments in a course like this, because interpretations among students are likely to be quite different. Teachers cannot be placed in the position of challenging what their students might be learning in church.
Can religious figures be brought in as guest speakers? I don't know the constitutional issues of bringing a minister, priest or rabbi in to discuss their faith in a secular classroom. And some large cities, New York being one example, have residents of so many religious faiths that it might not be possible to accommodate all of them.
How would a biblical history curriculum treat intelligent design and other challenges between science and religion. These challenges are part of religious history. Sometimes organized religion prevailed--the Scopes Trial is one example--and sometimes it did not. This information was part of the public news of the past, so why shouldn't it be part of history education, too?
I am sure there are other questions as well; this idea has been under consideration for some time. But parents and educators need proper time to think them through. Biblical history is, like sex education, a subject that cannot be taught in a biased or half-hearted manner.
Stuart Nachbar blogs on education and politics at www.EducatedQuest.com. His new novel, Defending College Heights, is about an investigation into the murder of a U.S. Army recruiter. Learn more at www.DefendingCollegeHeights.com
My feeling is: why not, as long as a teacher does not promote a single interpretation of the Bible over others. Religious history and thought are already taught this way in colleges, including publicly supported schools. Biblical history study is not the same as Bible study in the church or synagogue.
But there are some questions:
Do school systems have the time to add another subject to their curriculum? Public schools have already increased the amount of time for test preparation under No Child Left Behind, and other subjects, notably the arts and physical education, have already suffered. Adding a subject could also mean a longer school day. Will teacher's unions go along?
Would a state government try to impose biblical history instruction as an unfunded mandate? Unfunded state mandates are quite unpopular with state school boards. They might be forced to make cuts in other programs to comply. All of a sudden, an idea that might be popular with parents will force school systems to make choices over other popular programs to cut.
Would state government take a dramatic step of mandating a text book, as the Alabama state Board of Education has done? Biblical history is a natural application for open source text books because an open source text could capture varied religious and historic viewpoints, and be cost effective for a public school system. The text approved by Alabama's board is produced by the Bible Literacy Project and relied on contributions from 42 scholars of various faiths. There have been no lawsuits over this book to date, but school systems would likely appreciate a choice of educational materials.
How much time is required to certify teachers? It is possible that social studies teachers could be certified to teach a biblical history course, but they will need time to study biblical history, too, if it had not been part of their academic instruction. Otherwise, a teacher is simply passing on information from a textbook, which is not the best way for students to learn. In addition, teachers need to learn how to grade assignments in a course like this, because interpretations among students are likely to be quite different. Teachers cannot be placed in the position of challenging what their students might be learning in church.
Can religious figures be brought in as guest speakers? I don't know the constitutional issues of bringing a minister, priest or rabbi in to discuss their faith in a secular classroom. And some large cities, New York being one example, have residents of so many religious faiths that it might not be possible to accommodate all of them.
How would a biblical history curriculum treat intelligent design and other challenges between science and religion. These challenges are part of religious history. Sometimes organized religion prevailed--the Scopes Trial is one example--and sometimes it did not. This information was part of the public news of the past, so why shouldn't it be part of history education, too?
I am sure there are other questions as well; this idea has been under consideration for some time. But parents and educators need proper time to think them through. Biblical history is, like sex education, a subject that cannot be taught in a biased or half-hearted manner.
Stuart Nachbar blogs on education and politics at www.EducatedQuest.com. His new novel, Defending College Heights, is about an investigation into the murder of a U.S. Army recruiter. Learn more at www.DefendingCollegeHeights.com
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