Teaching social skills

This week the teaching of religious education (RE) has been pulled into the spotlight and found wanting.  One of the points made has been that RE promotes social cohesion and also respect and empathy. I find this somewhat hard to believe, in its literal sense.

As I understand it, modern RE is about exposing children to all of the available religions.  In practice I doubt it has quite that coverage, but the intent is to give a sense of diversity. I am fairly certain this is done with some compassion and that there is no attempt to discuss the kinds of reasoning associated with more academic analyses. Perhaps there is some movement toward trying to see religious beliefs as those which can, at times, act to coordinate society.

The trouble is, religious beliefs also badge individuals and can be used to promote extremely divisive views that lead to segregation and conflict. There is no need for examples, this is well known.  But what this demonstrates is that religion per se is not capable of creating a social idyll, and exposure at school to many religions will not constitute a mechanism for peace.

Social cohesion is the product of aligned strategic interests.  Respect is a contract that can enable social cohesion, and like all contracts it is based on exchange and evaluation. Empathy is a psychological concept that captures an ability to sense another's sensations and may facilitate contractual and strategic interactions.  Moreover, there are a variety of kinds of social cohesion, from enforced to mutually agreed and a number of different uses to which empathy can be put.

At root religious belief is a set of concepts about how the world works, usually married to a set of views about how it ought to be.  And as religions emerge within different groups, with different goals, the content of religions differ and will clash at times.  I think that meeting people from different backgrounds is likely to be useful, and so an education around differing views could possibly also be important.  Such things cause one to stop and reevaluate.  But, the only way to increase social cohesion is through shared goals, and respect will emerge as cooperation is increased.  Those high on empathy may well be able to grease the wheels of such social contracts better than others, as they may sense upcoming obstacles to understanding.

Given all of this, and the clear objectives of those trying to improve RE teaching, it strikes me that a far better way of cementing social bonds would be to clearly present the real problems we share with all others on this planet. Those problems are sustainable energy, climate change, food security and a critical loss of biodiversity - all of which are inextricably linked to one another.

These problems could be themed through science, arts and humanities education at all levels.  Science education should encompass economics, engineering and the behavioural sciences, as well as the usual biology, chemistry and physics. And instead of RE we should be teaching political ecology - a new discipline that understands social processes in the context of ecology and its impact upon ecology.  In this way our children will learn about the responsibilities of custodianship and how vested interests need to be managed for a common good.

So, I am glad Ofsted has criticized RE teaching in the UK.  I look forward to seeing it sensibly replaced with a socially responsible curriculum...