Religion is yet another prism through which we view the world, and one that seems to be evolving each day. I was not raised with religion, never attended church, and was not educated about the Bible or any other religious texts until I attended college and was enrolled in a mandatory course about the New Testament. (Ironically, my lack of religious experience made me a better special education teacher – I could totally understand how my students were lost when it came to certain subjects in class.)
As such, I was extremely naïve when I became a teacher and realized just how much religion impacts a school culture. I taught high school in two rural districts, both of which had clubs for Christian athletes, allowed team prayer before sporting events, encouraged youth programs at area schools through daily announcements, and discouraged any extracurricular events on Wednesday evenings (a popular church attendance night).
My students didn’t have issues with the religion that was emphasized in the school setting, but I did. I was the only divorced member of the faculty at one school, and was literally the only one who didn’t attend a church in the town. I did my best to keep these facts under wraps … not because I felt ostracized, but because I literally didn’t want anyone to know that religion wasn’t important to me. I didn’t want anyone to think that the unimportance of religion would rub off on my students. I wanted to fit in, and just let everyone assume I attended church in the town in which I lived (35 miles away from the district).
I know I felt awkward at baccalaureate and graduation, when prayers and Bible verses were referenced, but I hope that feeling of not fitting in didn’t impact my teaching in the classroom. In fact, I like to think I learned a lot from my students in this aspect: the majority of them had been attending church their entire lives, and helped me understand the importance of faith and how it brings a community together.
My question for the class is: I know I was fortunate in that I didn’t have any negative experiences regarding religion in my classroom, but would like to know how others handled it in theirs.
Lucky you! As a teacher at Pekin Community High School, I venture to say that we are not the most diverse of institutions. Sadly, there is some hostility towards individuals who represent different religions, sexual orientations, races, and ethnicities. I have to be honest that I was fairly surprised to learn that I had a Jewish student in one of my classes. I was fairly alarmed as to what would happen when he began wearing his Yamaka to school. I thought for sure something would erupt. Sure enough, comments were made. I quickly realized that they were being made out of ignorance, that is, not knowing. So, I asked that Sam explain to the students the general foundations of his faith, what makes them different from other religions, and why he wears the Yamaka. The students were completely enthralled by his explanation and began to ask him questions to learn more. It was a beautiful experience and while I don't know if it would happen every time in this situation, this strategy for dealing with religious diversity worked this day.
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