Answer

Abstract

            Religion and education have been significantly related for a long period of time. In fact, early research indicates that education was as a result of religion in the early believers, who wanted to impact certain knowledge and virtues to their children. However, this relationship has been severely bruised as education is significantly dissociated with religion in the modern world – with some critiquing denominational and religious education. This paper is focused on analyzing the effects and consequences of religion on education at large. A review of several peer reviewed articles show that religion played a major part in pioneering education and even science. Moreover, religion is perceived as a basis for mediating attitudes among several individuals and ensuring unity among educators and educationists. This paper has acknowledged positive effects of religion including ensuring morality and common agreement within the education system. Religion also plays a significant role in ensuring good performance among students The paper also indicates the challenges faced in making this research while also providing recommendations on the same.

Table of Contents

Abstract 1

1.0 Introduction and Background. 3

1.1 Research Question. 4

1.2 Search Plan and Relevant Sources. 4

1.3 Project Timeline. 5

2.0 Literature Review.. 5

2.1 Science and Religion. 5

2.2 Religion and Higher Education. 6

2.3 Religion and Education as Mediators of Attitudes. 7

2.4 Religious education. 8

3.0 Analysis. 9

4.0 Conclusion. 10

5.0 References. 12

The Effects and Consequences of Religion on Education

1.0 Introduction and Background

The relationship between religion and education is not new. Historically, religious practices are attributed to the emergency of education. Ideally, religious formations such as churches focused on teaching their members – especially young ones – about the morals and virtues to adopt as guided by their beliefs. The practice was extended to incorporate other life skills thereby giving rise to the idea of education. However, in modern times, religion and education have become two distinct concepts with each progressing independently. Whereas religion is personal and focuses on spiritual matters, education is universal and its focus is on the development of skills and knowledge that life positively. However, the independence of education from religion is not distinct as religion continues to affect it leading to both positive and negative consequences. Primarily, access to education in contemporary settings especially in developing nations utilizes structures developed by religious formations. Mostly, many of educational bases were developed by religious formations as a means of promoting faith and learning. For example, in Europe as well as the Middle East, Christian monks built libraries long before the establishment of the printing press. With time, these monasteries transformed into modern day universities.

Principally, religion affect’s learner’s attitude towards education as it focuses on encouraging people to adopt better life practices. Currently, education is one of the important pillars or pathway to obtaining a better life. Moreover, through education, people can have a better understanding of religion and even help to educate others. Therefore, religion encourages and inspires people to learn for both their personal enhancement as well as for spiritual growth. Religion can also affect education based on the underlying cultural doctrines and norms. In this regard, the effect is evaluated by analyzing the subject taught in schools and the emphasis it places on secular education as compared to knowledge. Primarily, the influences of religion on education are many. They are often positive. However sometimes, the impacts cause negative consequences such as unequal educational opportunities in some other religions. For the same reason, this paper seeks to highlight and evaluate the effects of religion on education. Primarily, the impacts will comprise education’s role in promoting education and possible limitations to knowledge and educational development caused by religion.

1.1 Research Question

            The chief focus of this research paper was religion and how it affects education in the world today. Therefore, this research only focused on one specific research question: What are the effects and consequences of the religion on education?

1.2 Search Plan and Relevant Sources

            As the research deepens, more precise references on specific influences of religion on education will be sought to help in writing an accurate, well-rounded research paper. Based on the historical and popularity nature of the topic, primary sources will comprise historical books and reliable articles.

Primary data will come from the sources in the bibliography and other scholarly, peer-reviewed journals found on reliable databases such as ProQuest. For books that are not popular and expensive, the statewide library search engines will help in providing their copies. Central to the analysis of the subject will be getting a reliable translator since religion is a worldwide concept that operates in many languages. Moreover, some formations such as Islam use Arabic characters, which might be challenging to understand if one has limited comprehension of the Arabic language.

1.3 Project Timeline

            My target is to have the first draft of the research project completed by 29^th April 2019 before the due date. Therefore, in order to achieve this goal, I plan to continue with my research focused on identifying and acquiring sources about the topic. Initially, books and journals will be used to provide data for the research. Consequently, I should be able to write the outline of the paper by 19 April 2019. Therefore, the days between 20^st May and 27^th May 2018 will be used to write the first draft based on the available data and outline.

From 27 May 2019 onwards, I will focus on revising and analyzing the first draft for any errors, mistakes, omissions, and other vital corrections. The changes will help in making the paper to be more specific regarding the effect and consequences of the religion on education. After that, I plan to have my second draft ready by 5^th May 2019 to be ready for individual conferences. Since the second draft will be only one step away from submission, I plan to optimize the paper’s coverage by correcting any possible issues, which will enable me to have the final research paper ready by 15^th May 2019.

2.0 Literature Review

2.1 Science and Religion

            Peter Harrison, a religious studies professor at Bond University, states that until the concept of the relationship between science and religion came to the limelight of scientific and nature scholars, students of nature thought that they were studying natural philosophy. Harrison presumes that his audience of religious and nature students are aware of modern developments in the interplay of religion and science that has taken different meanings since the seventeenth century. He further asserts that today’s belief that religions, unlike sciences, are distinguished by sets of practices, beliefs and ideologies is a result of modern-day European Enlightenment. Harrison concludes his article by looking at some of the historical circumstances that influenced the emergence of the rift between science and religion. As such, he highlights the relevance of different historical conditions to contemporary discourses surrounding the relationship between science and religion.

Harrison’s article sought to explore the historical circumstances and perspectives that contributed to the development of the “dual categories of science and religion” we see today (Harrison 23). The article is valid, authentic and authoritative as it was written by an experienced professor in the field or religious studies and published by Cambridge University Press. The author, however, used secondary research to inform his research findings and conclusion, which means that the findings might reflect the errors and biases in consulted research studies. Additionally, Harrison fails to highlight potential limitations of the study and their implications on future research studies. Despite these shortcomings, however, the article is quite helpful to my understanding of the relationship between religion and science. As a result, I believe it will contribute significantly to my research study on the effects of religion on education and their consequences.

2.2 Religion and Higher Education

            On the other hand, Mayrl and Oeur – authors and contributors of the Journal for the Scientific Study of religion – contend that, contrary to traditional belief, college students are more engaged in and concerned with religious matters (p.260). Despite this high religious engagement, however, the authors establish that it does not necessarily contribute to apostacy among most students, but it was found to offer beneficial effects of student outcomes academic achievements. Mayrl and Oeur seem to target an audience of students pursuing higher education when they try to associate religious engagement with positive student outcomes. They conclude by noting that there is need for further research in the future to explore and expand the current understanding of the interplay of religion and higher education.

The aim of Mayrl and Oeur’ 260-275) “Religion and Higher Education”, was to examine the existing relationship between religion and higher education, and the need for more research to better understand the relationship. The article has higher authenticity, currency, and authority because it was written two authors who are also sociology professors in the University of California. However, the study draws largely from existing social scientific studies, and like other secondary research studies, its findings might be influenced by unintentional bias. Since the authors understand how broad and deeper the relationship between religion and higher education, they concluded by proposing new directions for future research that can offer the potential to develop better insight of the relationship (Mayrl and Oeur 275). Evidently, this article is useful for underpinning my research study on education and religion, and also my research focuses on the relationship between religion and higher education. Notably, it uncovers how religious engagement can promote student outcomes and apostacy: a relationship that I think will be key to my understanding of the effects of religion on education and the consequences of such effects.

2.3 Religion and Education as Mediators of Attitudes

Moreover, Truett, Eaves, Meyer, Heath and Martin – contributing authors of the Behavior Genetics Journal – found out that education, church attendance and social attitudes are correlated (p. 43). The authors assume that readers are aware of other factors in the shared social environment such as one’s upbringing that social attitudes. Thus, one of the controversies surrounding effects of religion and education on social attitudes concerns whether the attitudes are informed by a shared socio-cultural environment, or are “genetic consequences of phenotypic assortative mating for church attendance and educational attainment” (Truett et al. 43). Authors conclude that social attitudes are shaped by both church attendance, education, shared socio-cultural environment and family resemblance in attitudes.

Truett et al. (p. 43) sought to investigate how religion, education and other factors in the social environment mediate social attitudes. Since the researchers wanted to base their findings on first hand information, they conducted primary research in which they examined a sample of “3810 twin pairs from the Australian National Health and Medical Research Twin Registry” to investigate transmission of social attitudes. This sample size was big enough to provide more informed and conclusive findings regarding the influence of education and religion in mediating social attitudes and behavior. Additionally, the article was written by five authors from the departments of Human Genetics and Psychiatry in the Medical College of Virginia and the Washington University, respectively, which means it is has higher authority and accuracy. However, one of the major limitations of the article concerns its relevance. Particularly, the article was written and published about 26 years ago (1992), and thus may not reflect some of the contemporary social attitudes and how they are shaped by religion and education. Despite this limitation, the article still meets my expectation and I believe it will be worthwhile to my understanding of the interplay of education and religion, and how the two influence one’s social attitudes, behaviors and actions. It will also help me in answering my research question in a very detailed manner and in conducting further research on the particular topic. In addition, it will add to the credibility of my work because a credible source provides you authentic information

2.4 Religious education

            Several scholars have debated over the controversial topic of whether religious education should be made part of state school curriculum. Franken and Loobuyck (2011) – in their article titled ‘Religious Education in a Plural, Secularized Society. A Paradigm Shift’ – discussed the same by stating that the role of religion has not disappeared in our societies as it still has a relevance and influence on the individuals both in the cultural and political arena of the society (p. 117). However, there exists a confusion in the context of state education and international relations.  While some of the people advocate a comeback of religion in the public policy, the others stress on a reverse on the same. By drawing attention to the critical role of religion after 9/11, the researchers stress on the fact that religion can be force for good but for evil also. Therefore, the good elements of traditional secularism must not be lost. A religious neutrality in the religious education of schools only can lead to creation of a harmonious society where both the religious and non-religious citizens can live together in a reasonable harmony within the boundaries of law.

3.0 Analysis

In as much as the world today view religion as incompatible to education, and that religious belief is backwards and often contrary to education – research strongly suggest that education was a result of religion. First, it is clear that religion has more positive effects on education that it has negative ones. As has been explicated, college students – who are more engaged with religious issues – have better academic achievements. Therefore, religion is frequently associated with positive student outcome – thus aiding in the betterment of modern higher education.

Moreover, religion is associated with ensuring a freedom of conscience as well as good practice among students. As Gareth (2014) explicates, religious education plays an important role in providing a place in a student’s mind to make consciously free decisions and to belong to a group of individuals within the society. Moreover, religion is practically linked to good behavior and morals. This is not only effective in ensuring a good communal relationship but also developing disciplined behavior in schools – this ensures a better and a more productive educational system.

What is more, religion ensures that there is no conflict on certain issues within the school schedule. Religion has effectively ensured that a common day is universally set for holiday within the school as well as many other sections in the society. For instance, Noah (2007) argues that a common day to shut the government activities as well as other school activities was chosen to be a Sunday due to the commonality of the observance of Sunday Sabbath in the whole country. Therefore, religion helps in ensuring a smooth and a commonly agreed upon schedule of work around the school.

However, religion can also be associated with conflicts within the education setting in various ways. Sometimes, religion has been the reason for violent environments and unrest even within schools. As Ali (2009) noted, some religion practices – especially Islamic practices – are associated with conflict and conformity, affecting other sectors of the society including education. These unrests caused by religious differences among various individuals deter several aspects of education and can even lead to rebellion of students within the school.

4.0 Conclusion

            In conclusion, it is evident that religious practices go hand in hand with education. As various early philosophies explicate, education arose mainly from religious practices among various believers. However, the contemporary world tend to outlook on the importance as well as effects of religion in education. This paper has thus researched on the effects and consequences that religion play in education at large. A literature review on the research on the same issue was conducted – which indicated that religion and education have a history that stretches a long period. Moreover, research indicates that religion plays a major importance in ensuring the success of education at large. However, there are negative effects associated with religion – including conflict and rebellion – as explicated in the text.

The primary challenge encountered in this research was ensuring that all vital information and assessment of all religion is obtained properly without focusing more on one area at the expense of the other. The second concern was to ensure that all sources used are reliable. Primarily, there are many references, especially on the internet that may contain vital research information, but they may not be peer-reviewed or scholarly. Lastly, meeting the estimated timelines could also be a challenge because of the diverse nature of the topic. Further research on the negative effects of religion ought to be conducted for a more conclusive analysis of the same issue.