RELIGION IN SCHOOLS

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19376, 14 July 1937, Page 15

RELIGION IN SCHOOLS

PROBLEM OF INSTRUCTION (10MMUNAL ATTITUDE SPIRIT OF HELPFULNESS (Pur Press Association.) AUCKLAND, this day. A wider view than was expected was taken to-day by Dr. William Boyd, the bead of the Department ot' Education, Glasgow University, in an Educational Fellowship address on religious education.

Dr. Boyd said that he did not agree with the Nelson system which was in New Zealand, the chief criticism being that it was the function of a teacher to teach and not someone outside. At the same time he thought that no coercive restraint should be exercised on teachers. If the teacher was not religious he should not teach. Otherwise he was insincere.

“Trust the schools,” he said, “and leave the job to them.” Dr. Boyd asked: “Are there teachers fit to give religious instruction, and if there are not it reflects on the church and is an indication that the church is in a bad way because the teacher is a reflection of the thought of the community. The church should set its house in order.”

Dr. Boyd said he realised the limitations of religious instruction, but said that religion included the implicit relationship of a communal attitude. The school was a community, and the community spirit of helpfulness was a part of He recognised that a school could not give worship and creed, but it could give three things—a sympathetic attitude towards religious life in the community, wide culture coming from Bible history and culture, and moral training. The churches stood for a high standard of morals against a general risk of moral degradation. “It is worth while having a conception of something big,” he said. “Morals and religion have always been connected and the school life and atmosphere can help to engender this relationship.”