DOCSLIB.ORG

Homeschooling, Freedom of Conscience, and the School As Republican Sanctuary

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Homeschooling, Freedom of Conscience, and the School As Republican Sanctuary View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by PhilPapers Homeschooling, freedom of conscience, and the school as republican sanctuary: An analysis of arguments repre- senting polar conceptions of the secular state and reli- gious neutrality P. J. Oh Master’s Thesis in Educational Leadership Fall Term 2016 Department of Education University of Jyväskylä 2 ABSTRACT Oh, Paul. 2016. Homeschooling, freedom of conscience, and the school as re- publican sanctuary: An analysis of arguments representing polar conceptions of the secular state and religious neutrality. Master's Thesis in Educational Leadership. University of Jyväskylä. Department of Education. This paper examines how stances and understandings pertaining to whether home education is civically legitimate within liberal democratic contexts can depend on how one conceives normative roles of the secular state and the religious neutrality that is commonly associated with it. For the purposes of this paper, home education is understood as a manifestation of an educational phi- losophy ideologically based on a given conception of the good. Two polar conceptions of secularism, republican and liberal-pluralist, are ex- plored. Republican secularists declare that religious expressions do not belong in the public sphere and justify this exclusion by promoting religious neutrality as an end in itself. But liberal-pluralists claim that religious neutrality is only the means to ensure protection of freedom of conscience and religion, which are moral principles. Each conception is associated with its own stance on whether exemptions or accommodations on account of religious beliefs have special legal standing and thereby warranted. The indeterminate nature of religion and alleg- edly biased exclusion of secular beliefs, cited by some when denying religious exemptions, can be overcome by understanding all religious and conscientious beliefs as having equal standing as conceptions of the good. Analysis of court documents from the Uwe Romeike et al asylum case are guided by these understandings, and relationships among themes are explored. In summary, any stance regarding home education may depend on one’s view of secularism, particularly in relation to whether one views religious neu- trality as a means to ensure protection of freedom of conscience or an end in itself. Keywords: homeschooling, education policy, freedom of conscience, value plu- ralism, diversity, secularism, human rights, nation-building 3 CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................. 6 2 BACKGROUND AND SIGNIFICANCE ....................................................... 13 2.1 Home education as a social movement.....................................................14 2.2 Significance, particularly for educational leaders .................................. 16 2.3 Some objections to the parental right to direct their children’s educa- tion..................................................................................................................23 2.4 Background on the home education situation in Germany...................27 2.5 Reasoning behind home education .......................................................... 29 2.5.1 Ideological consideration 1: Home education as a form of civil disobedience ................................................................................................ 33 2.5.2 Ideological consideration 2: Home education as value-rational action............................................................................................................. 33 2.6 Summary of key points in this section ..................................................... 34 3 SECULARISM: ESSENTIAL COMPONENTS AND VARIATIONS ...... 37 3.1 Moral pluralism as an essential component of liberal democratic socie- ties...................................................................................................................41 3.2 Protection of freedom of conscience is an essential characteristic of sec- ularism .......................................................................................................... 43 3.3 What religious liberty is (and what it is not)........................................... 45 3.3 Secularism comes in two “tensile strengths” .......................................... 47 3.4 Summary of key points in this section ..................................................... 52 4 RELIGIOUS EXEMPTIONS AND ACCOMMODATIONS ...................... 54 4.1 Accommodations compensate and correct for unintended biases of general norms ..............................................................................................54 4.2 Opposition to the accommodations and exemptions based on religious beliefs ............................................................................................................55 4.3 The significance of the impact of religious beliefs on one’s moral iden- tity .................................................................................................................57 4.4 Are religious beliefs worthy of special consideration? .........................58 4.5 Summary of key points in this section......................................................60 5 SUBJECTS AND FRAMEWORKS OF ANALYSES ..................................... 61 5.1 The Research Topic/Subject and Approach/The Context of the Study ..................................................................................................................63 5.2 Research Methods ....................................................................................... 64 5.2.1 Documents analysed ........................................................................ 65 5.2.2 Provenance of documents ................................................................ 67 5.3 Data Analysis ............................................................................................... 67 5.4 Reliability of the study ............................................................................... 74 4 5.5 Ethical considerations ................................................................................. 76 6 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ......................................................................77 6.1 Analyses 1-9 ................................................................................................. 77 6.1.1 Analysis 1: Themes pertaining to conceptions of the good....... 77 6.1.2 Analysis 2: Themes constituting reasons of conscience or religion ..................................................................................................................78 6.1.3 Analysis 3: Themes pertaining to moral identity ....................... 80 6.1.4 Analysis 4: Themes constituting value-rational action .............. 80 6.1.5 Analysis 5: Themes related to civil disobedience ....................... 81 6.1.6 Analysis 6: Themes related to conceptions of secularism ......... 82 6.1.7 Analysis 7: Themes pertaining to justifications for state policies and actions pertaining to home education .............................................. 86 6.1.8 Analysis 8: Themes related to appeals to ideals of tolerance, pluralism and civic integration ................................................................. 90 6.1.9 Analysis 9: Does the state see itself as having a perfectionist or protectionist role? ........................................................................................ 91 6.2 Summary of key findings and discussion ............................................... 93 6.3 Generalisability and limitations ................................................................ 96 6.4 Applicability of research results ............................................................... 98 7 CONCLUDING REMARKS ............................................................................100 7.1 Religion versus moral identity ................................................................ 102 7.1.1 The distinction between religion and moral identity, and an analogy to illustrate. ................................................................................. 103 7.1.2 Each person is an autonomous moral agent capable of formulat- ing religious beliefs apart from religious institutions.......................... 106 7.2 The essential role of dialogue in ethical leadership ............................. 107 7.3 Are some “republican” secularists exploiting the indeterminate dis- tinction between public and private spheres? ...................................... 109 7.4 Does the hierarchy of the republican sanctuary want to give us new guardians? Do they want to be our guardians? ...................................111 7.5 Secularism is itself religious, some say...................................................113 7.6 Tolerance, pluralism, and integration on whose and what (under- standing of the) terms?....... ...................................................................... 114 7.7 A summary of the aims, rationale and concepts explored in this pa- per....... ......................................................................................................... 122 7.8 Challenges for further research ............................................................... 125 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................130 APPENDIX A: Descriptions of the court documents..........................................141
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Btcagz J. A. Lagos, Parental Education Rights in the United States And
    PONTIFICIA UNIVERSITAS SANCTÆ CRUCIS FACULTAS IURIS CANONICI Julio Alberto Lagos PARENTAL EDUCATION RIGHTS IN THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA: HOMESCHOOLING AND ITS LEGAL PROTECTION Doctoral Thesis in Canon Law directed by: José Tomás Martín de Agar ROMÆ 2011 btcagz btcagz TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS .............................................................. I INTRODUCTION ...................................................................... 1 CHAPTER I. THE BASIS OF PARENTAL EDUCATION RIGHTS .......... 9 1. International Human Rights Instruments ............. 10 Introduction .....................................................................................10 1.1. Universal Declaration of Human Rights ................................. 14 1.2. American Convention on Human Rights ................................ 16 1.3. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ............. 17 1.4. International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights ......................................................................... 19 1.5. Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief ........................................................................................ 24 1.6. Convention on the Rights of the Child ................................... 25 Conclusions ..................................................................................... 26 2. Magisterial Documents and the Code of Canon Law of 1983 .........................................................
    [Show full text]
  • BCES Conference Books, 2018, Volume 16
    Education in Modern Society 177 BCES Conference Books, 2018, Volume 16. Sofia: Bulgarian Comparative Education Society ISSN 1314-4693 (print), ISSN 2534-8426 (online), ISBN 978-619-7326-02-4 (print), ISBN 978-619-7326-03-1 (online) Zoltán Rónay Centralizations and Autonomies: The Delimitation of Education by the Hungarian Government Abstract Hungary is on the road towards an illiberal state. On this journey, the Hungarian government, with the Parliament at its service, is reinterpreting the concept of fundamental rights. Under the slogan of effectiveness, new regulations are being adopted which secure more power, influence, rights, and tools for the state. This paper aims to present this trend from the perspective of education. I will present the most important new legal institutions, the chancellery, and consistory, as well as the constitutional right of the government to regulate by decree the operational and financial matters of HEIs, the central direction of schools, and the ministerial approval of pedagogical programs. Keywords: autonomy of higher education institutes, freedom of teaching, scientific freedom, self-governance, direct government control, illiberal state Introduction In spring of this year, a general election will be held in Hungary. After the previous three elections, the regulation of public and higher education was significantly modified. The oldest modifications were also related to autonomy, but the last two modifications, as well as the two new education acts (Act CCIV of 2011 on National Higher Education and Act CXC of 2011 on National Public Education), reduced the autonomy and self-governance of state educational organizations in Hungary. Most EU member states’ constitutions declare the autonomy of HEIs but do not provide as much of a constitutional framework for the operation of public education institutions.
    [Show full text]
  • On Nozick Edward Feser Toronto: Thomson Wadsworth, 2004 (98 Pages)
    Philosophy, History, and Methodology of Economics the antebellum South never built up any social capital—the natural and good fruit of civil society—but remained a Hobbesian world “held together by violence, coercion and force.” This is the violent world that Andrew Jackson understood and that he shared with the rest of the nation as president. When those organizations broke down, however, or were silenced by a patriarchal president, the civil space for “ritualized combat” collapsed, and real combat followed. Organizationally, McCarthy makes this point by following her chapter on Jackson with a chapter on the widespread civic unrest America experienced during and after his presidency. Her argument, again, is clear and well-substantiated: Once Americans had lost hope that their government would even listen to their peaceful protests in the vol- untary sphere—lost their faith in the American creed, in other words—they were forced to seek their ends through violent means. John Brown’s murderous rampages in Kansas and Harper’s Ferry—both of which received financial and moral support from wealthy East-Coast allies—are perfect examples of what frustrated abolitionists had to do to make their voices heard. In conclusion, McCarthy draws a distinction between what she calls “government” and “governance.” The former is the mechanism of political power that, depending on the people holding that power, may or may not respond to the interests of its citizens. The latter is a social ethos: a widespread faith that citizens can influence politics through institutions of their own making. Traditionally, scholars of American democ- racy have looked only at government and the supposedly growing power of the enfran- chised.
    [Show full text]
  • Economic and Social Council
    UNITED E NATIONS Economic and Social Distr. Council GENERAL E/CN.4/Sub.2/2005/19 16 June 2005 Original: ENGLISH COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights Fifty-seventh session Item 4 of the provisional agenda ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS Non-discrimination as enshrined in article 2, paragraph 2, of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Preliminary report submitted by the Special Rapporteur, Marc Bossuyt Summary In its resolution 2004/5, the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights appointed Marc Bossuyt as Special Rapporteur to undertake a study on non-discrimination as enshrined in article 2, paragraph 2, of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, based on the working paper prepared by Emmanuel Decaux (E/CN.4/Sub.2/2004/24), on the comments received and the discussions held at the fifty-sixth session of the Sub-Commission. The present preliminary report is limited to a review of some academic writings on the nature of economic, social and cultural rights. In the academic literature, a distinction has been made between rights that require the State to abstain from certain action and those that require the State to intervene actively. The report notes that the mechanisms for implementation of these different rights and obligations are generally different. The report emphasizes that both categories of rights are equally important and urgent and that non-respect of any right has a detrimental affect on other rights. The rights contained in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, such as the right to education and freedom of education, contain elements of both sets of rights.
    [Show full text]
  • Academic Freedom: a Bibliography
    ACADEMIC FREEDOM: A BIBLIOGRAPHY JANET SINDER* Academic freedom is a subject with many facets: academic freedom of public and private school teachers, of university professors, of universities themselves, and of students. In this bibliography, I have concentrated on articles about academic freedom at a post-secondary level. There are some articles concerning the academic freedom of universities, but most deal with professors. Because this issue celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of the 1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure, I have examined publications only from 1940 to the present. The books included are those that focus mainly on academic freedom, rather than those with only a small section on that topic. The articles deal with the legal aspects of academic freedom, and almost all are from legal periodicals.' All materials are in English and concern academic freedom issues in the United States. Within the criteria stated above, I have tried to be comprehensive in my search for materials. I have searched both through the legal journal indexes and through the footnotes of the articles themselves. Omitted entirely are articles about specific challenges to academic freedom reported on in the journal of the American Association of University Professors, at different times called Academe and the AA UP Bulletin. The association has devoted much space to particular academic freedom cases, and anyone interested in these reports need only look at individual issues of the journal. American Association of University Professors. Policy Documents & Reports. Washington, D.C.: The Association, 1990. Annarelli, James John. Academic Freedom and Catholic Higher Education. New York: Greenwood Press, 1987.
    [Show full text]
  • Separation of Church and State: the First Freedom
    SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE: THE FIRST FREEDOM MToN R. KoNVrTZ* Despite the notable decisions of the United States Supreme Court in the Everson case' in 1947 and the McCollum cases in 1948, strengthening the wall of separation between church and state, efforts are being made to win public aid for sectarian institutions. Instances are several bills3 in Congress which would provide reimburse- ment to parochial schools up to 6o per cent of their annual expenses for necessary transportation of pupils, purchase of nonreligious instructional supplies and equip- ment, including books, and for other purposes. There are signs, on the other hand, that aggression against the principle of separa- tion is being met by persons and institutions that are fully cognizant of the sig- nificance of the imminent dangers. Instances of the defense of separation are the 4 suits to nullify a New York State housing grant of $128,000 to a Catholic college, and to outlaw the released-time program in the State of New York." Of special in- terest in this connection was the refusal of the United States Senate on April 7, 1948, to enact S. 1557, a bill to incorporate the Catholic War Veterans of the United States." Although the newspapers neglected to report the action of the Senate7 or the debate on the bill,8 some of the points made in the argument show that the defenders of the principle of separation are alive to the threats. American civilization and American public education are being charged with a newly created crime-namely, "secularism." Typical of this line of attack is the *B.S.
    [Show full text]
  • What Is Or Should Be the Role of Religiously Informed Moral Viewpoints in Public Discourse (Especially Where Hotly Contested Issues Are Concerned)?
    Universal Rights in a World of Diversity. The Case of Religious Freedom Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, Acta 17, 2012 www.pass.va/content/dam/scienzesociali/pdf/acta17/acta17-possenti.pdf What is or should be the role of religiously informed moral viewpoints in public discourse (especially where hotly contested issues are concerned)? Vittorio Possenti 1. The title of my speech was suggested by the organizers and I gladly accepted: it refers to the religiously informed moral viewpoints in public discourse and to the hotly contested issues. Among them there are not only the problems concerning religious freedom, but several other questions of the same level of importance. For each of these, the problem is what should be the role played by a religious public opinion. I begin with an assumption which represents the background of the paper, that is to go beyond the liberal-individualistic interpretation of rights, moving towards a postliberal society and finding ‘personalistic’ arguments to understand the framework of rights, including religious freedom and the right to life. Two assumptions are part of the view set out: democracy should abandon the temptation to speak in a purely aggregative form, namely in the form that R. Dworkin has vividly described as ‘statistical democracy’;1 and public debate, necessary to a genuine process of deliberation, should reject the primacy of individual preferences and opinions, accepting the premise that people can change their minds during public discussion. De- liberation is a method to change our minds through reason. It is typical of the resolution to transform opinions into rational or reasonable arguments, so as to reach a common way of thinking.
    [Show full text]
  • Online Games Gamble with Children's Data
    Report on GameTech ONLINE GAMES GAMBLE WITH CHILDREN’S DATA Published by the Danish Society of Engineers’ Working Group on Ethics and Technology & DataEthics.eu Report on GameTech Contents 1. Background 4 1.1. Definition of gaming 5 1.2. Children’s rights, the GDPR and data ethics 5 1.3. Danish children and gaming 7 2. Digital games and use of data 8 2.1. Microtargeting 8 2.2. Business models 9 2.3. The ecosystem 10 2.3.1. Game development companies 10 2.3.2. The game engine 12 2.3.3. Gaming devices 13 2.3.4. Actors in advertising 14 2.4. Lack of transparency 14 3. Advertising and manipulation 15 3.1. Persuasive game design 15 3.2. Advertising 15 4. Three popular games 18 4.1 Gaming services disclaim responsibility 18 4.2. Fortnite 19 4.3. Subway Surfers 20 4.4. Candy Crush Saga 21 5. Conclusion and recommendations 22 5.1. Conclusion 22 5.1. Recommendations 23 5.2. Particularly for parents 24 Annex 1 25 Questions to the Danish Data Protection Agency 25 Endnotes 28 3 ”The way mobile games collect information about their users, and the details of what type of information they’re collecting, remains incredible opaque (…) The fact that it’s all so confusing is kind of the point, obviously. As a result, mobile games have escaped the level of scrutiny we’ve applied to social media companies, despite be- ing – as category – nearly equally popular and far more likely to be used by children”. Kaitlyn Tiffany, journalist covering technology and internet culture for Vox Magazine, May 2019 1.
    [Show full text]
  • The Many Faces of the Right to Education the MANY FACES of the RIGHT to EDUCATION
    12 The Many Faces of the Right to Education THE MANY FACES OF THE RIGHT TO EDUCATION * YORAMYORAM RABIN RABIN I think by far the most important bill in our whole code is that for the diffusion of knowledge among the people. No other sure foundation can be devised for the preservation of freedom and happiness… preach, my dear sir, a crusade against ignorance; establish and improve the law for educating the common people.1 I INTRODUCTION: THE RIGHT TO EDUCATION IN COMPARISON WITH OTHER SOCIAL RIGHTS n this chapter we deconstruct the constitutional right to education into its various components in order to discuss its character and the Iproblematics related to its application. We do so for the purpose of delineating the dilemmas associated with the realisation of this right. Some of those dilemmas are rooted in the right’s definition as a social right while others flow from unique issues related to the right per se; the latter issues are thus dissociated from the conceptual issues surrounding social rights as a distinct, inclusive category. We likewise stress the specific reasons that justify the protection granted to the right to education in many constitu- tional documents. Prior to formulating a model capable of contributing to our under- standing of the nature of the right to education, we begin by elaborating several of the characteristics that differentiate education from other socio-economic rights. First, contrary to some other welfare rights such as the right to social security, it is impossible to isolate the issue of funding * The author would like to thank Daphne Barak-Erez, Aeyal Gross, Yuval Shany, Liav Orgad and Shimrit Shahaf for their comments and assistance.
    [Show full text]
  • Exploring the Normative Content of the Right to Education As a Human Right: Recent Approaches*
    EXPLORING THE NORMATIVE CONTENT OF THE RIGHT TO EDUCATION AS A HUMAN RIGHT: RECENT APPROACHES* F ons Coomans 1. INTRODUCTION Although the right to education is little known as a human right, it has a solid basis in the intemationallaw on human rights. It has been laid down in several universal and regional human rights instruments. Examples are the Universal Dec1aration on Human Rights (Art. 26), the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (Art. 2 of the First Protocol), the UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in Education and the Intemational Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (lCESCR) (Artic1es 13 and 14)1. Over the years, a number * This artiele is a revised and concentrated version of Fons COOMANS, "In Search of the Core Content of the Right to Education", in: A. CHAPMAN & S. RUSSELL (eds.), Core Obligations: Building a Framework Jor Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Antwerp, Intersentia, 2002, pp. 217-246. 1. See also, the Intemational Convention on the Elimination of AH Forms of Racial Discrimination (Art. 5(e(v)), the Convention on the Elimination of AH Forms of Discrimination against Women (Art. 10), the Convention on the Rights of the Child (Arts. 28 and 29), the African Charter on Human Rights and Peoples' Rights (Art. 17), the Protocol of San Salvador to the American 62 FONS COOMANS of studies have been published regarding the important question: what does realisation of the right to education entail?2 However, liule intemational and national case-Iaw is available on the various dimensions of the right to education as a human right.
    [Show full text]
  • Report 2007/2008 on Freedom of Education in the World
    Report 2007/2008 on freedom of education in the world Summary Both a social dimension and a freedom dimension have been distinguished with relevance to the right to education (F. Coomans, 1995). This second dimension is mainly concerned with two liberties: to be able to choose a school and to be free to create educational centres. In the last few years, reports on the condition of education in the world have been published with the aim to reinforce the protection of rights. However, the dimension of freedom has often been neglected. Aware of the importance of educational freedom in human development, OIDEL (www.oidel.ch), since its inception, has primarily dedicated itself to the promotion of freedom in education. The organisation has thus opened an avenue that has since been largely explored by the UNDP in its 2004 Human Development Report dedicated to cultural freedom. « Expanding cultural freedoms is an important goal in human development ‐ specifies the Report – one that needs urgent attention in the 21st century. All people want to be free to be who they are. All people want to be free to express their identity as members of a group with shared commitments and values.» 1. Our research is based on the provisions contained in international law, in particular the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), both texts having been ratified by nearly every country in the world. As one shall see, the emphasis is laid on article 13 of the CESCR, rather than on article 18 of the ICCPR.
    [Show full text]
  • Any Honest Conversation About Youth Must Address the Challenges That
    Any honest conversation about youth must address the challenges that young people and adult allies face when they work to engage children and youth throughout our communities. By their very existence, youth programs are made to respond to these challenges; ignoring them is not being honest about the purpose of youth programs. Racism, sexism, classism, homophobia… the list of challenges facing young people is enormous. However, one of the core challenges is a common experience that all people face early in their lives. That challenge is discrimination against children and youth. Discrimination occurs anytime one thing is chosen before something else. That is often a good thing – otherwise, why wouldn’t we all steal our food instead of growing it or buying it? We all discriminate everyday. However, discrimination often excludes people because of false bias or prejudice. Discrimination against children and youth is caused by the bias adults have for other adults that causes them to discriminate against young people. Bias for adults is called adultism. When something is based on adultism, it is called adultcentrism.While adultism is sometimes appropriate, adultcentrism is often inappropriate. Compulsory education can force students to disengage from the love of learning. Youth development programs can force youth to disconnect from adults. Almost every activity that is for young people is decided upon, developed, assessed and redeveloped without young people. That is adultcentrism. Language, programs, teaching styles, and all relationships between young people and adults are adultcentric. The most “youth-friendly” adults are often adultist, assuming that youth need them – which, while it may be true, is still centered on adult perspectives.
    [Show full text]