Research Paper

ShaQuella Perine - Heyman

Winter in Rome 2011

Research Paper

“How does the incorporation of religion in schools impact the Italian and the ‘Other’ youth of Italy?”

Growing up, I was raised under Protestant beliefs, morals and values. Attending church was not an option but a requirement and my life style reflected one that someone would consider a common Christian. Church every Sunday, bible study on Tuesday and choir rehearsals on Thursday. In the sixth grade I began attending an independent school in the heart of the Central District of Seattle. Since Seattle Girls’ School is an independent school, it is an exception to the rule of the separation between church and state. While it has never been deemed as a Catholic school or one of any specific religion, we were able to learn about religion in certain history classes or even English discussions. Now studying in Rome and learning that the public school students have a religion class from kindergarten throughout high school, this concept intrigued me mostly because it is so foreign to me. My religion and relationship with God has made me who I am and with religion being taught in schools I assumed that religion would also play a great part in the lives of these students. As with any assumption, there were some that were corrected through my research. Initially I thought that this class was a way to separate the native Italians and Catholics from those who are of other cultures and religions. I also thought that this class was unfair to the students, because even with the option to “opt-out” of the class, it is teaching difference in an insignificant way amongst young children. However, through this project I have learned that even with a case study or research that resembles one as this one does, it does not speak for or represent every situation and the circumstances in its entirety.

In researching this topic it was very important for me to pay attention to lecturers and different guests that came to speak to us that may have knowledge on this specific subject. Simple networking between our professors, teaching assistants and our guests has given me the ability to perform great research. Also, when we took the trip to the middle school, Manka introduced me to the religion teacher there, Francesca. It was then left to me to make sure that I met up with her. Though the language barrier initially made me very nervous, Stephanie was able to help set up the interview, interpret and also in a way conduct the interview.  Shara, a Professor at Temple University in Rome and also one of our guest excursionists gave me the privilege to have a conversation with her about this religion class in the schools. She happened to briefly mention one of her experiences with her daughter while talking to us about modern art. I could potentially call our conversation an interview but it was much more informal than the coffee shop and laptop setting that I had with Francesca. Though the circumstances were slightly different because of our schedules, this in no way took from the information and perspective that I gained from her. Then there are articles that I found with the help of Julie and access to the University of Washington library. I struggled in the beginning since this is only my first year and have not been required to use it yet. However, with the exception of my limitations, my research did not suffer.

I asked Francesca to tell me her story, I wanted the “who what when where and why” of her life as a religion teacher. And we were both excited with the knowledge and experience that was going to be shared, she began, Stephanie interpreted, and I took notes, mentally and physically. She is a mother of two children and was never impressed or satisfied with the role of the priest. She was raised in a Catholic home but did not agree with the teachings and approach of her priest. She initially doubted the bible scientifically, as well as historically; she was not convinced that the scriptures were accurate. In order to teach her children the correct way, she then decided to go and take classes when her children were in elementary school. Two days out of the week from eight to ten every evening, she took classes and taught as a general teacher in the mornings. The courses were taught by university professors and started with the study of philosophy and then she was inspired to go to a university.  As a teacher you only needed to graduate from high school up until a few years ago.  So she hadn’t gone to a university prior to becoming a teacher. She then got her bachelors and then went into a three-year theology program; then into a Specialization for 2 years to be a pastor.  It was initially for priest only and she was the only woman in the class. After that it took a year to get her PHD in theology. Though her job description is a religion teacher, by way of her degrees, she is a theologian.

In the first year of the middle school class she teaches human morality in connection to concept maps with quizzes at the end of each chapter. Throughout the textbooks there is a lot of significant religious art such as the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and other art from various artist. They also learn about Egyptian religion, not from the Catholic perspective but historically, similar to comparative religion and the teachings of religions in a general form.  At the end of the first book, they learn about Islam, their eating habits, health, how they do things and the figure of Jesus and Mary in Islamic belief. At the end of each book there is a conclusion and article summing up all that was taught in the textbook.

The school system has made many changes over the years. In 1929 was the first accord between the Vatican state and Italian state regarding any religion and was revised in 1984 reestablishing a relationship between the Vatican and allowed the rationale of why and how religion is taught in school. Italy is a “secular state”  so they do not have a national “religion.” The Vatican teaches people then people are able to teach in the schools, but not in the universities. It is not obligatory to anyone, they have the right to refuse to take the class. The ones who do choose to participate are in classes with teachers that are appointed by the Vatican. In the case of this school, there are four alternative options for the students who choose to not take the class, they can either leave school early or come late depending on when the class is offered, have an alternative activity, do an independent study or be assigned to a different project by another teacher. The alternative activity is provided by the school, but cannot be “academic.” This seems as though it can potentially be punishing the children that choose to take the religion class because both groups of students are missing out. Depending on the qualification of the teacher and their capacity to take that time out of their schedule is whether or not they will be able to take the children out of the classroom and give them another assignment. In nursery school, the children have one and a half hour of religion class a week. And the primary teacher takes the “opt out” kids to another classroom. Middle school and high school students have one hour a week.

No other religion has asked the government for permission to teach in schools. Jewish kids go to Jewish private schools where they can learn there but Muslims don’t have a “pope” to go to and talk to in order to make that happen. Some Muslim kids talk about going to study the Karan outside of school and being hit on the hands for not learning Arabic well enough, but in Italian schools, teachers are not allowed to hit kids at all.

As I learned from talking with Shara, every school does not have the same curriculum or approach to the way that their religion class is taught. In public schooling, it is quite possible that there will be students who are Chinese, Bangladesh and other children who don’t speak Italian.  Francesca teaches with the interdisciplinary approach, she takes religion and makes it a broader picture. She takes what’s happening in that time period with a more anthropological, and historical viewpoint.  Also teaching of what they wore in that time, how things were and especially for immigrant children, she uses a lot of film. That way they can use the films to better communicate what’s going on. They then talk about the films, how they were made, art and literary critique and research projects. She also teaches the context of which the bible was written. According to her theologian knowledge, a lot of the metaphors and parables in the bible were not literal as many people take them. Such as in Genesis when God created “Adam and Eve.” Many people take this as though their names were Adam and Eve but Francesca tells us that these names translate to man and woman in Hebrew, which is the original language the bible, was written in. Also, that the “tree of knowledge” didn’t exist, it is to show that God gave everyone the capacity to know the difference between good and bad. And exercise their free will. She then tells us that when Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt, God gave the perfect time and place for the “natural phenomenon” and allowed them to cross the sea.

Throughout the class, she reminds her students that it is not a catechism. A catechism would be teaching them the ways of Catholicism for them to be Catholic and understand their religion. A catechism goes beyond simple education but goes deeper into preaching in a sense.  In translation, Francesca said, “They are going to be watching a protestant film, Martin Luther, it is a historical film. This is not a catechism, this is religion and because it is within a secular school, it is historical.” Teachers can have their license revoked if they are too Catholic based in their teachings. The Vatican state has rigid rules, but in order to teach religion in schools, four years of magistrate and a university degree in other schools are required to teach. And without the university degree, you can only teach at an elementary school level. Then they have to take a test given by the Vatican and they must pass in order to teach, then the Vatican proposes who should teach what school, but the Italian state pays the salary. The first four years of them teaching, every 15 days they do professional development with older teachers. But this is the way of the Romans, not in all of Italy. In her professional develop a nun got her license revoked because it is not a catechism and they can’t make prayers in the classroom. It’s considered disrespectful to kids of other religions. Since 2004 the examination through the state as well, not just through the Vatican. The Vatican would renew the contract every year but now, the exam is in the first year in the regular teachers and the forth year for religion teachers. In the first or forth year, there’s a teacher tutor, at the end of the year, there is a presentation to then get a 10 year contract. Not one single immigrant parent has taken their child out of one of Francesca’s classes. They want their children to understand, with the consciousness, that’s when you can have intellectual dialogue. Many non-Christians have been in her classes. This year, in one of her classes, she only has four students because all of the other kids decided to have an extra hour at home, but all four of those students are immigrant students. A lot of the kids who don’t take the class, take Italian instead but in other schools that doesn’t work because they’re aren’t that many immigrants. So they then have the opportunity to do their homework in other classes and if there are more than three kids, then another teacher takes them out. Francesca told us about how one time a teacher took eight students to do a photo project on the graffiti of the neighborhood.

Speaking with Shara from a parental perspective, depending on the location and population of the school is whether the religion class can be classified as traditional or non-traditional. Francesca’s class would be considered non-traditional because of her interdisciplinary approach. In Shara’s experience, in the suburbs of Rome where the schools lack diversity and are very traditional, the religion class is very much like a catechism. The most unfortunate part of this situation is that taking children out of the class will be more frowned upon than them staying in the class and not being Catholic. We had a great dialogue of how this can conflict with the teachings of the home and how bringing school and religion together is quite confusing for the child. As I shared with her the format of Francesca’s class, she respected it but acknowledged that it is not that way in every school.

In this research project there were many things that were unrevealed or simply too much to discover in the time that was given. I could not interview any and every religion teacher and get testimonies from loads of students. Surveys across Rome to calculate the number of ethnicities in a class and to know who does or does not participate in the class was not feasible. Also, all of the objectives and regulation pamphlets of the class itself are in Italian. Even with Stephanie being practically fluent, translating and transferring that information would have been time demanding and unreasonable. In conclusion of my research, I have decided that the impact on the students varies amongst the students. It can be determined by the atmosphere of the classroom or even by the curriculum of the teacher. Unfortunately, in the time and with the resources that were at my disposal, I cannot say what the exact impact on the youth of Italy is from the incorporation of religion in schools.