MEd Module - Research Strategies 1
Proposal for a Faith Education Research Project

Introduction

The motivation for my proposed research comes from my personal background over the last twenty years. Considerable experience of interfaith dialogue in that time has placed me in a position to discuss and assess a wide range of views and perceptions of education held by members of the established and minority churches, as well as followers of those world faiths usually approached under the umbrella of ethnicity in this country. In particular, I have long been involved with the muslim community specifically in the fields of muslim education and the education of muslims.

General Area of Interest

To a certain extent I am interested in Religious Studies as they are currently accepted within the curriculum, but also, perhaps more importantly, I have a concern for religion, morality and faith identity as they relate to PSE/PSD, and affect pupil relationships within school, as well as familial and social relationships outside school. I am also committed to finding practical means of facilitating teachers' abilities to satisfy parental requirements with regard to their children's education, and to provide "Education for All" to at least the standards suggested by the Swann Report "preparing all pupils for life in a society which is both multi-racial and culturally diverse". (DES, 1985, p. vii)

The Problem

"...action research is situational - it is concerned with diagnosing a problem in a specific context and attempting to solve it in that context; ..... According to Blum, the use of action research in the social sciences can be resolved into two stages: a diagnostic stage in which the problems are analysed and the hypotheses developed; and a therapeutic stage in which the hypotheses are tested by a consciously directed change experiment, preferably in a social life situation. As far as educational contexts are concerned, however, Stenhouse is careful to stress that action research should contribute not only to practice but to `a theory of education and teaching which is accessible to other teachers'." (Cohen & Manion, 1980, p. 208)

My proposed research involves two problems:

          a) the disadvantage to minority opinions and traditions (in this case, those of faith communities) when facing homogenising societal structures;

          b) the problem of finding a means of dealing with this disadvantage in the education system, itself one of those structures.

If we are to deal with the latter, it is necessary to be sure that the former is indeed a problem and not a mirage. I will therefore consider faith, values, and their educational implications in general before looking at the specific proposed area of research. After all, if we are to formulate a relevant therapy, we must be sure of the bases of our diagnosis.

Moral & Religious Education

"The socialization of the student as a moral being has been a core concern of mass education since its rise in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. There is no period or place in which education is conceived to be a narrowly technical enterprise, involving knowledge and competence in language or mathematics independent of broader socialization into the moral order." (Cummings et al., 1988, p.12)

The educational pendulum has swung a long way since Thomas Arnold stopped the teaching of science at Rugby on the grounds that 'Physical science alone can never make a man educated; even the formal sciences, valuable as they are with respect to the discipline of reasoning power, cannot instruct judgement; it is only moral and religious knowledge which can accomplish this'. Very few (though some, I'm sure) would hope for such extreme measures nowadays, but many would agree wholeheartedly with his sentiments, and the extent to which religion and values are now minimalised in the curriculum is being challenged from many quarters.

"Periodically, critics assert a weakening in the moral fabric of their societies. ...... Through the 1960s, this pessimism tended to be dismissed, at least by national opinion leaders and prominent intellectuals, as the reaction of out-of-phase moralists who were being displaced by the progressive changes associated with the transition to post-industrial society. ...... But over the past decade the tide of opinion has shifted. .... Gallup polls in the US indicate that parents are as concerned that schools help students to develop standards of right and wrong as to teach them to speak, think, write and count." (Cummings et al., 1988, p.3)

In Britain, the last few decades have brought about enormous change in social and work patterns in the community, affecting parent-child relationships, and profoundly altering the balance between professional secular education and the home educational environment usually accredited with primary responsibility for moral and value system education.

In our secular approach to education, those aspects of forming a worldview which are generally considered to be of primary importance within faith communities are marginalised. Questions of morality, the nature of being, mankind's purpose and the meaning of life, are given minimal curriculum time, and the scriptural heritage, ritual forms, worship, culture and way of life of specific religious traditions are given a brief anthropological glance when they are not ignored completely.

"Values education is possibly the most fundamental concern of society, yet much of the task of values education is carried out by the institutions of the family, the community and the Church, which are relatively insulated from the affects of public policy." (Cummings et al., 1988, p.165)

For most people, the subtle and complex issues of moral values are inextricably linked with religious understandings, and as religion is a fiercely emotive minefield, those responsible for determining public policy (i.e. politicians), tend to avoid any form of commitment which might disassociate them from the more populist and simplistic bigotries, so for insight in the matter, it is necessary to look to the committees on whom they have devolved responsibility, as well as to the analysis of academics.

Cummings, Gopinathan and Tomodo, identify two strands which must be separately identified in discussion, "values clarification and values instruction".

"Proponents of values instruction believe that the responsibility for identifying appropriate values lies with the schools, the adult community and/or the state, and thus the task of values education is to meaningfully convey the socially approved values to young people." (Cummings et al., 1988, p.5)

Analysing the values education traditions of many countries, Cha, Wong and Meyer, point out that in a tradition of radical liberalism "moral instruction is difficult to ground in missing organized traditions of either religious or social authority", and conclude that "Radical regimes will de-emphasize both moral and religious education in preference to broader instruction in social science and for emphases on participation in school as a matter of citizenship (more than organizational discipline)".

They suggest, however, that "In most modern societies, society is seen as linked to religious or social traditions, which carry more of the burden of sustaining the moral order and instruction which is seen as beneficial to proper moral conduct. ..... Societies with established organized religions will emphasize religious instruction in the curriculum", whereas in societies which "while retaining an emphasis on cultural traditions and their authority, either lack a unified religious tradition or have politically disestablished such a tradition .... we expect to find a curricular emphasis on moral education, as a slightly secularized version of established traditions, customs, and their authority. .....  Societies built around a tradition of collective authority, but lacking an established religion, will emphasize moral education in the curriculum." (Cummings et al., 1988 pp.13-15)

Thus the School Curriculum and Assessment Authority recently organised the National Forum for Values in Education to agree on a set of values to incorporate into the National Curriculum, but the philosophies and religious perceptions that underlie and explain them receive no mention. It is clearly considered that in the teaching of morality the consensus of a committee of elders will be intellectual justification enough. Whether it will help defuse bigotry and prejudice, to help establish a truly plural, multicultural society is questionable. Certainly, the main demands of faith communities will not have been answered.

In a survey of Muslim families "Roughly 80% of both parents and children agreed that there is not sufficient formal teaching of Islam in English schools". (M. Anwar in M.W.Khan ed. 1981 p.112)

Even the multiculturalism espoused in "Education for All" received a mixed reception. "When the Archbishop of Canterbury says `...I must also express the fear that at times we seem tempted to sacrifice too much of our native Christian tradition on the altar of multiculturalism...' he expresses a concern similarly and just as sincerely felt by native British Muslims." (The Council of Mosques; UK & Eire, 1986, p. 9). Obviously, there are a number of issues which still have to be clarified and addressed if we are to achieve a plural community, as in the absence of an inclusive yet focused alternative, a fractured separated system clustered around exclusivist dogmatists may well seem to be a likely outcome.

Specific Areas of Need within the Problem area

i) Parents: The secularisation of education in this country has meant that areas which religious communities consider to be of secondary importance are taught with the professional expertise and resources of the entire education system (schools, universities, teacher training, and media support), funded by taxation and with attendance made compulsory under the law, whereas those aspects of human life and understanding which religions consider to be primal are left to the amateur, untrained and unsupported parent and the efforts of individual faith communities in open competition with the full weight of the entertainment and leisure industries.

Even well educated and skilled parents can find this situation a daunting one, and many would now seem to be tracing much of what they see as society's ills to misplaced priorities in the education system. It is certainly the case that many of the muslim immigrants now raising families in this country see the education system as directly implicated in their children's disaffection with their parental faith and cultural traditions.

ii) Teachers: In the field of religion, the most committed and knowledgeable of teachers face enormous problems when trying to pick a path through the vast quantities of disinformation that surround them. An extraordinary level of prejudice and bigotry is entrenched in most of our media, and a healthy scepticism must be applied to the reliability of even apparently reputable sources (such as the Scottish Office Religious and Moral Education 5-14 Curriculum Guidelines, for example).

Many Religious Education teachers are unfamiliar with the subject of world religions, and often feel uncertain of their ground, inadequate to the task of evaluating material, and lacking in training and support. But it is not only RE teachers who are expected to be aware of other religions and cultures.  The Swann Report argued that the curriculum in all schools should be permeated by themes which would develop children's and young people's understanding of the contributions to knowledge made by other cultures, and the idea of permeating the curriculum with multiculturalism has also been adopted by the National Curriculum Council. Unfortunately, these high ideals are little more than words, with virtually no material available to integrate into the curriculum, and teachers given barely any help in resourcing what little there is.

"...teachers often expressed concern at the general lack of resources available to support the multicultural aspects of primary mathematics; a factor which frustrated their wish to do more." (HMI, 1989, p.22)

The lack of available information is perhaps felt most severely in schools with a high proportion of children from one minority group, where PSE or Guidance teachers can feel an urgent need for more detailed knowledge of family cultural traditions or expectations when dealing with children, and Head teachers can be grateful for advice when needing to set parental opinions into a broader context.

iii) Children: The situation faced by the children of members of a faith community in a secular school system has a clear correspondence to that faced by cultural minorities in society at large. The problem is much more apparent, however, seen in the light of the experience of a child from a minority cultural/religious background, the identity crisis amongst young muslims, for example, with their high rates of psychological breakdown. As it is such a critical issue, I will examine it more closely.

Religious and Cultural Identity

"Erikson indicates that identity development has two complementing facts: (1) a developmental stage in the life of the individual, (2) a period in history (i.e. of the wider culture). There is thus a complementarity of what he calls 'history' and 'life-history'" (Cajendra et al., 1982, p. 48)

He describes the development of a psychosocial identity during adolescence. "It is clear, then, that many important components of one's identity tend to be resolved around this time. If one is not able, because of societal or personal reasons, to resolve these in a positive way, then `identity confusion' may result. This is uncertainty about the role one is playing in the scheme of life. The resolution of this turning point or `identity crisis' may be conscious and deliberate .... On the other hand, much of the resolution of this crisis involves emotional issues that may be relatively hidden beneath the surface of conscious awareness. ... For some black adolescents ...  because of the structure of society and the pressures of the dominant culture, they are denied the necessities with which to build an adequate 'life-history' to combat their surrounding milieu." (Cajendra et al., 1982, p. 49)

"Hauser found that a second environmental constraint was in terms of 'heroes' i.e. positive figures whom the black subjects were interested in emulating. .... Erikson argued that the individual belonging to an oppressed and exploited minority, and who is aware of the dominant cultural ideals but prevented from emulating them, is likely to fuse the negative images held up to him by the dominant majority with his own previously developed identity (Erikson, 1955, p.155)." (Cajendra et al., 1982, p. 51)

"Life in a multiracial society affects not only the attitudes and behaviour of minority group members toward the standard set by the dominant society, but also the responses to themselves and their groups. The way one looks upon himself is a product of his social experience with others. The nature of that experience profoundly influences the basic ego structure which is the central core of the self....

One's concept of the self is initially influenced by certain basic characteristics such as one's age, sex, colour, caste and in some cases, religion. These 'ascribed' characteristics impose upon the person's choice of others with whom he interacts and thus influence his answers to the questions: Who am I? What am I like as a person? Thus the answers to these questions come not in isolation from the society as a whole, but to a great extent in relation to the individual's position in the social structure. 'Position' and 'structure' as used here are important variables in that they are the phenomena to be examined when the 'self-concept' is being investigated. Social structure exists before the person is born and constitutes the milieu into which he or she is thrust. This social structure consists of individuals with certain beliefs, ideas and knowledge and thus each person has to see others as objects which must be taken into account in his or her conduct......

In a complex society, 'objects' or significant others might be numerous and indeed present the child with conflicting values. This comes to the fore very much when the child starts school where the teacher's qualities conflict with those of the parents." (Cajendra et al., 1982, pp. 52-53)

"Cognitive identity is composed of both cultural identity .... and personal identity ... Ethnic minorities, of course, have both personal and cultural identity. Indeed, the problem for ethnic group members is to have, within a global identity, an adequate balance of personal and cultural identity, combined with positive evaluation of those aspects of identity, in combination again with a degree of mastery over environment, and self actualisation." (Cajendra et al., 1982, pp. 56-57)

Specific Area of Interest & Field of Research

One of the problems organisations have in dealing with minority communities is the manner of their dispersal throughout the community. For ease of understanding, minorities are often treated as homogenous communities, which they are not. In Glasgow, for example, there are a dozen mosques, of indistinguishable difference to a non-muslim outsider, but riven by what seem like major political, cultural, and doctrinal differences as seen from within. Similarly, for ease of a proposed solution, minorities are often treated as geographically cohesive, which they are not. Even in areas of the greatest concentration of muslims in Glasgow, their proportion on school rolls is less than 70%. Most muslim children are in an obvious minority at school, with that being a tiny proportion more often than not. They are a dispersed community - as are the Jews, Hindus, Sikhs, Methodists, Baptists,  Quakers, and Catholics (the majority of whom are educated in non-catholic schools).

This dispersal of faith communities poses an educational problem similar to that faced by many children in remote areas of Scotland when they wish to study subjects for which there is no qualified local teacher. In this similar situation, the use of information technology is seen by many to provide the most appropriate solution to the problem. It would seem to be comparatively cheap and easy to implement. Systems are already in place linking Island schools to the mainland, and plans for the virtual University of the Highlands and Islands are well under way. IT seems well suited to the empowerment of individual students committed to in-depth study of special subjects, as well as teachers needing support across the curriculum, and would therefore also seem to be an ideal tool for provision of specialised faith education to dispersed communities and cross-curricular multicultural education support for teachers. These suggestions, of course, need to be evaluated in the light of the experience of current practise, and that leads directly to my proposed Field of Research:  

i)        The use of Information Technology in alternative approaches to education provision for minorities and dispersed communities.

ii)       The possibility of using IT for the integration of faith identity and values into the state education system (with particular reference to the muslim community as an exemplar).

Research Questions

The questions that need to be answered follow on to three key questions:

1.       What is the best use of IT in facilitating education for minority and dispersed communities?

          a)       What systems are up and running?
                                    Home/School/Community Education
                                    CD-Rom/Internet/Tele-Conferencing
                                    Organisational support in Scotland and other countries

          b)       How successful are they?
                                    Usage/Effectiveness
                                    Necessary/Proposed Changes

2.       Can an IT solution to faith community needs be modelled?
                                    Structure/Curriculum/Material
                                    Supervision/Assessment

3.       What would be needed for the implementation of any such solution?

          a)       Where is the logistical support base?
                                    Academic (Universities/Schools)
                                    Technical (Organisations/Business)

          b)       Would there be community support?
                                    Political/Interfaith/Academic

          c)       Where is the money?

Underlying Assumptions

The practical complexities involved in the implementation of multicultural education mean that successful outcomes are rarely unqualified. I feel, therefore, that much that might be discussed as academic theory is better treated as hopeful faith in a hypothesis, but nonetheless, it would seem to be a faith that has been shared by others who have gone before.

"Smith and Tomlinson's research into multiracial comprehensive schools (1989) makes it clear that schools can effect a difference. Differences between schools in terms of educational achievement and social ethos have a considerable impact on the careers of their pupils. Moreover, Smith and Tomlinson's concluding sentences confirm the view that multicultural education is concerned with good education: 'The measures that will most help the racial minorities are the same as those that will raise the standards of secondary education generally' " (R. Todd, 1991, p.307)

The one hypothesis which I would hope to prove can be summarised as follows:

It is possible to integrate faith identity, traditions and value systems, into the current state education system in a manner that is non-divisive, is acceptable to teachers, satisfies parental needs, and provides an enhanced educational provision for pupils of all sectors of the community.

Underlying Theory

Research theory is usually considered in terms of the normative and interpretive paradigms, dealing with the underlying conceptualisation of reality and how mankind fits and functions within it, a  central issue to faith communities since the dawn of time. The clear distinction between the normative and interpretative is not always helpful, however. One may accept the normative premise that behaviour is rule-governed whilst retaining a healthy scepticism with regard to the objectivity of the scientific method used to  investigate it. At the same time, it is hard to see how researchers within the interpretive paradigm can ever clearly distinguish between the intentions and experiences of the subject(s) of any research from a bias that inevitably springs from the intention and experiences of the observer.

If, as Cohen and Manion (1980, p. 39) suggest, the normative is `past oriented' and the interpretative is `future oriented', a third and preferable paradigm might well be described as `present oriented'. The continuously ongoing self-adjustment of Action Research would seem to lend itself to that present-centred paradigm.

Type of Research

"Carr and Kemmis (1983 p. 158) argue that there are five formal requirements for any adequate and coherent educational science:

1. it must reject positivist notions of rationality, objectivity, and truth;

2. it must employ the interpretive categories of teachers (or the other participants directly concerned with the practices under inquiry);

3. it must provide ways of distinguishing ideas and interpretations which are systematically distorted by ideology from those which are not, and provide a view of how distorted self-understandings can be overcome;

4. it must be concerned to identify and expose those aspects of the existing social order which frustrate rational change, and must be able to offer theoretical accounts which enable teachers (and other participants) to become aware of how they may be overcome; and

5. it must be based on an explicit recognition that it is practical, in the sense that the question of its truth will be determined by the way it relates to practice.

Unlike a number of other forms of contemporary educational research, contemporary action research meets these requirements." (S. Kemmis in Hammerseley, 1993, pp. 179-180)

This is perhaps not the place for an in-depth critique of these criteria beyond pointing out that the categorical interpretive stance of 1 & 2 must be questionable, and that there is an assumption in 3 that distortion can be overcome, and in 5 that truth is actually determinable. But questions with regard to the theory should not be seen as a reason to discard a useful practice.

"Practice, as it is understood by action researchers, is informed, committed action .... As one theorist of practical action remarks,  practical problems are problems about what to do . . . their solution is only found in doing something'." (S. Kemmis in Hammerseley, 1993, p. 182)

A simple definition may be all that is required, such as "Action research is a small-scale intervention in the functioning of the real world and a close examination of the effects of such intervention." (Halsey, 1972) Action research emerged not from dogmatic theory, but practical needs, and its applicability to the research proposed is perhaps better considered in terms of the purposes for which it has generally been recognised as suitable.

"The purposes of action research in school and classroom fall broadly into five categories;

(1) it is a means of remedying problems diagnosed in specific situations ....

(2) .. it is a means of in-service training, thereby equipping the teacher with new skills and methods ....

(3) it is a means of injecting additional or innovatory approaches to teaching and learning into an ongoing system which normally inhibits innovation and change;

(4) it is a means of improving the normally poor communications between the practising teacher and the academic researcher ....

(5) .. it is a means of providing a preferable alternative to the more subjective, impressionistic approach to problem-solving in the classroom." (Cohen & Manion, 1980, p. 211)

A lack of theoretical underpinning does not necessarily detract from the value of Action Research as a process. This pragmatic approach is clear from its inception, and it is perhaps pertinent that it was initially used as a tool to approach the problems of minorities. Lewin was interested 'in the psychological problems confronting any minority group whose space of free movement is restricted by barriers of caste and prejudice' (Lewin 1948 foreword), and much of his work was carried out with Jewish or black minorities.

Overall Strategy

Lewin (1948) describes action research as proceeding "by a sequence of spiral steps”. Ebbutt refines this, however, into a model incorporating a continuous informational feedback cycle "analogous to the way in which certain biological processes progress, and are regulated within living organisms. ...... for example the way in which hormonal feedback loops regulate and control the menstrual cycle and or pregnancy" (Ebbutt in Burgess ed., 1985, p. 164).

I would expect to base my research strategy on this idealized process diagram. From the General Idea outlined here as a basis for commencing the research, the Reconnaissance would involve a survey of educational IT possibilities and their current implementation, after which the situation would be assessed and an Overall Plan for designing and implementing an appropriate IT approach to the problem would be formulated. At this point, simultaneous to the development of an exemplar to suit the muslim community situation, soundings would be taken from the education and faith communities, and the designs revised accordingly. Response to progress will need to be continuously monitored, and the range of interested parties involved extended. "Action research functions best when it is co-operative action research. This method of research incorporates the ideas and expectations of all persons involved in the situation." (Hill & Kerber, 1967) The conclusion to this phase of research would be the successful design of a feasible system, acceptable to all, and capable of being developed for implementation into the education system in a subsequent research project.

"a major issue is not just to have research done by individuals in higher education and further educational research conducted by teachers, but collaboration over investigations between teachers and researcher as the next logical step on the research agenda." (Burgess, 1985, p. 8)

Postscript

"We believe that `... to nurture a child into a particular faith' is essential for all Muslim children not merely because this could help in the maintenance of religious traditions or beliefs or because it could help to retain group identity and cohesiveness, but because an appreciation of Islam will prepare them to contribute to a pluralist democracy in a very positive way and with greater confidence and self assurance." (The Council of Mosques; UK & Eire, 1986, p. 28)

References

ed. Burgess R.G. (1985)
Issues in Educational Research: Qualitative Methods (Falmer, Lewes)

ed. Cajendra, Verma K. & Bagley C. (1982)
Self Concept, Achievement and Multicultural Education (Macmillan Press)

Carr W. & Kemmis S. (1983)
Becoming Critical: Knowing through Action Research (Deakin University Press, Geelong, Victoria)

Cohen L. & Manion L. (1980)
Research Methods in Education (Croom Helm, London)

The Council of Mosques; U.K. & Eire (1986)
The Muslims and "Swann"

ed. Cummings W.K., Gopinathan S. & Tomodo Y. (1988)
The Revival of Values Education in Asia and the West (Pergamon Press)

Department of Education and Science (1985)
Education for All: The Report of the Committee of Inquiry into the Education of Children from Ethnic Minority Groups (HMSO, London)

ed. Hammerseley M. (1993)
Educational Research - Current Issues (Open University Press, London)

ed. Halsey A.H. (1972)
Educational Priority: Volume 1: E.P.A. Problems and Policies (HMSO, London)

Her Majesty's Inspectorate (1989)
Aspects of Primary Education: The Teaching and Learning of Mathematics (HMSO, London)

Hill J.E. & Kerber A. (1967)
Models, Methods, and Analytical Procedures in Educational Research (Wayne State University Press, Detroit)

ed. Khan M.W. (1981)
Education and Society in the Muslim World (Hodder and Stoughton, Jeddah)

Lewin K. (1948)
Resolving Social Conflicts (Harper, New York)

Todd R. (1991)
Education in a Multicultural Society (Cassell)