Library contents
Response to the Consultation on the Proposed Ethics and Religious Culture Program
Author/contributor
- Advisory Board on English Education (Author)
Title
Response to the Consultation on the Proposed Ethics and Religious Culture Program
Abstract
The mandate of the Advisory Board on English Education (ABEE) is “to advise the Minister of Education and Higher Education on all matters affecting the educational services offered in English elementary and secondary schools and adult and vocational education centres.” For this reason, we are obliged to offer this contribution to the consultation on replacing the Ethics and Religious Culture (ERC) program, although we are frustrated that the short time allowed for consultation does not allow us to do a careful study of pertinent research and to consult with the milieu to have a fuller understanding of how this course is offered and received in the schools. Curriculum decisions, just as pedagogical decisions, should be based on conclusions from robust research. We question the value of the questions in the on-line survey: it might have been revelatory to have asked respondents to estimate their knowledge of the content and pedagogy of the existing ERC program to assess the pertinence of their opinions.
Although the program occupies a small part of the overall elementary and secondary school curriculum, it is a critical program in the development of our future citizens and one that merits thoughtful consideration. Nevertheless, we also hope that the Minister will consider carefully the submissions made to him and that the proposal does not represent a fait accompli.
It is clear that the relegation of the study of different religions to one reference in the eight themes of the proposed program represents the government’s intent to further the secularization of public life. However, we question whether this will effectively educate future citizens in an increasingly diverse and multi-faceted society. In the time available, we can only raise the question, but there are pedagogical and practical issues that we believe need to be considered and that we will elaborate.
Date
February, 2020
Pages
8
Language
en
Rights
You are not authorized to use or reproduce this work for any commercial purpose or to further distribute, perform, or alter works in any way without express permission of the owner of the copyright or proxy.
Citation
Advisory Board on English Education. Response to the Consultation on the Proposed Ethics and Religious Culture Program, February 2020.
Subject
Geographical area
Type
Contributing CKOL partner
Resource
Link to this record
Relations
Related contributing CKOL partner
Advisory Board on English Education (ABEE)
Founded:
1991
Constituents:
English language education sector, particularly the Quebec Ministry of Education
Activities:
Advise the Minister of Education on all matters affecting the educational services offered in English elementary and secondary schools and adult and vocational education centres
Former Name:
Task Force on English Education