Obligatory religion courses

TAKE THE RED PILL

“You cannot buy the revolution. You cannot make the revolution. You can only be the revolution. It is in your spirit, or it is nowhere.” Ursula K. Le Guin

MELİS DİLEKFATMA EROL

ÜMİT CAN TUNCERSELİN TUZLAN

OBLIGATORY RELIGION COURSES

Take the Red Pill

• Definition of the problem• Brainstorming • Fish Bone• Matrix Diagram• Gannt Card• Survey • Literature Review• Solutions

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PROBLEM:• Obligatory religion courses in Turkey are both a

vialation of human rights and an obstacle to objective education.

https://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20141017205831-14800216-systematic-problem-solving-and-the-psychology-of-problem-learning

BRAINSTORMING

• Politics• Governments• Society• Education system• Recruitment• Traditions• Parents http://mindspower.com/mantras-to-innovation/brainstorming-technique/

CAUSES OF OBLIGATORY RELIGION COURSES

PARENTS

BELIEFS

GOVERNMENTSTRADITIONS

EDUCATION SYSTEMSOCIETY RECRUITMENT

STROKES

SUPERTITIONS

PSYCHOLOGICAL OPRESSION

TRADITIONAL

NON-INNOVATIVE

IDEOLOGIESCONSERVATIVE

REDUNDANCE OF TEACHERS

NARROW MINDED

MATRIX DIAGRAMMembers Traditions Governments Parents Education

systemSociety Recruitment

Melis 5 7 3 4 6 1

Fatma 4 7 5 3 6 2

Ümit 6 7 5 4 7 1

Selin 6 7 4 5 6 1

Total 21 28 17 16 25 5

% 23.52 31.36 19.04 17.92 28 5.6

GANNT CARD

Obligatory religion courses decision of ECHR• European court of human rights (ECHR) anounced the decision

regarding the 14 Turkish complainants who are against obligatory religion courses in Turkey.

• The court came to the conclusion that Turkey must immediately abolish the current religion courses from the curriculum.

• The court also stated that the current system in Turkey may lead to conflicts between children and parents because of the subjective content of the course.

16.09.2014 http://www.ntvmsnbc.com/id/25538213/

• In the 19th Council of National Education in Turkey, obligatory religion courses are decided to put in the curriculum of 1,2 and 3rd grades. The time spared to the course was increased to 2 hours in high schools.

• According to the news of DHA (a news source), the offer to develop the content about Alawism(a common belief system in Turkey) in religion course books, was rejected by the council.

http://www.birgun.net/news/view/ilkokul-1e-zorunlu-din-dersi-getirildi/9875 6.12.2014

SURVEY1. Do you support obligatory religion courses?2. Do you believe that religion courses are objective?3. Do you think that obligatory religion courses cause ‘othering’?4. Do you think obligatory religion courses should be turned into

elective courses and applied under the name of ‘history of religions’?

5. Do you think that obligatory religion courses contribute to the pediatric development of children and help become good persons?

6. Do you think wearing turban during primary and secondary school cause sexism and othering among children?

7. Have you ever experienced a problem due to obligatory religion courses or witnessed it happen?

8. Do you think obligatory religion courses lead to anxiety disorder in children?

9. Do you think that in obligatory religion courses children are taught to be open minded towards others’ beliefs?

SURVEY ANALYSIS

• We conducted an online survey on 72 people, most of whom we assume are students from Boğaziçi University. And got these results…

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• Do you support obligatory religion courses?

ANSWERS

YES PARTLY

NO

69,44

16,67

13,89

• Do you believe that religion courses are objective?

ANSWERS

YES

PARTLY

NO77,46

14,08

8,45

ANSWERS

YES PARTLY

NO%44,44% 31,94

%23,61

• Do you think that obligatory religion courses cause ‘othering’?

ANSWERS

YES PARTLY

NO%61,97

%23,94

% 14,08

Do you think obligatory religion courses should be turned into elective courses and applied under the name of ‘history of religions’?

ANSWERS

YES PARTLY

NO%52,78

%22,22

% 25

Do you think that obligatory religion courses contribute to the pediatric development of children and help become good persons?

ANSWERS

YES PARTLY NO

%63,89

%27,78

%8,33

Do you think wearing turban during primary and secondary school cause sexism and othering among children?

ANSWERS

YES NO%52,78

%47,22

Have you ever experienced a problem due to obligatory religion courses or witnessed it happen?

ANSWERS

YES PARTLY

NO

%38,03%35,21

%26,76

Do you think obligatory religion courses lead to anxiety disorder in children?

ANSWERS

YES PARTIALLY

NO

%70,83%16,67

%12,5

Do you think that in obligatory religion courses children are taught to be open minded towards others’ beliefs?

LITERATURE REVIEW

• The subjects we are going to discuss:

• What is religion?

• Why are the religions subjective?

• Causes of the problem: Government and Society

• Why should religion courses be removed?

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What is Religion?

•A religion is an organized collection of beliefs, cultural systems, and world views that relate humanity to an order of existence according to Wikipedia.•We may find a thousand more

definitions thanks to the subjectivity of the religion.

The Real Questions Are:

•Why do we think that religions are subjective?

•Why do we think that religion courses should be removed from primary education programme?

Why are the religions subjective?• Let’s start with the amount of religious

differences and their formation.• How many religions have existed there on

earth through ages?• A)2 • B)16 • C)256 • D)4200

Why are the religions subjective?• Yes, there are approximately 4200

religions in the human history according to Kenneth Shouler in the ‘’The Everything World's Religions Book: Explore the Beliefs, Traditions and Cultures of Ancient and Modern Religions’’(2010) (p.1)

Why are the religions subjective?•Why is it thought that only one religion is

true and it should be in the course of primary schools?

• That’s just like saying: Platon and Socrates were wrong, Descartes’ words had been spoiled by his followers and the one and the only omniscient thinker is Nietzsche.

Why are the religions subjective?

Christianity32%

Islam23%Hinduism

15%

Buddhism7%

Chinese Folk Re-ligion

6%

Others including non-belivers

17%

Religious People of the World (2012)

Why are the religions subjective?

Why are the religions subjective?

•What’s more even these disciplines of religions differ in themselves such as Sunni Islamism, Shea Islamism, Protestants, Catholics, Orthodoxes etc.

Conclusion:Why are the religions subjective?• They can be all wrong or right.• Their ideologies may be perfect or

not.•Almost all of their beliefs change if

people are born in a different part of the world• These are the conclusions of the

subjective aspect of religious beliefs.

Cause of the Problem: Government and Society• In Turkey , government has a huge

influence on religion and its courses.

• The government manipulates society and therefore society becomes a main problem too

Cause of the Problem: Government and Society• Imagine a country where all the

investment is on religious purposes,• The ones that believe something else are

called “drug users(Tinerci)”,• Apart from being called “drug users”, they

are injured or even killed just because of possessing their own ideas and trying to speak up their cause.

Cause of the Problem: Government and Society• Government also acquires sympathizers from

the certain parts of the society, not only guaranteeing its next election but also making it harder for others to suggest anything that will oppose them.• It causes a separation between people.• Moreover, people begin automatically to

discriminate each other because of these acts of government.

Cause of the Problem: Government and Society• As the seperation occurs, people begin to

raise their children according to their “subjective” beliefs.• This causes a growing gap between people

as it passes down to generations.• Government is no longer a part of it. In

that way society corrupts itself without even thinking why.

Cause of the Problem: Government and Society• In such a country, teaching kids to only

look at the one side of the coin is extremely harmful.

• In order not to live in a chaos we should learn every aspect of the facts and respect to each others ideas unlike what our government wants and our society forces us to do.

Why should religion classes be removed?• In the schools children are taught many lessons such as:•Mathematics•History•Science•Language•RELIGION

http://lensofhistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/history-1.jpghttp://schools.nyc.gov/NR/rdonlyres/557CD13C-834F-4CF1-93CB-9AF7FC914863/86529/mathb.jpg

http://schools.nyc.gov/NR/rdonlyres/A95AF6CB-E26C-40BF-A41A-65460FEDB247/86530/science.gif

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Why should religion classes be removed?• As seen previously RELIGION is very subjective

and the only subjective lesson in the programme except philosophy.• Philosophy is in High school programme and is

very subjective too. But it is taught to students when they are older and able to comprehend the components of subjectivity very clear.• That’s where we should see RELIGION classes

appear.But we don’t.

Why should religion classes be removed?• In an older age, students can argue with

their free will and infer information that are likely to be true or not.•When they are young they might just

recieve the intel without questioning and processing and it may cause false perception of reality.

Why should religion classes be removed?•What happens when we teach young

children the following:• 2+2=43•Mount Everest does not exist.• Unicorns are real and the only one that

can communicate with them is Barack Obama

Why should religion classes be removed?• They would believe them.•With repetition over the years those

facts would become their reality.•After a certain age they would not

believe otherwise of these false facts.

Why should religion classes be removed?• The previous “false” arguments are very

similar to the religious arguments. Religious arguments can be both true and false and the only justification is available in the person’s mind.•Why teach our children these kinds of

knowledge while there are tons of positive sciences and OBJECTIVE facts that are actually very useful and don’t kill people?

Why should religion classes be removed?• Religion classes take up too much time and

space in the overall programme.• The subjects that are taught are very

similar to each other which gives it the impression of ‘’a lesson that is nothing but repetition’’

Why should religion classes be removed?• Here are the number of religion classes*

that are given from 4th grade to 8th:

• 5x[(19x2)+(18x2)]=370 hours of religion classes in 5 years.

*According to a Schedule made by religion teachers of Central Yozgat Fatma Temel Turhan Primary School in 2014/2015

15,4 days or 2,2 weeks or half a month.

Why should religion classes be removed?• In the 5 years of primary education

there are only 6-7 units that are revolved upon:•Belief•Worshipping• Life of Prophet Mohammad•Religion and Culture• Ethics

Why should religion classes be removed?• Although subjects differ from time to time

they are all repeated in high school too over and over again.•With that amount of time children can

advance their mathematics or science if the religion classes were to be replaced by them.• Or they would have playtime to enjoy their

childhood outside of schools.

THE HISTORY OF OBLIGATORY RELIGION COURSES IN TURKEY

• 1924-1927 The Period of Obligtory Religion Courses: In Primary school and Secondary school religion courses were obligatory, in high school no courses.

• 1927-1946 The period that obligatory religion courses were abolished:In Primary school ,secondary school and high school obligatory religion courses were detached from the cirruculum.

• 1948- 1982: Period of Selective Religion Courses: Primary school ,secondary school and high school: religion courses were selective; Primary school ,secondary school and high school: moral knowledge courses were obligatory.

• 1982- 2014: The Period of Obligatory Religion courses : a.Religious Culture and Moral knowledge courses are obligatory b. Selective Religion Courses (2012) “Koran, Life of Prophet, Basic Religious Knowledge”

• Source : “Yeni Eğitim Sisteminde Seçmeli Din Dersleri: İmkânlar, Fırsatlar, Aktörler, Sorunlar ve Çözüm Önerileri”, İlke Yayınları: 6 Araştırma Raporları: 5, İstanbul, 2013.

Religion Courses In the World

• Austria: Children belonging to minority religions, like Jewish, Buddhist study religious education in their various denominations. At many schools, secular classes in Ethics can be attended alternatively.

• France: The government does not fund religious education, However subsidizes private teaching establishments including religion courses under strict conditions of not forcing religion courses on students.

• Finland :In Finland religious education is compulsory subject both in primary and secondary schools and in high schools however there is not emphasis on only one sect.

Religion Courses In the World• USA: In USA religion courses are provided through

supplementary such as Sunday School, Hebrew school… they are taught to in the place of their families’ worship.

• Spain: Religion courses are selective in state schools. • Sweden: Religion courses are obligatory in state schools yet

worshipping is not taught in schools, informationsabout all religions are given evenly.

• Greece and Cyprus: Religion courses are started to be given in the 3th grade. Students who aren’t Orthodox are able to be exempted. Turks living in Western Thrace have their own moslem theological schools

MEB 9th Grade Religious Culture and Ethical Knowledge Course Book p.19, 2014

PEDAGOGICALLY…• "And as the capacity for believing is strongest in childhood,

special care is taken to make sure of this tender age. This has much more to do with the doctrines of belief taking root than threats and reports of miracles. If, in early childhood, certain fundamental views and doctrines are paraded with unusual solemnity, and an air of the greatest earnestness never before visible in anything else; if, at the same time, the possibility of a doubt about them be completely passed over, or touched upon only to indicate that doubt is the first step to eternal perdition, the resulting impression will be so deep that, as a rule, that is, in almost every case, doubt about them will be almost as impossible as doubt about one's own existence."

• —Arthur Schopenhauer, On Religion: A Dialogue

As an example, let’s look at Japan:

In Japan, there are many Christian schools and universities with mandatory religious education. Any religious education at private middle and high schools requires the teacher to be accredited by a university teaching the religious education standards. Private schools with a traditional connection to Buddhist sects generally do not mandate any religious study. Religious or political education, or clubs that promote a specific religious or political group, are prohibited at public schools.

Whereas in Turkey

The content of religious education is still prepared by the state. The state ensures that children are first exposed to accepted interpretations of Islam before exposing them to other religious teachings.

• It is a well known pedagogical fact that education should be given according to the cognitive and physical development of the child. With this in mind, we have a three-fold answer to our question.

1) Between ages of 6 and 11, children are capable of internalizing only concrete concepts. They can find simple solutions to simple problems, understand commands and exercise the necessary actions. What they cannot do is to contemplate abstract concepts and take actions about them. • In this period, one can talk to a child about all concrete things such as

apples, toys and cars, but the child cannot make sense of concepts such as god, heaven, hell, demon and so on. Therefore, such a child would not have a healthy cognitive development because s/he would grow up in a terrifying environment where someone who watches her/him all the time, making notes of every single action and which s/he cannot see nor touch nor hear, an entity which will punish her/him for all her/his faults. The child would further grow strong guilt feelings whenever s/he does something (intentionally or unintentionally) that the religion orders her/him not to do. This would have deep psychological consequences.

• After age 11, on the other hand, the child enters a critical stage in cognitive skills where s/he develops critical thinking skills. Therefore, the teaching of dogmatic, unquestionable knowledge would hinder this development.

• 2) Another harmful aspect of the “religionization” of education was

deliberately introduced by the policy makers. The 1982 Constitution defines the religion course as “Religious Culture and Moral Knowledge”, thereby implying that morality is a concept directly linked to religion. Via compulsory religious courses, the borders of “morality” are framed and restricted by a particular sect (the Sunni interpretation) of a particular religion (Islam). This approach not only indoctrinates the unfounded claim of “no religion means no morality” but also undermines the education of morality and of religion.

• 3) As a direct consequence of secularism, public education should see to

it that each individual is provided with the critical thinking skills that would enable her/him to reach her/his own conclusions about the world and give her/him the possibilities of self realization.

SOLUTIONS• Obligatory religious courses can be substituted for History of

Religions courses which could hopefully be taught in a more objective way. (Even History classes lack objectivity, though).

• History of Religions wouldn’t again hopefully force the children to adopt certain belief systems and dogmas that may result in prejudice, anxiety, and tendency to other ‘’the others’’.

• As a first step to an education system that is based on objectivity and science, government at least make a draw back and shift obligatory religion courses into high school curriculum.

SOLUTIONS• The excessive amount of money spent on obligatory religious

courses, vocational religious high schools and Faculty of Theology (whose cirriculum is subjective and mainly focused on Islam) can be diverted to create optional subjects for the non-islamic students.

• Government shouldn’t abuse the youngest minds through dogmas and preset beliefs in the creating process of which children do not have the chance to participate but to obey without using their cognitive functions moreover blocking them.

• Using children to create an obedient generation can only be perceived as a despicable but and nothing more.

SOLUTIONS• The so-called elective but practically compulsory religion

courses should be abolished. Religious practices should not be taught to non-adults.

• The new regulations on the dress code that promotes the imposition of headscarves on female children should be withdrawn.

• If religion teachers will be trained, they should get proper pedagogical formation.

• Mixed-sex education should never be questioned.

REFERENCESİmece Circles by Dr. Hayal Köksal

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_religious_groups

• http://www.religioustolerance.org/mapwrldrel.htm

• http://www.dinibil.com/default.asp?L=TR&mid=3103

• http://www.meb.gov.tr/2014-2015-egitim-ogretim-yilinda-okutulacak-ilk-ve-orta-ogretim-ders-kitaplari/duyuru/7013

• http://www.dersfen.com/bilgi-kutusu/667-ataturk-fen-bilim

• http://www.birgun.net/news/view/zorunlu-din-dersinin-cocuga-olumsuz-etkileri-uzerine/9913

• http://akademikperspektif.com/2014/11/16/turkiyede-zorunlu-din-dersi-uygulamasi/

• Yeni Eğitim Sisteminde Seçmeli Din Dersleri: İmkânlar, Fırsatlar, Aktörler, Sorunlar ve Çözüm Önerileri”, İlke Yayınları: 6 Araştırma Raporları: 5, İstanbul, 2013.

• www.ozgurdusuncehareketi.org

Talim ve Terbiye Kurulu Öğretim Programları: http://ttkb.meb.gov.tr/www/ogretim-programlari/icerik/72 Ortaöğretim “Hz. Muhammed’in Hayatı” 9. Sınıf Öğretim Materyali: http://ttkb.meb.gov.tr/dosyalar/kitaplar/hzmuhammedinhayati_9.pdf – s. 41. Ortaöğretim “Kur an-ı Kerim” 9. Sınıf Öğretim Materyali: http://ttkb.meb.gov.tr/dosyalar/kitaplar/kuran%C4%B1kerim_9.pdf – s. 85 http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/gundem/20293658.asp  http://www.ttb.org.tr/kutuphane/okulabaslama.pdf  http://www.egitimsen.org.tr/genel/bizden_detay.php?kod=217&sube=0#.UQZLPx3VdHJ

 http://haber.sol.org.tr/kent-gundemleri/444-sistemi-tokatta-da-bircok-sorunla-basladi-haberi-59890

  http://siyaset.milliyet.com.tr/tbmm-ye-4-4-4-sikayeti-yagdi/siyaset/siyasetdetay/02.04.2012/1522766/default.htm

• Sadly, while we are working on this project, the new policies on education are being introduced in Turkey. We are desperately witnessing the regression of Turkish education, and want to end our utterances with our leader’s saying. Hopefully, these will be the ultimate guide of our education system one day...

• «I do not leave any verse, any dogmas, any strict rules as a heritage. My heritage is science and logic (…) Time passes rapidly. Even the concept of happines of people changes. In such a world, it is denial of logic and science to claim that there are inalterable facts. My wills and intentions of success for the Turkish folk is obvious. Those who want to internalize me, would be my inheritors if they adopt the guidance of science and logic.»

• M. K. Atatürk

Special thanks to…

DR. HAYAL KÖKSAL

Thanks for your attention…