This is a text-only version of an article first published on Tuesday, 10 December 2019. Information shown on this page may no longer be current.
The National Governors Association issued a statement last week that the requirement for daily collective worship in schools without a designated religious character should be abolished.
It's a worthwhile debate. The requirement originated in the 1944 education legislation with which we have lived in varying degrees of tranquillity ever since.
But can compulsory collective worship be justified in the world of twenty-first century Britain, so different from the world of the 1940s?The problem is with the word 'worship'.
By nature, worship is a voluntary activity, and it seems anachronistic in today's pluralist culture to require people to worship. On the other hand, there is no doubt that there is enormous value in all schools having a dedicated time when pupils can step back and reflect on the deeper values and beliefs that undergird the life of the school community.
Such a pause allows schools to draw breath, to regroup and refocus and remember why and how they belong together. Schools these days are driven by targets and assessments and need a counterbalance to the frenetic activity that easily builds up and takes over.
Parents and teachers alike rightly value this. My suggestion, therefore, is that we re-frame collective worship in non-church schools as 'spiritual reflection', drawing largely on Christian faith and values and those of the other great faith traditions.
This would release teachers from the guilt that may be associated with flouting the law and give them the opportunity to enrich this very important experience at the heart of the school day. Some may quibble at my emphasis on spiritual reflection drawing largely on Christian faith and values, and this relates to the 'British values' debate going on at present.
It's clearly the case that distinctive Christian values have been highly significant in shaping our way of life and understanding of the common good.
At the heart of Christianity are values of love, compassion, care for the weak and powerless, forgiveness, sacrifice, justice, mercy and many other foundational beliefs. This faith has also been the source of much of our common life in society, as evidenced in our Parliamentary democracy, legal system, health care and education systems, our understanding of philanthropy and our amazing heritage of art, literature, architecture, music and so on. Other faith communities are now amongst us in growing numbers and their riches too must be able to influence our spiritual reflection on what really matters. In a sense, what I'm suggesting is what's already going on in a large number of schools.
They use silence, story, symbols and music in very creative and imaginative ways.
There are excellent websites to go to for resources, notably the Assemblies website. The position of church schools and other schools of a religious character is different.
Church schools will continue to worship God because worship is at the heart of Christian belief and practice. I'm not proposing a knee-jerk change in the law in response to the National Governors Association, but I do think it's time for a grown up conversation around how all schools can apply the law imaginatively, as many already do of course. The concept of 'spiritual reflection' could be of significant assistance in this debate. +John Pritchard9. 7. 14