Professor Kevin McDonough PHOTO: OWEN EGAN

Stressing citizenship over Springer

BRONWYN CHESTER | Amidst all the loud voices expressing their approval or discontentment over the recently released Proulx report on the place of religion in schools, Kevin McDonough's must be among the softest and the most radical. A philosopher of education and self-described liberal, McDonough's concern regarding all publicly funded schools, long before getting to the question of religious instruction, is this: What will this school do to make citizens out of its students and to promote democratic values? It might be, as Esquire magazine recently proclaimed, "a Jerry Springer world," but it doesn't have to be if we do more to promote values such as mutual understanding, respect of differences and civility, declares McDonough. Not long ago, McDonough, a professor of culture and values in education, had a close encounter of the undemocratic kind which caused him to reflect upon the importance of having a common sense of citizenry. After a game of squash at the McGill Sports Centre, the philosopher returned to his locker to find someone else's lock on his locker and his clothes and own lock gone. A nasty message, accusing the unknowing locker-usurper of being a "loser" and "a fucking idiot," told him where to find his clothes. Disturbed by the venomous attack by a fellow member of McGill, McDonough wrote his attacker a letter, published last February in The McGill Tribune, asking him for an apology: "I am not asking you to alleviate any personal hurt you have caused me. I am asking for reassurance that a flagrant and menacing display of disrespect by a fellow citizen was the result merely of a fleeting, temporary and misguided fit of anger which he now regrets and will seek to avoid in the future." McDonough still hasn't received his apology, but he does have the satisfaction of having acted in a way to promote reflection on what it is to be a citizen -- at least among Tribune readers, if not the wayward citizen in question. It's something he does with his students in his Philosophy of Education class and it's something he believes any government-sponsored school should do when deliberating over the place of religion in schools. "Being a citizen means more than having the vote and carrying a passport; it means going beyond one's own group and reflecting on one's own views. That's a pretty demanding view of citizenship and one that I favour," he says, speaking in his office. The implications for the classroom of such a notion of citizenship are great, according to McDonough: "You have to welcome all sorts of groups, create the possibilities for conversation, conflict and dialogue. It's not easy. If kids are just learning through books, it's not immediate enough." It's one of his concerns regarding the recommendations of Université de Montréal education professor Jean-Pierre Proulx in his report, Religion in Secular Schools: A New Perspective for Québec. Proulx advocates teaching religion from "a social sciences perspective." McDonough worries that such an approach risks rendering so objective the various faiths and world views as to miss the opportunity to enter into a more meaningful dialogue. In a paper he is giving today at the Faculty of Management's Symposium on Ethical Leadership in Organizations, McDonough cites the case of a Quebec student recently expelled from her school for having dyed her hair red as a missed opportunity for an examination of the girl's values as well as those of her supporters and the school. Despite the support of many of her fellow students and some parents and teachers, the girl relented, removed the dye and returned to school. According to the school's dress code, she did the right thing and was lauded by the school principal, but she left many of her supporters feeling betrayed. McDonough wonders: Did she simply act in self-interest by capitulating? -- "I didn't want to waste my year on this," she was quoted as saying in The Gazette. "Or, did her actions include a broader concern to illuminate and protect important shared goods in a democratic society?" he writes in his text, Educational Leadership, Liberal-Democratic Values and Public Schools: the Proulx Report as a Case Study. And what about the school? Why such concern over a fairly innocuous matter of taste -- especially when boys were reportedly allowed to bleach their hair blond? "A mere glance at the deeper questions about citizenship raised by this otherwise unremarkable case suggests the daunting complexity that any adequate civic education is likely to entail in democratic public schools," writes McDonough. Will the new brand of moral and religious education proposed by Proulx promote civic education? Only, says McDonough, if there are teachers sufficiently wise and knowledgeable to facilitate the articulation, contemplation and discussion of various points of view as they are applied to real world questions such as homosexuality and abortion. If the Proulx report wants to favour a "maximalist notion of personal autonomy" (independent thinking) in its "aspiring citizens" -- aka schoolchildren -- it must create the arena in which pupils may "meaningfully and critically evaluate their own religious views in the light of alternative and competing conceptions," writes McDonough, who believes it's possible to "treat all voices with respect." This way, the child who believes homosexuality, for instance, is a sin "can be given a moral voice in the school where it may be counteracted with other philosophical arguments. "Living in a democratic society does not mean you shield voices from criticism," he notes. In fact, McDonough argues that it's the lack of forum for dialogue that leads to the alienation of those students who feel their ideas don't conform with those perceived to be held by the majority, that leads to uncivil and -- in the worst cases -- violent behaviour. "We all have to meet in the marketplace," says McDonough, "but [in schools] the exchange is refereed by the teacher." In other words, there can be no condescension vis à vis the views of some faiths and the accompanying implied sanction of the views and values of others. "This view of civic education is better understood as a form of critical dialogue between conflicting and competing religious views than a dispassionate social scientific study of politically benign religious traditions," he writes. So, while McDonough agrees with the Proulx report's recommendation that there be no confessional public schools, he does so with the proviso that the religious or philosophical views held by children not be treated as being devoid of moral value in the examination of different aspects of life in pluralist, democratic society. Is this happening in schools? McDonough says that being a philosopher of education and not a sociologist, he doesn't know for sure. But he believes, given the numerous recent demands on the Alberta and Ontario governments to create public schools for the Muslim, Jewish and various Christian faiths, that "our society is inadequate in dealing with diverse claims. "While the goal of a multicultural, cosmopolitan society may be a laudable liberal ideal," he wrote in an article published last August in The American Journal of Education, "the existence of a cacophony of demands by minority groups for separate schools does not reflect the fact that we are approaching that ideal. "Rather, it often reflects the fact that separate schools are the lesser of two evils in a society where public schools often fail members of minority groups." Still, he believes that the challenge can be met and points to an elementary school outside of Edmonton, featured in a recent CBC TV documentary, where school children of Islamic, Hindu, Christian and atheist faiths are shown discussing their differences and common ground with the aid of their teacher. In Quebec, where the Proulx report recommendations, if they are passed, will come into effect in two years time, it remains to be seen just how they will be translated in the classroom. McDonough knows one thing for certain -- the debate surrounding the Proulx report isn't over by a long shot. Which is a good thing, he quickly adds. It's a difficult balance -- ensuring that our differences are respected, while highlighting the values and responsibilities we share as members of the same society. But it's a balance that must be achieved. Otherwise, it will be a Jerry Springer world.