A considered view on what counts as Spiritual and Moral Development
Schools alone cannot stem the tide of moral and spiritual degeneration. This can only be done in partnership with the students and their parents. However it may be that schools need to be prepared to play a central role in some cases, where family breakdowns and materialism is the only reality that the students are offered. A curriculum which places getting jobs and gaining qualifications at the top of its agenda because this leads to happiness in the shape of a well paid job and a large car, is short changing its clientele.
The chief rabbi, Dr Jonathan Sachs has written of parents, though it could be said of teachers: "We have abandoned the task of teaching our children a clear sense of right and wrong because we are not sure that there is such a thing."
A passive view that values are caught not taught will not be enough. Schools should promote development in an active and coherent way. Policy statements must be backed up by active and coherent policies. Some effort has to be made to counter the common conception that success is measured in how many of your classmates you can better, a very self-centred value system.
Thus moral and spiritual development should be a whole school concern and not simply the preserve of the R.E. and Philosophy Department. It is philosophically erroneous that only those with a religious view of life should be concerned with moral and spiritual development. This department does act as a focus, however, and should be used in a consultative role when the need arises. Such an important area of a student's development must not be seen as conveniently compartmentalised into the one period a week slot that is provided at B.M.S. for the subject with a ten minute assembly at the end of the week. Assembly, I am convinced, does make a highly significant contribution to the debate. What a school does in this time, what it applauds, what it celebrates, what it encourages, what it disallows, all do make a highly significant contribution to the promotion of moral and spiritual development in either a positive or a negative way. We must avoid being 'paralysed by pluralism’ to use John Habgood's phrase. That is we must not fear asking difficult questions about truth claims, about authority, about 'right' and 'wrong'. Preoccupation with neutrality is bound to stifle the educative process and becomes a swapping of opinions rather than a critical appraisal of different perspectives. As in all areas of school life we need to rigorously examine what is in fact going on. For example the language and tone of prayers said makes a statement as does the fact that only certain people say them.
