OVERVIEW AND RATIONALE

The following lessons explore the importance of religious freedom as a foundation of American democracy by looking at agreements and disagreements about how religious liberty plays out in America's public schools. Although there have been numerous conflicts and controversies over issues, such as prayer in the schools and the role of religion in the curriculum, there is significant agreement in the legal community about how these issues should be resolved. Understanding how rights and responsibilities are balanced in these situations can lead to a more nuanced view of religion in the schools, and to a more civil school and classroom environment.

LESSON CONTEXT

In this DVD, students will hear the perspectives of two renowned religious liberty experts from opposing camps in legal debate. Students will learn to apply the democratic principles underlying the religious liberty clauses of the First Amendment to class activities. These lessons are appropriate for high-school civics, government and U.S. history classes, as well as current events studies.

LESSON OBJECTIVES

1. Students will be able to name and identify the two religious liberty clauses of the First Amendment. They will understand and be able to describe the differences between the two clauses and their one unifying purpose - to protect freedom of conscience.

2. Students will understand that they possess numerous rights to the free expression of religion, but that there are some limits on the free exercise of religion in the United States, and they will be able to provide explanations for those limitations.

3. Students will explore the meaning of a democratic civil society and will be able to describe the role of religious freedom in creating and maintaining one.

STARTING THE CLASS

Before viewing the DVD, write the words of the two religious freedom clauses on the board, and ask students what they think each one means. Use what you learned in the teacher background section to guide the discussion, getting as many responses from the students as possible. This activity is designed to help you and the students assess baseline knowledge about freedom of religion and the constitutional protections for it.

Introduce the topic of study to the class - religious freedom in the public schools. Ask them to think about and list either out loud or privately:

1. Why we have conflict over religion in the public schools

2. If student free exercise rights exist

3. If they have freedom for religion, freedom from religion, or both

As you watch the DVD with your class, you may want to stop the recording between the main parts of the film and pause to have a brief discussion. If you decide to approach showing the DVD this way, here are some stopping points, activities, and discussion question that you might find helpful.

View Part I - Introduction to the Issues
(stop at 5:10 on DVD)

Part I includes:

• The religious liberty clauses
• The principles of rights and responsibilities
• The challenges of religious majorities/minorities in the schools

Discussion Question

• What surprised the students about what they heard in this opening segment?
• Why is religion in the schools a topic of debate?

View Part II - The Case of Prayer in the Public Schools
(stop at 13:36 on DVD)

Part II includes:

• Discussion of court case Engle v. Vitale (1962), no government-sponsored prayer in schools
• Clarification of the difference between permissible prayer (student initiated) and impermissible prayer (government required/promoted/led by teacher)
• Example of civil debate
• Introduction to difference between students praying in school and adults praying in the legislature

Discussion Questions

• Why is a prayer led by school officials said to "establish" religion?
• Does it violate free exercise? How, and why or why not?
• Why is it okay for legislators to open with a prayer, but it's not okay for a teacher or school administrator to lead a class in prayer?
• When can students pray in school?

Activities

1. Analyzing the Arguments: Give students a few minutes to write their interpretation of what they heard in their own words.

2. Exchanging Viewpoints: Ask students to pair off and exchange responses to one of the following provocative questions or statements about prayer in the schools, or another of your choice. After a few minutes, ask students to switch partners and continue as long as time allows. Leave time for class-wide discussion and reaction to the views expressed.

Potential questions:
Is there such a thing as a prayer that would be acceptable to everyone?
Is prayer in a public school an establishment or a free exercise issue?
Can you imagine a situation in which school-led prayer would violate students' free exercise?

Potential statements:
"Prayer is a divine responsibility."
"Religion should be a private matter only."

View Part III - Class Assignments and the Curriculum
(stop at 19:15 on DVD)

Part III includes:

• Discussion of Bauchman v. West High School (1997) and the role of religious choral music
• Discussion of the constitutionality of study about religion in the schools

Before viewing the segment, engage students in a discussion about religion in the curriculum. Is it a good idea or a bad one? Why or why not? What are the challenges, the rewards?

Some post-viewing questions to consider are:

• Is Rachel's case about establishment or free exercise?
• How would you resolve her case?
• What guidelines should there be for teaching about religion in the schools?

Activities

Interpreting Primary Source Documents

Ask students to read the Summary of Principles from the Williamsburg Charter. Ask them to number their paper from 1-10 and rewrite each of the principles in their own words. Break the class into five groups, assigning two of the principles to each group. Ask each group to summarize in their own words the main ideas in their two statements. Ask each group to report their ideas to the class.

Four-Corner Debate Topic

Make four signs, one each for Agree, Disagree, Strongly Agree and Strongly Disagree. Put one in each of the four corners of the room. Write a provocative statement that will draw a strong reaction and ask students to write their responses on paper for a few minutes. Then ask them to go to the corner of the room that best matches their reaction. Have each group select a spokesperson that will report their opinions to the class later. Have students share their responses. When time is up, have reporters share the group's discussion. After all the reports have been given, ask the students whose opinions have changed, to move to the corner that now reflects their opinion. At the end of the exercise, examine some of the views that were shared.

View DVD Conclusion - Democratic Principles of Debate

Extension Activities

First Freedom Student Essay Competition

Ask your class to submit essays to the First Freedom Student Competition, a national essay contest that offers high-school students an opportunity to compete for a $3,000, $1,500 and $750 award, as they examine religious freedom, its history, current importance, and relevance in their lives. For more information visit the Student Competition section.

Social Contract/Constitutional Convention

Ask students to consider how we can live with deep differences in a civil society. What agreements need to be in place? How do we come to agreement? Suggest forming a civil society in this class by developing your own social contract or constitution. First ask students to suggest what things need to be in the constitution and list them on the board. When all the suggestions are in, ask students to individually rate them 1-10. By a show of hands, determine the order of the suggestions. Produce a constitutional document that each student will sign in the next class as an enactment of the classroom constitution.

Interpreting the Religious Liberty Clauses

Organize students into 3-5 groups. Give each one a question from the FAQs and ask them to:

1. Determine whether this is a question of establishment, free exercise or a combination (hybrid).

2. Determine which of the Williamsburg Charter principles most closely addresses their question.

3. Ask them to present their answers to resolve the question based upon the resources and their discussion.

ONLINE RESOURCES

• www.ed.gov/Speeches/04-1995/prayer.html
  www.ed.gov/Speeches/08-1995/religion.html

Joint Statement on Religion in the Public Schools issued by the Clinton Administration - consensus document authored by a large group of advocacy, public interest, educational and religious groups

• www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/religionandschools/prayer_guidance.html
  www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/religionandschools/letter_20030207.html

Bush Administration guidance on Prayer in the Public Schools

• www.firstamendmentcenter.org/rel_liberty/publicschools/faqs.aspx?id=6246

First Amendment Center, First Amendment Schools, Religious Liberty

• www.pewforum.org/religion-schools

The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, Religion and Public Schools

• www.aarweb.org/Public_Affairs/Religion_in_the_Schools/default.asp

American Academy of Religion, Religion in the Schools

Next Section - PRIMARY DOCUMENT