Prayer in the Classroom (Part 1)

by Rod Hetherton

An Our Father. The Ten Commandments. A moment of silence. Are any of these acceptable forms of prayer in the classroom? Before we hit this hot topic, let me tell you about my experience with prayer, during the first few years of my career as an educator.

Private vs. Public

When the topic of prayer in the classroom is brought up, one is usually referring to prayer in the "public" classroom. Private schools do not have to deal with separation of church and state issues. I am an educator who spent his first four years teaching in a parochial school before moving into the public school arena. The difference was amazing. Let me start by giving you a glimpse of my time spent in a parochial school.

Private School

The first couple years of teaching are very rough. Luckily I started in a parochial school, which had smaller classes, more discipline, greater classroom teacher authority, and most importantly, the ability for me to share my faith in and out of class.

Being allowed to share my faith was very precious to me. I relied heavily on my youth ministry background to get through to my class. I brought in material from retreats, conferences, songwriters, and my own personal relationship with Christ. As I was developing as a teacher, I was able to bring my whole self into the classroom.

This atmosphere greatly enhanced my relationship with my students. It also allowed me to deal with turmoil that could occur on a daily basis. I didn't have to tell a student he shouldn't do something "because I said so". I didn't have to point to "the principal" as being the reason for requiring good behavior. And I didn't need to simply leave the explanation as "it's in the rules".

When I dealt with issues, I was allowed to bring in spirituality. I frequently asked kids how Christ would deal with this situation or that one. I even threw-out a full days' worth of lesson plans in order to discuss the way we treat people. We spent our time exploring how to live Christ's example of love, forgiveness, acceptance, and respect.

The children where growing as people, as Catholics, and as students.

This open atmosphere allowed trust, communication, and relationship. I wasn't just a teacher anymore -- I was a leader. More importantly, I was a Catholic leader representing the school, the diocese, and the Church.

Public School

When I got to the public school, I was in shock. Beyond all the union vs. management issues, I felt like I had lost my ability to form concrete relationships with my kids. I had always done it be sharing my faith life and talking about Christ.

In the public school, however, they had to listen to me "because I said so" and I'm the teacher (ooooo... Big Deal!). The fact was, I had become a confident teacher, but I was no longer allowed to bring my whole self into the classroom.

The change came at a cost -- and I believe it is the students who paid the price. When I was allowed to share my faith life with my students, they not only displayed more respect, trust and discipline, there was also a much greater drive to do their best.

Freedoms and Prayer

With all this said, here is the question:
Do I think prayer should be a part of the public classroom?

And here's the big shocker: NO.

Well, yes and no. I believe it would be great if we could have moments of silence, moments of prayer, moments to discuss our (all of the students) religious beliefs. But could I ever recreate what I did in the parochial school? No.

For one, every thing I did related back to Christ. And for another, it was always presented in the Catholic viewpoint.

Here in America we have the concept of separation of Church and State. Our public schools are filled with Christians, Jews, Muslims, and others. Each one of these groups of people has the right to their own religious beliefs. They have the right to express those beliefs and not be taught someone else's beliefs. Then there are even those who have the right to choose non-belief. This is a basic freedom for which many people came to America.

So Where Do We Go From Here?

There are many spiritual, faith-filled people who teach in our public schools. Likewise, there are many teens who are active in their churches and who would enjoy sharing a bit about their faith. But it doesn't happen in our public schools and it won't be allowed any time soon. In Part 2 of this article, we'll look at the difficult topic of the separation of Church and State, and see an example of how one teacher was able to use her faith to help her... even though she had to keep it a secret.

Life Applications:

What was your experience in school?
Do you think that kids should be allowed to express their faith in school?
If there was a way to ensure that teachers did not abuse their authority, would you be comfortable having religion discussed in public schools?

Copyright 2001-2007 by Rod Hetherton
All rights reserved.