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Press Advisory
For immediate release, February 7, 2002
California 3Rs Project Advises Against
Reenacting Religious
Practices in Public Schools
Offers Guidelines and Resources for Teaching about Religion
In response to the current controversy in a number of California school
districts over the use of simulation games and role-playing to teach the Islam
Civilization unit in seventh grade, the California 3Rs Project ("Rights,
Responsibilities, and Respect") cautions teachers against using these
techniques when teaching about religions.
The California 3Rs Project is a statewide program for finding common ground
on issues of religion and values in public schools. Sponsored by the Freedom
Forum First Amendment Center and the California County Superintendents
Educational Services Association, the project offers workshops on how to teach
about religions in ways that are constitutionally and educationally sound.
The current controversy was sparked by reports that some teachers use
activities such as having students dress up in Muslim garb, recite scriptures,
and re-enact the pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj) when teaching about Islam.
While role-playing and simulations are often effective techniques for making
history come alive for students, the CA 3Rs Project strongly advises against
using these techniques when teaching about religions for the following reasons:
1. A complete education includes teaching about religions and is supported
and required by the California History-Social Science Framework. Role-playing
prayers and religious rituals, however, runs the risk of blurring the legal
distinction between constitutional teaching about religion and
school-sponsored practice of religion, which is prohibited by the First
Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. (The 2003 History-Social Science Framework
is available from the CA Department of Education.
2. Role-playing religious practices runs the risk of trivia Ii zing and
caricaturing the religion that is being studied. It's more respectful and
educationally sound to view a video of real Muslims practicing their faith than
having a group of seventh graders pretending to be Muslims.
3. Role-playing runs the risk of putting students in the position of
participating in activities that may violate their (or their parents')
consciences. Such an issue doesn't arise when teachers teach about religion by
assigning research, viewing videos, and through class instruction rather than
organizing activities that may be easily perceived, rightly or wrongly, as
promoting students' participation in a religious practice.
Another source of the recent controversy involves reports that teachers are
assigning students to memorize and recite passages from the Qur'an, the sacred
scripture of Islam. While it is important for students to learn about the
scriptures of the world's major religious traditions, it is essential that
teachers use scriptures in the classroom as a teaching resource and not as a
devotional activity (or an activity that "reenacts" devotional
practices). In the public-school classroom, selections from scriptures should be
used only in the appropriate historical and cultural context as part of teaching
about a religious tradition.
For guidance on the constitutional and educational issues that arise in
teaching about religion in public schools, the CA 3Rs Project recommends that
educators consult Finding Common Ground: A Guide to Religious Liberty in
Public Schools published by the First Amendment Center available on-line at:
http://www.freedomforum.org/templates/document.asp?documentID=3979
For more information about the CA 3Rs Project, contact:
Gary F. Dei Rossi, Assistant Superintendent
San Joaquin County Office of Education
Chair, CA 3Rs Steering Committee
Bruce Grelle, Director
Religion and Public Education Resource Center
California State University - Chico
Charles C. Haynes Senior Scholar
Freedom Forum First Amendment Center
