why do some schools make it compulsory? (1 Viewer)

[Masaken]

question is out of curiosity, i don't go to a catholic high school but i did go to a catholic school in primary and a lot of my friends go to catholic school and have to do sor...

i've always wondered why sor is mandatory in a lot of religious schools (more precisely, catholic schools, it could just be me but i haven't seen other independent/private schools of any other christian denomination or religion do it??). i get it's religious education but more extensive and in-depth in a sense (not restricted in the case of catholic schools to just the catholicism part of christianity ig??) but is there any other reason?

 

[jimmysmith560]

As a Christian, I find it interesting that some Catholic schools insist on making Studies of Religion compulsory, especially given the nature of this subject, which involves exploring religions other than Christianity and from what appears to be a secular perspective, which would suggest that a number of students taking Studies of Religion I and Studies of Religion II may not be religious to begin with.

I personally do not see a valid reason for making Studies of Religion compulsory, although I do believe that Studies in Catholic Thought should be compulsory in Catholic schools, just as Religion is taught up to year 10. It would be mutually beneficial to both students and schools since it would address students' concerns about having to take a subject that they are not interested in and/or will count towards their ATAR (in the case of SOR I and SOR II), and will also maintain the ability of Catholic schools to fulfill their purpose.

 

[MJRey]

Religion was mandatory at my school. I opted out of SOR and did SICT because I could use it as a study period for my other subjects.

 

[Anaya R]

I guess (from an outsiders pov) that SOR would allow schools to satisfy the criteria that although they are a Catholic/religious school that they are open to multifaith teachings since SOR presents the religons in an unbiased way. (Since an issue some people have with religious schools is that it lacks religious diversity).

Idk this is derived from my understanding of education and religion from the EDUF unit I did this semester in uni lol

 

[Masaken]

I personally do not see a valid reason for making Studies of Religion compulsory, although I do believe that Studies in Catholic Thought should be compulsory in Catholic schools, just as Religion is taught up to year 10. It would be mutually beneficial to both students and schools since it would address students' concerns about having to take a subject that they are not interested in and/or will count towards their ATAR (in the case of SOR I and SOR II), and will also maintain the ability of Catholic schools to fulfill their purpose.

yeah, i'm christian too (catholic) but while i do have a personal interest in learning other religions it's not so big of an interest to want to study sor (i feel like being forced to learn it at school would kind of dishearten me). i get the entire point of religious schools is to deliver religious education in addition to the normal curriculum but i agree, i don't think sor should be compulsory and that it should just be treated as a normal humanities subject that people have the option to pick or not. i wonder why studies in catholic thought isn't promoted as the mandatory subject either. sure, it could be a 'waste of time' but if i were them i'd just use that extra unit to bludge (like many kids in my school did with slr/sport) and it would suit catholic schools a lot more.

Religion was mandatory at my school. I opted out of SOR and did SICT because I could use it as a study period for my other subjects.

had i went to the catholic school i got into i probably would have done the same

 

[Masaken]

Because the bishops get pissed if people aren’t learning religion in every year of school, and making “studies of religion” compulsory is the only way to appease them (I don’t think they care about the course, just that there is some sort of religion and it is the only option that counts for atar).

wouldn't SICT be more relevant + more appealing to the bishops, as catholic school students are receiving the catholic education their parents paid for? probably shows they haven't read the syllabus or they really want kids to sit the hsc for sor for some reason...

I guess (from an outsiders pov) that SOR would allow schools to satisfy the criteria that although they are a Catholic/religious school that they are open to multifaith teachings since SOR presents the religons in an unbiased way. (Since an issue some people have with religious schools is that it lacks religious diversity).

Idk this is derived from my understanding of education and religion from the EDUF unit I did this semester in uni lol

true + definitely makes sense, however i think a main part of choosing a religious school is mostly because the parents are of that religion - and even if they weren't applying and enrolling the child to the school basically signs an agreement that your child will be exposed to religious education pertaining to the particular religion the school is affiliated with (if i recall correctly there was something along the lines of that in the application to the primary school i went to). of course, i could be wrong, but i feel like having sor rather than religious education kind of defeats that purpose? but at the same time it would be pretty beneficial for some students who aren't affiliated with the religion associated with the school as it's unbiased and it provides students deeper look into other religions other than their own