Religious schools are not responsible for ignorance and intolerance

Dr. Patrick Wolf, a leading professor of education policy at the University of Arkansas, contributed to “The Public Purposes of Private Education: a Civic Outcomes Meta-Analysis,” the study that reveals this.

“We found that students who attended private schools had, on average, slightly higher levels of political tolerance, political knowledge and skills, and involvement in their communities through volunteer activities and social capital,” he says.

Without the specific mechanism to explain this unexpected finding, his best hypothesis is that private schools, especially religious schools, actually engage students in debates on controversial issues and build that into some of their curricula.

Wolf

“Many public schools try to avoid any controversy,” notes Dr. Wolf up. “Students are not getting that experience of engaging their peers in discussions, debates and the kinds of civil discussions that are essential to our responsibilities as democratic citizens.”

For him, the biggest surprise of this study is the fact that private religious schools are the ones that foster this civic education advantage – which debunks the common concern that religious schools generate intolerance.

“We suspect that these are value-rich educational environments and that the values ​​extend beyond just the religion of the school,” says the professor.

That includes citizen education and respecting the dignity of other people, which Dr. Wolf is also crucial for self-government.

The Christian Post notes that the study did not look at the impact of religious private schools on all social outcomes.