Remove and 5th Form CurriculumThis course is taught to all pupils in the Remove year at Mill Hill. The aim of this course is to encourage pupils to reflect upon a wide range of contemporary moral issues while at the same identifying that many of our attitudes and convictions are coloured by our religious and cultural inheritance. The influence of such an inheritance may of course be helpful or prejudicial…apartheid in South Africa, our response to the AIDS pandemic.
Barriers to belief, such as suffering, war and injustice are considered. Much of the material discussed in class will reflect stories breaking in today’s world and it is intended that pupils will take a more active interest in these stories, while reflecting upon them from a religious point of view. Pupils should begin to experience that many, if not all, of life’s issues can legitimately be considered from the vantage point of one’s faith or spiritual conviction.
This is the age group that tends to take its leave of institutionalised religion on the grounds that the answers to many of these issues can be offered through a scientific or a more rational analysis than that offered by religion. There is often an inability to move beyond the view that what was morally acceptable for one culture and time is good for all cultures and times. The question that arises then is at what point do we feel able to apply our own present experience and instinct as we try to arrive at a view in today’s world of what is morally and ethically acceptable?
Pupils are encouraged to think for themselves but in all classes the distinction is drawn between the right to express an opinion and the view that all opinions are equally valid. Pupils should begin to appreciate that in any worthwhile moral debate there require to be the elements of self-control and intellectual rigor. They should also experience what it is like to have one’s own opinions challenged or altered through a respectful exchange of views and feelings with others. The element of listening then is important.
Pupils are all expected to contribute to class debate and discussion but written assignments are designed to ensure that those who contribute less so have an opportunity to express their thoughts, whether in more formal essay format or through poetry or art.
At the end of this course pupils should find themselves more convinced that faith and religion are as relevant to today’s world as they ever were.
