Needs Improvement: How Public Schools Teach about Religion

Executive Summary This paper represents an initial exploration of the way in which religion and belief are addressed in primary- and secondary-school curricula in four Canadian provinces: British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, and Nova Scotia. These provinces represent a diversity of size, geography, and religious and ethnic makeup and are indicative of the growing pluralism of twenty-first-century Canada. In undertaking this study, we were particularly concerned to find out how Canadian students in public schools are informed about religion, religious beliefs, and practices—key components of this deepening pluralism. Are students in public schools receiving the necessary formation that will support their participation in a society that is becoming increasingly diverse in religious expression? Instructing the next generations not in a religion but about religion should be a key element of Canadian education