Irish Teacher: Are the 'bouncy castle Catholics' hurting our school system? 

Is it totally acceptable now, trendy even, to be a ‘bouncy castle Catholic’? As if being a hypocrite doesn’t affect the lived realities of teachers and non-Catholic children throughout our country?

Jennifer Horgan: "is it totally acceptable now, trendy even, to be a ‘bouncy castle Catholic’? As if being a hypocrite doesn’t affect the lived realities of teachers and non-Catholic children throughout our country?" Pic: Larry Cummins

I enjoy researching systems of education in different countries.

In one country, teachers in most schools can be hired and fired based on their beliefs. Teachers in that country, whatever their nationality, cultural heritage or faith, must conform to a single faith. They can’t opt-out. It is part of their job.

In that country, children are routinely segregated by gender. In an odd twist of logic, critics of this unusual practice are described as unempathetic. Some parents simply ‘think’ differently.

Thinking differently is allowed sometimes, and sometimes not. Teachers you see, must not think differently in their schools, or at least they must not be seen to think differently.

That country is Ireland.

Well, to be precise, it’s the Republic and not Northern Ireland. Employment laws were changed in the North last year. Teachers there can live authentic lives and keep their teaching jobs. The North was quick to respond to a 2021 cross-border research project on the experiences of teachers on the island of Ireland.

James Nelson, co-author of a cross-border research project on the experiences of teachers on the island of Ireland now says: “The incongruity between both parts of the island is stark, not least because the Catholic authorities supported the change in the North, so there should be no strong barrier to a change in the Dáil. The primary reason for a lack of progress is most likely a lack of urgency or lack of attention, yet our research shows that legal permission to discriminate against teachers in employment on the grounds of religion has real and significant effects on teachers' lives.”

'I CAN'T REVEAL MY TRUE SELF'

One such teacher, a woman who was brought up abroad, and is not Catholic, works in a primary school in Leinster. When she walks through her school gates every morning she feels a twist in her stomach, like she’s been asked to enter an Ireland of the past, totally removed from the progressive atmosphere enjoyed by other professionals. She has no interest in bringing down the Catholic Church but wishes they’d feel more secure in their faith and less eager to silence hers.

“I think it would be good for my students to know that someone they respect can think and feel differently. There is no threat in that. I would love to stay behind with non-Catholic children when the school goes to Mass for instance. I’m not allowed, and I can’t make a fuss about It. All children attend Mass or else parents collect them and bring them home. The priest visits every break time and there are prayers five times a day, including the Angelus. It is a very religious place and people in senior positions are very religious. I can’t reveal my true self without threatening my job.”

This woman can’t go on the record for the same reason.

The teacher’s union INTO submitted a request to the department to remove these discriminatory employment laws in 2021, laws that put the protection of a school’s ethos above the protection of employees. It continues to call for the removal of Section 37.1 from the Employment Equality Acts, believing it runs “counter to the principles of inclusion and constitutes legislative barriers to the equal treatment of employees.”

In the South, there is no opt-out option for teachers. Just as there is often no genuine opt-out for non-Catholic children. Children sit at the back of classrooms, colour in; they get picked up when everyone else goes to Mass. It is widely understood that many faith-based schools will use flexible hours in the new primary curriculum for faith formation.

No one in schools is fighting against it because legally, those who might, can’t.

A DIFFERENT ERA

So, in this little country of ours, as we shout to other nations on Patrick’s Day about how inclusive and democratic we are, we carry on as before. We continue to tell our children and our teachers to pretend, to play a role, to hide their feelings and beliefs.

Why? And why this difference between North and South?

Is it because it’s totally acceptable now, trendy even, to be a ‘bouncy castle Catholic’? As if being a hypocrite doesn’t affect the lived realities of teachers and non-Catholic children throughout our country?

Is it that the Catholic church here is far less progressive than in the North? Is this why reconfiguration is so terribly ineffective?

I’m lucky to work in a multi-denominational setting. I love to see Muslim students meeting up during school to pray. I love to hear about children attending Confirmations outside school.

It doesn’t threaten me or my beliefs; it enriches my classroom. Sadly, many of my colleagues exist in a different system, a different era. Every silencing citizen and every bouncy castle Catholic keeps them there.