done religiously in the local schools

English translation: [See below.]

01:56 May 17, 2019
English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Education / Pedagogy
English term or phrase: done religiously in the local schools
Hello everyone,

From the book Thank You for Being Late by Thomas Friedman.

This was an era in which Title IV-C Education Department grants enabled public school teachers to apply through their districts to create new curricula that other districts could purchase for low or no fees. It made high school teaching, for those who aspired to it, a very creative job—it wasn’t just a matter of rinsing and repeating what was handed down from the central school’s office. For instance, my World Studies teacher, Lee Smith, and his colleague Wes Bodin created a World Reli-gions curriculum, stimulated by the multireligious nature of the student body in St. Louis Park and the desire by the St. Louis Park School Board to set some guidelines in 1971–1972 on ***what could and what could not be done religiously in the local schools***. Their curriculum was adopted by schools all over the country. Bingham recalled that in 1977 she and Susan Gross, a teacher from Robbinsdale, one suburb over, won a Title IV-C grant to create an area studies program called Women in the World, to introduce high schoolers to women’s history. They ended up distributing the curriculum they wrote nationally—more than a hundred thousand books.

https://www.adl.org/education/resources/tools-and-strategies...

In sum, there is a critical difference between teaching religion and teaching about religion. While it is constitutionally permissible for public schools to teach about religion, it is unconstitutional for public schools and their employees to observe religious holidays, promote religious belief, or practice religion.

What Mr. Friedman writes about took place in 1960s-1970s and I'm not sure that what is written on the liked site applied back then. So my question is: What does "what could and what could not be done religiously in the local schools" refer to? Does it refer to what religios holidays and rites could or couldn't be observed/celebrated? Or does it refer to something else?

Thank you.
Mikhail Korolev
Local time: 21:32
Selected answer:[See below.]
Explanation:
Original:

what could and what could not be done religiously in the local schools*

My understanding of the underlying meaning:

How religion could be properly incorporated into the local school curriculum within a public education setting in a way that would not infringe the first amendment of the US Constitution or offend the sensibilities of students and families belonging to particular religious groups within the school district.
Selected response from:

Robert Forstag
United States
Local time: 14:32
Grading comment
Many thanks to everyone.
Thank you, Robert.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED
4 +7[See below.]
Robert Forstag
4 +1done based on religion, done according to religious customs
Katalin Horváth McClure
3carried out to broaden the scope of religious education in the local schools.
British Diana


Discussion entries: 8





  

Answers


54 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +7
[See below.]


Explanation:
Original:

what could and what could not be done religiously in the local schools*

My understanding of the underlying meaning:

How religion could be properly incorporated into the local school curriculum within a public education setting in a way that would not infringe the first amendment of the US Constitution or offend the sensibilities of students and families belonging to particular religious groups within the school district.

Robert Forstag
United States
Local time: 14:32
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 8
Grading comment
Many thanks to everyone.
Thank you, Robert.
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thank you, Robert.


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Katalin Horváth McClure: Yes, and also how to incorporate religion (and to what extent) into the general operations of the school (holidays, meals, etc.)
10 mins
  -> Perhaps that additional idea was implicit here as well. Thank you, Katalin.

agree  Charles Davis: I entirely agree with this reading (though I also agree with Katalin that the guidelines could have extended to school life beyond the curriculum per se)
15 mins
  -> Thank you, Charles!

agree  Arabic & More
51 mins
  -> Thank you, Amel.

agree  Tony M: Simply 'in relation to religion' ('in terms of religion')
2 hrs
  -> Thank you, Tony M.

agree  B D Finch
6 hrs
  -> Thank you, B D.

agree  British Diana: This fits in with and adds to my interpretation.
12 hrs
  -> Thank you, BD.

agree  Jennifer Caisley
17 hrs
  -> Thank you, Jennifer.
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53 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
done based on religion, done according to religious customs


Explanation:
done based on religion, done according to the rules or customs of a certain religion (or several religions)

I am pretty sure the author meant what you suspect, that is: to define what actions can and cannot be done in a religious manner in school. For example: could/should the students say grace before eating their meal in the cafeteria? Could/should the students decorate a Xmas tree and keep it in their classroom? Could students fast during Lent or Ramadan and refuse school meals? Is "God Bless You All" an acceptable form of greeting? Etc, etc.

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Note added at 1 hr (2019-05-17 02:58:18 GMT)
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I think the author may have used the phrase as a play on words, because something "done religiously" does have a meaning of doing something very precisely, repeatedly, by the rules, but here the point is that the World Religions curriculum was inspired "by the multireligious nature of the student body" and the desire from the school board to set some guidelines. A multireligous student body poses a challenge for a school because there are different customs and holidays that would affect school life (attendance, meals, etc.) and that is why schools want to have some guidelines to control their operations.
In the given context, it does not make sense to talk about some sort of general guidelines about what regular activities should be carried out at a school. It would have nothing to do with World Religions and a multicultural student body.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2019-05-17 03:40:19 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

This additional note above was in response to another answer that had been withdrawn in the meantime.

Katalin Horváth McClure
United States
Local time: 14:32
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in HungarianHungarian
PRO pts in category: 4
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thank you, Katalin.


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Arabic & More
53 mins
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5 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
carried out to broaden the scope of religious education in the local schools.


Explanation:
My interpretation is a bit different from the others here. I don't think the author is aware of the play on words that Katalin and most of us immediately spot.
The text is about how curricula thought up by one teacher can be shared by others and also about the guidance requested by the multireligious school in question. I suspect (but do not know) that in 1971 it was a something of a novelty to think up a new curriculum for religious education which was based not only on Christianity but on other world religions. The fact that the school board requested guidance makes me think that it was unsure about how much the Religious Education curriculum could be itself be multireligious and cater better to students from these world religions.

British Diana
Germany
Local time: 19:32
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thank you, British Diana.

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