Students ‘positive’ about religious ethos in schools – ESRI study

Students generally perceive the religious ethos of their school positively, but were less likely than staff to perceive ethos to be important, a new study on school identity has shown.

Some students saw their schools’ religious ethos as playing an important role in promoting awareness, tolerance, and respect, while others disagreed with the religious ethos of their school or religion in schools in general, according to research from the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) published Tuesday.

The research was welcomed by Catholic trust, the Joint Managerial Body (JMB), who funded the study.

Deirdre Matthews, General Secretary of the JMB said the findings reaffirm “the enduring values and value of voluntary secondary schools in fostering inclusive and holistic learning environments and celebrating diversity as the values underpinning the ethos of the vast majority of our schools as well as mitigating disadvantage in all its forms”.

The research comprised of surveys and focus groups and was conducted across 21 such schools – most of which were single-sex, with a total of 2,243 teenagers surveyed.