Educate Together

BACKGROUND

Educate Together is a modern, dynamic charity that is redefining standards in inclusive, learner-centred education. It provides a choice of equality-based primary and second-level schools for thousands of families in Ireland.

Educate Together schools are state-funded, child-centred and democratically run. Equality of access and esteem is guaranteed to students irrespective of their social, cultural or religious background.

Educate Together schools teach the National Curriculum, are non-fee-paying and are open to students of all backgrounds. The schools aim to enable students to achieve their full potential with a sense of equality and justice. Educate Together put students at the heart of all policies and practices and no one religion or worldview is given priority over another in our schools.

As a patron, Educate Together operates a national network of 95 primary schools and 21 second-level schools in Ireland, catering for more than 34,000 students.

CURRENT PROJECTS

Educate Together schools teach Ethical Education as an independent subject at primary and second-level, from Junior Infants to 6^th Year. It is a key component of the Educate Together model, seeking to offer students the opportunity to meaningfully and critically reflect upon the world around them, focusing on questions of equality, justice, sustainability and active citizenship.

At primary level, the Learn Together Ethical Education Curriculum is taught alongside the National Curriculum. It includes learning about morality and spirituality; equality and justice; belief systems and an ethical approach to the environment. Learn Together replaces religious instruction and teaches students about different belief systems as well as atheism, agnosticism and humanism, without promoting any one worldview over another.

At second-level, the Ethical Education Curriculum, aims to extend and hone students’ ability to explore, question, understand and reflect critically on their own values, beliefs, worldviews and those of others and to develop their skills to communicate effectively and respectfully and act ethically. Themes within the curriculum include values, worldviews and belief systems, justice, global citizenship education, diversity, migration and equality.