From 21 February, schools across the United Kingdom will be
receiving free copies of Michael Rosen and Annemarie Young’s
children’s book What is Humanism? courtesy of
the British Humanist Association (BHA), following a successful
crowdfunding campaign.
What is Humanism? is the first of its kind: a
nonfiction book for upper primary and lower secondary pupils
which explores humanist views of morality and ethics, the origins
of life, and the relationship between religion and the state. It
is intended for use in the classroom or at home to help children
from all backgrounds better understand the mainstream
non-religious values shared by record numbers of people in the UK
today.
This is the first time the BHA has distributed a book to primary
schools, and for many schools, it will be the first book about
non-religious worldviews in their libraries.
The book features special content provided by
authors Stephen Fry, Natalie
Haynes, and Philip Pullman, who
are all patrons of the BHA, as well from the BHA’s Vice
President, physicist Jim Al-Khalili, and
its President, the comedian and novelist Shappi
Khorsandi, who share their outlook on life.
BHA Chief Executive Andrew Copson commented:
‘Thanks to generous donations from humanists across the UK,
Michael and Annemarie’s groundbreaking new book will be available
in classrooms and libraries throughout the country.
‘These days it’s more important than ever that children are able
to learn about the different beliefs and perspectives they will
encounter in modern Britain. It’s important that children have
access to information about all the different religions and
non-religious perspectives out there in the world today so they
can make up their own minds about what they believe.’
Michael Rosen and Annemarie Young commented:
‘Millions of people in this country and all over the world work
out their philosophy of life, and how to live, without referring
to religion. Schools quite rightly spend a good deal of time and
effort exploring the ideas and philosophies of the world's great
religions, but the ideas of humanism, secularism, and atheism are
largely ignored. The mismatch between what is believed and what
is taught is surely wrong. Our book aims at opening up a
discussion about what humanism is, and how people live their
lives as humanists. Throughout the book, readers are encouraged
to ask questions, in order to help them think for themselves and
thus to counter prejudice.’
A 2015 court judgment, Fox v Secretary of State for
Education, clarified that all schools in the United Kingdom
have a positive duty to teach about Humanism, the UK’s principal
non-religious worldview, as part of Religious Education (RE)
lessons. The BHA hopes that the book will go towards helping
teachers to fulfil their statutory obligation by supporting young
people to discover how many people today live happy, ethical, and
fulfilling lives without religion.
The book is available to request for free through the BHA’s
education website, Understanding Humanism (http://understandinghumanism.org.uk),
which also provides free teaching resources about Humanism for
children of all ages, along with trained and accredited humanist
School Speakers who can help teachers to plan and deliver
inclusive RE lessons.
Humanists are non-religious people whose values include looking
to reason and science to gain an understanding of the world
around them and relying on empathy to make moral choices. Recent
surveys estimate that as many as one in five people in the UK
share these values, and that half of the population claim no
religion. This number rises to two in three for Britons under 35.
