Discipline, Devotion, and Dissent Jewish, Catholic, and Islamic Schooling in Canada By Graham P. McDonough, Nadeem A. Memon, and Avi I. Mintz, eds. (Waterloo, Canada: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2013. 272 pages.)

Abstract

During the 2007 provincial election campaign, Conservative party candidate
John Tory proposed extending government funding to all faith-based schools
in Ontario. This was met with strong public and media opposition due to fears
of radicalization and indoctrinating students in religious beliefs considered outdated
and a threat to Canadian norms (particularly with Islamic schools). It is
with this anecdote that editors Graham P. McDonough, Nadeem Memon, and
Avi L. Mintz introduce Discipline, Devotion, and Dissent: Jewish, Catholic,
and Islamic Schooling in Canada. As they note, the impassioned debate surrounding
Tory’s election promise, as well as his ensuing loss, indicate that religious
education is a particularly contentious topic in an increasingly secular
society. And yet there is surprisingly little scholarly literature on this topic.
The editors seek to address this gap through this excellent and much
needed contribution to the field. Focusing solely on Catholic, Islamic, and Jewish
schools, which make up the vast majority of Canada’s full-time religious
schools, the editors seek not to provide an overview of religious education, but
to address three issues: The schools’ aims and practices, how they “negotiate
the tension between the demands of the faith and the expectation that they educate
Canadian citizens,” and how they “respond to internal dissent.” ...