Crucifixes in classrooms: The pedagogical assumptions of the European Courts

Increasingly, courts across Europe are passing judgement on issues of religion and education, but the pedagogical assumptions that often underpin their decisions have not been fully explored. This paper considers the 2011 decision of the European Court of Human Rights in Italy v Lautsi, which concerned whether the display of a crucifix in a classroom wall infringed the pupils’ right to freedom of belief. First, the increasing juridical involvement in issues of religion and education is outlined, and the challenges this presents. Next, I describe the particular circumstances of the Lautsi case and consider the pedagogical issues raised by the judges, both in the Italian and European Courts, suggesting three broad positions. These are then reviewed from a socio-cultural perspective so as to examine the different judges’ pedagogical assumptions about religious symbols. Their differing assumptions about the spatial and symbolic contexts of classrooms are outlined, and finally the implications of these assumptions for judicial decisions on religion and education are evaluated