Christian commentary

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Issues for Church schools

This issue is discussed in depth in the National Society booklet The Curriculum - Christian Perspectives, published in 1997. Introducing the booklet, Alan Brown writes as follows:

The Christian assumptions of many people in Britain, whether cloaked in humanist guise or not, mean that while a number of people may not attend a Church regularly they continue to look to the Church(es) to ensure that moral and spiritual guidance is available, promoted and advocated. In an educational context this can mean that religion and morals become a 'slot' in the life of a school, conveniently divorcing it from the rest of the curriculum. Even Department for Education and Employment terminology uses the word 'secular' to describe that part of the curriculum which excludes RE and school collective worship; in other words, at least 95 per cent of the curriculum is 'secular'. This has been justified by legislators at the Department because it was used in the Education Act (1944), section 23, and in subsequent statutory instruments, e.g. the number of hours of secular instruction to be given each day.

This is not enough for those Christians who wish to present their faith as being concerned with the whole of life and thereby necessarily influencing the whole curriculum in schools; for such Christians feel able to make a positive contribution to those areas of development which were laid down in the Education Reform Act (1988), section 1 (2a):

(2) The curriculum for a maintained school satisfies the requirements of this section if it is a balanced and broadly based curriculum which:

1. promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils at the school and of society,
2. prepares such pupils for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of adult life.

(This is now section 351 of the Education Act (1996).)

The foundations a school provides should not separate learning designed to prepare pupils for the experiences of life and to help their development of spiritual and moral values from an understanding of one's place in society.

A Church school is in a unique position to develop a clear understanding of the way in which Christian values can be reflected within the whole curriculum of the school.

The starting-point for a Christian curriculum is the experience of God, through the love of Christ, which leads to an understanding of the world, of humanity and a hope for the future that is summarized in the great creeds or statements of faith. However, it is impossible to get straight from a statement of faith to educational practice without going through an important phase of interpretation. Here, an essential component of the process, is teachers who are reflectively committed to examining their practice in the light of educational theory and the ideas, beliefs and values which constitute the Christian faith. These teachers also need to be able to critique their own culture, and to understand the world-view commitments behind the National Curriculum.

The spiritual dimension of the curriculum should infuse "all areas of the curriculum and affect every part of school life, reflecting the creative process of God acting through us as humans".

Quotations from The Curriculum: Christian Perspectives (The National Society, 1997):

• In summary, the Church school should enable pupils and teachers to explore how God's world and God-given gifts of the Spirit are wonderful, mysterious and awe-inspiring.
  
  
• There is, however, recognition that the National Curriculum does not allow teachers the same freedom of choice to make curricular decisions, particularly at Key Stage 4. Curricular distinctiveness will, therefore, be more likely to be found, not in curricular additions, but in those emphases which reflect the insights of the Christian faith.
  
  
• Humility: once we have experienced the wonders of our universe we begin to see (as many scientists are now saying quite openly) that we may never have all the answers; such intellectual humility is the sign of a truly educated person. In this sense 'humility' will be a cross-curricular experience, and out of it will arise an openness regarding the ideas of others. This is not to recommend a thorough-going relativism (i.e. all ideas are equally true - it just depends on your perspective), because the truly educated person will debate rigorously, albeit with love and concern for those with whom she or he is debating. We will at least understand why others see things differently from us and, with that understanding, will seek to explore truth together-wherever that exploration may lead.
  
  
• Through a concern for truth (which, again as the Johannine Christ assures us, liberates), pathways will be followed (so far as possible) without ideological bias. Of course, children will learn from their study of history and religion that what they might previously have believed to have been 'facts' are usually interpretations of human experience. They will learn that in order to interpret, we have to allow the evidence to speak to us. Sometimes the evidence may seem to undermine our dearest beliefs. Being 'led out' on the road of 'human becoming', requires us to follow where the evidence leads us, as hard as that might occasionally be.
  
  
• The process of education and its development has, over the centuries, occasionally engaged the Church in a great deal of self-analysis. Today it is fully recognized that education and the growing body of our world, place a responsibility upon all Christians to seek to understand and to interpret the whole revelation of God in Christ.

And from The Archbishop of Canterbury in A Christian Voice in Education: Distinctiveness in Church Schools (The National Society, 1998):

• Church schools are as concerned as any other school to equip pupils for lives marked out by rapid change, global competition and insecurity, but Church schools themselves embody the truth that a context of firm principles suffused by faith and love is the best and right basis for learning and growing.

The issue for Church schools is to ensure that the secular curriculum and the secular world (if there is such a thing) do not set the curriculum agendas in our schools.

All school policies on curriculum areas will reflect the ethos statement of the school. This statement is adopted by the governors as part of the Instrument of Government for the school. As the curriculum policies fall to be reviewed, schools should seek to ensure that the new documents reflect appropriately the school's ethos statement.

The Church of England and Church in Wales have developed the following model ethos statement:

Recognizing its historic foundation, the school will preserve and develop its religious character in accordance with the principles of the Church of England/Church in Wales and in partnership with the Churches at parish and diocesan level.

The school aims to serve its community by providing an education of the highest quality within the context of Christian belief and practice. It encourages an understanding of the meaning and significance of faith, and promotes Christian values through the experience it offers to all its pupils.

Schools should consider the following questions:

Have the governors adopted the Church of England model or followed diocesan advice from the Church of Wales?

If not, has the content of the school's statement been arrived at through consultation and agreement with the diocese?

Is it a reflection of the Anglican foundation of the school?

Challenging areas

1. The most commonly quoted difficulty is balancing the demands of religious education and the National Curriculum and ensuring that all staff receive an appropriate balance of training as documents are revised and developed.
   
   
2. Care may sometimes be needed in implementing recommendations for the curriculum from providers who are not directly addressing the needs of Church schools. Time needs to be taken to reflect on whether the ideas truly represent the values of a Church school. If they do not do so and the issues do not form part of a document with statutory force they should not be implemented as recommended but should be adapted and developed so that they fit in with the schools overall policies and values.
   
   
3. In the context of implementing a curriculum policy that reflects the foundation of the school, there needs to be appropriate respect for the views and beliefs of all within the school community. A difference is being drawn here between a policy appropriate to a Church school and reflecting its ethos and the means by which that policy is implemented in the particular circumstances of the school community at the time.
   
   
4. The curriculum must also prepare pupils to live in a religiously and culturally diverse community even when they are not being brought up in a local community for which this is a daily experience.

FAQs

Can you have a Christian commentary on the National Curriculum?

Excerpt from The Curriculum: Christian Perspectives (The National Society, 1997, pp20-21):

'There is no such thing as a value-free curriculum. All programmes of learning, including the National Curriculum, are shaped by the ideas and values of those who design the curriculum. The knowledge and skills which are selected (or not selected) for attention, the teaching and learning styles adopted in delivery, the mode of organization of the curriculum and the ethos of the classroom are all powerfully influenced by ideas, values and beliefs about children, society and knowledge. The question then for Christian schools is: how should the ideas, beliefs and values which constitute the foundation of the school shape the actual praxis of teaching and learning in the School? In days of self-management, diversity and choice within a quasi-market system of provision, these questions are very important. Equally significant are the deeper cultural changes which our society is experiencing - described by some as 'post-modernity'. This is characterized by global economies, the loss of faith in a universalizing belief system, lifestyle politics, self-actualization, the compression of time and space, the information explosion, and not least the sense of moral confusion. These influences in our culture can also profoundly influence education and present Christian schools with new opportunities to be distinctive.'

Does the National Curriculum apply in Church schools?

Yes - but implementation of the National Curriculum in Church schools does not prevent schools also seeking to reflect the school's values and beliefs in the way in which they teach the subject or in what additional material they add to that which is defined within the National Curriculum orders.

Do all children have to study the whole National Curriculum?

Where a child has special educational needs and their statement indicates that it would be inappropriate for them to study the whole of the national curriculum, that statement may indicate which of the foundation subjects shall be omitted from the child's programme of study (see section 364 of the Education Act 1996).

Resources

For a more detailed study, see:

• Values for Church Schools, Peter Shepherd (The National Society, 1998)
• A Christian Voice in Education: Distinctiveness in Church Schools, ed. Alan Brown (The National Society, 1998)
• The Curriculum: Christian Perspectives, ed. Alan Brown (The National Society, 1997)
• Valuing Cultural Diversity: A self-evaluation kit for schools, 2001 (The National Society). Available from this web site, the kit will help you to look at why valuing cultural diversity is important, how to do it, and what resources are available to help.

In his 2002 edition of Churches Serving Schools, David Lankshear reflects on the curriculum in Church schools. The relevant pages are available for download (PDF, 76KB) and may be used within the school for training purposes.

• Churches Serving Schools, David Lankshear (National Society, 2002)
• Room for the Spirit, Rowan Williams, National Society Annual Lecture 1999
• The Way Ahead, The Archbishop's Council 2001 - especially Chapter 4 (PDF, 88 KB)
• www.dfes.gov.uk
• www.accac.org.uk
• www.chester.ac.uk - for information about the Church Colleges' Certificate in Church Schools Studies

Resources on theology and education:

• Christian Perspectives on Church Schools, ed. Leslie Francis and David W Lankshear (Gracewing 1993)
• Critical Perspectives on Christian Education, ed. Jeff Astley and Leslie J Francis (Gracewing 1994)
• Christian Perspectives on Education, ed. Leslie Francis and Adrian Thatcher (Gracewing 1990)
• The Contours of Christian Education, ed. Jeff Astley and David Day (McCrimmons 1992)
• Theological Approaches to Christian Education, ed. Jack L Seymour and Donald E Miller (Abingdon Press 1990)

A useful reference book for parents, governors and teachers is:

• The Dictionary of Education, Dennis Lawton and Peter Gordon (Hodder & Stoughton 1996)

It contains an exhaustive range of definitions and acronyms used in the education system.