Education has certainly been a controversial subject in the last few years. Nearly every month the media focuses on some aspect of schools, usually in a very negative fashion, writes Trevor Cooling.
So attention flits from the Chief Inspector of School's opinion that there are 15,000 incompetent teachers who should be 'weeded out', to the statement by the Chief Executive of the Government's main curriculum body that an 'anything goes' moral relativism is rampant, to the news that in one Birmingham primary school Muslim children are being taught exclusively Muslim RE in separate classes from the other children in the school.
Should evangelical Christians be concerned about the state of our nation's schools? The answer is most emphatically yes. In particular we should be aware of the increasing pressures on teachers.
The tragic death of the London head-teacher Philip Lawrence, murdered at his own school gates as he sought to protect a pupil, is indicative of a wider collapse in respect for the authority of schools and teachers. His case is the tip of an iceberg.
I know another Christian head-teacher who was recently punched in the mouth by a former pupil on the school premises during the school day. Five minutes later, this head had to address an important meeting of all his staff. He did so with a bloodied and swollen face. It is not surprising that physical and verbal abuse, added to the many demands made on teachers by Government initiatives, mean that stress-related illness is a major cause of early retirement. In one school near my home, 18 teachers from a staff of 60 have been retired on grounds of stress-related illness in the last seven years. And of course it is the pupil's education that suffers when this happens.
The authority of teachers
There is also a values crisis in our schools. Perhaps one of the most alarming features of modern education is that many teachers have lost confidence in their own authority. On a recent BBC 'Newsnight' programme, a number of student teachers were interviewed about teaching moral values. The vast majority felt they had no right to tell children that certain things were right and certain things wrong. One the same programme the Chief Executive of the School Curriculum and Assessment Authority (SCAA) spoke out against the eroding effects of an 'anything goes' moral and spiritual relativism. Just a few weeks later it was reported that a minority of his own staff had criticised him for taking SCAA into 'new and difficult territory' in wanting to promote a moral framework through schools! A ship that has lost its steerage is a most dangerous vessel, as the Sea Empress has reminded us recently. Education without a moral rudder is an even more dangerous phenomenon.
Need for understanding
It is, therefore, absolutely right that evangelical Christians express concern about the education of both their own children and of the nation's children in general. However, the manner in which we express our concern is crucial. If we are to have a positive impact on schools, evangelicals must offer relevant and practical support and demonstrate understanding of the pressures which teachers face. Sadly, we are too often perceived as only being concerned to return to some past golden age, blaming teachers for deliberately undermining this with their trendy educational theories. So we come over as carping and unhelpfully critical, failing to understand what it is like to teach in a modern school. We are too easily seen as a political pressure group, concerned to protect the interests of 'our own kind' against those of other groups which threaten us. Of course, some of this is distortion by the media pundits, but we are not blameless of the charges. What a travesty it is when the gospel, the good news for all, is viewed as simply the sectional interests of the powerful evangelical Christian lobby!
Fortunately, there is encouraging news, indeed very encouraging news, to be told about evangelical impact on education. In the last ten years we have probably had more opportunities to influence schools in ways which help stem the tide of secularism and offer positive Christian support than has been the case for many years before. Let me take just four aspects of school life to illustrate the point.
1. Sex education
Sex education is always a contentious area. It is often difficult for us to comprehend just how far the consensus in society has shifted away from a Christian view. Teenagers today are bombarded with the expectation that they will have several sexual partners before they 'settle down'. Chastity is no longer a virtue and many teachers find it hard to portray virginity as a positive option prior to marriage such is the pressure of general expectation. Indeed there are even those who see it as positively immoral to suggest to children that they should save themselves for one partner for life.
In this situation teachers need up-to-date and relevant resources which teenagers will take seriously if chastity and infidelity are to stand any chance of a proper hearing. Into this breach stepped CARE for Education. In 1994 they produced a high quality video called Make Love Last with massive appeal to unchurched teenagers. This presents virginity as an option to be taken seriously. From simply laughing at the very idea, teenagers shown the video were prepared to discuss the serious possibility that virginity might be best. Over 2,500 secondary schools have now bought the video, which means that over 35% of all 11-16 year-olds are experiencing a 'teenage friendly' encounter with Christian sexual values.
2. Religious education
Another area of great concern for Christians is religious education. We are almost unique in the world in having compulsory RE for all pupils in school. In theory this means that all of them will hear about Christianity every year of their school career. In practice the subject has been neglected and under-resourced. However, thanks to the lobbying work of a small organisation called the Christian Institute, the 1988 Education Act re-instated RE with a particular emphasis on Christianity. As a result, the subject has been experiencing a revival in schools.
Since 1991, the Association of Christian Teachers has been active, through the Stapleford Project, in producing resources for teachers which give a clear presentation of the Christian message. To date, 30 titles have been published and over 100,000 copies sold. Even more encouraging is the fact that the ideas behind Stapleford Project books have been adopted by the Government in their model RE syllabuses and by the BBC in their RE programmes for 7 to 9 year-olds.
3. Other subjects
However, it is a mistake to think that RE is the only subject area where Christian influence can be exercised. Thanks again to the efforts of certain evangelical Christians, in particular Ruth Deakin, the head-teacher of a Christian school in Bristol, the 1992 Education Act included a clause which requires schools to promote the spiritual and moral development of students through all subjects. But how, you may ask, can spiritual and moral development be promoted, for example, through maths? Peter Snow asked the very same question of John Shortt on 'Newsnight' on January 15. John, who works for the Association of Christian Teachers, is leading teams of teachers producing materials which demonstrate how this can be done in four subjects. These are unique materials, no-one else is addressing this issue in such a practical way. Again evangelicals are pioneers in a field where all teachers are looking for practical advice.
4. Practical help
Fourthly, the opportunities for Christians to go into schools and lead assemblies and Christian groups is increasing all the time. This is a dynamic and exciting area of missionary activity. In 1993, an organisation called the Schools Ministry Network came into being. It now has over 300 members, all of whom are involved in visiting schools. Members of the Network are employed by, or are volunteers with, organisations like Scripture Union, British Youth for Christ, Oasis, Discovery, Open Air Campaigners and Crusaders. Others work for individual churches or one of the many local organisations with names like CROPS (Christian Options in Peterborough Schools), CENS (Christian Education in Nottingham Schools) and the Bridgebuilder Trust in Milton Keynes.
So there really is much to celebrate in terms of Christian influence in education. But above all we should praise God for the faithful work of Christian teachers who day by day, year by year, offer a Christian witness to young people in schools, often under very difficult circumstances. Without them, the initiatives described in this article would come to nothing. The challenging question for any church is how much support do these teachers receive? Are they, for example, prayed for publicly? Or are we Christians like the media, interested in education for a few days when some horror story attracts the headlines, but for the rest of the time forgetting it as no longer newsworthy?
Trevor Cooling is Projects Officer for the Association of Christian Teachers, Wesley Place, Stapleford, Nottingham NG9 8DP (0115 9396270).
