Education and Church - a statement from the Bishops
Education and Church: A Statement from the Archbishops and Bishops of the Church of Ireland
Education is nothing less than the formation of individuals in which they realise their full potential in community and their unique service to society. Human growth and development are facilitated in relationship. Family, Church and school, with the local community, all contribute to this process.
Values underpinning the educational process are the uniqueness and potential of each person, the nurturing of community as the fundamental context for human life, and the ability to engage positively with difference in a globalised and fragmenting world.
Education must address the needs of the whole person in a secure environment. It aims to enable the development of a sense of self worth, a clear identity, skills for living, and the ability to enjoy fulfilling relationships. It encourages the development of intellectual and critical thinking, and the making of moral choices. Wholesome education fosters spiritual awareness, a sense of wonder and awe, an appreciation of beauty, and inspires compassion and self-giving service.
In schools and colleges, the specific contribution of Christian education is to provide a sense of belonging to a community, the identity of which is formed by the love of God in Christ for all people. Such a community reflects the example and strength of Christ for daily living, and the hope of reconciliation for all creation, reaffirmed in regular Christian worship.
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As a consequence of our reflection on education in general and Christian education in particular, we feel it may be helpful to make a number of observations about education in both jurisdictions in Ireland. In a variety of ways and notwithstanding differing contexts, the delivery of education overwhelmingly retains a denominational or church-related character throughout the island. Our commitment to continue working in this setting with a view to excellence and responsibility is undiminished.
Schools are functioning at present in a rapidly changing society, at a time of considerable economic pressure and increasing secularism. The further challenge facing the Church of Ireland involves contributing creatively as a partner in an evolving, and at this stage unpredictable scenario, and not merely articulating the assumptions and models of the past.
We hold that:
The family and the worshipping community remain the essential places of Christian nurture; responsibility for Christian formation cannot therefore be transferred in its entirety to the school. At primary level, a Church of Ireland school in the Republic or a church-related school in the controlled sector in Northern Ireland, best fulfils its role where its relationship with parish or sponsoring church community is abundantly clear. Such schools provide places of learning, exploration and security, where children can cherish their own identity while being receptive to the position and beliefs of others.
In both the Republic of Ireland and in Northern Ireland, the Church of Ireland has a long and honourable tradition of contributing to the provision of second-level education. In the Republic in particular, it has recently voiced its concerns at the failure of government to perceive the distinctive needs of the protestant minority, not least in the provision of education for a dispersed community which is certainly not characterised by its desire for any kind of educational elitism. However, we see our unfolding role in the second-level sector very much in terms of an overall contribution to the educational resources of society. Many Church of Ireland children cannot or do not attend protestant secondary schools; many children who are not Church of Ireland choose to attend such schools. Within that reality, we believe that the characteristic spirit of the protestant schools has much to offer to society as a whole in terms of values, approach and hospitality, and that the principle of parental choice in relation to education demands to be upheld.
From our perspective, Christian schools (whatever their denominational emphasis) are to be characterised and influenced by a commitment to corporate worship, the development of personal spirituality, and the provision of a substantial Religious Education curriculum. There is much in this area that can and should be achieved on an ecumenical basis and, in countless schools not under its management, the Church of Ireland wishes to be seen as an enthusiastic and generous participant. Whatever the specific background of the school, we affirm the principle that a faith-based education often leads to a fruitful outcome in terms of the holistic needs of the child. In a rushed and distracted world, space needs to be made for responding to the presence and the mystery of God.
We wish to affirm the importance of equality of opportunity and provision within education. The Church is called to be a voice for the voiceless. We express particular concern about those forms of selective intake which may produce academic excellence for some, but which in the long term may foment in others a sense of failure and injustice.
At the heart of Christian discipleship is generous service. We hope to make a contribution to education and society that is perceived as generous, participative and positive. We note that in the European context which frames so much of today's understanding of citizenship in and beyond this land, the central and creative importance of the Christian contribution to education and culture has frequently been upheld.
As the Archbishops and Bishops of the Church of Ireland, we commit ourselves to engage energetically in public discussion regarding the future of education in both jurisdictions in Ireland.
30 September 2009
ENDS
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