Christian Schools and Academic Excellence
“I have a dilemma. I have two applicants for a position. One is a Christian, and a reasonable teacher, the other does not profess any personal faith, but is an outstanding teacher. Which one do I appoint?”
Many Principals of schools in the Christian and general independent sector will identify with this problem, and will have answered it themselves in various creative ways.
There has long been considerable tension over the question of whether Christian schools ought to practise excellence – in academics, sport and other areas – as opposed to merely being faithful in ensuring a strong Christian foundation in their schools. As a Principal of Christian schools for a quarter of a century, I am in no doubt whatever that Christian schools have an inalienable right and a moral responsibility to pursue excellence, whether that be in academic, music or sport.
There are many reasons for this position to be energetically supported. In this short article, I will put forward just three.
1. The need for educated Christians in significant places.
2. The call of the Kingdom of Heaven.
3. Fulfilment of the core role of schools in society.
The need for educated Christians in significant places
C. S. Lewis wrote passionately of the need for ‘the best books’ in the world to be written by Christian authors – whether they were books on Physics, Accounting or fiction.
What we want is not more … books about Christianity, but more … books by Christians on other subjects - with their Christianity latent. … It is not the books written in direct defence of Materialism that make the modern man a materialist; it is the materialistic assumptions in all the other books. In the same way, it is not books on Christianity that will really trouble him. But he would be troubled if, whenever he wanted a cheap popular introduction to some science, the best work on the market was always by a Christian. (Lewis p93)
If the Christian community (and this includes Christian schools) were content to allow the top academics and practitioners in every field to come from the ranks of those in society not committed to a Christian worldview, it would hardly be surprising if our society rapidly loses the ‘salt’ of Christian influence.
Even a rapid glance through history will show up the effect of Christians who had been educated to high levels in their particular fields. How would the western world have been different if great men and women such as Wilberforce, Newton, Dorothy Sayers, Tolkien, Chesterton, Polkinghorne had not been encouraged by their teachers to excel?
This extract from the citation attached to the Templeton Prize awarded to Physicist, Rev Dr John Polkinghorne speaks to this issue:
John C Polkinghorne is a mathematical physicist and Anglican priest whose treatment of theology as a natural science invigorated the search for interface between science and religion and made him a leading figure in this emerging field. Dr Polkinghorne resigned a prestigious position as Professor of Mathematical Physics at the University of Cambridge in 1979 to pursue theological studies, becoming a priest in 1982. Since then, his extensive writings and lectures have consistently applied scientific habits to Christianity, resulting in a modern and compelling, new exploration of the faith. His approach to the fundamentals of Christian orthodoxy creation, using the habits of a rigorous scientific mind have brought him international recognition as a unique voice for understanding the Bible as well as evolving doctrine.
The Christian intellectual movements (often lay people) in Cambridge and Oxford, from the late18th to the present, has produced scores of high-achieving Christians in significant positions.
Biblical examples of people such as Daniel, Esther, Saul/Paul, who were educated to the highest levels of their potential and whom God used for great ends, are not hard to find.
The call of the Kingdom of Heaven
It is a gross misunderstanding of the Kingdom of Heaven to think that the Christian life is all about love and kindness, and not having sex before marriage – but a few weeks spent in some Christian schools might lead to this conclusion. Surely we are redeemed to help bring about the conditions of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth, as much as we can before Christ returns to complete this task. Your kingdom come, on earth as it is in heaven... Christians are redeemed in order to assist the work of God (in partnership with God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit) in ‘setting the world to rights’.
To be able to enter most apologetics discussions, graduates of Christian schools need to have excelled in disciplines such as law, science, and the arts. Without highly-educated Christian apologists, the Christian faith will indeed be in for a drubbing in the marketplace.
It was very gracious of God to take atheists such as C. S. Lewis and Alister McGrath, save them by his grace, and give them to us for our better learning. But surely it is theological nonsense as well as social simple-mindedness to suggest that Christians should educate their children to levels of mediocrity, while relying on God to convert the occasional genius atheist in the various fields to help us understand our faith and the world better?
Fulfilment of the core role of schools in society
Schools have developed in society for some very basic reasons, including at least the betterment and continuation of society and civilisation. At the base level, schools have to be about the 3 Rs, if society is to prosper and be properly civilised and developed. Beyond that minimal level, there is a range of additional tasks: science and technology, business and commerce, health, fitness, music, values, social interaction and so on. Without effective schooling, society will surely suffer.
If Christian schools are going to put their hands up for public money, they ought to be able and willing to produce at least as good a job as the public school down the road. Mediocrity in the core elements of schooling ought not be an option.
It would be a strange state of affairs if Christians were to go the Commonwealth Minister for Education and say, in effect, “Look, we’re Christians, so we can’t do a very good job of teaching kids to read or write or swim or play the piano. But we will teach them lots about the Bible and how to go to heaven while everyone else goes to hell. Please give us money to do the job.” I am sad to say that I think some schools have done pretty much just this - they do not deserve to be funded from the public purse. The same would be true for schools of other religious persuasion, which fail to contribute adequately to the social contract of a Western civilised nation.
A Way Forward
Christian schools claim to hold the key to the most important truth about what it means to be human, and how to live the good life. If they are right, their graduates ought to demonstrate higher levels of educational and social success than those schools which do not hold that key.
If their behaviour policies are able to produce better students because of better basic moral instruction and beliefs, then there ought to be more opportunity for their students to spend more time on task.
If their relationships are on a sounder footing, because of their redemptive understandings of human and divine interactions, then their students ought to be better placed to achieve well.
If their work ethic is guided by notions of excellence in service to their King, then surely their academic results should be at least as good as the best in the nation.
And here lies a challenge to Christian schools. If your Christian school does not have better behaviour, better results, better social interactions, at least comparable academic results than the local schools, then it is time to go back to basics and ask why not.
So how should the Principal in our opening dilemma resolve her problem? That will have to be decided within the local situation taking into consideration a range of relevant factors. It won't be resolved by appointing either a faith-filled second-rate teacher, or a crackerjack teacher who cannot advance the school's Christian witness. At least, not without a conditional contract, and some required Professional Development and mentoring in areas where they fall short.
References
J. J. O'Connor, E. F. Robertson, "John Charlton Polkinghorne" http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/Biographies/Polkinghorne.html
Lewis, C. S. God in the Dock. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1970.