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When people from different schools and interstate begin asking for back-copies of the annual Integral Project Dinner Booklet one is inclined to think that this slender publication is much more than an ephemeral souvenir of a great evening! We created The Integral Project in order to emphasise how important it is that what we say we believe about learning, teaching and schooling is in fact reflected in how and what we do day by day, year after year. We chose the word Integral to convey the idea of completeness, as against an education that may be very good but is incomplete. We chose Integral to convey the idea that the fruitfulness of the education that is seen reflects the depth and health of the roots on which it is founded. No Integral Dinner will be complete without the Project Booklet.

This year’s booklet contains stories from a number of Anglican schools. It contains information about helpful resources. It also contains articles you can reproduce as conversation starters for your workplace. Some of these are more provocative than others. Not every story or article will suit every staffroom.

I hope you find the booklet encouraging, challenging and useful.

Dr Bryan CowlingExecutive Director

COWLINGDR BRYAN

EXECUTIVE DIRECTORANGLICAN EDUCATION COMMISSION

TABLEOF CONTENTS

PresentationsMy Story, Dr Bryan Cowling 8Time for a Chat about Spiritual Leadership, The Rev Graham Stanton 9Agora, Mrs Gillian Davis 11

artiCLesChristians in Teaching, Mr Ian Keast 14The International Baccalaureate at TIGS, The Rev James Rogers 16A Christian Worldview in the Curriculum - the Journey, Mr Ian Croger 18Christian Education - providing a radical picture of the good life, Mr James Pietsch 21Compass Schools Conference, The Rev Graham Stanton 22

aeC artiCLesWhere we are going in 2015, Dr Bryan Cowling 24The Charter of the AEC 25Women as Leaders Seminars 26K-6 Consultancy, Mrs Alison Wheldon 28Agora 29Postscript, Mr George Glanville 30

resoUrCes & oPPortUnities Christian Educator’s Professional Association 32Christian Education Publications 33Wesley Institute 34

pRESENTATIONS

8Anglican Schooling at the End of the AgesThe Integral Project Sixth Annual Dinner

COWLINGDRBRYAN


MY STORY

As you began to brace yourself for a Sydney winter, I was on my way to England with a stop-over in Singapore. The purpose of my journey was three-fold. First, it was to renew the partnership between our Diocese and the Anglican Diocese of Singapore and especially between our respective schools. Second, it was to speak at and participate in the annual conference of Christian educators from across Europe. Third, it was to investigate the ‘revolution’ that is occurring in British education, especially Anglican education!

In Singapore, over a working lunch with members of the Diocesan Board of Education, some chaplains, clergy and school council members, we discussed current issues of curriculum, pedagogy, governance, school-church relationships and the latest developments in early childhood education. There was keen interest in the Commission’s submission to the Review of the Australian Curriculum. We have agreed to continue the conversation.

There were a hundred teachers, principals and school governors from 22 European countries at the EurECA Conference in Essex. Its theme was pedagogy but the conversations and workshops which occurred over the three days covered a multitude of topics. There was lot of interest in our Eyes of Faith booklets and the Biblical Studies Framework, all of which can be downloaded from the AEC website. It was an enriching experience to meet Christian educators from troubled countries like Ukraine and to talk to Christian teachers from government schools in Germany, Denmark and Spain. We discovered a voracious appetite on the part of many of the teachers for resources and creative pedagogical ideas. And we were humbled by their faithfulness and prayerfulness in the face of enormous problems.

This was a very propitious time to be investigating educational change in Britain. Two years ago I read the report of the Chadwick Committee on The Church School of the Future. It was a daring and exciting piece of writing designed to position the Church of England to reframe the distinctiveness of its 4,800 schools and place them at the centre of its mission to the nation. My heart was stirred by its boldness; but my mind struggled not to be cynical. I conducted separate interviews with Dr Priscilla Chadwick and the other architects of this grand plan, namely Bishop John Pritchard (Chair of the National Board), Dr Rob Gwynne (former senior bureaucrat in the government and the Church), and Mr Nigel Genders (CEO-elect of Anglican Education). I visited numerous dioceses to see and hear for myself how well this revolution was being implemented. I attended conferences, faculty meetings and less formal gatherings in Liverpool, Birmingham, Canterbury, Cheltenham and London. I also interviewed Richy Thompson, Campaign Director of the British Humanist Association in order to ‘hear from the other side’. I went to discover and I found a change process in action. I have come home inspired.

There is much that we can learn from our British brothers and sisters. I have filled a few pages already and there’s lots I’ve forgotten. It was summed up for me at a dinner I attended at the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity at which we were challenged to share our personal stories at the tables of what it has meant for us to be a fruitful disciple of Christ on the frontline. Your frontline might be your staffroom, the common room or your classroom. The place where you are surrounded each day by nice folk who do not share your Christian commitment. Our schools are a frontline: a gift from God to us in which we are called to live, speak and teach Christianly – for his glory!

Anglican Schooling at the End of the AgesThe Integral Project Sixth Annual Dinner

9

A principal, chaplain and school council chair walk into a bar and someone from the AEC asks them what they think about spiritual leadership… It could be the start of a joke but it’s actually a metaphor for the conversations that are at the heart of the Spiritual Leadership Project.

Among the various responsibilities of the principal of an Anglican school there is general agreement that he/she plays a significant role in the spiritual leadership of the school community. The Diocesan Education Policy includes supporting the appointment of chaplains to ‘assist principals in the provision of spiritual leadership and to faithfully minister the word to the school community’. The problem is that though we have a reasonably clear idea of what is involved in the ministry of the word, there is very little clarity about what is actually involved in providing spiritual leadership.

One way of coming up with ‘the answer’ to the question would be to commission somebody to read some books, have a think and write up something that could be sent around to schools to be received with varying degrees of warmth and left to gather dust on a shelf somewhere. A far better plan is to engage in conversations that will spark new conversations. In time we’re aiming for an ongoing discourse that will be able to capture the complexity of the task as well as the changing context of leadership in schools into the future.

It has been a great privilege for me to be involved with the AEC to work on this project. Through the first half of the year I’ve shared numerous cups of tea and coffee with principals, chaplains and heads of councils. It has been a fascinating and encouraging time hearing some of the unique initiatives being pursued in individual schools as well as the shared commitments across our community. Not only have the conversations been informative for me as a researcher, it has been apparent on a number of occasions that having the conversation enabled people to articulate for the first time what they actually thought about this important topic.

There are many common elements in the big picture dimensions of the principal’s leadership role. The Dearing Review of church schools in the UK from 2001 identified head teachers as ‘spiritual and academic leaders’ of the school, with the distinctive role of ‘the creation of a distinctive Christian community’. The Diocesan Education Policy and the Sydney Anglican Schools Corporation philosophy of education include responsibility for ‘appointing Principals to lead and integrate the intellectual and Christian life of a school community’. All of the schools I have connected with have expressed an understanding of the principal’s role in terms that are not dissimilar to these official statements.

STANTON THE REVGRAHAM

TIME FOR A CHAT ABOUT SpIRITUAL LEADERSHIp?

pROJECT OFFICERANGLICAN EDUCATION COMMISSION


Yet despite this common basic idea, the way any individual principal fulfills that role depends on many variables: the individual gifts and personality of the principal, the vision for ‘Christian Education’ held by the principal and school council, the expertise and focus of the council, the gifts and style of the chaplain as well as where the school is up to in its ‘lifecycle’. As the time for conducting interviews draws to a close, the challenge now is to capture the key variables and articulate the different ways that spiritual leadership can be exercised in different settings.

Our hope is to develop a resource that might help guide leaders of Anglican schools to think clearly about how spiritual leadership will be exercised within the school. Perhaps the conversations will

be useful in making explicit the spiritual leadership already implied in current practice. There may also be opportunity to re-examine current practice and set a new or revised direction. For new and aspiring principals, as well as new council members, we hope the resource will provide guidance and support as they work through how their gifts and experience can contribute to spiritual leadership in our schools.

To stay informed about the progress of the Spiritual Leadership Project or if you would like to talk with me about this work, please email [email protected]


11

DAVISMRSGILLIAN

ASSOCIATE DIRECTORANGLICAN EDUCATION COMMISSION

AGORA

A handful of year 12 students, commissioned to serve at one of our recent Agora events, found themselves getting more than they expected. Dr Frank Stootman’s talk “The role of Science in God’s world” captured their attention more than the refilling of a coffee plunger. Relevant and engaging, he dealt with many current issues such as the voice of science into areas normally relegated to religion and philosophy. Agora found a few more fans it would seem.

In seeking to debate and discuss the interaction between Christian belief and education, Agora has covered a wide range of topics in its short life of 18 months.

Considering pastoral care of our students in a climate where ‘happiness’ is almost a mantra, Agora debated some of the issues of pursuing happiness and the current resilience strategies of Positive Psychology. The Illawarra Grammar School’s counsellor Audine Evans added invaluable insight to the conversation.

I was especially interested, as a parent as well as an educator, in the presentation entitled “Firing children’s imagination and keeping God real: how to do both for children and adolescents”. Kate Bradley from Broughton Anglican did a great job in challenging the dichotomy of fostering imagination and creativity in young children and the abandonment of such in later years. She writes, “It can become very confusing for children when they read fairy-tales and stories about mythical creatures at the same time they’re taught stories about God and people in the Bible. On the one hand, their imagination and creativity is fostered and rewarded. But their minds may not yet have developed to be able to differentiate the reality of a God they cannot see from the reality of their fantasies. As they grow into adulthood, it seems their imagination is not rewarded as much; indeed it is often described as childish. They’re encouraged to abandon them, God included”. Primary and secondary educators were challenged in this regard.

Our pluralist society, with the demise of ‘Christendom’, means that a more considered and contextual approach to questions of faith for our teenagers and wider community is keenly needed. Agora’s most recent event looked at “apologetics without Answers: diffusing belief blockers for today’s teenagers” led by the Rev Karl Faase producer of the Towards Belief series, and the Rev Graham Stanton, AEC consultant.

The face-to-face gatherings have been well supported by host schools and participants representing teachers, university students including those training to be teachers, academics and researchers and educational practitioners from all sorts of learning environments.

Agora recognizes that education is a life-long process from the cradle to the grave. It is a vehicle through which such education can be significantly invigorated.

It is our vision to see an expansion of Agora’s online community for further discussion and debate of educational issues. This has proven to be challenging as there requires a ‘tapping into’ of those who love to twitter/Facebook/ surf the internet on such topics and inform the wider community of the debate. If you consider yourself this kind of person – and we know you are out there – we would love you to be a catalyst for further stimulating online discussion. Contact Gillian at the AEC.

ARTICLES


When you have the opportunity to read this, I will have retired as Director of the Christians in Teaching Project. I have been doing this work since 2004, when the Project commenced as a pioneer work, at first as part of Youthworks, and since 2007, as part of the AEC. Ten years have enabled me to meet many teachers, visit many schools and universities and other places to highlight the importance of the teacher’s ministry in our schools. Ten years have also enabled me to observe a great deal of Christian activity in our schools.

What, then is the key feature that I would like to leave with you as you teach and lead in our schools? There are many things that come to mind in the context of

the National Curriculum, how do we embed Christian thinking in the curriculum? How do we mentor our new staff? What are the qualities of leadership that are needed for our schools? What is our pedagogy? What is distinctive about teaching Christianly? What are the characteristics of being a Christian teacher? What defines our school as a “Christian” school? ... and so on. All significant questions to grapple with.

I am focussing this article (which has appeared on the Christians in Teaching page of the AEC website) on the feature of our teaching which I consider to be at the heart of our being Christian and therefore at the heart of our being teachers.

Pray-ers

The Annual Armitage Lecture, given at SHORE in 2009, saw the then Archbishop of Sydney, Peter Jensen, put an emphasis on prayer, as he was discussing the distinctives of Anglican Education. Those who teach in our schools, he stated, should be outstanding teachers who pray for their students and their colleagues.

If we were asked to list the distinctive qualities of a teacher in our schools, our list would no doubt include some, or all of the following : a passion for what we teach, a love for our students, competence in classroom management, mastery of the curriculum we teach, use of technology, sense of humour, administrative efficiency, a team approach, a vibrant sense of serving Christ in our teaching and...and...No doubt our list would include other qualities as well.

Would our list include being pray-ers?

And, if it did, would it have first place?

KEASTMRIAN

UNTIL RECENTLY DIRECTOR THE CHRISTIANS IN TEACHING pROJECTANGLICAN EDUCATION COMMISSION

CHRISTIANS IN TEACHING

TEACHINGCHRISTIANS IN


15

Here is the challenging and disturbing idea from the Archbishop: we serve Christ in our teaching and prayer undergirds (or ought to), everything we do.

In 2013, the Christians in Teaching Project published a booklet, This Ministry is Strategic (available on the AEC website). This is what was said about teachers and prayer:

Consider the enormous privilege that this is: the Christian teacher is able to bring before our Sovereign Lord the students with whom they have contact, praying for their welfare (in all areas) and praying above all that God will generously pour His grace upon them. As the pray-er the Christian teacher remembers, in the words of C.S. Lewis, that these students are not ‘ordinary mortals, but immortals, who walk every day on the razor edge of eternity.’

How easy it is though, in the frenetic pace of our schools, not to pray!

Here are three accounts that I have heard about in my visits to schools which do encourage us to pray for our students.

The first is a primary teacher who arrives early each day and prays for five or so of her students and their families. She prays especially for those who are difficult in class. In the course of the week, she prays for all the students in her class.

The second occurs at one of our large secondary schools. The busyness of the timetable has meant that it is increasingly difficult for Christian staff to meet together, so prayer triplets have been formed to allow greater flexibility for staff to pray.

The third - a housemaster devotes a period of his allocation each week to systematically pray through the students, Years 7-12 , in his house.

No doubt, you can think of others who put prayer in first place in their teaching.

It was, and still is, a key idea the Archbishop raised in 2009. Are we faithful pray-ers as well as outstanding teachers ?

Th is M in is try

is STRATEGIC


At the Annual Integral Project Dinner in 2013 Judi Nealy, Head of the Junior School at the Illawarra Grammar School (TIGS), detailed how we are seeking to imbed a Christian perspective in the curriculum at TIGS. Judi charted our development away from a dualistic approach to teaching and learning to an approach which sought to inform all inquiry in the light of God’s revelation in Christ as revealed in the Scriptures.

On that occasion, Judi spoke a little about our unique context at TIGS. We are an IB school offering the Primary Years Program (PYP). We saw how the PYP could serve us well in our determination to break down dualism. As the School Chaplain, I began to teach units of work alongside classroom teachers who explored their units of enquiry from a thoroughly biblical perspective – a type of in-depth biblical excursus on the regular program of teaching. As well as this I spent time with the classroom teachers to assist them in developing their own teaching to add elements of a Christian perspective. We continue this approach today and are excited to see how students’ learning is deepening. It is becoming standard in the Junior School at TIGS to recognize that God has something to say about all of life and we are better off when we listen to his voice.

So much for the Junior School. What about the Senior School? There has been an exciting development over the past twelve months.

Towards the end of last year we became a candidate school with the IB for the implementation of the Middle Years Program (MYP). This would afford us a consistent approach to teaching and learning in our School from Prep through to Year 10. No longer would there be an uneasy disconnect in pedagogy and approaches to learning between Year 6 and Year 7. We would now be speaking a common language with a common approach to teaching and learning. It was a bold (and often exhausting!) move. And we are in the middle of it right now.

One of the benefits of this shift is that our desire to honour Christ in the curriculum is greatly facilitated. As with the PYP, the MYP demands collaborative planning by faculties. Our Headmaster, Stephen Kinsella, has generously provided time within the existing timetable for faculties to plan units together under the guidance of Dianne Bryant, our able IB Continuum Coordinator. The collaborative planning sessions are transforming faculties into tight-knit teams as they work together to devise units according to the unique specifications of the MYP.

A further benefit of this approach is that I have easy access to faculties to assist them in identifying appropriate Christian perspectives for their units of enquiry. I have been warmly welcomed into these planning sessions by all faculties and have been greatly impressed by our academic staff’s eager desire to implement a Christian perspective into their units of enquiry. I have also been impressed by our staff’s ability to brainstorm possibilities themselves as well as their willingness to entertain some of the suggestions I make. As School Chaplain I feel my affinity with staff is growing by the day. It continues to be a rich experience.

The way we usually proceed is that the faculty works with Dianne Bryant on formulating a unit of enquiry in the first part of the day. I then come in sometime after recess to get a sense of what

ROGERSTHE REVJAMES

CHApLAINTHE ILLAWARRA GRAMMAR SCHOOL

THE INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE AT TIGS


17

is taking shape. I am particularly interested in what we call ‘enduring understanding’. This is the core take-home value of the unit – what we hope will remain with our students beyond school and into life. It is here that I try to tease out a Christian perspective. I figure if we can show how God can bring deep-level learning to the core component of our enquiry we are making a very powerful statement. Not only are we deepening our enquiry, we are shaping students to expect God to have something significant to say about all of life, especially the things that matter most.

I purposely do not come to these planning sessions with my gun already loaded. I want to demonstrate to my colleagues that the creation of a profound Christian perspective does not come easy - it is a messy business: there is a lot of “umming” and “ahhring”; there are a lot of false starts; there are exciting explorations which end up going nowhere; there are roadblocks; there are brain-freezes; there are moments when we feel hopelessly inadequate; there are moments when we feel like giving up; there are times when I personally feel useless, even a hindrance. But then, more often than not, the darkness dissipates and we lay hold of a blessed word from the living God which has the effect of shining light into our darkness. When this happens I am truly alive and wouldn’t want to be anywhere else, doing anything else. It is exhilarating.

I see this as a necessary process. It would be so disempowering for my colleagues to have me breeze in with all the answers (as if that were even possible!) after having done all the hard work in the privacy of my own office. That would be disingenuous. It would communicate to my precious colleagues that this Christian perspective game is one that only I can play. That is the last thing I would want to communicate. In any case, it is simply not true. The truth is I find my colleagues often stimulate my own thinking such that I go places I would never have gone on my own. What we achieve is far richer as a result of the collaboration that takes place. “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another” (Proverbs 27.17).

I am very serious about not wanting this whole enterprise to rely on me. One way I have started to equip my colleagues to be better able to undertake this enquiry themselves is by producing for them a document based upon the six Global Contexts in the MYP. The Global Context is something like the arena in which the particular enquiry takes place and consists of a range of given lines of enquiry grouped around a category heading. It is what remains constant within the ever-changing landscape of the specific learning. I thought if I could fashion a compendium of possibilities for biblical enquiry in each one of these six Global Contexts I would be giving my colleagues something to get them started in their own enquiry. In this way it doesn’t all depend on me.

These are exciting times for TIGS. It is a joy to be a part of the adventure. The next step, as I see it, is to follow up with faculties after their units have been taught and see how the Christian perspective has fared. Did it get a hearing? Did it add value to the teaching and learning? Was it the right perspective? Could there have been a better one? I look forward to this important part of the process.


the Journey at Wollondilly anglican College“Word has got back to us at AEC that you and your colleagues have been doing some excellent work embedding Christian perspectives into the curriculum. We will not reveal the identity of our spies!” This was the wording of George Glanville’s invitation to me to provide an article for the Integral Project Dinner booklet. I was surprised and intrigued. While I felt that our staff had been making sound progress in this area over the last few years, I wouldn’t have regarded it as necessarily ‘best practice’ or unique in comparison to what other Anglican schools had been undertaking.

I haven’t bothered to uncover the identity of the ‘spy’ or ‘spies’, but it has forced me to reflect on our progress and how it may be helpful to share our experience with other schools. The problem is that my limited literary skills may not do justice to the process we have undertaken or clearly define the culture that exists at Wollondilly Anglican College.

Similar to all schools, WAC has been part of the continuously changing landscape of the education environment. The staff at WAC have been engaged in writing and developing teaching and learning programs over the last the last eleven years. This has been done to not only comply with BOSTES requirements, but to also deliver learning experiences that will provide the optimal outcomes for our students. Of course these outcomes, although not mutually exclusive of them, extend beyond the BOSTES curriculum to include opportunities to extend the intellectual, physical, moral and spiritual development of our students. As an Anglican college, it has increasingly become clear that this needs to be done with a Christian perspective that is not only embedded in the curriculum but in the foundation and culture of the College.

As a relatively new college, up until 2011 we were required to undertake a BOS Registration and Accreditation process each year as we included additional year groups during our growth. This coincided with the five-year requirement to maintain our Registration and Accreditation for our existing cohorts. Just when we thought it was safe to relax, the roll out of the Australian Curriculum commenced and the staff have continued to be busy writing teaching and learning programs for the new courses. This has also come in a context of developing and improving the ‘Learning Culture’ at the College, developing and implementing our Literacy and Numeracy program, developing our Pastoral Care program and the numerous other curricular and extra-curricular programs that schools undertake as part of being in the ‘business’ of educating young people for the modern world.

Many people thoroughly enjoy writing teaching and learning programs. However, the ongoing nature of these requirements creates additional demands on staff and other resources. It leads to increased workloads and stress for people, which is often directed at the deputy headmaster. (That’s what deputies are paid for and they can always pass the blame to the headmaster). However this is the reality for all schools. They operate in an environment where there is rapid change, high expectations, with many competing goals to be achieved and various needs to be met.

Given this context, it has taken some time and numerous conversations for WAC to make progress with embedding Christian perspectives in our teaching and learning programs. The time taken is not an indication of its priority, although it has been a task that has competed with other priorities.

CROGERMRIAN

DEpUTY pRINCIpALWOLLONDILLY ANGLICAN COLLEGE

A CHRISTIAN WORLDVIEW IN THE CURRICULUM - THE JOURNEY


19

It is more of a reflection that we need to be authentic and not superficial in our approach.Our initial discussions around Christian teaching started in the early stages of the growth of the College, but my clearest recollection of a more formal approach was during 2008, following the re-definition of the AEC’s role. These discussions gained further impetus following Archbishop Peter Jensen’s lecture on the subject ‘Is there such a thing as Anglican education?’ and the debate and publications that ensued around this question. People in Anglican education were asking questions about the very nature and core of teaching in Anglican schools and many schools were beginning to engage with these questions.

Although WAC, as a newer Anglican school in the Sydney Anglican Schools Corporation, has always focused on Christian education and employing Christian staff, our Headmaster realized that we needed to be part of that debate and consider the implications for our role and our purpose in Anglican education.

In November 2008, we invited Alison Wheldon from the AEC to workshop with our staff during our Professional Development days on ‘What is it like to teach in a Christian school?’ This was followed up in July 2009 with workshops conducted by Alison, with our T-6 staff, and with Jenny Spies with our secondary staff on ‘Teaching Christianly’ with a view to exploring ways to embed explicit Christian perspectives in teaching and learning programs.

These workshops were helpful and assisted us in the conversations that we needed to have as a staff. However the process was in its early stages of development. The reality has been that embedding Christian perspectives has been a process of evolution over a number of years.

The conversations and discussions continued. In 2010, we utilized the AEC, Moore College, CPX, CASE and Wesley Institute joint initiative, Development Seminars. Dr Jim Harrison and Dr Jeff Rutter addressed the WAC staff on the topic of ‘Spiritual Formation of Young People’. In 2012, Justine Toh conducted a seminar for the staff on ‘Everyday Theology for the i-World’. While these seminars may not have directly contributed to our program development, they did contribute to the overall discussion of Christian education.

The process was reinvigorated when last year I attended a ‘Joining the Dots in the Curriculum’ seminar conducted by Ruby Holland on behalf of the AEC. Ruby’s presentation and the materials provided by the AEC were thought-provoking and provided significant clarity in the direction that we needed to take. The booklets on ‘Exploring Teaching and Learning in ……. English, Mathematics, Science and History ……with Eyes of Faith’ have been extremely useful in focusing our approach. I subsequently invited Ruby to address our staff during one of our professional development days. Certainly this input has assisted us in our programming for the Australian Curriculum.

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Last year our staff undertook an online course developed by Sydney Anglican Schools Corporation – ‘Focus on Faith: Working in an Anglican School’. The course had six modules and provided additional clarification and opportunities to discuss what it means to work in an Anglican school. Although it wasn’t directly related to the curriculum, it provided additional input towards the debate about the nature of our schools.

During the process of writing programs, we have attempted to find ways to move beyond just adding a Christian rationale at the beginning of the program or including a little Christian content in a superficial way. Staff have tried to focus on where the content of courses might fit within a Christian worldview and what alternative ways there are of viewing the issues and content from this perspective. Within our programs we have attempted to plan for genuine opportunities to present a view that is consistent with Christ and the gospel.

One could question whether the spies were accurate in their assessment of our progress in embedding Christian perspectives in our teaching and learning programs. However, it is clear that the staff at WAC have been willing to explore ways to do this in an authentic way. The process isn’t complete and it will continue to evolve as we reflect on the teaching and learning process, evaluate our programs and modify them to meet the needs of our students.

The progress we have made has been due to input and support from a range of sources and we have been appreciative of that support. The ongoing professional discussion that continues to occur has been a product of that support and the willingness of the staff to engage with the questions of ‘What does it mean to teach in an Anglican school?’ and ‘Where does our curriculum fit with a Christian worldview?’

It should be noted that the curriculum development process has not occurred in isolation. It has been shaped over the years by the wider culture and expectations that exist at WAC. From the very early years of the College development, we have attempted to engender a culture of Christian thinking. We employ Christian staff; they attend devotions and pray together every morning. We work towards developing a mindset of Christian thinking in our workplace and provide structures, opportunities and an environment of encouragement throughout the College for this to occur.

The capacity of our staff to implement Christian perspectives in our teaching programs is only possible if Christian thinking is part of our College culture. Our hope is that the development of a Christian worldview is not only embedded in our teaching programs but is evident throughout the life of the College.

FOCUS ON FAITH

The Biblical Story Jesus in the Biblical Story

Christian Living Christian Mission

A Vision of Wholeness Philosophy of Education


21

Within our postmodern world, the purpose and practice of Christian education continue to evolve and change. There was a time in the 19th century where Christian education was an extension of the church’s mission to proclaim the good news, nurturing the faith of young people, ensuring that they were raised as good Protestants/Catholics since everyone was ostensibly Christian. Today, the majority of our students have little or no faith; indeed, many teachers in our schools have little or no faith. In our time biblical literacy is low, the media portrays Christianity as irrelevant, nonsensical and morally bankrupt and the task of raising students within a particular religious tradition is often viewed as morally reprehensible.

In the 21st century, we need to compete in the marketplace of ideas by presenting Jesus’ radical vision of the good life. Learning and growing in understanding are part of this vision, but at its heart this vision is about purpose, values and character. The people of Jesus’ kingdom are characterised by grace, mercy and forgiveness rather than entitlement and empowered individualism. Jesus calls people to be humble rather than proud and self-sufficient. Our material wealth is not for our own empire building through investment portfolios and the acquisition of property. Instead, we seek to do justice, caring for the poor and oppressed, inviting the alien into our homes and by every means, reflecting the values and priorities of the Kingdom of God.

This is the vision that we want to present to our students at St Luke’s Grammar School. We have appropriated a model of learning from Guy Claxton’s Learning Power model which brings together decades of research on the characteristics of powerful learning. These are summarised in four R’s - Resilience, Resourcefulness, Reflectiveness and Reciprocity (or relational learning). We hope that every lesson might include a dual focus on learning how to learn as well as what to learn – that students become powerful learners who know what constitutes good collaboration, who know how to plan, how to persevere, manage distractions and ask good questions to name just a few of the dispositions which contribute to effective learning.

But a focus on learning is at the heart of any good school – Christian or otherwise. Christian teachers will be motivated to contribute to human flourishing by being the best possible teachers they can be in the same way that Christian carpenters, Christian pilots and Christian interior decorators will contribute to human flourishing in their respective fields of expertise. Christian education, however, seeks to be distinctive in its vision of the good life. We have added a 5th R into our model of Learning at St Luke’s – Restoration. This 5th R incorporates each of the other four – our learning enables us to contribute to this larger project – a school which bears witness to and is a preview of the Kingdom of God. We are asking our staff and students to join us in this task – recognising the brokenness of our world and being people of grace, compassion, humility and justice who seek to bring healing and restoration. We hope this model will inform the way we teach Mathematics, Science, History and English, the way our students learn with and from one another, what they learn about, the questions we ask about each of our disciplines and the integration of our Christian Studies program with all other academic programs in the school.

pIETSCHMRJAMES

DEAN OF pROFESSIONAL DEVELOpMENT & LEARNING

ST LUKE’S GRAMMAR SCHOOL

CHRISTIAN EDUCATION - pROVIDING A RADICAL pICTURE OF THE GOOD LIFE


In the late 18th century a small group of Christians gathered at Holy Trinity Church on Clapham Common in London. They would go on to change the world. Perhaps the most well-known member of the ‘Clapham Sect,’ as they came to be known, was William Wilberforce who led the movement to abolish the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Their influence reached even to the new colonies in Australia and New Zealand: it was the Clapham Sect who lobbied the English government to include Richard Johnson as chaplain to the First Fleet and members of the group were influential in establishing the British colony in New Zealand and the eventual Treaty of Waitangi between the European settlers and the Maori.

With that same spirit the Compass Foundation has a vision of young Christians energised as transformative leaders who are equipped to take up their mission as God’s image and likeness in the world. Recognising the gospel as far more than a ‘ticket to heaven’, Compass is driven by seeing in the life and work of Jesus the story that can fire our imaginations and inspire world-changing action. Their website declares, ‘everything we make - from skyscrapers to dinner, literature to soccer games, families to political systems - combine to shape the cultures and societies which in turn shape and make us. And these can be places of human flourishing, or places where genuine human life struggles’. The Compass Schools conference is a space for young Christian leaders to be inspired to contribute to human flourishing in the name of Jesus for the glory of God.

Earlier this year I had the chance to see the Compass program close up at their annual Schools Conference in Canberra. Year 12 students, together with accompanying staff, came from schools across Australia. Over four densely packed days the Compass team helped us engage with the Bible as a worldview story with deeply practical implications for all of life, particularly for Christian leadership.

The big emphasis of the program was the power of stories to shape our imagination and drive our action. Each lecture in some way engaged with the Bible as the story given to us by God to direct our action as God’s image and likeness for creation. Foundational lectures looked at the power of stories to shape imagination and drive action, how we approach reading the Bible, and an overview of the entire biblical story. Later sessions concentrated in more detail on different aspects of the story, emphasising the contrast between the vision of life given in the Bible and the alternative stories vying for attention and allegiance in the world today through novels, film, and advertising.

Students were able to participate in a dense program in part due to relevant content but also due to a highly engaging teaching process. Lectures, group discussion, personal reflection time, physical action, and audio and video input were all used in service of a problem-based, inductive learning approach. Interactive sessions were held throughout the conference that integrated the content with the theme of leadership. Excursions to the Australian War Memorial, Parliament House and the Museum of Australian Democracy challenged students to reflect on the different stories about citizenship and service being expressed in these national institutions (and at the same time gave eligibility for the Parliamentary and Civics Education Rebate to help schools defray conference costs).

I’m looking forward to joining with the Compass team in presenting the 2015 conference and am keen to talk with schools who may be interested in coming along next year or some time in the future. Please email me on [email protected] if you would like more information about this opportunity for developing student leaders.

STANTON THE REVGRAHAM

COMpASS SCHOOLS CONFERENCE

pROJECT OFFICERANGLICAN EDUCATION COMMISSION

AEC ACTIVITIES


COWLINGDRBRYAN


WHERE WE ARE GOING IN 2015

Many readers of this booklet will be aware that we contracted Dr Wendy Moran to survey several hundred men and women who have participated in AEC activities over recent years. Thank you to everyone who contributed to this exercise. We are in the process of framing a new Strategic Plan and determining new ways of helping people to become aware of the diversity and quality of the programs and services we offer.

We can announce that the Christians in teaching Program will be undergoing some significant enhancements from the beginning of 2015. We will have two new Project Officers -- Fran Wicks and Peter White.

They will each be working collaboratively with staff in a number of pilot schools to help them enhance their induction and mentoring programs for new teachers and to encourage many of their able students to become teachers.

They’ll also be working as staffworkers among aspiring teachers on a number of uni campuses. And they will be pioneering some new educational ventures in selected churches.

In 2015 you can expect to see the roll-out of new, accredited leadership programs to complement those provided by the AIS and other secular organisations.

The Women as Leaders seminars will continue as will the on-line and face to face Agoras.

Teachers of Biblical studies can expect increased opportunities for professional development and intra-school sharing of ideas.

The AEC is offering to work with interested schools on the refinement or development of their whole school ministry strategy.

Through the expansion of the existing subject networks and the creation of new ones, we will be promoting a collegial approach to pedagogy and curriculum innovation.

The glue that holds these diverse programs together is contained in the Charter of the Commission (also known as the Synod Ordinance) to be found opposite. In essence, we exist to serve Christians in education by bringing the Bible to bear on the way teaching and learning occurs in our schools, colleges and churches.

Fran Wicks Peter White


25

CHARTERTHE

As revised by the Diocesan Standing Committee in April 2014

1. development of Diocesan education policies

2. promotion of teaching as a strategic vocation

3. support of Anglican schools and parishes in faith development through their educational endeavours

4. support of Anglican schools in their nurture and retention of teachers and encouragement of teachers to promote the Christian faith and be dynamic Christian leaders in all levels of education

5. provision of consultancy, training and professional development programs for teachers, executives and principals within government and non-government schools

6. engagement of teachers, pre-service teachers, scholars and other Christians interested in education

7. enhancement of the teaching and programming of Biblical Studies in Anglican schools

8. research, scholarly writing and discourse on Christian approaches to education

9. publication of discussion papers and conversation starters related to the objectives of the Commission

10. advocacy for Special Religious Education in government schools

11. promotion of a biblical approach to education within the Anglican Church and the wider community, and

12. advocacy for and representation of the Diocese to governments, statutory authorities, professional and other bodies concerning issues in education.

OF THE


DIFFERENTA

KIND OF AEC EVENT

WOMEN AS LEADERS SEMINARS

What’s different about Women as Leaders seminars?

For starters, they are just for women – that’s diFFerent!

We recognise that leadership for women carries with it many extra dimensions and responsibilities than for our male counterparts. These seminars celebrate the differences between the genders. although ‘leadership seminars’, they are not just for women in

executive roles –

Even though the seminars operate under the umbrella of the Next Generation Leadership Network, they are held to encourage and equip all women involved in any aspect of education, since women are required to display leadership in so many varied capacities, whether in the school, classroom, church, home or somewhere else. The audience is often quite diverse.

a seminar is held every term – that’s diFFerent!

The AEC has been conducting these seminars over recent years and in 2013, due to their popularity, the decision was made to hold one each term. The aim is to hold them in schools in different geographical locations of Sydney, so that as many women as possible may attend at a place that is easily accessible to them after a day at school. However, for one or two, the location is often irrelevant, as they are so keen to attend that they travel far and wide to be there and have rarely missed one!

although held each term, each seminar topic is fresh

– that’s diFFerent!

Quite often we invite the hosting school to provide excellent speakers who have experience in aspects of leadership. On other occasions AEC staff will present a topic, or someone from outside the host school may be asked to present. Sometimes we have had a Q & A format with a panel. Recent seminars have included ‘Leading as God’s Image Bearers’, ‘Developing a Nurturing Staff Culture’ and ‘Managing a Changing Role: the Emotions, Pitfalls and Blessings; and then add Motherhood!’ The evenings are always informative, encouraging, casual and friendly.

omen LEADERSW AS

that’s diFFerent!


27

there is no cost attached to the seminars – that’s diFFerent!

Each of the host schools graciously provides the refreshments so there is no cost to you.

the catering is always delicious! – not so diFFerent to other events, but good to know!

The seminars began their life as ‘Coffee and Dessert’ evenings held later in the evening, but recent seminars have seen us move to an earlier timeslot with a light tea of finger foods served. It is during this time that invaluable fellowship occurs, as attendees chat and meet up with colleagues from other schools.

if you would like to become involved, here’s what you can do:

• Be sure to look out for information regarding the ‘Women as Leaders’ Seminars when it comes to your school.

• When you receive an invitation, hit ‘forward’ to send the invitations to all the women in your school.

• Offer to host a seminar.

ContaCts: alison Wheldon: [email protected]

Gillian davis: [email protected]

AEC office: [email protected]

Go to our website to find the date and venue for our next Seminar: www.aec.edu.au

omen LEADERSW AS


Have heard of

WHELDONMRSALISON

CURRICULUM CONSULTANT (K-6)ANGLICAN EDUCATION COMMISSION

K-6 CURRICULUM CONSULTANCY

Several schools have recently taken up the offer of having Alison come and present seminars and workshops to staff on various aspects of Christian education.

The seminars and workshops can be tailor-made to the needs of your staff and may be to the whole section, a stage or even for one-on-one mentoring or assistance.

With the rolling out of the Australian Curriculum, have you and your staff taken time to consider what it means to view the curriculum with Christian eyes? These workshops are hands-on, non-threatening, practical and have even resulted in ‘watershed moments’ for some participants as they undergo this kind of thinking for the first time.

Contact Alison to discuss your needs and to design a session for your staff.

Have you been receiving your copy of ‘The Periscope’, the newsletter of the AEC for Junior School teaching staff? This publication is produced by Alison and sent to schools quarterly and contains helpful tips and information about what the AEC has on offer and what’s been happening around the schools. To be included on the mailing list, please contact Alison Wheldon.

www.whatiflearning.net.au What is Whatif Learning?Whatif Learning is a distinctively Christian approach developed by an international partnership of teachers from Australia, the UK and the USA. It is based on the premise that a Christian understanding of life makes a difference to what happens in classrooms. Its aim is to equip teachers to develop distinctively Christian teaching and learning strategies for their own classrooms. The Whatif Learning website is for teachers who want their classrooms to be places with a Christian ethos, whatever the subject or age group being taught. It explores what teaching and learning might look like when rooted in Christian faith, hope and love. This is done through offering over one hundred concrete examples of creative classroom work and an approach which enables you to develop your own examples.

Who is it for? Christian teachers everywhere, regardless of where you teach.

How much does it cost? Nothing. It’s a free website that was developed by visionary Christian educators.

Does it involve a lot of extra work?No. Absolutely not! It’s an approach that anyone can start doing, straightaway!

Have any Australian schools started using the approach and the website yet?Several schools around Sydney have begun implementing Whatif Learning:

“Throughout last term Alison Wheldon worked with the whole staff and in Stage groups on the practical implications of what it means to say “We are an Anglican School”. For both Christian and non-Christian staff the process of seeing anew was both thought provoking, engaging and an eye opener. It is abundantly clear that to reflect a distinctly Christian world view we have to do curriculum differently, reshaping language, purpose and teaching methods. We found the whatiflearning website an excellent resource on this journey and will keep coming back to it for inspiration and practical direction for lessons and programs.”

– Garry Brown OAM, Headmaster Mosman Preparatory School

How can I find out more about the approach? Have a wander around the website www.whatiflearning.net.au! The examples are inspired by the classroom work of teachers. At the heart of each is a story of how teaching can be designed to be distinctively Christian in a particular topic or lesson.

When would be a good time to get started?As the implementation of the Australian Curriculum approaches, right now is a great time to start thinking about how your new curriculum stance can more clearly reflect your school’s Christian worldview.

How can we get this happening in our school? Who can help us? Alison Wheldon is the Curriculum Consultant K-6 with the Anglican Education Commission and was part of the initial planning group and website writing team. Alison conducts tailor-made practical workshops to suit your school.

Contact Alison at:

[email protected]@aec.edu.au

0407 007 093

What If Learning Flyer.indd 2 4/09/2012 1:27:04 PM

For any further information on any of the above, or to book a seminar or workshop, contact alison Wheldon: [email protected] or 0407 007 093.

Visit our website

For primary and secondary teachers who want their classrooms to be places where teaching and learning is

rooted in Christian faith, hope and love.


29

AGORAAgora is a community of learners. Some of the learners meet face to face. Some meet and exchange ideas and questions on line via the Agora Forum. Agora is an exciting venture of the AEC launched in 2013. Visit the Agora website today.

WWW.aGora.orG.aU

Who’s aGora For?Thinking and inquiring teachers, school leaders, uni students, aspiring teachers, scholars, researchers, senior high school students, indeed anyone interested in contemporary education issues. Surely you’re one of these!

What’s aGora aBoUt?We explore and discuss contested issues related to the interface between Christianity and education, from childhood to old age! We tackle the tough issues. Our face to face meetings held in different parts of Sydney and the Illawarra complement the Forum discussions.

Become a member of Agora. It’s free. Just visit the website and sign up.


GLANVILLEMRGEORGEDIRECTOR, LEADERSHIp & DEVELOpMENT

ANGLICAN EDUCATION COMMISSION

pOSTSCRIpT

As I write, I’ve just returned home from the first of four Scripture Union Family Mission team preparation meetings – Beach Mission for short.

In one stimulating team activity, we brainstormed: Beach Mission exists because...? followed by: Mission exists because...? followed by an invigorating discussion of our life mission in the light of the mission of God –the big, true story told to us in the Bible.

For me, it prompts the question: What are Anglican schools for in the light of the big story?

Anglican schools exist because...? makes for an ideal staffroom conversation starter.

As you reflect on Bill Salier’s talk, Anglican Schools at the End of the Ages, hopefully you will be struck by both the seriousness and excitement of its implications for us as Christian educators. Similarly with the articles in this booklet, you may sense the seriousness and excitement with which the contributors and their schools address their educational tasks. To do so faithfully, while exhilarating, is time-consuming, hard work. However, it is worth such time and effort because Anglican schools have been entrusted with the whole-of-life, hope-filled gospel of the kingdom of God. It must never be compromised.

What we teach, including the explicit and implicit world and life view of our curriculum, and how we teach – in a word, our pedagogy – will hugely influence how our students see the world and their purpose and place in it. Teaching is indeed a serious and exciting occupation.

The Anglican Education Commission team trust that you have enjoyed being part of the Sixth Annual Integral Project Dinner. We are a diverse group with a combined wealth of experience and youthful vigour. Well, perhaps not so youthful. One of the Commission’s primary tasks is to serve school communities – teachers, educational leaders and school councils. Please feel welcome to make use of our experience and availability to serve you.

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withThe rev. Dr. Bill Salier

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