Professor Judge, Emeritus Professor of Ancient History at Macquarie University, has shown that Christian schools first emerged when the children of Christians were barred entry into other schools, such that they existed, in the ancient world. This barring was at the insistence of a strongly anti-Christian Roman Emperor. They therefore arose from necessity rather than choice. This is not to suggest that schooling in the ancient world bore much resemblance to 21st Century Schooling. Rather, real education was for the elite, in the so-called gymnasiums or academies. Aspirational students could either attach themselves to a highly recognised teacher or be personally taught by a highly educated slave or pedagogue. The beginning of Christian schooling saw the introduction of a Christian world view. After the conversion of the Emperor Constantine, Christianity became mainstream.
Schooling as we know it did not emerge until the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain in the 18th century. These were the Sunday schools which, in addition to teaching about Christian faith, taught reading and writing. The elite (males) however, were able to attend the emerging great schools of England. Girls of the aristocracy or growing middle class were taught at home by governesses.
English Greater Public Schools and “Muscular Christianity”
Under iconic Headmasters, like Thomas Arnold at Rugby, some elite schools developed in England in the 19th century, for the education of the children of the upper class. Eton and Harrow were other examples. The Christian aspect was essentially Victorian morality and manners. Arnold was a proponent of “muscular Christianity”, which interpreted faith through the lens of manliness, with courage developed through “games” (Rugby, Cricket, Rowing) complemented by social graces and refinement. The Duke of Wellington, famously, is alleged to have said that the 1815 Battle of Waterloo, in which Napoleon was finally defeated, was won on the playing fields of Eton. This sense of leadership formation was highly influential (and still is) in Sydney GPS schools. Most such schools in Sydney are seeking to maximise their evangelical Christian roots
In Australia, the Church of England set up some schools. The first of the great Anglican schools established in Sydney was The King’s School, established by an Act of Parliament in middle of the 19th
century on a site in Paramatta, and more recently located to a larger locale in North Paramatta. In the 1880 compact, which established compulsory (primary school) education for all. The majority of these Anglican schools (known as Church of England) were surrendered to the state in return for clergy being allowed an hour a day to teach faith within government schools (“Scripture”). It was assumed that the Christian consensus in society was a permanent state of affairs, so far as it assumed that the population was Christian. This was a time of sectarianism where the Catholic church continued with their own schools. These were mostly small parish schools. There were some elite Catholic schools established by different orders of Priests or Brothers. The best of these were Jesuit schools, founded on Ignatian spirituality. The fault lines were therefore not between secular humanist and Christian, which has been a more recent development. Rather, they were between Protestants and Catholics, with at least nominal adherence to one or the other across nearly the whole population.
Late Nineteenth Century Expansion of Protestant Schools
In the 1880’s, Anglican Bishop Alfred Barry saw schools as central to the mission of the church. He established St Andrew’s Cathedral School and Shore. These were followed by other great Anglican schools, for boys or girls, and similarly great schools with Presbyterian or Methodist (now Uniting Church) governance. There were very few Anglican schools set up beyond that date until the Howard government policy of choice in schooling, with a flurry of funding, saw the development of the Sydney Anglican Schools Corporation. Now known as The Anglican Schools Corporation, TASC now has 17 schools with two more coming.
Dutch Immigration and Parent Controlled Christian Schools
In the 1960’s, Dutch immigrants, responding to the government initiated large scale European migration to Australia, many leaving behind the ravages of the recent Second World war, and some fleeing Indonesia after the decolonisation movement saw it removed from Dutch control, migrated in good numbers to Australia. The Australian Government sought to increase the population of this vast continent, such that there would be more people to potentially defend Australia against any future adversaries. They particularly sought migrants with trade skills in order to work on nation building schemes such as the Snowy Mountains Hydroelectric Scheme. Many of these came from the Netherlands, as well as other European nations, the area on which the government of the time was concentrating their focus on immigration. The Dutch diaspora in time spread throughout many Australian states. They did what was natural to them; they set up Christian parent-controlled schools similar to those which were the dominant mode in the Netherlands. These schools, such as Covenant Christian School, are joined together as part of Christian Education National (CEN). Their hallmark is that they respect the responsibility and authority of parents as the first educators of their children, as indicated in scripture, for instance Deuteronomy 6: 6-9 “These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates”. For good order to occur, Covenant, like other CEN schools, is governed by a Board comprised of those elected annually from the parent group who comprise the Covenant Association. It seeks, and clearly achieves a real partnership between Board, staff and parents in its mission of Christian education.
The Christian parent-controlled schools were soon complemented by the Christian community school movement, as local churches, mostly Baptist, spawned their own schools. These are now grouped together under the banner of Christian Schools Australia (CSA). The distinction between the two associations is that CEN draws its identity from the educational role and responsibility of parents, in partnership with the school Board and school leadership, whereas CSA is mostly an outworking of the educational mission of particular local churches. There are of course other school associations, such as Lutheran, Adventist, Steiner, Montessori, some with particular theological positions and some with a more secular outlook.
Christian schooling, classical schooling and virtue formation
Christian schooling remains hugely influenced by the Greek philosophers, especially Aristotelean philosophy and ethics, which have fused with people’s Christian understanding. Key to Aristotle was character formation, i.e. virtue ethics. Character formation can often serve as an entry point for evangelism, since its portrayal of the good life is based on New Testament codes of living, as derived from Jesus. One hazard for Christian schools is working out that which is classical Greek in origins as distinct from that which is actually Christian. At Covenant, as in many other CEN schools and those Christian schools of different governance, it is important that our education is comprehensively Christian. This implies the curriculum being taught from a Christian world view, with Christian pedagogy, that is infused with grace and relational pastoral concern. Rather than “hot-house” students in a Christian bubble, we endeavour to prepare them for life in the world as it actually is, not just how we would like it to be. Within that structure, we believe it is important to give students space to think well, even where they draw different conclusions about reality than those held by their teachers. True education gives students scaffolds and structures, advice and perspective but also gives them agency as those who will emerge from school into the adult world and adopt their own guiding compass for their lives. Of course, we hope that compass will point them to Jesus.
Dr John Collier
Interim Principal
