Public Good of Christian Education

In an article I wrote for Christian Week and which I notice is now available on-line as part of their Focus on Higher Education Supplement, I try to emphasize why it is important for us to view Christian education not simply as something private belonging to the Christian community, but rather as something of value for all of society.

Contributing to the public good
The importance of Christian education to society

Ray Pennings
Special to ChristianWeek

Why is Christian education both viable and necessary? I prefer to invert the order of this question: Christian education is necessary, and therefore we must find ways to make it viable.

Typically, discussions regarding Christian education start from the premise that education is primarily the responsibility of parents. Therefore parent-controlled education is better than state-controlled education. Throw in an analysis of a secular agenda which dominates state education, a concern about the declining moral standards which govern youth and teenage behaviour, the benefits of a school system complementing a religious education program, and the argument for Christian education is considered made.

There is validity in this. For me, however, there are more convincing arguments. Education not only involves the content pumped into our brains, but also impacts our hearts, hands and feet. “Whole person” education is not a pedagogical fad but, properly understood, a description of how all education works. To borrow an apt phrase from James Smith’s recent book, education is more about formation than information (Desiring the Kingdom, Baker, 2009).

Cultivating passion, inspiring vocation
This has far-reaching implications. A Christian education is not simply about sussing out the worldview implications underlying various ideas. It is about cultivating students’ passions, opening up for them the possibilities of the world and stimulating in them a sense of vocation.

For this we must pay attention to more than curriculum, academic standards or learning strategies. We need to consider carefully both the role of the teacher as mentor and role model and the community of learning in which this education occurs.

Thinking through Christian education means something more than parents and students entering into some private transaction with an educational institution. The pieces of paper they get on graduation day are not the essence of a good education. A good education provides a context for students to understand their world and how to be citizens and neighbors, economic contributors and partakers of social goods, culture-makers as well as God-glorifying creatures.

Viable and available
My wife and I are keen supporters of Christian education. Between us, we have served on boards and committees for more years than we’ve been married. As members of a community we contribute to the existence of Christian education because we see it as a social good.

But Canada’s public policy framework is unfriendly (to various degrees) to the good that Christian education provides. The availability of Christian education requires a supportive constituency with adequate resources. Christian education providers ought to be motivated to offer an excellent quality education, not simply because of our ambitions for our children, but because doing everything to the best of our abilities is part of our worldview. Excellence is an essential characteristic of a Christian education, not a utilitarian end.

This is where prudence and judgment come into play. We need the resources of the state to support Christian education in Canada or we face challenging choices when comparing Christian education options with the publicly funded ones. Excellence is not determined by money and resources alone. An excellent Christian education is often provided with limited resources, but many Christian school communities also suffer from a lack of resources.

Christian schooling comes with its own unique set of challenges. There are important questions to explore regarding the academic and spiritual outcomes, cultural influence and teaching pedagogy within Christian education. Pointing out the inadequacies of other systems of education is not enough; those in the Christian education sector need to subject themselves to rigourous examination with a view to continuously improving our schools.

Contributing to the public good
It can be tempting to yield to the public perception that Christian education is a fringe matter to be discussed only within the Christian community. After all, Christian schools in Canada educate just five per cent of the countries’ elementary and secondary school children and an even smaller percentage of university students.

Resist this line of reasoning. The graduates of Christian education serve society as much as those who graduate from publicly funded education systems do. Anecdotal evidence suggests that Christian schools are equipping their graduates for participatory citizenship, family and church leadership and to be valuable economic and cultural contributors. These are not private goods but public goods. Christian education needs to be defended and promoted as something to be recognized and valued by all citizens.

A vibrant alternative education system also pressures the public school system to constantly improve. A healthy competition is good and improves performance in education as well.
We cannot be naïve about the challenges that face Christian education in Canada today but neither should we be shy about its importance and benefits. If we understand education in a holistic way—as a process of formation rather than simply dispensing information—Christian education is not really an option but a necessity.

Ray Pennings is a Senior Fellow with Cardus and chairs the Board of Governors of Redeemer University in Hamilton.