The Impact of Avondale College's Ethos, Mission and Values on Six Students Not of the Seventh-Day Adventist Faith
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Avondale College ResearchOnline@Avondale Theses Bachelor Honours Theses 10-2012 The Impact of Avondale College's Ethos, Mission and Values on Six Students not of the Seventh-Day Adventist Faith Elize Sophia Celic Avondale College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://research.avondale.edu.au/theses_bachelor_honours Part of the Education Commons Recommended Citation Celic, E. S. (2012). The impact of Avondale College's ethos, mission and values on six students not of the Seventh-Day Adventist faith (Bachelor's thesis, Avondale College, Cooranbong, Australia). Retrieved from https://research.avondale.edu.au/theses_bachelor_honours/9 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses at ResearchOnline@Avondale. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses Bachelor Honours by an authorized administrator of ResearchOnline@Avondale. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE IMPACT OF AVONDALE COLLEGE‟S ETHOS, MISSION AND VALUES ON SIX STUDENTS NOT OF THE SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST FAITH. Elize Sophia Celic A thesis submitted In partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood) (Honours) School of Education Avondale College of Higher Education October 2012 i The work contained in this thesis has not been previously submitted for a degree or diploma at any other higher education institution. To the best of my knowledge and belief, the thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made. Signed ____________________ Date ______________________ I grant Avondale College the rights to archive and to make available my thesis in whole or in part for study purposes in the College Library, now and in the future. I retain the rights to use in future works all or part of this thesis. Signed ____________________ Date ______________________ ii I would like to greatly express my thanks to my supervisors and mentors Beverly Christian and Dr. Andrew Matthes for their constant support, guidance, patience and wisdom that I received over the time of this study. I would not have been able to do it without them, and I am so grateful for the shared passion we have for our educational institutions and our Lord. I also would like to thank Dr. Phil Fitzsimmons for his professional help and encouragement throughout this study. I would also like to greatly express my thanks to the six participants that willingly gave their time and shared their personal experiences for this research. Also, I would like to thank my family and friends, especially my parents Chris and Elbie, and my friends Robbie and Rebeka, who showed their support and provided encouraging and affirming words throughout the writing process of this study. I also want to thank my husband Rajko who gave me so much support and encouragement through the whole process, especially when I became scarce towards the end of writing the thesis. Thank you for your belief in me, and the happiness you bring to my life. Above all I want to give thanks to my God and Saviour, Jesus Christ who I believe guided me to the thesis topic, as well as giving me the ability to complete this thesis by His grace and strength. Without Him I would not have had the inspiration and motivation for this study, and my prayer is that this paper is useful in His work for furthering Christian education. “For You are my rock and my fortress; Therefore, for Your name’s sake, lead me and guide me” (Psalms 31:3, NKJV). iii To my parents and grandparents who instilled the love for God and His mission in me from a young age. iv The Christian tertiary institutions‟ ethos, mission and values impacts on students not of the particular faith of the Christian educational institution. This study investigated six fourth year education students‟ experiences at Avondale College during their time of study. A review of the literature reveals a strong focus on the role of education in a Christian university, the ethos, mission and values that govern the university, as well as the faculty that maintain the Christian ethos of the university. The literature also highlights the danger of Christian universities and colleges moving progressively towards secularization, and suggests corrective measures to reacquaint with the founding vision and mission of the Christian university. The process of emergent design within the use of the case study as a research method was used to gather data through the use of face-to-face interviews. The data revealed that the students were impacted by Avondale College‟s ethos, mission and values during their time of study, especially through the authentic relationships formed with lecturers. Furthermore, the results indicated that the authentic relationships with lecturers impacted students beyond their academic achievements. It also impacted them in their social, professional, spiritual and intra-personal connections with Avondale College. The study concluded that the ethos, mission and values of a Christian institution are most likely to have an impact on students‟ lives through the authentic relationships they form with their lecturers. v STATEMENT OF ORIGINAL AUTHORSHIP ..................................................................... ii STATEMENT OF COPYRIGHT ......................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... iii DEDICATION ................................................................................................................ iv ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................... v TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................... vi LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................... viii LIST OF FIGURES ...........................................................................................................ix LIST OF APPENDICES ..................................................................................................... x CHAPTER ONE ............................................................................................................... 1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 1 OVERVIEW ............................................................................................................ 1 CONTEXT .............................................................................................................. 1 PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY .......................................................... 2 RATIONALE ........................................................................................................... 3 The Current Situation ............................................................................................... 3 METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................... 5 ASSUMPTIONS ...................................................................................................... 5 DEFINITION OF TERMS ......................................................................................... 6 OVERVIEW OF THESIS ........................................................................................ 7 CHAPTER TWO .............................................................................................................. 8 LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................................ 8 THE ROLE OF EDUCATION .................................................................................... 8 PUBLIC EDUCATION AND FAITH-BASED EDUCATION .......................................... 8 TEACHERS AND STUDENTS: THE SOCIAL CLIMATE ............................................ 11 CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITIES AND SECULARIZATION .............................................. 12 SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST EDUCATION ............................................................. 19 CONCLUSION ...................................................................................................... 30 CHAPTER THREE ......................................................................................................... 31 RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY .............................................................. 31 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 31 THE CHOICE OF THE TOPIC AND INITIAL QUESTION .......................................... 32 CHOICE OF PARADIGHM .................................................................................... 34 CHOICE OF DEVELOPMENT OF THE RESEARCH QUESTIONS ............................. 34 CHOICE OF RESEARCH DESIGN ........................................................................... 35 CHOICE OF DATA COLLECTION ........................................................................... 38 CHOICE OF DATA ANALYSIS ................................................................................ 42 INTERPRETING DATA .......................................................................................... 47 CONCLUSION ...................................................................................................... 51 CHAPTER