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Changing Perspectives on Faith School Cultures

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Changing Perspectives on Faith School Cultures Changing Perspectives on Faith School Cultures: Practice Informing Policy Josephine M. Cairns Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of the Doctor of Philosophy in the University of London Institute of Education University of London 2007 Abstract The study argues for a reassessment of the role of state supported faith schools in plural civic societies. In England, government policy supports their expansion. Problems associated with this policy are hard to resolve. A particular difficulty arises from OFSTED reports pointing to faith schools' apparently greater academic achievement and better experience in them of social, moral, cultural and spiritual development. Aiming towards a resolution of the problem the study addresses intellectually the concerns which such privileging of religion in education raises in modern times alongside developing an appropriate methodology to illuminate further OFSTED findings about faith schools. Here Lawton's hierarchical plotting of the beliefs, values and behaviours of a school culture has been formative, emphasising many aspects of life additional to goals and success or failure seen not only in terms of league table results. An empirical study of four Catholic schools in three countries aims to interrogate the educational cultures which sustain them. It combines Lawton's conceptual mapping with Flynn's self-review tool, devised to encourage students to clarify their beliefs, attitudes and values while studying in Catholic schools. The student voice is prioritised in evaluating a faith school education. It tells of cohesive and inclusive communities, their capacity to act for themselves in their 'worlds', from principled positions for the common good and the fit between personal, spiritual and academic goals and the school culture. The meta-narrative resulting from this study is offered as a potential evidence base through which citizens and politicians might involve themselves in a deliberative engagement with the policy question: Should plural societies operate common schools which will ensure the full educational entitlement of all students, from whatever social, cultural, ethnic or religious background or a plurality of schools, in which religious groups are accorded the right to their own schools? 2 Acknowledgements This study has been many years in its making and as such it has been shaped by the wisdom, practice and good sense of academic and professional colleagues and students and faith communities and their leaders here in the UK and overseas. My debt to so many is immense and I can only hope that they each recognize something of their particular contribution in the pages that follow. Special acknowledgements are due, however, to my most generous and patient mentor and deeply respected colleague, Professor Denis Lawton. Without his continuous support, critical guidance and endless good humour, this account of faith school cultures would not have appeared. I shall miss the enlightening conversations we shared along the way. Dr Paddy Walsh was responsible for my beginning the journey to schools in different parts of the Global South: I am so glad that he was here at the end to ask searching questions about what I had learnt. Craig Whitehead has proved a stimulating and invaluable colleague throughout as he helped me probe the ever-growing data about faith schools which I collected. Unquestionably, lowe the four schools which form the basis of the study immeasurable gratitude. Their senior managers and teachers gave unstintingly of their time and their students engaged with the research process with a thoroughness and energy which I could not have expected. Finally without my husband Roy and my sister Geraldine the loneliness of the doctoral student process would have proved overwhelming. One of them has always been my sternest critic but tireless champion and proof reader; the other helped foster in me a concern to write about what matters and to value increasingly continuing education. 3 Table of contents Abstract 2 Acknowledgements 3 List of figures and tables 11 Preamble 13 Chapter 1 The research question in context 18 Purpose of the chapter 18 A plural society: multi-faith Britain 18 The scope and nature of the study 22 The cultural landscape in which the study is set 25 Why this particular study? 27 The nature and significance of school cultures 29 Catholic schools and their cultures 32 Developing a process for the study of faith-based 34 schools and their cultures Summary 42 Chapter 2 A reassessment of the place of faith schools in 44 state-supported education in plural societies Purpose of the chapter 44 Religion, culture and education: the crucial predicament 45 for schools The impact of meta-policy on micro-school cultures 50 Schools as mediating institutions in a-cultural contexts 53 Schools as part of the moral matrix of a plural society 55 Faith communities and the common good in education 57 Developing a procedure for a civic conversation about 61 the place of faith schools Examining the role of faith schools in fostering inclusion, 63 equality and justice in democratic pluralities Summary 66 4 Chapter 3 To what extent can plural societies which comprise 67 a spectrum of world views and cultural perspectives sustain a common schooling for all? Purpose of the chapter 67 The problem faced by the common school in late modern 68 times The three cultural modes and their particular influence on 71 educational thought: a) the modern cultural mode 71 b) the postmodern cultural mode 72 c) global late modernity 73 Towards a resolution of the problem: 77 (1) satisfactorily defining the common good in 77 and through pluralism (2) establishing an ethics of personal, social and 80 civic education (3) a new perspective from educating humanity in community 83 Summary 87 Chapter 4 The role of faith in the schools of civic societies 89 Purpose of the chapter 89 The impact of modern and postmodern cultural modes 89 on the place of religion in civic society and education in global late modernity Defining faith as a means of understanding its role in 91 education in civic societies Religion, difference and indifference in civic pluralities 92 Educating for and in difference in civic societies: 94 the role of 'deliberative respect' Educating in faith in faith schools: the Catholic example 96 Can all schools provide an adequate education in faith 101 and the spiritual dimension? Defining the religious content of the curricula of schools 105 5 providing an adequate education in faith and the spiritual dimension No imagination: no faith in education 108 Summary 110 Chapter 5 Developing a process for the study of faith-based 111 schools and their cultures within plural societies Purpose of the chapter 111 The problems involved in developing a research design 112 and process The study's research ethic: establishing the truth in 114 educational research A tentative process: 117 -the significance of the study of school cultures 122 -the value of comparative studies 122 -studying the vision and mission within individual 123 school cultures The research process: 126 -analysis of the questionnaire data 134 -presentation of the data 136 -contextualizing the data presentation 144 Outcomes of the research process 147 Difficulties encountered during the research process 149 Summary 150 Chapter 6 Four Catholic schools and their cultures 152 Purpose of the chapter 152 Botswana 153 The culture of School A Botswana 156 the school and its foundation 156 beliefs held in the school 159 values and attitudes 160 behaviours 162 6 The culture of School B Botswana 164 the school and its foundation 164 beliefs held in the school 165 values and attitudes 167 behaviours 169 Gren~a 172 The culture of School C Grenada 174 the school and its foundation 174 beliefs held in the school 175 values and attitudes 177 behaviours 178 Indonesia 180 The culture of School 0 Indonesia 182 the school and its foundation 182 beliefs held in the school 183 values and attitudes 185 behaviours 186 Looking forward to the next part of the presentation 188 of the data Summary 188 Chapter 7 The student voice and its significance in the study 190 of school cultures Purpose of the chapter 190 A general introduction to the students taking part in 190 the survey The student experience in four school cultures 203 Botswana School A 205 Beliefs 205 a) students' and parents' beliefs 205 b) school life and climate 205 7 Students' attitudes and values towards the school 207 a) agents of community spirit 207 b) students' comments 209 Behaviours 210 a) the curriculum 210 b) religious education 212 Botswana School B 215 Beliefs 215 a) students' and parents' beliefs 215 b) school life and climate 216 Students' attitudes and values towards the school 219 a) agents of community spirit 219 b) students' comments 219 Behaviours 222 a) the curriculum 222 b) religious education 223 Grenada School C 226 Beliefs 226 a) students' and parents' beliefs 226 b) school life and climate 226 Students' attitudes and values towards the school 229 a) agents of community spirit 229 b) students' comments 229 Behaviours 233 a) the curriculum 233 b) religious education 234 8 Indonesia School D 237 Beliefs 237 a) students' and parents' beliefs 237 b) school life and climate 237 Students' attitudes and values towards the school 240 a) agents of community spirit 240 b) students' comments 241 Beha~ouffi 243 a) the curriculum 243 b) religious education 245 Lessons learnt from the four schools about the 247 significance of the student voice in a study of
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