The Struggle for Christian Tertiary Education in Australia

Transcription

1 The Struggle for Christian Tertiary Education in Australia

2 Christian Education: Some Implications for Christian Universities in Australia Taken from two articles in the Journal Christian Higher Education Volume 11, Issue 5, November 2012: 1. Tertiary Education in Australia, Part I, by Edward Wilfrid Sand & Willem (Bill) Berends 2. Tertiary Education in Australia, Part II, by Willem (Bill) Berends

3 Sands presents the history of Australasian tertiary education as a contest between two Williams William Wentworth

4 William Grant Broughton Born on 22 May 1788 in London The King's School, Canterbury, in Cambridge B.A., 1818; M.A., 1823 Entered in church as deacon in 1818, was priested and continued to write a number of scholarly articles Arrived in Sydney in 1829 to become head of Anglican Church in Australia, as archdeacon In his first sermon, at St James, he announced his interest in organising and controlling education Marsden, who enthroned him as bishop in 1836, saw him as a high churchman not inimical to the Gospel

5 William Wentworth Was born in NSW (Norfolk Island?) c His Irish father avoided a charge of highway robbery by agreeing to move to the colonies William studied at Greenwich but resented the English life After explorations with Blaxland and Lawson he again went to England to study law at Middle Temple, London In 1819 he published the first book written by an Australian, advocating free settlers and trial by jury Because of his illegitimacy, society did not admit him to the exclusives so he set up and headed the emancipists. Wentworth became Vice-President of the Australian Patriotic Association and founded a newspaper, The Australian

6 The Religious Situation in Australia The Colonial Office operated under the assumption the C of E would be the official church, but local military leadership did not support this Soon after Broughton s arrival reforms in Britain undermined his attempts to set up a little England The religious mix was Anglican (English), Roman (Irish) and Presbyterian (Scottish) with some nonconformists Wentworth represented the spirit of the colony much more closely than Broughton

7 Education in early Australia Broughton s educational ideals (philosophical) Revealed religion as the foundation Retain Anglican privileged position Education according to station Wentworth s educational ideals (pragmatic) Useful knowledge as the foundation Education should be in the hands of the state Education according to competence Wentworth had an ally in Richard Bourke who was appointed governor in 1831

8 A change in educational control The suspended Church and School Corporation had its charter finally revoked in With that Bourke introduced state funding for schools of all three dominant denominations Denominational schools were incorporated into a national system with separate boards In 1848 the state took on curriculum control leaving the Church with religious education Wentworth now became a dominant force in determining the direction of education

9 The Beginnings of Tertiary Education During the 1840 s bishops Broughton and Selwyn made plans for tertiary education: In Sydney, to serve Australia and New Zealand Starting with a theological faculty Then classical liberal education (the Oxbridge model) St James College, Lyndhurst, started in 1846 By 1849 it ended, numbers had dwindled to zero Dissenters had founded Sydney College in 1830 Wentworth championed this non-church college as the place for tertiary education In 1850 it became Australasia s first university

10 Tertiary Education and Religion The First Australasian University excluded the clergy from the Senate and from teaching As a compromise it was agreed graduation required a certificate of religious attainment This required religious instruction at one of the associated colleges At first the university limited itself to graduate courses while associated colleges taught the undergraduates Soon the university also began undergraduate studies From then on other colleges relied on specialisation in order to survive

11 Further Australian Universities Melbourne (1853) followed the Sydney model It did allow a limited number of clergy on the Senate It did not allow clergymen to be professors or allow professors to teach religious subjects Adelaide university began as a college founded by Christians, in 1872; theology was taught In 1876 it became a university with 2 chairs funded by the church and 2 by the state Theology, though not ruled out, was no longer taught Queensland modelled itself on the secular and pragmatic mid-western American model Though not ruled out, religious subjects were not included

12 New Zealand Universities Otago University was founded in 1969 Churches shared in the founding but no religious subjects were taught, but arts, medicine and music Canterbury University was founded a month later It was secular, adopting the Sydney preamble The two universities were incorporated (1870) and reconstituted (1874) They were given powers to confer degrees "in arts, law, science, medicine, music, and 'in other departments of knowledge except Theology'" Auckland University College and Wellington's Victoria University College became affiliated in 1882 and 1897 The links with other colleges, including the theological colleges, were discontinued.

13 Theological Education Theological Education was only available at colleges, often in association with universities: Theological training in Australia: Catholic Seminaries since 1834 in Sydney Church of England colleges started in Hobart and Sydney in 1846 Moore College began in 1856 Theological training in NZ: The Theological Hall of the Presbyterians was set up in 1867 and then linked to Otago University Bishopdale College of the Anglicans was set up in Nelson in 1869 and linked to the University of NZ

14 Summing up thus far Universities were set up on a secular basis, even where they were founded on church colleges From the beginning universities excluded theological studies from their curricula Some times as a rule Sometimes in practice No American style Christian liberal arts colleges were set up in Australia There are no equivalents to the European style Free (Christian) Universities

15 Parallel developments 100 Years Later A new attempt to set up a Christian University Co-operation between Australian and NZ Churches Beginning with a theological faculty 1955 saw the establishment of the Association for Higher Education on a Calvinistic Basis (AHECB). Later this became the Association for Christian Tertiary Education (ACTE) It represented a partnership 1952 of the Reformed Churches of Australia, the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Australia and Reformed Churches of NZ. It was modelled on the Free University founded by A Kuyper at Amsterdam

16 Differences with the earlier attempt It was not a church institution, but set up by an independent association Based on the Sphere sovereignty teaching This allowed for inter denominational co-operation Similar to parent controlled Christian Schools The theological faculty has developed into a theological college It can offer recognised degrees in association with the ACT

17 History of the Institution 1972 the Association (ACTE) established a chair of Philosophy and Christian Education A lecturer in philosophy was appointed but he resigned after 2 years A lecturer in Christian education was appointed in 1989 but was terminated after 4 years Reasons for the lack of success Personality and theological disputes The founding of the National Council of Institutes for Christian Education (NCICE) Lack of a sizeable constituency

18 Attempts to meet the vision 1980 saw the introduction of a 2 year Biblical Studies Course encouraging personal growth In 1984 a 1 year Christian Growth Certificate was added 1994 the two year Biblical Studies Course was replaced with an accredited Associate Diploma of Theology (through the ACT) The Bachelor degrees in Ministry and Christian Studies also allowed for training in areas other than ministry. But none of this came close to the vision for a Christian University

19 A time of unrest (early 1990 s) An action group in the RCA saw the RTC as too academic and wanted a more church based apprenticeship model. Another action group judged the college as not academic enough to meet the vision for a university and sought a separate association In 1993 The Board established its own Action Group with the EXPRESS MANDATE to develop plans contingent and necessary for the planning, institution and operation of a Christian University in Australia

20 The Action Group The action group represented two main streams: 1. A group of largely academics who followed the philosophy of H. Dooyeweerd They followed the (largely Dutch) philosophical school of Dooyeweerd and Vollenhoven They followed the vision for a Christian University set out by Hendrik van Riessen 2. A group who sought to found a common campus on a wider theological and philosophical basis Inclusive of Christians who did not hold to the creeds of the RTC Inclusive of a wider kuyperian worldview

21 Further developments The board supported the majority report for a common campus It was decided to look for a new campus But further discussions for working together stalled Those supporting the minority report founded their own Association for Christian Higher Education in Australia (ACHEA, 1995) In 2002 both groups came together again on the understanding they needed to work together They formed the Christian Institute of Tertiary Education (CITE)

22 Christian Institute of Tertiary Education (CITE) Agreed to a wider philosophical basis, leaving room for members to hold to a narrower one Sought to set up a program at the Diploma level (but with an aim to academic integrity) Changed course because of government rules: That a new institution must offer a unique contribution to the educational program (Note that in a somewhat contradictory fashion it was also necessary to nominate another institution where a similar course of studies could be followed in case the first institution terminated).

23 The Masters degree in Ethical Management and Leadership A full professor from Sweden and his wife sought our help to set up a Masters degree in Ethical Management and Leadership This met the criterion of a unique course no offered elsewhere The course did not need a large budget to operate But the government panel advised a budget with two more digits was needed to be taken seriously

24 CITE ended, but the Vision Continues The set-back led to the disbandment of CITE No new program was developed Assets were distributed among like minded institutions The RTC Board had handed over its vision for a university and concentrated on ministry training It largely aligned with the program of the ACT But a new way to meet some of the founder s vision opened up unexpectedly with the ACT s call for Centres of Excellence

25 TIME: 7.30pm Thursday 31 October 2013 PLACE: Maranatha Christian School Kidds Road, Doveton SPEAKER: Colin Youl: Worldviews: Does your north hand know what your south hand is doing? URL: