Private Christian Schools Research Articles

Private Interests, Public Necessity: Responding to Sexism in Christian Schools

This synthetic review aims to unite a seemingly disjoint collection of studies over the past 3 decades around their shared examination of sexism in an often overlooked U.S. population, namely girls attending private Christian schools. This undertaking reveals substantial harms that I categorize as those of immediacy and potentiality, which are occurring behind the protective wall separating church and state. Contra the majority of philosophers of education and researchers in this area, these studies lead me to argue that the state has the obligation and legal ability to intervene in this private domain. Notably, this study begins to flesh out a notion of educational harm that may be robust enough for state policy making and legal action in private schools. Based on a legalized understanding of sexist harm, I conclude with a detailed analysis of Constitutional provisions and court decisions relative to state intervention and freedom of religious practice.

Islam in Egyptian Education: Grades K–12

This article explores the important role that the religion of Islam plays in the education of Egyptian children. The scrutiny under which the Islamic world finds itself in the after-math of September 11, 2001 has resulted in calls for educational reform, not only from the outside world, but also from the Muslim world itself. The author has a personal interest in the educational reform debate in Egypt as she has two granddaughters who attend a private Christian school in Cairo. Research for the article is grounded in direct interviews of students, teachers, and parents during a 5-month stay as well as analysis of Arabic and social studies textbooks. This study reveals that while education of children in Egypt is essentially Islamic, the question is: What kind of Islam will prevail? Will it be the Islam of the moderate Islamists who see the purpose of education to be the advancement of the ideals of Islam above all other concerns? Or will it be the Islam of Egyptian President, Hosni Mubarak, and his government, which promotes national unity and non-sectarian ethics? In this article the author gives a brief review of early Arab education, surveys challenges in Egyptian education today, discusses ways in which the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is attempting to help reform education in Egypt, and, finally, focuses on students and teachers at New Ramses College in Cairo and how they are handling some of the challenges.

A Survey of Christian Religious Education in the United States

Prior to the landmark Supreme Court decision of June 1963, which banned public prayer from the public schools, Christian religious education was often a routine part of the overt instruction provided by the American public school system. However, in the wake of that legal milestone, even though instruction in the Judeo-Christian interpretation of religious history continued to be taught covertly, American churches began relying more heavily on providing Christian religious education. This article briefly presents Christianity’s contemporary status in the United States and reviews such religious education methods as Sunday school, vacation Bible school, Christian youth groups, catechism, private Christian schools, Youth Sunday, and children’s sermons. The survey concludes with a look at the growing interface between such education and the lessons of psychology as well as training and certifying Christian religious educators.

A Survey of Christian Religious Education in the United States

Prior to the landmark Supreme Court decision of June 1963, which banned public prayer from the public schools, Christian religious education was often a routine part of the overt instruction provided by the American public school system. However, in the wake of that legal milestone, even though instruction in the Judeo-Christian interpretation of religious history continued to be taught covertly, American churches began relying more heavily on providing Christian religious education. This article briefly presents Christianity’s contemporary status in the United States and reviews such religious education methods as Sunday school, vacation Bible school, Christian youth groups, catechism, private Christian schools, Youth Sunday, and children’s sermons. The survey concludes with a look at the growing interface between such education and the lessons of psychology as well as training and certifying Christian religious educators.

The development of civic values: case study of Taiwan

This chapter describes the study as it was conducted in Taiwan in three schools: a prestigious private Christian school and two public schools. The results suggest that because of the national curriculum policy, the aims and approaches to civic education are very specific and prescriptive. Furthermore, there was a strong continuity between national policy and school curriculum provisions. The educational experiences seem to be structured with an intention to achieve moral autonomy by interweaving school activities with discipline and attachment to social groups. Finally, although the principals and teachers viewed civic education as worthwhile and important, it was accorded low priority because of its low status on the high school entrance examination.

The Ideology of Outcome-based Education An Interview with William Spady

Perhaps no educational movement in recent history has generated as much ideological argument as has outcome-based education (OBE). Much has been written about the subject, and it is not the purpose of this interview to add to the debate by either promoting or denigrating the movement. For reasons that may never be entirely understood, the OBE movement became identified as the embodiment of anti-Christian, anti-fundamentalist, and anti-family values in education. Many of the protest rallies were held in churches, and the primary opponents were part of what is often referred to as the “Christian right.” Part of the fallout from this national experience has been to contribute to the advancement of two recent national trends: (1) a dramatic increase in the establishment of private Christian schools and (2) an equally dramatic increase in the number of children being home-schooled. To say that OBE has had an impact on Christian education is certainly an understatement. It is the purpose of this interview to explore what-if any-ideology influenced the OBE movement, which became so emotionally entwined with Christian educational issues. By accident or providence, I was an administrator in the Pennsylvania Department of Education in the early 1990s when leaders in the State Department of Education decided to develop the future of public education in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania around OBE principles. I was part of the planning and implementation team charged to accomplish this goal. What happened in Pennsylvania was an experience in social psychology and sociopolitical reality that I will never forget. Suddenly, all of us in leadership positions at the department of education found ourselves branded as secular humanists who were set on destroying American family values. In fact, most of us were devout Christians, and several of us were practicing ministers in fundamentalist churches. During the Pennsylvania experience, it was my pleasure to be closely associated with Dr. William Spady, who, by that time, had become the national leader of the OBE movement. When I asked Dr. Spady if he would agree to be interviewed for the Journal Of Research on Christian Education, he readily agreed to discuss what ideology, if any, existed behind the OBE movement. Our discussion follows.

The New Christian Schools: a survey

Summary This paper reports an interview and postal questionnaire survey of a group of 65 new private Christian schools. The diverse nature of the schools is described and the reasons why the schools were established are discussed. Particular attention is given to the methods of funding and staffing the schools. The variety of ways in which a biblically‐based curriculum is conceived and delivered by the schools is outlined and there is a discussion of the use of individualised Christian learning materials.