The Special Character of New Zealand Protestant Integrated Evangelical Schools

Abstract

The Special Character of New Zealand protestant integrated evangelical schools is that spiritual ethos, the ‘god-factor’ that distinguishes these schools from secular schools. The thesis set out to identify the perceptions that school administrators, parents, teachers and students have concerning their Special Character with a view to establishing a clarity of understanding as to the selfperceptions, the modus operandi, the values espoused, the opportunities which these schools represent and the basis on which their understandings and values are founded. Sixty two semistructured interviews undertaken in six of these schools were recorded and transcribed. Analysis by themes enabled a consideration of the participants’ own defining of Special Character, the values the schools espoused, the means by which their Special Character could be preserved, and the tensions and anomalies encountered as evidenced in the data. It was found that while there is considerable complexity in the vast variety of perspectives of the participants, there is, nonetheless much evidence of a homogenous group of schools that work closely together, with common understanding of what unites them – namely, an acceptance of the inerrancy and authority of the Christian scriptures for all of life, living and learning. It might be concluded from the findings that because of the complexity of the views expressed there is no clear definition of Special Character in these schools. But in the spectrum of participant articulation of perceptions, Special Character is both the content and the context of education. As to the content, all of the curriculum was seen to be subject to and consistent with an evangelical understanding of the Christian scriptures. Similarly to the context, the ethos was generated by an evangelical Christian staff who modelled and taught a Christian lifestyle in a relationship with the Christ of the Bible, and who encouraged the students to adopt that same lifestyle and relationship, adopting the biblical values that derive from a biblical worldview. Relationships were seen to be of paramount importance for upholding and defining Special Character. Participant voice indicated that they preferred to think of themselves as teaching in Christ-centred schools and their work as God-directed. They claimed their work was preserved by constant vigilance and constant vision-casting concerning their Special Character.