University of Calgary

Official Perspectives of Some Australian Fundamentalist Schools, 2(5)

Anthony Potts

a.potts@bendigo.latrobe.edu.au
Education Studies, La Trobe University

 

Abstract

"Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not turn from it". Proverbs 22:6 (From the Prospectus of Son Centre Christian School Ltd.)

In 1986 Peshkin published "God's Choice - The Total World of a Christian Fundamentalist School." It was an account of Bethany Baptist Academy, a school encompassing one doctrine, one truth and one way. Peshkin (1986) observed that Bethany represented "the fastest growing segment of American education ... reputed to be opening at the rate of two and then three and four new schools per day ... " He continued that there remains "the question of what kind of alternative the fundamentalist Christian school offers". Erickson (in Peshkin , 1986) noted that the book would be "particularly useful as an antidote to the profound ignorance of fundamentalist schools that lies behind much public and private policy today." In Australia Anderson (1993) observed that the previous decade had witnessed a rapid growth of fundamentalist schools although as yet these constitute fewer than 2 per cent of the total. With the changes announced in the Australian Federal Budget of 1996, fundamentalist Christian schools may increase in numbers for conditions governing their establishment were relaxed.

We know little about Australian fundamentalist Christian schools and face the question Peshkin confronted, namely "what kind of alternative the fundamentalist Christian school offers?" This paper examines official perspectives of fundamentalist schools in one of Australia's oldest cities and an Australian rural town. The paper focuses on the influence of faith on the three areas of enrolments, reason for enrolment and curriculum.

 

Introduction

Turney (1978), Standish (1978) and Maslen (1982) examined aspects of nonmainstream religious schools in Australia. However their accounts are now dated and, in Maslen's case, somewhat prejudiced as well. Peshkin's (1986) question of "what kind of alternative the fundamentalist Christian school offers" is even more pertinent in 1998. This is because these schools belong to the fastest growing segment of Australia's nongovernment school sector (Anderson, 1993; Bone, 1996). This paper explores the official perspectives of four fundamentalist schools. It concentrates on the influence of faith on enrolments, faith and reason for enrolment and faith on the curriculum. In so doing it attempts to provide "an antidote to the profound ignorance of fundamentalist schools" (Erikson in Peshkin, 1986). The discussion provides data on aspects of these schools noting Berliner's (1997) observation that educational beliefs held by large numbers of citizens are inaccurate and this is a major problem for educators. In a small way the paper responds to Berliner's exhortation that educators need to present an accurate picture of what occurs in schools if they are to gain the support of the public (Berliner, 1997).

Fundamentalist Schools in Bendigo and Swan Hill, Victoria, Australia

From the mid-nineteenth century churches provided schools in Bendigo (Drennan, 1977). The schools in this paper have short histories. Three Bendigo schools and one Swan Hill school, for further comparison, are the subject of this paper.

Creek Street Christian College was founded in 1981 with an enrolment of 23 primary level students. Today it has an enrolment of 200 students from Preparatory to Year 10. Ascension College Incorporated started in 1982 with 35 primary students and 2 full-time teachers. Since 1990 student numbers have increased to 250 students and include a category one kindergarten, primary and secondary schooling to Year 12. Victory Christian College Incorporated commenced in 1995. It has 80 students covering Preparatory to Year 8. Son Centre Christian School commenced in 1993 as a Preparatory to Year 6 school with 46 students and two teachers.

In the case of the Bendigo Schools, I interviewed the principals or vice principals and other personnel, inspected their facilities and examined school documents. In the case of the Swan Hill school I relied to a greater extent on school documents. The author's former students who found employment in these schools or undertook teaching practice there provided an additional source of information

Influence of School Philosophy on Enrolments

Creek Street Christian College enrolled children of families who claimed to support the Christian philosophy of the school. The school principal asked families to make a verbal commitment to support the Christian teaching within the school and to provide their children with opportunities to attend a Christian group outside the school. The principal noted that "It is something we can't police. It is something we have to leave to the integrity of the parents to honour what they say they will do." Thus, if there was a family Church, the children might go to Sunday School. If the family did not have a particular Church, they could attend the Creek Street Church and their children could attend a primary-aged Christian group, called Aussies Dazzlers. Thus Creek Street Christian College claimed to provide the opportunity for involvement in out of school religious activities.

According to the principal at Victory College, matters of faith and doctrine did not influence pupil selection. He noted that "we have Catholics, Uniting, Baptist. I am not sure if we have any Salvation Army. A few non-believers. So it is not a prerequisite to be a Christian."

The principal of Victory College asked parents, who desired to enrol their children in the school, that if they did not believe then why did they ask to have their children enrolled in the school? Some parents, when informed of this, decided not to enrol their children. Others sent their children to Victory College, according to the principal, citing the "moral training" it provided. Victory College staff informed families who did not believe in their Christian philosophy that it was likely that the School and the parents would end up in conflict. They suggested to these a community school.

Son Centre Christian School accepted enrolments from Christian parents and from those whose parents had no particular religious affiliations. However, all students had to be approved by a parent controlled school board. Enrolments of non-Christian Protestants were limited to no more than 20 per cent of the school. This was to ensure that the ethos of the School remained Fundamentalist Christian. At the other end of the continuum was Ascension College. Here the faith dimension was not a prerequisite for enrolment. Anyone could seek admission.

Faith and Reasons for Enrolment

The principal of Victory College believed that people who sent their children to the school would be primarily Christians. However, there was also an indeterminate percentage who were not. These persons were in search of a philosophy that was not necessarily fundamentalist Christian "but which has the principles of Christ there." The principal of Creek Street Christian College noted that issues connected with the Christian faith were important for enrolment. Parents claimed that they wanted to ensure that children had a Christian school environment to complement the home environment.

The administrators of Ascension College believed because the school was based on Christian principles it appealed to many parents and students. There were also those who selected the school "because there is a Church directly associated with the College by way of Bendigo City Church; there are a number of people who in that context would be a natural choice for this school." At the same time there were those who were very particular that their children were in a definite Christian environment because of their strong philosophical commitment to Christian education.

The principals of all three Bendigo schools believed there were other reasons for selection of their respective schools. These reasons appear in wider studies of school choice. They included dissatisfaction with government schools, concern over the learning environments of larger state schools, reputation of the school, desire for an academically oriented curriculum, concern over lack of discipline and undesirable peer pressure, desire for a more controlled environment and for a sense of community in the chosen school, a desire for smaller class sizes and for certain curricular emphases, size of school and size of classes, an ethos of open communication and the relationships between parents, teachers and students and parents and teachers, the involvement of parents with the formulation of uniforms, curricula, and participation in classroom and extra curricular activities. According to the pastor of Ascension Life School also important were parents of students "whose schooling thus far has been problematic or difficult ... and who were looking for something different." The principal of Victory College believed that schools like Victory tended to attract students who had not been successful in the state school system and who had serious problems "with a variety of things." Victory College made special efforts to assist those students. Creek Street Christian College did not accept all students desirous of enrolment. The Principal noted "We have to be very careful that we do not get a particular child within the school who will be disruptive and cause the tone of the group into which they go to be very difficult to manage, but it is sometimes very difficult to manage to identify those people before they get into the school and we have been caught."

At Creek Street the Principal interviewed the parents and the child and checked other previous schools as part of the enrolment process

Influence of Faith on the Curriculum

Son Centre Christian School

Son Centre had the most pronounced faith-based curriculum documents. It entitled it curriculum policy as "Living in God's World." It aimed to develop a "distinctive curriculum based on a Christ-centred approach to education" which "differs from the humanistic 'child-centred' philosophy of secular education" (Son Centre Prospectus, n. d, p. 4). Son Centre Christian School aimed to "train the children to think from a Christian perspective in their approach to life" (Son Centre Prospectus, n. d, p. 4) The School divided the curriculum into 4 broad areas namely:
  1. Oral Communication in God's World
    • Music
    • Speech and Drama
    • Foreign Language
  2. Written Communication In God's World
    • Language and Writing Skills
    • Handwriting
    • Reading
  3. Investigation in God's World
    • Maths
    • Science and Technology
    • Social Studies
  4. Creativity and Leisure in God's World
    • PE/Health
    • Art/Craft

Son Centre School commenced each day with twenty-five minutes of prayer. This included Bible study, Christian singing and other devotions. A Christian perspective allegedly permeated all subjects and prayers were important on other occasions such as Grace at meal times.

From an official perspective Son Centre Christian School viewed music as a way students could "learn to praise and worship God from their hearts ... and an opportunity to develop their gifts and talents" (Son Centre Prospectus, n. d., p. 5). Christian choruses and whole school singing were also important. The school sang at local churches and aimed to sing at other venues and functions. Similarly, speech and drama skills equipped students to participate in town musicals and church items. While present pupils studied Italian, language teaching depended on the availability of competent teachers. Language teaching was officially linked to a hope that students would serve Christ "in a missionary capacity in the future" (Son Centre Prospectus, n. d, p. 6). Sport and physical education were a key feature of the Son Centre School. They were officially seen as "vital in the building up of self-esteem and in the development of the children's gifts and talents. A high level of fitness and appreciation of the need to look after one's body, as it is a temple of the Holy Spirit, are also instrumental in the development of the P. E. Program " (Son Centre Prospectus, n. d: 11). A similar rationale applied to the health curriculum. The art and craft guidelines mentioned "building up the children's gifts and talents."

The Son Centre School Prospectus stated that while some of its books had a mainly Christian content, it planned for approximately fifty percent of its programs to be Christian based. With respect to science and technology the school's official perspective was that science was the study of God's creation and issues of science were taught from a Christian perspective. Evolution and creation were both taught but creationism was the preferred view.

Officially the disciplinary policy of Son Centre relied on Scripture to ascertain appropriate measures for students. Discipline was supposedly not solely punishment "but rather a training of the child's will and nature into a maturity of living and relating to the community around him" (Son Centre Prospectus, n. d, p. 13). Discipline was claimed to be "carried out in a loving attitude" under the maxim of "PRAISE IN PUBLIC - PUNISH IN PRIVATE" (Son Centre Prospectus, n. d, p. 13). Students were exhorted not to use "crude or aggressive language but to be pure and kind in speech, to be generous and to share what God has given them ... and be sensitive to the needs of others."

Victory College

At an official level, Victory College curriculum was based on Biblical principles. The school endeavoured to train students in "moral and ethical standards of the Bible as interpreted in the New Testament." It used the State Government Curriculum Frameworks but tried to permeate these with Christian principles. Victory College aimed to train students to use their gifts and talents "in the pursuit of serving God, society and the world of work" (Victory College School Philosophy, 1996, p. 1). It fostered what the principal claimed was "the Christian principle of parental involvement." The curriculum stressed "self discipline, self respect, respect for authority and civil laws and individuality of pupils." The curriculum according to the principal was "religious by ethos and philosophy". Thus, the principal said that when studying evolution and the natural sciences...
The issue is not to have God come out of every topic but if the underlying philosophy is that God is the Creator of the heavens and the earth ... it gives a much better understanding to studying things because it is coming from hope and purpose. When you are studying say mammals for example there is not a great need to necessarily talk about God all the time. But there is sense in which the whole Biblical truth of instructing the animals to procreate and to populate the earth and humans to populate the earth and to care for it and that is made at some point as we talk to the kids and it becomes a foundation ... for caring for the earth and replenishing it ... so fundamentally underlying everything in science is God, same for English, social studies, human relationships.

Victory College had daily prayer normally based on the Bible. The principal explained how the school used a panorama that traced how and why God acted, the characters in the Bible and their relevance. Current events, were examined from a Christian perspective. The curriculum involved devotions, Bible study, weekly chapel services, close relationships between home-church-school, pastoral care for students, and an orderly environment where discipline was administered by caring teachers.

Victory College's philosophy meant health courses were taught in a certain way. The school's stance was that sex outside marriage was inappropriate. The principal stated that "the whole idea of kids pulling out condoms and sticking them on fingers and rolling them down and ... the issue of safe behaviours" was not acceptable.

Victory College staff taught that evolution was a theory. The principal argued that "there was much more authority for a Biblical authority than for the writings of Charles Darwin"

The desire of the school principal was that faith influenced the way a student was approached, with truth, justice, mercy, respect, honour, humility and humour. If these were kept in mind then, the principal believed that teaching approaches could vary from didactic styles to other less directive approaches. The school was reluctant to slavishly follow particular fashions. While rote learning was not always applicable, there were places where it was appropriate for example, in learning scripture. The school used methods and materials produced by the Hong Kong Christian School Association that set out various approaches to learning and teaching. According to the principal, Victory College staff did...

not believe that everything is child-centred. It is God-centred, actually. Teachers will be involved with filling empty vessels occasionally; sometimes there is a real place for that.

At Victory College faith had a large influence on the way the discipline policy operated and the way the school rules were expressed. The latter were expressed by the principal from a positive perspective:

Willingly obey teacher instructions, be courteous, polite and respectful to all persons and speak in a positive, kindly and loving manner stirring one another to good deeds, avoiding the appearance of evil, willingly accept counsel and discipline when the rules have been broken, forgive others and to accept the forgiveness of others, promote unity and harmony, avoid discord and factionalism.

At Victory College education was based upon relationships first, not on the development of skills. The principal argued that "if the relationships between teacher and student and teacher and teacher and teacher and parent are not based on biblical principles ... then human relationships break down. The school built skill development from those because if these relationships were absent then there was no purpose. "If there is no hope then there is no purpose in living and if there is no purpose in education but purely to satisfy self ..." It was a following of "Jesus' law of love ... do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

Creek Street Christian College

Creek Street was an academically oriented school whose curriculum aimed to have students acquire Christian values. Teachers' life styles were expected to be congruent with the Christian faith. The curriculum was designed to display "relatedness between the acquisition of academic skills and Christian faith" (Creek Street College Handbook, 1996, p. 2). The curriculum was based on the Scriptures (Col. 1:16 and Deut 10:12) namely that the world was God's creation, that God had given man responsibilities and that man required assistance and education to fulfill those (Creek Street College Handbook, 1996, p. 2). For Creek Street Christian College... "Education is learning how to live, the communication of life from the living to the living." To be "educated" is to know how to live.

"We believe that the Bible is God's revelation to man and contains the principles and values within it that shows us how to live" (Creek Street College Handbook, 1996: 2). The school was strongly bible based. The school staff taught that the events in the bible occurred and Jesus Christ provided a role model. The Creek Street principal believed the home was "the number one training influence in the life of a child." The home must provide children with a model for Christian living. Because its influence was more lasting, it was important that what was taught at home and school was consistent.

The state government's curriculum documents were used but subjects were "approached from a biblical perspective and students are encouraged to make their own choices about issues so that their decisions are in harmony with God's Word" (Creek Street Information Booklet, 1996, p. 8)

Students participated in a weekly chapel service. Here the emphasis was on "the truth of God's word" with episodes from the bible being presented in various ways (Creek Street Information Booklet, 1996, p. 8). Devotions involving bible reading, discussion, singing and prayers were conducted in each primary classroom at the commencement of each day. At the secondary level, students took three periods of forty-five minutes of Christian Living. These focused on biblical teaching and the study of Christian principles.

Creek Street Christian College utilised biblical principles, to provide "a variety of forms of discipline including the loss of ... points, detentions, parental consultations, suspensions and as a last resort, expulsion. (Creek Street Information Booklet, 1996, p. 10). Students were expected to conform to the disciplined, academic environment and not to criticise "the policies and decisions of" the school. Students could be expelled for reasons including:

Attitude incompatibility, unco-operative spirit, rebellion towards discipline, chronic complaining, sowing discord, chronic absences or lateness, non-conformity to standards of conduct or grooming, lack of parental co-operation. (Creek Street College Handbook, 1996, p. 8).

Students were to expected to "dress in a neat and modest manner", and to "respect authority without being critical or trying to find fault". They were...

To maintain Christian standards of courtesy, kindness, morality and honesty, and to strive to be of unquestionable character in dress and conduct ... whether at home, school or elsewhere. Students found to be out of harmony with the College's ideals of work and life will be invited to withdraw from the College. (Creek Street College Handbook, 1996, p. 16)

Hairstyles were not to be of an extreme type that would draw attention to students. Students were not to deface their school bags. "To avoid disruption to Saturday night youth groups in various churches, parents of secondary students [were requested] to arrange parties on a night other than Saturday" (Creek Street College Handbook, 1996, p. 17). "Grumbling, complaining or temper outbursts [were] unacceptable" (Creek Street College Handbook, 1996, p. 20).

There was a specific Christian literature program that covered the study of particular texts. It commenced at Year 4 and continued to the secondary level. It included comprehension exercises and book reports.

While Creek Street had its own health and human relations course, according to the principal, the school saw sex education as primarily the role of the family. Parents could preview any teaching materials that would be used in this subject. The course took a family oriented approach. The principal said the school did not delve deeply into issues of drug and substance abuse and issues of homosexuality or lesbianism. The focus was on what God desired individuals to do.

The school endeavoured to model for its students a Christian lifestyle through its teaching and its teachers. "The Bible was seen as the source of truth and ... the teachers' job was to help the pupils to understand it" (Interview with Principal, 13/9/96). The school's official position was that there were absolutes in moral judgments and "therefore if it is taught or written in the bible then we would say that is the standard and we should be going with it and not watering things down" (Interview with Principal 13/9/96). Students were encouraged to live out their faith treating others as they desired to be treated and as Christ exhorted during his time on earth. Students were to be considerate of differences among others and to understand that not everyone had similar talents.

Ascension College

Ascension College's official position was that while reaching high levels of academic achievement students would develop "a personal relationship with Jesus," and "a Christian world view" (Ascension College Handbook, 1996, p. 3). The school was Protestant but had evolved, its pastor stated, to where it was "an independent school based upon ... a general philosophy of Christianity [rather] than a fundamentalist philosophy ... [the school fitted] somewhere between the Fundamentalist and Pentacostalists and Evangelicals."

Ascension College endeavoured to integrate biblical values into the curriculum. This it was claimed was more difficult in pure science and mathematics, than in the humanities and English. In life skills classes the teachers used general Christian principles "to say certain contexts and modes of behaviour and expressions of relationships are ok." For example, in looking at the issue of self-esteem, caring for oneself, the issue of body shape and appearance then the unconditional love of God was highlighted and how that influenced individual's self-esteem. For the school leaders, man was God's creation. His value, his self-esteem, his self image derived from the fact that he came out of God's image and was a reflection of God. "Therefore the only real way to find your own basis for self esteem is in a relationship with God because that is what we are created for" (Interview with School Pastor 23/9/96).

When it came to "the vexed issue of evolution and creation" the School's official position, stated by its pastor, was that it was more readily explained if students had at least a rudimentary understanding of how different people saw these issues. After discussing the various viewpoints it was left for the students "to weigh the two up and make their own decisions".

The school's vice principal said that teachers "looked at history through the glasses of a Christian world view." Parallels were drawn between what happened in the world in relationship to the bible. In the area of physical relationships between students and issues such as premarital sex and fighting the school's teachers emphasised that biblical principles stressed forgiveness, forbearance, reconciliation. With conflict resolution, trust in God and working together towards a common good, while seeing a sovereign God who controlled everything, was emphasised. The school staff taught that some things will happen outside human control such as loss and grief. Even when something seemed inexplicable there was still an overriding sense of hope. This gave Christians an advantage over non-believers.

The school's leaders believed it differed from strict fundamentalist schools in its readiness to confront contentious issues such as homosexuality and sexual choice. The school pastor argued that it was futile to "stick their head in the sand and or just simply react and oppose" when issues such as this arose. He said that Ascension College staff made a Christian response to such issues.

The school endeavoured to teach students biblical principles and fundamental Christian values and how to apply them when they left school. Otherwise when confronted with the world, the school pastor said, "they will get a real shock." Further, he said that the school's leaders believed that previously their students were "not really prepared to cope ... whereas now they were much more prepared ... to be able to interact in a positive and assertive way."

Ascension College staff did not so much attempt to provide answers for students but sought to have them ask questions. The pastor contrasted this with the past practice of providing "all of the right answers." The school staff believed that if Jesus was the answer, students had to know what the questions were. The school's teaching aimed for students to make an informed faith choice and leave the school committed Christians. The school staff viewed faith commitment as a long term journey with all sorts of factors operating. "The Gospel is simple but life is complicated," stated the pastor.

A decade previously Ascension College staff used more didactic teaching. The pastor said this encouraged an attitude of "I don't have to think so much what are they are saying as remember what I believe." The school staff believed it now used more appropriate teaching methods. It no longer taught the catechism and rote answers. The school's message had not altered but staff believed the presentation had become more sophisticated and contemporary. This change in focus was linked to a change in the central objective. This was no longer that students finish schooling and necessarily say "Yes I am a Christian". That is not the key objective which it probably was ten years ago. The objective now was that they emerged with a questioning attitude and were, in addition, practising Christians interacting with the community. At the same time the pastor and vice principal stated that the school had "an identifiable Christian world view" and saw distinctions between a secular value systems and Christian ones.

Ascension College did not have daily prayers and there was no chapel at the school. The staff did come together and pray perhaps on two or three days a week. During the weekly assembly the principal was apt to say a short prayer or when the school was about to go on an excursion. With the lower primary grades the teachers would often ask whether the pupils wanted to pray for anything in particular, such as the sick.

Ascension College believed that it was hard to remain a truly fundamentalist school vitriolically opposed to secular humanism. The pastor said, "You know, waving the flag bravely, that sort of visual image ... in real terms that is very, very hard in our society." He gave as an example how schools now, under state laws, had to report cases of suspected child abuse. Schools had to work with the community. Ascension College believed, said its pastor, that "fundamentalist schools are very threatened by the idea that some external body has the right to ask questions about 'why are you doing this and why not this?" He believed that "the days of successful Christian Schools which are isolated are gone."

Conclusion

These four Christian schools varied in their adherence to fundamentalist beliefs. The influence of the Christian faith on the official perspectives of these schools could best be described as existing on a continuum. This ranged from a complete fundamentalist position to one that was much less so. Thus Son Centre Christian School, Creek Street Christian College and Victory College were the most fundamentalist, and Ascension College the least. Ascension College, while originally a strictly fundamentalist Christian School, had altered its position to be much less fundamentalist. The schools varied in the extent to which they believed in one doctrine, one truth and one way. They varied, too, in the extent to which selection of students, teacher recruitment, teaching methods, codes of behaviour, discipline, support of their community, and the curriculum offered were infused with biblical principles. All but Ascension College aimed to offer a vigorous and competing alternative to a liberal humanist schooling. Their total approach was one of a Church militant in the face of a hostile and secular world. This approach was not to surrender to the demands of a secular society. Ascension College, while still a Christian school, had reached the stage where it was more tolerant and accommodating to the demands of the world in which it found itself.

An obvious limitation of this short exploration is that it is of official perspectives namely, that of school principals and key personnel. In this sense, it represents only one side of these schools. What is needed is research that addresses how these official perspectives are viewed by the total teaching staffs of the schools. Secondly, how do the pupils experience these schools, and thirdly, how do the parents and families experience these schools? To what extent do the official perspectives get translated into actual school practice?

Another area that is worthy of exploration is how can these schools respond to the Christian message of serving the poor and dispossessed and yet not become schools only of those dispossessed? This issue was hinted at by at least one of the school's principals when he declared that his school had to be careful that it did not become a refuge of those who had been asked to leave other schools.

References

Anderson, D. (1993). Public schools in decline: Implications of the privatization of schools in Australia. In H. Beare and W. Boyd (Eds.). Restructuring Schools. Falmer.

Ascension College Inc. (1996). Prospectus. Bendigo, Australia: Author.

Berliner, D. (1997). Voice Training. UCEA Review, 38, 2, 9-14.

Bone, P. (1996, December) A new school of social division. The Age, p.15.

Creek Street Christian College. (1996). College handbook. Bendigo, Australia: Author.

Creek Street Christian College. (1996). Information booklet. Bendigo, Australia: Author.

Creek Street Christian College. (1996). School fees. Bendigo, Australia: Author.

Drennan, J. (1977). A history of education in Bendigo, 1851-1862. Unpublished master�s thesis, Monash University, Australia.

Maslen, G. (1982). School ties - Private schooling in Australia. Australia: Methuen.

Peshkin, A. (1986). God's choice: The total world of a fundamentalist Christian school. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Seiffert, M. (1993). A sociological study of factors affecting parental choice of secondary schools in Victoria. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Latrobe University, Australia.

Standish, C. D. (1978) Seventh-Day Adventist education in Australia. In J. Cleverley (Ed.). Half a million children - Studies of non-government education in Australia. Melbourne, Australia: Longman.

Son Centre Christian School Ltd. (n.d.) Son Centre Christian School. [Brochure]. Bendigo, Australia: Author.

Son Centre Christian School Ltd. (1996). Prospectus. Bendigo, Australia: Author.

Turney, C. (1978). Tradition and Innovation in non-Anglican Protestant secondary schools. In J. Cleverley (Ed.). Half a million children - Studies of non-government education in Australia. Melbourne, Australia: Longman.

Victory Christian College Inc. (1996). Fee structure. Bendigo, Australia: Author.

Victory Christian College Inc. (1996). Prospectus. Bendigo, Australia: Author.

Victory Christian College. (1996). School Government. Bendigo, Australia: Author.

Victory Christian College Inc. (1996). School Philosophy. Bendigo, Australia: Author.

Author Note

Anthony Potts: Currently Head of Education Studies and Coordinator of the Master of Education (Research) at La Trobe University, Bendigo, Australia. Teaching duties include courses in social foundations, qualitative methods and sociology of the teaching profession. Current research is on emblems and universities, and civic leaders' perspectives on the university. Just published 'College Teachers,' William Michael Press, Charlestown, NSW, 1997.

 

Author's Comment:
This is a revised version of a paper present to the XIXth International Standing Conference on the History of Education - Faiths and Education, held at St. Patrick's College, National University Ireland, Maynooth, Ireland, September 1997. I am grateful to the reviewers of the IEJLL for their helpful comments.

The author may be contacted at: a.potts@bendigo.latrobe.edu.au