Christian Distinctiveness and Values
In February 2017, the Church of England launched a new Vision for Education, saying,
‘This is a fresh articulation of the Church of England’s vision for education as we meet the challenges and take
the opportunities offered by the present situation. It is not simply for Church schools but, recognising the
Church of England’s involvement in education over many centuries, seeks to promote educational excellence
everywhere, for everyone. In Church schools the deeply Christian foundation for this vision will be seen
explicitly in teaching and learning both in RE and across the curriculum, and also in the authentically Christian
worship and ethos of those schools. In other schools which are not rooted in an explicit Christian ethos, our
vision for education can still be expressed and promoted as one of human flourishing that can inspire what
the school is and does.
The vision is deeply Christian, with the promise by Jesus of ‘life in all its fullness’ at its heart. It encompasses
schools, colleges, further and higher education, but in this initial articulation our focus is on schools; other
work will follow relating more specifically to colleges and universities.
Our vision embraces the spiritual, physical, intellectual, emotional, moral and social development of children
and young people. We offer a vision of human flourishing for all, one that embraces excellence and academic
rigour, but sets them in a wider framework. This is worked out theologically and educationally through four
basic elements which permeate our vision for education:
Wisdom
Hope
Community
Dignity
The vision, in line with the Church of England’s role as the established Church, is for the common good of
the whole human community and its environment, whether national, regional or local. It is hospitable to
diversity, respects freedom of religion and belief, and encourages others to contribute from the depths of
their own traditions and understandings. It invites collaboration, alliances, negotiation of differences, and the
forming of new settlements in order to serve the flourishing of a healthily plural society and democracy,
together with a healthily plural educational system’.
The full document can be found at https://www.churchofengland.org/media/2532968/gs_2039_-_church_of_england_vision_for_education.pdf