Founding Anglican schools: A study of agents and events which influenced the formation of five Anglican schools within the Diocese of Sydney

Abstract

The research undertaken and recorded in this thesis, attempts to assess the stance taken within the Anglican Diocese of Sydney, with regards education in five schools during the past one hundred and fifty years. Primarily, it aims to evaluate the approach taken to education in the field of church, secondary schools with the aim of determining the aims and directions of these schools, and whether, and in what sense, the schools established can be considered to be Christian. As somewhat of a secondary aim, the research also considers the way in which the diocesan approach to education has changed throughout the period under examination. The means by which these aims have been achieved has been to analyse the agents and events which have influenced the foundation of five Anglican schools within the Diocese. Principally, this has occurred via an overview of the factors which led to the desire to found the schools in the first instance, and an analysis of the educational thoughts and ideas of the founders themselves. Each chapter dealing with an individual school, then, explicates the events leading up to the formation of the school and the character and style of school which the founder(s) was attempting to institute. The outcomes of this research demonstrate, on the basis of the five schools examined, that the approach to education within the Diocese of Sydney has been to establish schools which are Christian. Their status as Christian schools can be granted on the basis of their clear connection with a Christian denomination, their intention to provide instruction in Christian doctrine and their inclusion of Christian institutions within their structure. Broadly speaking, it can be said that relatively little change has occurred over time in relation to the nature and direction of these schools at the time of foundation. The characteristics of such schools, however, do include some features which may lead to criticism from within the Christian community.