This is a book about Christian faith , formation and education, written by theologians and educators who are friends and esteemed colleagues. The idea for this volume originated early in 2015 at Liverpool Hope University when a number of staff members working in the field of Christian education met to discuss the theological context and to attempt to identify important issues relating to a Christian engagement in education in terms of teacher formation , school impact and education as a potential force for good in society. The thinking behind the initial meeting was further developed at a colloquium held in October 2015. This was later followed by an international conference held in June 2016 at Liverpool Hope University, at which a number of chapter contributors presented papers. So the process behind this book, which has been some time in the making, is a story of partnership, collaboration and coming together in dialogue , debate and discussion in the interests of better understanding and of serving Christian education in its broadest sense. Here the role of Liverpool Hope University Centre for Christian Education and Pastoral Theology together with Canterbury Christ Church National Institute for Christian Educational Research is acknowledged, along with the contribution of our many friends and supporters.

How can we approach the relationship between faith , formation and education, assuming, of course, that a relationship can be shown to exist in the first place? This edited volume explores this question within a context of much current thinking and changing policies and practices affecting the educational sector. The importance of shared values and character education has risen to the fore across all schools, colleges and universities, promoted by governments and educational bodies and seen as urgent in light of ideologies and actions that threaten the common good. But the idea of nurturing or developing a particular religious faith is viewed as far more questionable. Indeed, many today view the separation of faith from the educational context as desirable or even essential, on both philosophical and educational grounds, and given the pluralist twenty-first-century society we inhabit. However, the aim of this book is to provide an accessible, practice-related yet scholarly resource that demonstrates how Christian faith can contribute to a rich vision of education that encompasses the formation of the whole person in their intellectual, emotional, social, spiritual and moral dimensions across all stages of life and work.

Christian educators invite individuals and communities to be formed and transformed as they are inspired and challenged to better come to know themselves and the world and experience something of the realm of God. This suggests a view of education that goes beyond the instrumental to the formative, in other words towards the growing and shaping of the human person with their attitudes, beliefs, values , motivations, experiences and worldviews . This needs to be done in fidelity to the deep roots of the Christian tradition yet, at the same time, with commitment to and engagement in the contemporary plural and secularist context where religious faith can no longer be assumed to be supported by civil society. As such, it invites debate and reflection about the role and relevance of faith and theology within approaches to, and practices in, education today.

What makes this book distinctive and worth reading? This is a question that might well be asked. Our response is that the chapter contributors, who are recognised exponents and leading international and ecumenical practitioners in the field of Christian education , each demonstrate that faith really matters, both to the agency of the individual learner and to the identity formation of educational communities where specific teachings, ethos , values and relationships are encountered. This holds significance not only for personal conviction and worldview but also for how professional work and educational activity are interpreted and performed. The book argues against any supposedly ‘neutral’ form of education, which is where much thinking about contemporary secular education lies. It also advocates strongly against an indoctrinatory or uncritical sense of education that promotes any form of religious exclusivism or confessionalism . Instead, the chapters bring to bear the fruits of fresh thinking about how Christian faith can play an important part in the meaningful formation of the human person and an education for the common good of society. This is a timely and important witness, given the fast-changing political, educational and socio-cultural forces of today.

Part I opens with Jeff Astley’s chapter which explores the foundational concepts of faith , formation , development and education. These concepts are employed across a wide variety of contexts but have often been used without much clarification or consensus. Astley’s chapter considers these component elements and their differing applications, recognises the importance of a critical dimension within Christian education and makes a significant distinction between faith formation and faith development . In Chap. 3, John Shortt discusses the question of whether talk of Christian education is even meaningful. He reminds us of arguments that suggest that Christian or indeed any other faith-based education is necessarily indoctrinatory and therefore fundamentally anti-educational. In contrast, he proposes a holistic form of Christian education that seeks the promotion of shalom and is relational in pedagogical approach and appropriate for plural contexts, not just those of Christian schools or churches.

Mario D’Souza, writing in Chap. 4 from an international (Canadian) context, considers how universities in recent decades have seen the humanities and liberal arts being pushed to the side-lines in a mounting pressure for early specialisation. He argues that the Christian university can respond by showing how and why education is more than a preparation for a profession. His chapter suggests an opportunity to broaden religious literacy and prepare students to become reflective adults. Relying on a Christian anthropology , the Christian university can witness to knowledge and understanding that lies beyond the immediacy of the material, the sensory and the experiential.

Clare Watkins in Chap. 5 also discusses the modern questioning of faith in the academic context. She resituates this within the current trends of a late modern reading of culture and through reflection on qualitative data gained in research with Catholic school leaders in England and Wales. In turning to Aquinas’ account of Christian pedagogy , which demonstrates a deeply theological and anthropological reading of faith and intellect from which late modern educators can learn, Watkins articulates a theology of the ‘faith-full intellect’ as a fundamental quality of personhood and one that holds deep signif...