Education Commission
Conference 2012
Conference receives the Commission's Report
The Methodist Conference agreed to reinvigorate the Church's
engagement with education and has asked Methodist Districts across
Great Britain to identify local communities that need new schools,
especially in areas of socio-economic deprivation.
Currently, almost 23,000 children attend the 65 state-funded and
14 independent Methodist schools in England and Wales. All the
schools have a Christian foundation, serve their local community
and are fully inclusive, welcoming pupils of all faiths and
none.
"Everyone matters to God and no one should be deprived of the
opportunity to develop to their full potential," said Dr John
Barrett, Chair of the Education Commission, as he addressed the
members of Conference. "The Methodist approach to education has
always been about the development of the whole person - not
just reading, writing and arithmetic. We believe that all human
beings are made in the image of God and our schools have a strong
commitment to creating an ethos in which every person is valued.
They seek to fully address children's spiritual, moral, social and
cultural needs."
Read
the Commission's Report to Conference
The Education Commission was initiated as a result of the
recommendations which were defined within the Team Focus Project 10
conclusions (reported to the Methodist Council in January 2007).
Specifically, Project 10 recommended that an independent
"Commission" on formal education should be set up in order to:
- recommend, after a radical review of the status quo, why and
how the Methodist Church should be engaged in all aspects of the
education and training services in Britain
- consider how Methodist people involved at all levels in the
education and training services can be supported in their work and
mission
Read
the Education Commission Report to Methodist Council
(Pdf)
Summary of the report and its
recommendations
- The Commission believes that contributing to the provision of
education is a major and proper part of Christian mission, but
believes that, despite the Methodist Churches tradition in this
regard, it is not, at present, taking this seriously enough. In
particular, the Commission believes that the Methodist Church is at
a critical moment, in which it could not only lose a significant
opportunity to extend its mission through setting up new schools,
but also risks losing control of the schools it has.
- The Commission urges the Church to recognise and support the
contribution made by individual Methodists, in an employed or
voluntary capacity, to their local schools and colleges and in the
education sector generally, and urges the Church at Connexional,
District and Circuit level to provide more fully for the pastoral
needs of children, students and staff in schools, colleges and
universities.
- The Commission believes that Methodism has a distinctive
approach to education, and has identified 10 principles that
underlie this approach.
- The Commission recognises the enormous opportunity the Church
has to influence for good the lives of the 22,000 children
currently in Methodist Schools. The Commission believes the Church
should celebrate this opportunity and seek appropriate ways of
extending this influence through the opportunities currently
available.
Facts and figures
Education Commission membership (Pdf)
List of
Methodist schools (state-funded and independent)
(Pdf)
Background documents
A
historical perspective on Methodist involvement in school education
after Wesley (Pdf)
Education
from a Methodist perspective (Pdf)
The Methodist contribution in education
(Pdf)