Further Education Chaplaincy

The evolution of an idea

About me

John Breadon, Churches’ National Adviser in FE

Based at Education Division (LLL), Church House, & Methodist Church House, D&M, London

An Anglican priest A qualified counsellor (humanistic)

Presentation

5 sections- Chaplaincy?!?- Context: society- Context: college/school policy- How it works/might work for your institution- Support & development

- FE context – mostly relevant to schools??

Chaplaincy: beginnings, definitions & Christian commitment

Origins – ‘keepers of the cloak’ (St Martin of Tours) First modern chaplains: pastoral provision for the forgotten in prisons,

19th C. Chaplains or chaplaincy? What is it? A person, persons or a range of

services? Does the word itself matter? Can it be separated from Christianity?

Does the concept of a Humanist Chaplain make sense? (Alternatives: Multi-faith/Belief Student Support, Faith/Spiritual Adviser)

Motives: Why are the Churches’ involved? From the C of E’s C&YP’s strategy (2009):Create a society where every child can flourish and grow … [this] involves accompanying children and young people of all faiths and none, in their search for self and identity, recognising that this search will not always result in following the Christian way.

Education as a matter of liberation and justice

A situation in which some people are barred from the possibilities of growing in self-awareness and access to what they need to make sense of their lives is an unjust situation, as much in our own society as in a developing economy on the other side of the globe. And while we long since in this country agreed the principle of universal and free education, we are all painfully conscious of what our current practice does and doesn't manage to deliver … [education] is about helping to form a human culture that is just that bit more free from the aggression and unintelligent selfishness that imprisons us, individually and collectively.

ABC Rowan Williams, ‘Christian Distinctiveness in our Academies’, October 2009

Chaplaincy in context: 1. Society

UNICEF 2007 Report Card 7, Child poverty in perspective: An overview of child well-being in rich countries, found the United Kingdom in the bottom third for 5 out of 6 indicators of children’s well-being – and overall ranked lowest – against 21 industrialised

A Good Childhood Enquiry (The Children’s Society, 2009) NICE – Promoting young people’s social and emotional well-being (2009)

Secondary education establishments can provide an environment that fosters social and emotional wellbeing. They can also equip young people with the knowledge and skills they need to learn effectively and to prevent behavioural and health problems … Head teachers, governors and teachers should demonstrate a commitment to the social and emotional wellbeing of young people. They should provide leadership in this area by ensuring social and emotional wellbeing features within improvement plans, policies, systems and activities. These should all be monitored and evaluated.

Chaplaincy in context:1. Society

Nuffield Review of 14-19 Education (2009)

Part of what is distinctive to being a person is the capacity to shape one’s life according to what one believes to be right – to take responsibility for the direction of one’s life. The young learner’s can, and should be helped to, reflect on how they should live their lives, commit themselves to notions of justice, care about the environment and other social and moral issues. It is a matter of moral seriousness in asking what kind of life is worth living, what is worth pursuing in leisure or career, what obligations are to be considered sacred.

Chaplaincy in context:2. FE policy and improvement agendas

14-19: Extending opportunities, raising standards (consultation paper), 2002

The best education is far more than the acquisition of knowledge, skills and qualifications. It also helps young people to develop attitudes and values that provide the basis for a successful and rewarding life in the home, at work and in the community. Young people in this new century should have self-confidence, the ability to be self-critical, the drive to take on new challenges and take risks and the capacity to relate to others in positive, constructive ways …

… If young people are to make choices they need good, reliable information and strong pastoral support, from their schools and colleges.

Citizenship is to become statutory within the National Curriculum from September 2002. Religious education, careers education, sex education, and PE are all within the National Curriculum or otherwise required. All are essential for personal development

BUT there is no statutory entitlement to these programmes in FE … how can this inequality be addressed?

Dearing Review (1996)

‘Regulatory and awarding bodies should recognise the potential relevance of spiritual and moral issues to individual subjects, particularly when designing and approving syllabuses … All providers of education and training should take spiritual and moral issues into account in the design and delivery of the curriculum and programmes for young people.’

(Dearing, 1996: paragraphs 181 and 182)

Crick Report (1998)

‘Preparation for citizenship clearly cannot end at age sixteen just as young people begin to have more access to the opportunities, rights and responsibilities of adult citizenship … The need for an exploration of the ideas and practices of citizenship is evident whether young people are in education or work-based training.’

(Crick Report, 1998: p.27)

Chaplaincy in context:2. FE policy and improvement agendas

Tomlinson Report (14-19 Qualifications and Curriculum Reform), 2005

‘We must ensure rigour and that all young people are equipped with the knowledge, skills and attributes needed for HE, employment and adult life.’

The Role of Further Education Providers in Promoting Community Cohesion, Fostering Shared Values and Preventing Violent Extremism (AoC, DIUS), 2008

Colleges should review the nature of the multi-faith support provided to students/learners to ensure it reflects all faith communities represented in the student/learner community as far as reasonably possible …

Multi-faith student/learner support teams and chaplains – these people can have a key role in supporting students/learners in thinking through faith related issues and in promoting inter-faith dialogue and understanding

Chaplaincy in context:2. FE policy and improvement agendas

Ofsted – 2009 Common Inspection Framework (74 pages and 234 questions!)

Outcomes for learners:

inspectors will evaluate the extent to which … learners develop personal and social skills, including, as appropriate, spiritual, moral and cultural aspects

Quality of Provision: How effective are the care, guidance and support learners receive in helping them to attain their learning goals?

learners receive individual care and support to promote their learning and development, and to help them achieve their potential

Equality and Diversity

Equality and Diversity in Self-Assessment (Guidance for colleges and providers), LSC/LSIS 2009

New equality strands: Age, sexual orientation, religion or belief, pregnancy and maternity, gender reassignment

Ofsted 2009 – equality & diversity [alongside safeguarding] now a limiting grade and will effect grade for overall effectiveness

FE Chaplaincy: the basics

2 foundational principles:

Inclusive (all faiths and none) Flexible and responsive (from pastoral care to teaching)

2 main areas of whole college chaplaincy:

Pastoral care Teaching & learning – including

(i) curriculum, tutorial & enrichment programmes(ii) college policy and ethos (iii) community links and development (community cohesion, citizenship, widening participation, a college’s public worth & local reputation)

Must be embedded within student support services or similar Looking for the angel Gabriel – or a combination of prophet, sage and court jester

Pastoral care

The true measure of a nation’s standing is how well it attends to its children – their health and safety, their material security, their education and socialisation, and their sense of being loved, valued, and included in the families and societies into they are born.

Unicef, 2007, An overview of child well-being in rich countries

Chaplaincy: adding value

Too many young people (and that means their families as well) may end up feeling that they are not worth investing in and will as a result conclude that there is no reason for them to invest their energies in education. What is urgently needed is a strategy that tells such students, their families and their communities that they are worth taking trouble with.

Archbishop Rowan Williams, ‘Christian Distinctiveness in our Academies’, October 2009

Chaplaincy: building on core further education values

inclusiveness student-centredness (support for the

disadvantaged) the comprehensiveness of the intake opportunities for second chances involvement with local communities

(Gillian Healey, PhD, ‘Colleges, Values and the Place of Chaplaincy, 2007)

Pastoral care

How much do we value our YP in further education? (FE/HE funding gap – HE 24 times better funded, chaplaincy as an essential service in HE, yet many more learners in FE than HE)

HE in FE – One in eight undergraduate students are now studying in further education – time for equality in pastoral services?

The hard to reach –‘NEETS’ now approaching one million. What additional levels of personal support are needed to help them stay engaged with learning?

Adult learners – ‘Colleges should lead in developing good practice in learning outside the classroom, including developing learning support, pastoral support, extra-curricula activities, social activities and online communities of interest’ (FE Colleges in a New Culture of Adult and Lifelong Learning, IFLL, 2009, Sector Paper 7)

Staff – 2009 Coventry University study, FE staff of all public and private sector workers are the most likely to take time off work [another report on stress in colleges is currently underway]

Pastoral care: Chaplaincy & Every Child Matters

Enjoy and achieve – chaplaincy as curriculum resource; pastoral care of staff; establishes and supports staff and student groups (Christian Union etc)

Stay safe – provision of chaplaincy Quiet Room and other needed faith/belief support; chaplain as friendly and trusted face

Be healthy – good pastoral as developing the mental and spiritual health of staff and students

Make a positive contribution – chaplaincy as driver for college community-

mindedness; builder of links with local community; chaplain as holder of citizenship brief (Holocaust Memorial Day, Fair-trade Fortnight, Black History Month, Remembrance Day)

Achieve economic well-being – additional input in tutorials/enrichment re: budgeting, the realities of being a 21st century consumer

Thinking of a chaplain/chaplaincy?

Begin with your college’s mission and story

Stories are the secret reservoir of values: change the stories individuals and nations live by and tell themselves and you change the individuals and nations. (Ben Okri)

What is your college’s story? What are its spoken (and unspoken) values? What role might a chaplain play in this?

The future of chaplaincy …

‘I would like to have a chaplain in every college …

… but we would have to look at our resources.’

Bill Rammell, Minister of State for Lifelong Learning, Further and Higher Education, 2008

What support is available?

Churches’ National Adviser in FE (funded by the C of E/Methodist Church)

Annual New Chaplains Residential (Feb.) Annual FE Chaplains Conference (July) Monthly bulletin - FIFE (Faiths in FE) Annual FE Advisers Residential (Nov.) Directory of FE Chaplaincies & Multi-Faith Student Support

Research, Development & Partnership

Existing materials – 2 LSC Multi-faith Chaplaincy Handbooks, Welcome to Chaplaincy, Making Space for Faith (National Review of Values, Beliefs and Faiths in the Learning and Skills Sector)

Occupational Standards for Chaplains (with LLUK) Chaplaincy Toolkit – containing JDs, SLAs etc. Partnership work with LSN’s Post-16 Citizenship Support Programme (March

2010) Partnership with AUCC (Association of University and College Counsellors) –

national statement on chaplain-counsellor relations, joint 2010 one-day conference

Working with NUS – Kat Lucock, newly appointed Student Inter-faith Coordinator (FE & HE)

AHRC/ESRC – Religion and Youth, ‘Young people the cultural performance of belief’, until 2011

fbfe materials: Handbooks etc.

Contents: Faiths and Further Education: A Handbook (2005) & Multi-faith chaplaincy: A guide (2007), Welcome to Chaplaincy: A Training Programme

2005 Arguments for a chaplaincy What it can do for the college Models of chaplaincy Work of a chaplain Ethos of the chaplaincy – whole college, openness etc Background on spirituality Self-reflection guide – building a role, working with staff, team meetings, accommodation,

multi-faith, teaching and learning, funding, accountability, appraisal Policy context Resources available Annexes/templates: service level agreement between chaplaincy and college senior

management, job description and person spec. [SLA between diocese and college]

fbfe: materials (contd.)

2007 Handbook - further information related to the above with additional advice on:

Community cohesion Creating a multi-faith team Chaplaincy benchmarks Annexes/templates: death of a student policy, letter

of invitation for applicants to the post of chaplain, ethical framework for a chaplaincy, funding bids

Fbfe: materials (contd.)

The self-study programme Welcome to Chaplaincy (2008). Contains the following 9 modules:

Working in a college culture Understanding FE chaplaincy Managing chaplaincy Multi-faith student and staff support Pastoral support Community cohesion Specialised pastoral support (bereavement, prejudice, relationships) Youth cultures in a postmodern world Spirituality

Contact details/further information

john.breadon@c-of-e.org.uk 020 7898 1517 (work) 07769896430 (mob.) fbfe (National Council of Faiths and Beliefs in

FE) www.fbfe.org.uk/documents.htm