What really matters

“What are your medals for, Nanny McPhee?”

“Well, this one is for Courage, and this one is for Kindness, and these are for Resolve, Imagination and Enthusiasm. This one is for Basket-work and this one for Leaps of Faith.”

This quote, from a movie released in 2010 (Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang), speaks powerfully to me about the priorities of the education system and societal values of contemporary Australia. What achievements do we recognize and honour in Australian schools? What do we believe really matters in the education of young people? Sadly, I believe it would be easy to conclude that there is only one thing that really matters, and that is academic achievement as expressed in the form of an ATAR score.

How did it come to this? How is it that the outcomes of 13 years of education can be reduced, apparently, to a single number? Why is it that the measure of a school, for many people (including most in the mainstream media), can be conveyed in terms of the scores achieved in Literacy and Numeracy by the cohorts in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9?

Why do we not, like Nanny McPhee, recognize and honour imagination and leaps of faith? Why aren’t virtues like courage and kindness also seen as among the most valuable outcomes of a good education?

I believe that the education offered in schools needs to be radically transformed if it is to meet the needs of children who may even live to see the dawning of the twenty-second century. Consequently, I am committed to the development of leadership, creativity, interdisciplinary learning and holistic education in schools.

For me, an education that adequately prepares children for a future we can hardly begin to imagine may require that we re-visit some old, but proven, concepts and values. For example, if we were able to ask Aristotle what constitutes an education worth having, he would have spoken about paideia, defined as “training of the physical and mental faculties in such a way as to produce a broad, enlightened, mature outlook, harmoniously combined with maximum cultural development” (Meriam-Webster). According to the Association of Classical Christian Schools, paideia is “essentially the part of upbringing and education that forms the soul of a human being — and it is key to the formation of a culture”.

Similarly, if we were able to ask Dr Arnold, Headmaster of Rugby School from 1828-42 (and immortalised in “Tom Brown’s Schooldays”), he would likely reiterate his educational philosophy as “First religious and moral principle, second gentlemanly conduct, third academic ability”. And, no doubt, Dr Arnold would also mention the importance of sports, of leadership development and of pastoral care in achieving his educational goals.

Both Aristotle and Arnold understood the importance of a holistic education, an education “concerned with educating the whole person – body, mind and soul – to develop his or her fullest potential” (Lee, 2015). Of course, Aristotle would have used a Greek word to describe his goal in educating students – eudaimonia. Not easy to translate into English, eudaimonia has been variously translated as “gratification” (Seligman, 2002), “a complete human life lived at its best” (MacIntyre, 2007) or, perhaps best of all, “human flourishing” (Pennington, 2015). I consider a truly good, flourishing life to be one in which people who are wise pursue fulfillment, purpose, and completeness (Hackney, 2021) and I agree with Swaner & Wolfe (2021), who describe flourishing students as “exuberant in their learning and … growing socially, emotionally, physically and spiritually”.

So, what really matters in education? American educator-philosopher-theologian Steve Garber put it this way – “At the end of the day, and at the end of an education, it is only when students long for the way of life and learning that is formed by what is real and true and right that they will flourish.”

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Association of Classical Christian Schools (2024). ?https://classicalchristian.org/what-is-paideia/

Hackney, C. (2021). Positive Psychology in Christian perspective: Foundations, concepts and applications. InterVarsity Press

Lee, E. (2015). Understanding a holistic approach to Christian education. Journal of Christian Education in Korea Vol. 41 (2015. 3. 31) 9-38

MacIntyre, A. (2013). After virtue. A&C Black

Pennington, J. (2015). A biblical theology of human flourishing.?Institute for faith, work and economics.

Seligman, M. E. (2002).?Authentic happiness: Using the new positive psychology to realize your potential for lasting fulfillment. Random House Australia.

Swaner, L.E. & Wolfe, A. (2021). Flourishing together: A Christian vision for students, educators & schools. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing.