A. Introduction

Christian Education and the New Technology

I would like to thank The Highland Christian Schools Trust (HCST) for inviting me to address their AGM this evening. The HCST has a three-fold purpose. Firstly, it highlights the present problems in the State Education system. Secondly, it explains the principles of Christian Education. Thirdly, it promotes the practice of Christian Education. I would like to look at these three areas - problems, principles, practice - with my emphasis this evening being on practice, with special reference to the resources which new technology is making available to us today.

B. The Problems

While there are good schools and good teachers in the State Education system, there are also many physical, mental, moral and spiritual problems associated with it.

1. Physical Problems

By physical problems I am referring to the dangerous and unsafe places which our schools have become. Bullying of fellow pupils is rife, together with threats and violence against teachers. One teacher told me recently that she now spends hardly any time imparting knowledge to her pupils. She described her job as mainly being about "crowd control".

2. Mental Problems

By mental problems I am speaking of the declining standards in many of our schools. Statistics may show that pass-rates are increasing. However, experience tells us that this is because the pass-mark is declining. Also, more and more pupils are emerging illiterate and innumerate. This is not so much the fault of the teachers but is the result of the dumbing down of standards and the almost impossible working environments which many classrooms have become.

3. Moral Problems

Moral problems include the availability of drugs and pornography in the playground, the encouragement, by teachers, of sexual experimentation and pre-marital promiscuity. The recent repeal of Section 28 also now raises the very real possibility of the promotion in the classroom of homosexuality as an acceptable lifestyle.

4. Spiritual Problems

Spiritual problems include the denigration of the Bible as the Word of God, the rejection of the Genesis account of creation in favour of the unproven and un-provable theory of evolution, and the propagation of the lie that all religions lead to God and are all equally good and true. This of course is an outright assault on Jesus Christ's own credibility and veracity, as He Himself claimed to be the only way, the only truth and the only life, and that no one can come to God except through Himself (John 14:6).

C. The Principles

As well as exposing the problems in State education, we must also expound the biblical principles and benefits of Christian Education.

I believe there has been a sea-change of opinion, within the Church, about Christian Education in recent years. About 5-10 years ago I often raised with other Christians the subject of Christian Education. The usual response was hostility and opposition. However, I hardly ever experience this reaction now. Instead, there is a widespread and growing recognition that some form of Christian Education is not just an option but a necessity. In a strange way, however, it is the State we must thank for much of this change in opinion. The Government may rejoice every time it succeeds in thrusting its politically correct agenda down the throats of our children - for example in repealing Section 28. However, it is only cutting its own throat, by driving Christian parents (and, increasingly, many non-Christian parents) to seriously consider how to get their precious children out of the State Education system.

I could spend the remaining time going over the biblical principles of Christian Education. However, that has been done before, by the HCST and others, both in print and in public addresses. There is no great mystery or complexity about Christian Education. Suffice to say that Christian education is simply the imparting of the maximum amount of knowledge (that is, of knowledge which is consistent with the Bible), about the maximum number of subjects, in a safe, disciplined healthy environment.

D. The Practice

We must use the remaining time this evening to move from principles to practice. This, though, is where great difficulties arise. Everywhere I go, I meet deeply concerned Christian parents and worried ministers who are utterly convinced of the need for providing Christian Education for their children or for children in their congregations - either by setting up Christian schools or beginning Christian Home Education. However they are at a loss as to how to go about this. The obstacles and difficulties seem so great.

The four main obstacles we face in the Highlands are cost, geography, ability and isolation.

Firstly there is cost. Many parents say that they cannot afford to pay the fees to send their children to a Christian School, or they cannot afford to buy all the resources necessary to teach their children at home.

Secondly, there is geography. In the cities, a Christian school is much more possible because of the concentration of population and the proximity of people to one another. A central city school would have a potential catchment of tens of thousands of children within a few miles. However, in the Highlands, there are few such concentrations of population. Most of us live many miles, even hours from one another, which all but rules out daily travel to a central Christian school.

Thirdly, there is ability. If there is no local Christian School, and usually there is not, then the only alternative to the State system is Home Education. Many Christian parents still recoil at this prospect, partly because they feel that they do not have the talents or skills required to teach their children adequately.

Fourthly, there is isolation. A further obstacle to Christian Home Education is the problem of isolation. There are two sides to this problem. Firstly, there is parental isolation. Many a mother will not have the confidence or know-how to educate their children on their own without support or guidance. Secondly, there is the isolation of the child, or, as the critics of Home Education put it, the "problem of socialisation". Most Christian parents want their children to have friends and see the benefits of them mixing with others to some extent.

These are great problems and obstacles. But they are not insoluble or insurmountable. I believe the answer, at least in part, is in the new technology that God, in His gracious providence, is making available to our generation. I would like to spend the rest of this address sketching (and sketching is all I have time for) an outline of how I see "Christian Education and the New Technology" coming together in a way which will provide some of the answers to these very real problems. Let me describe to you "THE ON-LINE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL".

"THE ON-LINE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL" would be located on an Internet website. The Internet, or World Wide Web, as it is sometimes called, is, arguably, the greatest advance in communication since the invention of the printed word. It is a universally accessible and instantly available collection of text, pictures, sound and film concerning every area of human life. Just like the printed word, there is much that is good on it and much that is bad. However, I believe that it has the potential to overcome the obstacles to Christian Education and to provide Christian parents and Christian teachers with quality, affordable educational products and services that will enable them to teach their children in the home or in a Christian school.

Let me take you on a tour of the "ONLINE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL".

1. Resources

The first area on the website would be called "RESOURCES". This would be a reference library for quality educational resources. There are vast amounts of educational resources available today covering all subjects. There are books, magazines, cassettes, videos, CD-ROM's, DVD's, etc. The problem is wading through it all and separating the wheat from the chaff. "THE ON-LINE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL" website would bring together a list of recommended resources for each school subject together with names and addresses of suppliers and cost. Christian teachers and parents would submit their own recommendations to the website. Eventually, "THE ON-LINE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL" would be a stockist and supplier of recommended resources. Parents would also be able use the web-site to sell books, CD's etc, which they have used and wish to pass on to others. A further resource would be recommended links to other useful Christian Education websites.

2. Curriculum

The second area of the website would be called "THE CHRISTIAN CURRICULUM". A number of Christian Schools have developed a Christian Curriculum with excellent courses for most subjects. Some of these schools photocopy these courses and mail them out to parents who teach their children at home because they are not in reach of the school. This administration, however, is quite costly and time-consuming. As a result, some Christian schools (mainly American) have begun putting their courses on the Internet, so that anyone can access the courses anywhere in the world at any time, and print them off weekly or daily to teach their children at home at their own pace. This has been developed especially for the families of American Missionaries abroad.

This idea may seem unusual at the moment. However it is the way that all education is moving. The Government is committed to establishing an "e-University" and on-line degrees are already available from the Open University. Of even more interest is the fact that the BBC has set out plans for "A DIGITAL CURRICULUM", which will be a new, free and comprehensive online resource for schoolchildren, their teachers and parents.

It would be a wonderful long-term investment in the future of our children if the Church in Scotland would provide resources to pay Christian teachers to take the best of what is already available from the BBC and other Christian Schools and develop a distinctively Scottish (or British) "On-Line Christian Curriculum" - structured courses in core subjects for all ages, available on the Internet for downloading and teaching.

Furthermore, technology will soon be available to facilitate filming and transmission of lessons over the Internet. This means that, for example, a teacher teaching some pupils lessons in a class in, say, Inverness can be filmed at the same time and the images transmitted over the Internet to pupils watching the lessons on their computers in homes or small Christian schools throughout the Highlands and Islands.

3. Expertise

The third area of "THE ON-LINE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL" website would be the "ON-LINE TEACHER". This would be a Christian teacher (perhaps a teacher who works part-time in another school or perhaps a teacher who is at home looking after children) who had agreed to be available to parents and pupils to guide, encourage, answer queries, mark and grade papers, advise on dealing with Education officials, help with planning the school year and scheduling lessons on weekly and daily basis. Most of this could be done by email, allowing the teacher to set aside specific times in the day to answer queries etc. Another similar facility that could be made available would be a computer expert to guide parents and pupils in the purchasing of computer hardware, printers, scanners etc, and also in the operating of them

4. Community

Beside the "ON-LINE TEACHER" on this website, we would have "THE DIGITAL COMMUNITY" linking Christian parents with one another, and also their children with one another. There would be a "message board" for parents to share information, ask questions, compare notes about materials, etc. There would also be a "message board" for pupils to chat to one another about their education. Each pupil would also be given webpages on which to upload projects and share their work with others. The 'DIGITAL COMMUNITY" area would also be used to organise and publicise regular meetings of all pupils in a central location, for field trips, leisure, and even days of specialised teaching in certain subjects such as music, art, P.E., experimental science, etc. The number of these days (whether once a week or once a month) would be dependent on the time of year, and attendance would, of course, be optional.

E. Conclusion

There is no doubt that our ideal would be a well-funded Christian school within reach of every Christian family. However, the present depleted state of the Church and the scattered population of the Highlands makes this almost impossible. However, I do believe that "THE ONLINE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL" I have tried to sketch above begins to provide solutions to the problems of cost, geography, isolation and ability.

1. Cost

This "ONLINE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL" would not be free. However it would be much cheaper than paying fees for our children to attend full-time Christian schools. There would be initial costs involved in paying teachers to develop a Christian Curriculum and to set it up on the Internet. However, after that is done it will be available for generations to come (with minor ongoing revision and refining). Running costs would therefore be minimal. I would hope that Churches would help offset some of the initial costs. There would, of course, be cost involved in purchasing certain required school books. There would also be the cost of paying an "On-line teacher" to advise, guide, answer queries, etc. However, this would probably be a part-time post and costs would be shared by families and groups of families gathered in small Christian schools throughout the country.

2. Geography

"THE ONLINE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL" would obviously solve the problem of distance in the Highland and Islands. Instead of pupils travelling many miles to a central Christian school every day, high-quality and inter-active Christian education can be brought to their own homes or smaller Christian schools daily using the Internet.

3. Ability

The availability of recommended resources; the provision of a definite, clear curriculum; the existence of an "On-line teacher"; the potential of filmed lessons over the internet in the future; all of these must help to persuade trembling parents that they have all the resources and expert guidance they require to educate their children at home or in a small Christian school in a way that glorifies God and is good for their children.

4. Isolation

A digital community of parents and of pupils, each communicating to one another via email, message boards and telephone, combined with regular days organised to bring pupils and parents together for work and play must help to cultivate a sense of belonging and also overcome the fears about isolation and socialisation.

The "ONLINE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL" is a potential solution to the deep physical, mental, moral and spiritual problems that abound in State Education today. It is also a solution to the difficulties involved in putting the principles of Christian Education into practice in the Highlands.

The time has come to call on the Christian Church to support Christian Education in general and "THE ONLINE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL" in particular. This, if followed through, would have long-term physical, mental, moral and spiritual benefits for our children, our families, our Churches and our communities.