Faiths and further education - Church of England
Faiths and further education - Church of England Faiths and further education - Church of England
Faiths and Further Education:A HandbookBackground26This section is aimed at those interested in the broader aspects ofchaplaincy, both within the chaplaincy and beyond. Governors andlocal community leaders, as well as principals, managers andteaching staff may find this section to be of interest.27The LSC financed the development of the Handbook as part of itscommitment to meeting student needs and supporting studentretention in FE colleges.The initiative is ecumenical and multi-faith,and is about offering spiritual and moral support to students andstaff of all kinds, from all religious backgrounds, and none. From thissupport, it is hoped that students’ personal and spiritualdevelopment as a whole person will be strengthened, contributingto a sense of well-being and self-esteem, and encouraging thecompletion of programmes of study and a commitment to lifelonglearning.28The NEAFE initiative is also about how to improve support for thewell-being of the whole college — staff, governors, principals andall ages of students.The FE sector is complex and today’s collegeshave a very varied clientele — vocational students,A-levelstudents, undergraduates and refugee language learners all sit inthe same college canteen.29Chaplaincies offer friendship and support to all in an institution,and by doing so try to contribute positively to the ethos and theoverall atmosphere of a college.“I have worked in colleges with a chaplaincy andwithout a chaplaincy. I can’t explain it, but collegeswith a chaplaincy work better – there’s a sense of wellbeing,and in my experience, better performance.”(Principal)
15Some Perspectiveson Chaplaincy30The ethos of any chaplaincy will be drawn from many sources andit is this diversity that will contribute to its growth.The NEAFEinitiative is ecumenical and multi-faith. It both searches for thecommon ground within a variety of spiritual and religiousapproaches and promotes the view that we can learn from ourdiversity, from each other, whatever our faith, or lack of it.31The extracts at paragraphs 60 to 64 have been selected to offer arange of perspectives on chaplaincy in further education, and toexemplify the spiritual values of friendship, emotional resilience andwell-being inherent in chaplaincy activity in further education.Different roles for different contexts32The formal literature is mainly about chaplaincy in highereducation, but some publications have some cross-over withfurther education. For example, Simon Robinson’s recent book,Ministry among Students (Robinson, 2004) is a useful text, whilePillars of the Church: Supporting chaplaincy in further and highereducation (Board of Education, 2002) covers the ground on furthereducation, but is primarily focused on higher education.35Talking of the Methodist experience, Jones (2005) sees thechaplaincy role in perhaps less overtly ‘religious’ terms and offersthree roles:• the student focused role, which sees chaplaincy functioningsimply as a faith representative in a learning community. Here,the chaplain can operate in pastoral and religious modes• the active presence role, which is less about a formal role andmuch more about ‘energetic contact’ with everybody (not juststudents) in the educational institution• the welfare or pastoral role, which contains within it a moreformal role, with the chaplain often part of student servicesprovision.Pastoral care“Our chaplaincy team leader is a trained counsellor, aswell as an ordained minister.The college has to becareful not to take too much of her time forcounselling which others could do. Student Serviceshas now introduced a separate booking system for thechaplaincy.” (Principal)33The literature on FE chaplaincy mainly covers broader issues ratherthan the specific characteristics of chaplaincy. FE Chaplaincy in2004 (Gukuru and Murray, 2004) records the results of a survey of78 college chaplaincies, mainly on basic matters such asorganisation and resources. Whole People Matter (Turner andKimber, 2003) focuses on students and the FE curriculum.College/Faith Community Partnerships and Student Retention(Murray, 2004) and Taking Young People Seriously 14-19 (NEAFE,2004) cover more specific issues.34Talking of chaplaincy in higher education, Sollis (2004)distinguishes three roles: the caring pastoral role, supportingstudents in times of difficulty and crisis, the spiritual guide,engaging the student in exploration of faith, religion and meaning,and the moral guide, available to all on difficult moral issues andnot afraid to speak out when needed in the ‘prophetic’ role.
- Page 1 and 2: Faiths and FurtherEducation:A Handb
- Page 3 and 4: Contentspage numberPreface 03Forewo
- Page 5 and 6: 03PrefaceThis Handbook has been dev
- Page 7 and 8: 05How to Use this HandbookSections
- Page 9 and 10: 07IntroductionThe case for reviewin
- Page 11 and 12: 09Chaplaincy in Today’s Colleges:
- Page 13 and 14: 11Models of college chaplaincy prov
- Page 15: Roles, College Ethosand Spiritualit
- Page 19 and 20: 17The chaplain’s role• The chap
- Page 21 and 22: 19Spirituality …Well, yes, but wh
- Page 23 and 24: 21The student’s interaction with
- Page 25 and 26: Developingthe Chaplaincy03
- Page 27 and 28: 25Constructing yourown Role in the
- Page 29 and 30: 27Working with StaffTeam meetings82
- Page 31 and 32: 29Festivals89Important religious fe
- Page 33 and 34: 31Chaplaincy and Partnerships96Look
- Page 35 and 36: Organising andManaging the Chaplain
- Page 37 and 38: 35Action point:• Find a copy of y
- Page 39 and 40: 37From working group to multi-faith
- Page 41 and 42: 39Self-assessment and personal deve
- Page 43 and 44: 41The Policy Context133This short s
- Page 45 and 46: 43Other Forms of Chaplaincy145In ad
- Page 47 and 48: 45Publications159The Churches Natio
- Page 49 and 50: 47Annex A:Membership of the LSC and
- Page 51 and 52: 49Annex C:ReferencesGukuru, G. and
- Page 53 and 54: 51Committee of management: procedur
- Page 55 and 56: 53Annex E:Example of a Service Leve
- Page 57 and 58: 55Appendix to Annex EProvision of S
- Page 59 and 60: 57Annex G:Sample College Chaplaincy
- Page 61 and 62: 59• partnerships with local commu
- Page 64: Learning and Skills CouncilNational
<strong>Faiths</strong> <strong>and</strong> Further Education:A H<strong>and</strong>bookBackground26This section is aimed at those interested in the broader aspects <strong>of</strong>chaplaincy, both within the chaplaincy <strong>and</strong> beyond. Governors <strong>and</strong>local community leaders, as well as principals, managers <strong>and</strong>teaching staff may find this section to be <strong>of</strong> interest.27The LSC financed the development <strong>of</strong> the H<strong>and</strong>book as part <strong>of</strong> itscommitment to meeting student needs <strong>and</strong> supporting studentretention in FE colleges.The initiative is ecumenical <strong>and</strong> multi-faith,<strong>and</strong> is about <strong>of</strong>fering spiritual <strong>and</strong> moral support to students <strong>and</strong>staff <strong>of</strong> all kinds, from all religious backgrounds, <strong>and</strong> none. From thissupport, it is hoped that students’ personal <strong>and</strong> spiritualdevelopment as a whole person will be strengthened, contributingto a sense <strong>of</strong> well-being <strong>and</strong> self-esteem, <strong>and</strong> encouraging thecompletion <strong>of</strong> programmes <strong>of</strong> study <strong>and</strong> a commitment to lifelonglearning.28The NEAFE initiative is also about how to improve support for thewell-being <strong>of</strong> the whole college — staff, governors, principals <strong>and</strong>all ages <strong>of</strong> students.The FE sector is complex <strong>and</strong> today’s collegeshave a very varied clientele — vocational students,A-levelstudents, undergraduates <strong>and</strong> refugee language learners all sit inthe same college canteen.29Chaplaincies <strong>of</strong>fer friendship <strong>and</strong> support to all in an institution,<strong>and</strong> by doing so try to contribute positively to the ethos <strong>and</strong> theoverall atmosphere <strong>of</strong> a college.“I have worked in colleges with a chaplaincy <strong>and</strong>without a chaplaincy. I can’t explain it, but collegeswith a chaplaincy work better – there’s a sense <strong>of</strong> wellbeing,<strong>and</strong> in my experience, better performance.”(Principal)
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