Academics’ report shows what schools need to do to stay competitive
Brenton Stacey
Public relations officer
Avondale College of Higher Education
Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia
Seventh-day Adventist schools must maximise the aspirations and minimise the anxieties of parents to remain viable in a competitive market, says a report by two Avondale academics.
Finding: Dr Peter Beamish cautions against expecting Adventist parents to send their children to Adventist schools. “They have choice.” Credit: Aaron Bellette.
Drs Peter Beamish and Peter Morey’s findings are based on responses to a Perception of Adventist Schools Australia Schools Survey, a School Choice Questionnaire and interviews with Adventist families who have children in schools in an Australian capital city. They show the majority of respondents have positive feelings about their school but identify academic orientation and the availability of extracurricular activities as needing improvement. This is typical of most Adventist schools, says the report. The key selection criteria for parents: quality teaching; strong discipline; high levels of care and support; a visionary principal; and a significant Christian ethos.
Advertising and branding were less influential. “These simply bring the school to the parent’s attention,” says Peter Beamish, dean of the Faculty of Education and Science at Avondale College of Higher Education. He and Peter Morey, a former educational administrator who is now a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Business, wrote the report for one of the conferences of the Adventist Church in Australia. “Leadership, in a broad sense, is far more influential,” says Peter. He tells of two parents visiting a school for an interview with the principal. “The principal thought he was interviewing them, but they were interviewing him.”
As for aspirations, all parents wanted their children to realise their potential, so they chose schools that provided children with a diversity of experiences and enabled them to perform well academically.
Parents also wanted their children to be committed Christians, although not necessarily of the Adventist faith. “Parents see themselves as taking responsibility for faith development, but they want schools to give all the help they can,” says Peter.
The greatest anxiety? Keeping children committed to Christianity and as active members of the church. The tension between using Adventist schools to proselytise to those of other faiths and meeting the aspirations of parents who want their children to socialise with those of the Adventist faith is a topic of discussion among the Adventist Church’s educational administrators. The answer is not easy, says Peter. “Parents told us they were concerned their children would remain in the church only if they had friends in the church, but many of their children’s friends don’t go to their church.”
Other anxieties include bullying and future lifestyle choices such as the use of alcohol and drugs and the choice of career and life partner. The report notes parents want Adventist schools to nurture, support and mentor their children and appreciate the role of chaplains in this process.
The bottom line? “If parents perceive Adventist schools as having strategic vision and administrators, principals and teachers with determination to drive that vision, they’ll choose those schools,” says Peter. He cautions against simply expecting Adventist parents to send their children to Adventist schools. “Adventist schools are doing a great job and are generating goodwill, but families have a choice and intend to use that choice.”