Anglican schooling is about learning to stand in and step from the middle of things. Faithfully, hopefully and lovingly, with the wisdom there is a life before and beyond ourselves.
The middle way (via media), middle school, middle class, middle age or a middle of the road Anglican. Such “middles” can invoke thoughts of the incomplete journey, life in moderation or the uneventful season in the human transit lounge.
A cursory glance at Anglican schooling from its inception reveals that yes, we are ‘quite’ middle, but beyond status, age, disposition and restraint. Anglican school communities are indeed people of the middle, dependent on and participating in a life already in motion. As middle dwellers we acknowledge that we both affected by and affecting the life around us. We are stewards and crafters, renovating and preservers, but we are not the beginning or the end.[1] As stewards we tend the potentialities and possibilities before us, not fashioning something out of nothing nor curtailing through cleverness.
The much discussed via media of Anglicanism, is not just seeking to retain the best of Catholicism and Protestantism but has further dispositional qualities about how we engage the world and learn in community. We might say Anglican schooling is about learning to stand in and step from the middle of things. Faithfully, hopefully and lovingly with the wisdom there is a life before and beyond ourselves.
A pillar of Anglican Schools is service or service learning, the subject of my ongoing doctoral research.[2] What difference does ‘beginning in the middle’ make to this practice, program or pedagogy? Firstly, it may swing the dial of a predominate ‘doing for/to’ others mindset of service to a ‘learning from and with’ approach.
Recognising that the person, group or organisation we are seeking to engage with has a life before we arrived, and we are entering into a life not our own, is formative and foundational. Secondly, as we enter, relate and learn, we know that we are not the end of the story and nor are we passive partakers, but we have some agency alongside others, shaping a shared life together. What would happen if we simple asked others about the work or service they provide and how we may join in alongside?
Another priority or vision of Anglican Schools is a broad liberal education. A holistic education for a flourishing life.[3] What difference does ‘beginning in the middle’ make to this vision? Learning to enter the different provinces of learning with attentive imagination and asking, ‘What is already happening?’ can awaken us to cultivate greater curiosity and critical engagement. Beginning in the middle of things we recognise our solidarity with the rest of creaturely life (also residing in the middle of things) and may be stirred to respond more responsibly and creatively in the places we live, work and learn.
Thirdly, what difference does ‘beginning in the middle’ make to the practice of care and relationships? We can be reminded that those we encounter each day have a multivalent story with a past, present and future tense. A story which God has inaugurated before our arrival and will stay beyond our departure. We can have a vital role to play in the story of others, yet we are not without partiality and limits. ‘Beginning in the middle of things’, can enable us to appreciate the role others play before and beyond ourselves. Seeking to make a genuine difference, we may ask, ‘Where, when or who are we in the story?’
Ministry in the middle is the shared work of all Anglican schools. It both grounds and grants a grander vision beyond ourselves, extending to all of life and learning. Where is the ‘actual’ middle? It remains a meandering mystery. Rather, we are left to faithfully, hopefully and lovingly acknowledge we are not the beginning nor the end.
[1] Luke Bretherton, A Primer in Christian Ethics. Christ and struggle to Live Well. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2023. The concept of ‘Beginning in the middle’ is taken from Bretherton’s use in explaining Christian ethics and the nature of human agency as it relates to difference aspects of creaturely life.
[2] Daniel Heischman ‘Enhancing our Anglican Identity’ https://www.anglicanschoolsaustralia.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Enhancing-Our-Anglican-Identity.pdf
[3] Church of England Vision for Education ‘Deeply Christian, Serving the Common Good’ https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2023-06/our-hope-for-a-flourishing-schools-system-report.pdf
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