It is with great excitement that CSA launched on 30th October its next piece of research on Christian schools! The project will explore student flourishing in adolescents at Australian Christian schools and what practices may support their flourishing.
The research project is entitled: Student Flourishing in Australian Christian Schools and will be coordinated by CSA and led by a research team at The Human Flourishing Program at Harvard and Research Schools International.
PROJECT OVERVIEW
This project will explore student flourishing in Australian adolescents (12 to 18-year-olds) and the various practices associated with flourishing, with a particular focus on Christian practices in CSA member schools across Australia.
The research questions for this study include:
Student flourishing
1. To what degree are students flourishing across CSA schools?
2. Are there associations between individual differences (e.g., age) and family factors (e.g., religiosity of families, church attendance of families, family structure: e.g., married, single parent), socioeconomic status and flourishing and/or key aspects of flourishing (i.e., physical and mental health, close social relationships, meaning and purpose, good character and virtue, and happiness and life satisfaction) in students?
Practices, especially Christian practices, and student flourishing
3. Which Christian practices are carried out at school that are associated with flourishing in students?
4. Which other evidence-informed practices are associated with flourishing and/or key aspects of flourishing in students?
STUDENT FLOURISHING IN AUSTRALIAN CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS PROJECT TEAM
Dr Christina Hinton – Research Associate at the Human Flourishing Program Harvard and CEO Research Schools International.
Dr Noah Padgett – Postdoctoral Fellow with the Human Flourishing Program Harvard.
Dr Catherine Glennon – Director of Research Schools International.
Dr Darren Iselin – Australian Research Project Coordinator.
In addition to these key researchers, we will also have Research Assistants from Dr. Christina Hinton’s team at Research Schools International and the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard.
If you have any specific questions or concerns regarding the research, please contact the Australian Project Coordinator, Dr Darren Iselin at [email protected].
Registrations will close on Friday, 9 December 2023.
Information Session
CSA staff, the research team from Research Schools International (RSI) and Human Flourishing Program at Harvard will host a Student Flourishing School Information session outlining further details about this project.
Date: Monday, 13th November at 12:30 pm AEDT.
Location: Zoom
This is an excellent opportunity for you and/or your coordinator to hear about the project in greater detail from the project team as well as learn about the process for undertaking the survey for secondary students.
To participate in this information session from the researchers at Human Flourishing Project at Harvard and Research Schools International, please diarise the above date. Access can also be obtained by clicking the button below or via https://harvard.zoom.us/j/93307301002 .
NCLS Research Findings Published
The National Church Life Survey (NCLS) / CSA sponsored research: Schooling Matters: Perceptions of Christian Church Attenders about Christian Schooling was officially launched on Wednesday 25th October. The Webinar was hosted by NCLS and presentations were provided by Dr Daniel Pampuch, Dr Ruth Powell and Dr Darren Iselin.
An extended Q and A with Dr Powell and Dr Darren Iselin concluded the program. The Webinar was very well attended (with over 250 registrations) and summarised the findings arising from the Report and reflections of how and why schooling matters to churchgoers, what influences choice of schools, the impact of school on their own lives, and their views of spirituality in learning and education. You can view the webinar HERE.
The Report was based on the results from the 2021-22 National Church Life Survey across more than 20 denominations. It provides the most comprehensive picture of church attender attitudes in Australia. These findings further reinforced the significant benefits of faith-based schooling experiences, graduate satisfaction and holistic outcomes for church attenders and the important work of formation and holistic development that are characteristic of these school communities.
All CSA member schools were sent both electronic and fully published versions of the Report and a 2-page infographic which was expertly designed by Tanya Pampuch. These documents are also available on the CSA website under Research.
The Christian Schools Community Profile: Parent Survey 2023
The 2023 Christian Schools Community Profile: Parent Survey is now completed. A total of 60 schools from across the nation registered for the survey which was available to all school families with children enrolled in a participating Christian school.
Final Responses current response rates are as follows:
Completed Surveys: 5512
Partially completed surveys: 689
This is an excellent parent sample from across the nation and only 2000 less than the 2021 survey which had 101 schools participating. The survey is designed to assist schools in gaining an understanding of parents’ choice of school, their satisfaction with their children’s learning, their engagement in the school community and their religious, ethnic, vocational and sociocultural demographic profile both of their own schools and significantly, how these compare to other Christian schools at a state and national level. Schools can also use the survey results to help gain a better understanding of their community and other similar schools, to inform and direct future school planning and improvement strategies.
The 2023 survey findings will also build a longitudinal profile of trends and changes within each specific Christian school, schools of a similar size, as well as state based and national comparisons of responses relating to reasons for school choice, overall levels of satisfaction, parental engagement and demographic information of families.
Undertaking the 2023 also provides unprecedented longitudinal data for CSA to inform policy and advocacy at state and national levels.
Members can access the 2023 Christian Schools Community Profile National Report and Summary Infographic for schools from the CSA website.
Harvard Human Flourishing Program Research Update
Research Update: October 2023
The Human Flourishing Program provides a monthly research email, which is accessible to the public. To read the edition for October 2023, please click HERE.
This information was drawn from a Research and Innovation Update distributed by Dr Darren Iselin on 9 November, 2023.