When Harvest Christian College in Kadina on South Australia’s Yorke Peninsula posted a Seek listing advertising a Student Support Officer job last week, some members of the online audience seemed perplexed by the specific nature of the requirements.
The successful applicant, the ad stated, would need to demonstrate more than relevant education-focused qualifications – an adherence to religious beliefs was also imperative.
“Applicants will need to demonstrate a sincere commitment to Jesus Christ and the philosophy of Christian education,” the listing detailed.
“Regular church attendance; and, agreement with the College’s Basis of Faith” were also outlined as requirements the applicant would need to demonstrate.
And if successful? The applicant would then support students with disabilities and learning difficulties within a classroom setting at the college – described on the school’s own website as a “welcoming learning environment that promotes strong values and positive behaviour from Foundation to Year 12”.
But although the requirement of regular church attendance seemed to raise questions – and accusations of discrimination – from some online commentators, Christian Schools Australia Director of Public Policy Mark Spencer says religious schools want to choose staff who share their beliefs. More than that, parents want faithful teaching staff too.
“We know that parents are actively choosing our schools because of the traditional Christian values and beliefs they teach and model,” says Mr Spencer. “That requires staff who can teach and model their faith out of who they are, part of that is being part of a local church and interacting and growing with other like-minded believers.”
“In the context of our Christian schools, ‘qualified’ and ‘quality’ teachers are those who share our faith – it is an essential characteristic of staff in the ‘communities of faith’ that are schools are seeking to be,” he says.
Outlining precisely what it takes to create those “communities of faith” Mr Spencer refers to reflects the language used in the Australian Law Reform Commission’s (ALRC) recently released draft plan to update anti-discrimination laws.
Under that consultation paper, proposals included new ways to protect teachers and staff at religious schools from discrimination.
The proposal would allow religious schools to “maintain their religious character” by enabling them to give preferences based on religious grounds, including being permitted to ask that all staff – including teachers – respect the “educational institution’s religious ethos”.
In the sort of immersive education Christian schools aim to provide, Mr Spencer says “it becomes very clear to students very quickly if staff are merely giving lip service to their faith”.
“They will pick up on hypocrisy very quickly and that can have a very corrosive effect on their emerging understanding of what it is to be a follower of Christ as we want to encourage them to be,” he says.
When it comes to the job listing’s request that applicants “demonstrate” the requirements explained in the job ad, Mr Spencer says that, because “we want authentic Christians who are committed to their faith”, Christian schools that advertise for staff “will expect a reference from a pastor or minister”.
While there is undoubtedly a tight market for not only teachers but staff generally, Mr Spencer says that detailing very specific job requirements is not something Christian schools shy away from – even if it means that there are less potential suitable applicants.
“Our schools are still very attractive places to work,” Mr Spencer says. “We are very blessed to be places where existing staff want to stay, and new staff are attracted to.”
