Do we value education?  

• Download a PDF version of our research report Do we value education? (4.9MB).

"Fascinating! This report will surprise both the critics and the friends of the evangelical Christian movement. Its significant contribution is to identify some important challenges for evangelical churches and their leaders to embrace in the coming decade."
Professor Trevor Cooling, National Institute for Christian Education Research, Canterbury Christ Church University.

This research looks at how evangelical Christians are involved in education, what motivates them to learn, and their values and priorities for both their own learning and that of the next generation. It also explores what influences evangelicals when choosing schools for their children, and their views on the place of Christianity in schools, and the practices and politics of education in the UK today. It shows how churches are already involved in schools and examines the challenges and opportunities for Christians to make a difference in the sphere of education.

We hope that churches will find this report interesting and useful in thinking through Christian understandings of education and that it will support more effective involvement. We have created a free downloadable powerpoint presentation and discussion questions based on the research findings to help both churches and small groups take a deeper look at some of the issues.

You can also read our press release based on this report.

This report was published in February 2013, with the survey conducted in November 2012. More information about the survey is available here.The Evangelical Alliance has no plans to put our reports on a bookcase and forget about them. We plan to keep them open, explore the data in more depth and keep talking about how we should respond. 

If you have specific questions arising from the reports or would like to see the original data tables or a more detailed technical data report please contact our research manager, Greg Smith, at info@eauk.org

"We welcome this wide ranging research report by the Evangelical Alliance. We are encouraged that 45 per cent of churches represented in the survey regularly pray for one or more of their local schools. It appears that evangelical Christians and churches have strong views about many aspects of education – but it is disappointing that this doesn't often translate into active involvement in supporting teachers, support staff and schools. Let this report be a catalyst to change so that the many opportunities out there to make real positive change in our education system are taken up by evangelical Christians and churches."
Clive Ireson, director of strategy, Association of Christian Teachers.