EDUCATION

RELIGIOUS SOCIETY OF FRIENDS (QUAKERS)

NORTHERN YEARLY MEETING

“It is not too much to say that the two most important duties of our Society are to publish truth as we understand it and to educate our children in our faith and life.” London Yearly Meeting, Friends Education Council, 1949

The belief that there is “that of God in each person” is the foundation of the Quaker approach to education. Education cultivates the fullness of the human spirit through both openness and discipline. We are open to the knowledge, understanding and wisdom that come from history, from our own life experience of God, and from the works and lives of others. We recognize all of life as an educational enterprise, that we are all teachers as well as learners.

Explicitly, spiritual education is centered on the family, the meeting, and the broader community of Friends. Institutional forms of education play an important role in most peoples’ lives and these can also have a spiritual component and influence the character of an individual. Young people and their families are encouraged to pursue the educational path they are drawn to, whether it be public schools, Friends schools, independent schools, home schools, or in some other setting.

Friends have valued education since the Society’s founding in the mid-17th century. Education, both spiritual and intellectual, was recognized as enabling an individual to better discern and communicate the promptings of the Spirit. As early as the 1660’s, George Fox encouraged the establishment of boys’ and girls’ schools among the new Friends communities at Waltham and Shacklewell. Friends, with the encouragement of William Penn, opened schools in Pennsylvania in 1683. In 1689 Friends opened the Friends Public School in Philadelphia, which was open to all long before universal public education. Friends saw education as an aid in their search for truth “…that so, from the oldest to the youngest truth may flow in its beauty and comeliness to God’s glory and all His people’s comfort” (Friends of Bristol, 1695).

Friends’ openness to continuing revelation leads us to place equal emphasis on the educational process, personal development, and educational content. Scripture and existing knowledge are important. People are led to think critically and take joy in discovering new implications of knowledge gained.

Quakers usually provide education for children, youth, and adults within the Meeting community. Monthly meetings are encouraged to provide both education for youth in First Day School and education for adults. Our education also takes place in our homes, in our schools, in our home schools and in the wider community.

Within the Meeting community, Meeting for Worship and Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business provide valuable educational opportunities. Service to NYM and local Meetings, such as committee work, also provide an opportunity to learn and grow.

With regard to Friends educational institutions within Northern Yearly Meeting, there is currently one kindergarten through eighth grade Friends school (Friends School of Minnesota in Saint Paul) and Camp Woodbrooke, a youth and family camp in Richland Center, WI. Scattergood Friends School, a grades nine through twelve boarding school, is located within Iowa Yearly Meeting (Conservative) and has attracted many NYM families. In addition, NYM includes individuals who have attended and taught in other Friends schools, colleges and study centers throughout the world. NYM also recognizes the benefits of home schooling and, for families wishing to home school, the spiritual and nurturing resources of the yearly meeting may be used to support this effort.

NYM and its constituent meetings provide many educational opportunities through speakers, workshops, meeting libraries, interest groups, regional gatherings, NYM annual sessions, First Day School, couple enrichment, and Spiritual Nurture programs. Friends For a Nonviolent World (FNVW), the Saint Paul-based peace organization, provides valuable programs and activities.

Friends’ educational opportunities outside of Northern Yearly Meeting are abundant. Because Quaker faith encourages witness through action, there exist Friends organizations such as Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL), American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) and Right Sharing of World Resources (RSWR) which serve to help us understand the relationship between faith and action while actively working to bring about positive social change. Friends General Conference is an important educational resource, as are Quaker study centers such as Pendle Hill.

We recognize that supporting these various educational paths is important for the Friends community and for the common good of the wider community. To this end, we unite with Philadelphia Yearly Meeting’s Covenant on Education which calls “on all families, meetings, and schools… to support and embrace the following goals:

• To encourage our local public schools and teachers and parents in their efforts to provide an education of great value to the children of our communities, through participation as teachers, members of school boards, advisory councils, advocacy groups, as volunteers, and as advocates for public funding for education.

• To affirm our commitment to our Friends schools and their spiritual basis through service as teachers, school committee members, parents and students.

• To support Friends who work in Quaker education, and to create a climate that encourages Friends to go into teaching in Friends schools.

• As Friends, we should work to strengthen both Friends schools and public education because through both of them we strengthen our community and society.”

(The Covenant on Education was approved by Philadelphia Yearly Meeting in annual session, 24 July 1999. PYM-specific passages have been omitted. Quoted with permission.)

As teachers and parents, we need to be mindful of how our actions speak. When we proclaim ourselves as Friends of the Truth we acknowledge our responsibility as models for others.

QUERIES FOR MEETINGS

1. How does our Meeting provide for educating children and adults within its community?
2. How does our Meeting attend to educating its members and attenders about the history and practices of the Religious Society of Friends?
3. How does our Meeting encourage people to develop their potential as the spirit leads them?
4. How does our Meeting support education, in terms of Friends schools, home schools and public education?

QUERIES FOR INDIVIDUALS

1. In what ways do I share my deepest experiences, struggles, concerns and beliefs with children and others?
2. Do I devote sufficient attention to developing my own understanding of the history and practices of the Religious Society of Friends?
3. What educational opportunities do I pursue that enhance my spiritual growth?
4. In what ways do I feel led to take responsibility for supporting others’ education?

Approved Yearly Meeting Session May - 2002

Revised, 10-5-02