It was mainly regarding the Vardy academies - a government program by which private companies/charities are able to part fund state schools in return for having a 'say' in the ethos and running of them. Sir Peter Vardy is a Christian entrepreneur whose charity - The Vardy Foundation - has helped set up 'Christian-ethos' schools in 3 deprived areas where formally education had basically 'collapsed'.
Despite impressive academic results (mainly as a result of strong school discipline and talented, vocationally driven teachers) they have been most controversial in the UK for the fact that they teach creation-theory alongside evolution-theory.
The program was an hour long investigative documentary by Rod Liddle.
Impression
On the whole I was disappointed with the documentary. Not, because I'm a Christian and he challenged some aspects of Christian thinking - I actually agreed with quite a lot of what he said about 'polarised 2D' thinking within much evangelicalism - but because he demonstrated this same way of erroneous thinking wrt to his interpretation of what the academy structure is trying to achieve in the face of the challenges that education is facing in this country.
I felt that too much unbalanced 'air time' was given to the 'critics' and that some of the criticism was taken at face value - a case of hearing what one wanted to hear - rather than trying to actually validate what was or wasn't true.
My wife, Ruth, heard him on the Andrew Marr show - 'Start the week' - on Radio 4 and felt that his stance seemed much more balanced there - a balance which disappeared from the documentary.
Obviously, such is the nature with a lot of these documentaries - but I felt that he missed a real opportunity to ask some creative questions about the 'ideology' behind 'narrow spectrum' evangelicalism - he admitted to being a 'liberal Anglican' and liking the forum for debate which this enviroment allowed - but ironically, instead opted for the sensationalist, simplistic approach.
One thing that occured to me - which is that we enjoy a degree of 'expectation' within the UK re: basic education, an expectation which arises from the fact that education is a 'common commodity' within our communities. However, this was not always so - and if one goes back far enough then you find a time when the level of general education was appallingly low (with all the consequences that inability and ignorance brings) and that it was the Christian communities who - against the culture of the time - began pioneering the ideal of 'education for all' and started to run schools for all children - which were run on a very Christian ethos!
My point? That education 'for all' requires a vision and commitment to humanity which is often lacking when it comes to the most 'needy' areas - but - which is often nurtured and supported from within a context of faith in God (not just Christian faith!). Thus to expect areas like Doncaster and Gateshead just to 'improve' educationally without the input of vocational, faith driven people like the Vardy Foundation is, at best, naive and, at worse, dangerous.
'Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.' (James 2)
tigger
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