Christian Parent Controlled (CPC) Schools, which commenced in the 1960s, are a relatively small, but growing component of the non-government schooling sector in Australia. In 2001, they enrolled over 22 000 students in 85 schools. Very little research has been conducted on the values and practices of CPC schools and while these schools frequently assert that they promote explicitly Christian values, their foundational values have not previously been identified or recorded. This research identifies the key foundational values which are characteristic of these schools and examines the extent to which these values continue to influence the prevailing practices of these schools. Consideration is given to the implications of the relationship between foundational values and prevailing practices for the identity, development and leadership of CPC schools in Australia. The ability of these schools to articulate their foundational values and consider their prevailing practices in the light of these values should enhance their ability to understand their heritage, assess their current situation and plan their future. The research found that in general, prevailing practices in these schools give faithful expression to the foundational values; however, the research also identified a number of areas where CPC schools struggle to engage consistently with these values. As a result of this study, recommendations are proposed to assist national and school-based leadership in their strategic planning for the maintenance of these values and the future of these schools.

This study aims to examine how upper secondary English teachers work with foundationalvalues and controversial topics through fictional works in order to discuss the function of valuesand the civic mission in the EFL-classroom. The study was conducted using a qualitativeapproach through semi structured interviews, interviewing seven currently active uppersecondary English teachers. To structure the data from the interviews a thematic analysis wasapplied, and the theoretical approaches used for analysing the data were transformativepotential and narrative imagination.The results of this study show that the participants have an interest in using fictional workscontaining controversial issues for discussing foundational values in the classroom. The studyalso shows that there are both common challenges and advantages of teaching controversialissues through fiction. All participants had similar opinions about the advantages which werethe emergence of expanding worldviews and perspectives among pupils. The challengesmentioned among the participants were: reading in a second language, giving the pupils enoughpre-knowledge and knowing which position to take as a teacher during discussions aboutcontroversial topics. Noticeable differences in the teachers’ opinions were due to their lengthof work experience. Finally, the civic mission in the EFL-classroom could be distinguished inthe teachers’ arguments of why they implement fictional works with controversial topics intheir teaching.