How Quaker Schools Create Environments Conducive to Learning

One of the distinctive aspects of Quaker belief is its practice of communal worship. In Meeting for Worship (MfW) those present sit facing one another in silence waiting for someone to ‘minister’ by sharing a thought, reading or prayer with those gathered. Anyone present is free to speak and no judgement is made on what is said. Each of the Quaker schools studied conducted regular whole-school Meetings for Worship within which the school community assembled in silence as equals. This chapter will discuss the importance of Meeting for Worship to students’ sense of community, feelings of reduced anxiety and valuing of equality. The ways some students’ scepticism and antagonistic feelings towards this compulsory aspect of school life appear to change over time will also be discussed. The chapter will conclude by examining how a strong sense of equality within the schools emerges as an important key to understanding the significant statistical relationships between students who reported deep learning behaviours and their positive appreciation of Meeting for Worship.