Change in Adventist Education?

Hi Randy,

I think you are asking a question with two sides, as if they both could be answered with one response. I don’t think there would be any argument that “What” is being taught in the systems schools is at question. Our schools have been designed to educate the whole student; physical, intellectual, spiritual, and physical.

Now, with the plethora of small schools it is a problematic situation when it comes to the ability to offer advanced courses and for many parents this is a concern – and a reasonable one. The integration of our faith within the curriculum and learning environment is what makes what happens in our schools so unique. It is what keeps us true to the mission, though we make other changes in the way we architect the learning and the environment.

That being said, one needs to look at the other side of the coin. School, any school, in our country today is outmoded and operating on premises and methods that ceased to be effective with the move into an information/innovation society and economic base.

The change that is necessary is a move from school as we now know it to a process/experience that we haven’t imagined yet. The attitude that the “tried and true” will suffice will keep education from making a massive paradigm shift. This shift though, doesn’t mean we lose the unique Christian educational experience that we all desire to see in our schools.

I recently blogged the following:
I was having my morning tea, reading my feeds, and following my Twitter stream when @markwagner linked to a blog post he wrote in ‘07 and asked what message we would send from the future to the principals of today . . . paused a moment and decided to give it a shot. I logged into the Google doc that @markwagner was using and shared:

School is no longer passive, learning and technology have converged allowing students the power to guide their learning. This has created a myriad of new degrees and avenues for creativity that weren’t even imagined when you were directing your student. Please imagine . . . the wild. Visualize . . . the unknown. Remember that vision is the art of seeing the invisible. Create new places of learning that don’t resemble the “tried and true.” But, rather, open the windows to the art of possibility. (With appreciations to both Emerson and Benjamin Zander for having vision.)

There is a clarion cry from students, from those who see beyond the horizon to move past dialogue and create something new, something that truly educates within the context of the 21st century and using the power of 21st century innovation.

So, I think the correct answer to your question is Yes and No. We do not want to leave behind our distinctly Adventist curriculum, integration of Christ-like living, and Christian learning environments. However, we have vision a new type of school – one where the concerns about academics are alleviated, a place where learning is maximized, and the context of school is in sync with the context of life.

- Greg Thompson