In a general sense, education is a product. Whether public, private, or even homeschool, the end result is to accomplish all desired outcomes in the development of the next generation of men and women to serve in government, our communities, and in private businesses. The intended purpose of this editorial is not to compare educational models or create doubt about an entire effort where teachers, parents, government officials, and communities engage daily to provide learning to our children.
Every teacher teaches, and every school delivers learning in many ways; there is a continuum on maintaining the highest standards, relevancy in educational curriculum, and alignment with current demands of social needs and new discoveries. Although budgetary provision for education has never reached sufficient lines, neither in public systems nor the private sector, we must commend the efforts made daily to improve that.
Addressing community needs, providing learning for future jobs, and developing problem-solving skills are some of the many outcomes expected of each educational system. For example, an academic curriculum geared to providing the basics for engineering education will seek to be conversant with the newest discoveries in that field of learning.
In January 2016, the World Economic Forum, in its Future of Jobs report, a collaboration between governments, corporations, and business, in general, stated that by one popular estimate, 65 percent of children entering primary schools today will ultimately work in new job types and functions that do not currently exist. Technological trends such as the Fourth Industrial Revolution will create many new cross-functional roles for which employees will need technical, social, and analytical skills.
New trends have driven curriculum development in many educational systems in the last few decades. Keeping that edge constitutes a competitive advantage. As we look to the present state and the future of Adventist education, let us ask some important questions: As Seventh-day Adventists, do we continue maintaining the effort to be current and relevant in the learning delivery? Is the current model addressing the issues originating from new trends in the job industry? And last, what is the added value of having an Adventist educational system?
Efforts? Yes! Many efforts have been made to stay current and relevant. Addressing trending issues? Except for a small number of our institutions, a large majority of them are still lagging behind and need some serious redevelopment to meet current demands. To answer the third question, let’s pause a bit. Remember, my purpose is not to compare systems, instead, I wish to state why I believe there is added value in the Adventist educational system.
Number one—the Adventist educational system recognizes God as the ultimate source of existence, truth, and power. In the beginning, God created in His image perfect human beings, a perfection later marred by sin. Education, in its broadest sense, is a means of returning humanity to their original relationship with God.
Number two—the mission to develop the “whole person” concept in each student. We educate them “for the joy of service in this world and for the higher joy of wider service in the world to come” (Education, p. 13), to be sensitive to the needs of people at home and in society, and to become active members of the church.
And number three—the philosophy of Adventist education founded in the “need of a broader scope, a higher aim.” It states that “True education means more than the pursual of a certain course of study. . . . It has to do with the whole being, and with the whole period of existence possible to man. It is the harmonious development of the physical, the mental, and the spiritual powers”—Education, p. 13.
