Doing a lot of thinking just now about theological education. Not only how to do it, but what it does. But once we ask the question what theological education can do to, – or for, – or with, a person, we inevitably have to come back to the how question. But then, how we do theological education, decisively influences what that process does to or for people. See what I mean? Needs thinking.
Lots of suggestions out there about mentoring, curacy, learning by mimesis, knowledge transfer, information sharing and observed practice as formative training, transformational learning, community learning through enabled learning communities, the relation of lifelong learning to human wellbeing and development. As a College seeking to be a centre of excellence in training for ministry as part of the mission of God, we are constantly asking questions about the nature and purpose of what we do. Even the choice of terms matter – theological education, training for ministry, ministry formation, transformative learning. (The picture by Van Gogh is redolent with light, harvest, reward for labour, for me a picture of human fruitfulness and the deeper levels of learning to live).
What makes all this both exciting and crucial for the future of the church is the chronic and unstable cultural flux within which we are now living. Universities, are now locked into postures enabling rapid adaptation and responsiveness to market demands dictated by economic and employment prospects. The link between a University's funding by the Government, and the Governmeent's own agenda to enforce value for money and define education as economic investment, has decisively reconfigured educational priorities. Education becomes synonymous with training, learning is based on competence based outcomes, and success is then judged by employability. If education is primarily an economic investment, and higher education institutions depend on government funding, and students are seen as customers, and society as a market, and education as a product, that market based goal will decisively influence process and then I ask – what does education do to, for and with a person?
Hence my starting question – what does theological education do to, for and with a person? I'm still thinking – and amongst the things I'm thinking is the role of a Christian College in giving witness to a different set of educationally formative priorities. The title of this post hints at where this kind of thinking is likely to lead….are churches willing to invest in the formation of people towards ministry and the development of all God made them to be, and thus enthusiastic that financial cost and deficit are not the primary inidices of value, and that value for money isn't measured in money, but in a transformative process of human growth? Hmmmm?
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