Disciple-managed discipleship?

This ‘Christian’ eLearning newsletter frequently looks at business and commerce for inspiration and information - a human being made in the image of God is pretty much the same in and out of a church context!  But are the issues the same?  This week we look at a keynote lecture Improving the learner's experience of e-learning and rather playfully swap a few words to explore the fit to the ecclesiastical world.

Prof John Stephenson noted three sets of reasons why eLearning is expanding in the world of industry and business:

*  For companies (individual churches?)
    -  cost savings
    -  just-in-time learning

*  For Governments (those concerned with the overall growth of the Kingdom of God?)
    -  improve social inclusion (opens up non-hierarchical every-member ministry?)
    -  access to skills and learning (makes possible the 'Learning Church'?)
    -  economic growth (spiritual growth?)

*  For Universities (providers of theological and adult Christian education?)
    -  economies of scale
    -  markets overseas
    -  greater variety of learning activities.

And Stephenson suggests there are good educational reasons such as:
    -  A means of empowering the learner (Christian disciple?)
    -  Connecting people with common learning interests (discipleship issues?)
    -  Integrating learning (discipleship?) with life and or work interests

Before going on to talk about pedagogy, Prof Stephenson gave five guiding quotations, each from a different perspective.

Lord Dearing and Key Skills: “On leaving HE, all students should have developed the practice of taking responsibility for their own learning.”  (By the time they die, all disciples should have …?)

Small and medium sized companies, UK: “We want skilled people but above all we want people who can manage their own learning.”  (We want all to be capable ministers, but above all we want members who can take responsibility for their own discipleship and formation?).

ICL Ltd: “Corporate capability (the growth of the Kingdom of God?) is dependent on the motivation for continuous learning (discipleship?) of everybody in an organisation (the Church?).”

KPMG: “There is no such thing as a career (discipleship?) path. There is crazy paving and you have to lay it yourself.”

Self-managed development: “What other self have I yet to discover and how can I make it happen?”  (Charles Handy, Managing to Survive, BBC TV / OU 18 4 98)

What do you think? Do the 'churchy' words or phrases fit?  Can you do better?  (You can respond by hitting the 'reply' button in your email software.)

John Stephenson is head of the International Centre for Learner Managed Learning at Middlesex University and is a key figure in the initiation and development of Ufi / learndirect.  As his job title suggests, he is making the case for putting the learner in control of his or her own learning, going on to argue that eLearning is the only practical way of making this a reality.  But the pedagogy is also important, a point we'll pursue next time.  (The keynote was given at Learning Solutions 2004 and is available in PowerPoint format from www.iclml.com.)

Yours in Christ,

Peter Nicholls