Interact - September 2020 (Special Edition)

MK Education:Then and Now

George Durance and David Durance

Last month, Pope Francis appointed the son of evangelical missionaries (an MK) to the position of Vice-Prefect of the Vatican Library (Vatican, 2020). Born to Canadian-American parents, raised in Germany, graduate of a well-known MK school near Basel, Switzerland, married cross-culturally to an Indian, fluent in many languages, a noted scholar and academic with credentials from the world’s leading universities, he continues to leverage his MK advantages of linguistic fluency, cultural adaptability, and personal resilience.

Reflecting on several decades of involvement with MKs, it would be easy to write at length of former students who have gone on to succeed in every sphere of life. Is their commendable record a statistically significant correlate of their heritage and more specifically of the education and care they received from a community that supports and resources the mission’s movement? It is an interesting question, but a more urgent one is at hand: “How can the Christian community best support the education of MKs in the years which lie ahead?”

One thing is certain: the education the new vice prefect received at his MK school would not serve him or the MK population well today. Times have changed and the rate of change is increasing. Considering this, what opportunities and challenges lie ahead for those engaged in MK education?

Assumption #1: Crises Accelerate Trends

Crises are inevitable and a reminder to us that we live in a redemption-longing world. COVID-19’s impact on education is the subject of much discussion, and rightly so. The numbers (as of May 10, 2020) indicate that the pandemic is impacting approximately 1.3 billion students in 177 countries, which is about 90% of the world’s student population (UNICEF in Wikipedia, 2020). It will be years before we are able to assess adequately the social and economic cost of this disruption. If the current crisis continues and closures remain into the autumn and beyond, it is hard to see how hardwon resources can be preserved without some long-term damage to the existing infrastructure.

However, this article assumes the primary impact of COVID-19, like so many other crises, is that of an accelerator. Trends which were already underway will gain momentum as the pandemic imposes changes that would otherwise have been implemented incrementally. It is therefore critical that the missionary community re-envision MK education, not to cope with COVID-19, but to adapt to long-term trends whose horizons are now months away rather than years.

Assumption #2: Global Disciple-making Remains a Pressing Mandate

The means and methods of global mission are changing dramatically (cf., Blöcher, 2020; Joshua Project, 2019; Knight, 2017). Nevertheless, two constants remain. The first is that churches will continue to commission and send Holy Spirit empowered disciple-makers to the nations. The second is that these missionaries will continue to have children who need support and care. A hundred years ago more than half the world was unevangelized. Today, it is less than 30%, but the absolute number has grown to more than two billion people. During this period, the number of missionaries has increased eight-fold from a little over 62,000 in 1900 to over 420,000 today (cf., Knight, 2017; Joshua Project, 2019). While the growth rate of international workers has plateaued in recent years (due in part to the emergence of strong national churches), missiologists continue to project a modest increase in international workers through 2050. As long as the church embraces Christ’s commission to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth, there will be a need for MK education and care. The challenge today is to employ a continuous revisioning process, and COVID-19 has heightened the challenge by accelerating trends which were already causing concern.

Assumption #3: Families are Most Important in Determining Educational Outcomes

It is well known that socioeconomic factors are highly correlated with student achievement across the world (cf., Machebe, et al. 2017; Reardon, et al. 2019). Anna Chmielewski (2019) analyzed 30 large scale assessments over 50 years covering 100 countries and 5.8 million students. She found that the “socioeconomic achievement gap” is increasing even as the world becomes wealthier and education spreads to the less financially able.

Given the well-documented correlation between wealth and achievement, how is it that MKs, raised in modest socioeconomic circumstances, attain academic levels associated with children of more privileged backgrounds (e.g., Durance, 1996)? Research indicates the answer lies in the family’s attitudes and values. When researching the impact of class in England, Williams (2010) found that “parents’ attitudes were most important [for success], making more of a difference than schools themselves.” She found that upwardly- mobile parents had a high regard for education and were consequently involved in their children’s educational activities.

In other words, there is a return on investment. Behavior, motivation, and test scores all improve as the student senses “the people who love me the most care.” All types and all ages of students do better when parents are involved and the more involved, the greater the benefit. Christine Jax, quoting Harvard professor William H. Jeynes, reports that “... parental expectations have the largest effect on student academic achievement.” Professor Douglas B. Downey of Ohio State University agrees, claiming that expectations are particularly effective “when parents combine responsiveness and warmth with their high expectations” (quoted in Jax, 2013; cf., Waterford, 2020).

Therefore, while achievement is associated with higher socioeconomic status, wealth is itself a correlate and consequence, while value choices are the real cause of the achievement. MKs have done well because their parents valued education, even to the point where dearly loved children were permitted to attend a boarding school at serious financial and emotional cost. Nurturing love, high expectations, investments of time, and prioritizations in the limited budget all contributed to ensuring the missionary child was “privileged” and motivated to achieve in ways not predicted by their parents’ socioeconomic status.

The “ministry first” and “ministry at the expense of my marriage and children” scenarios remain a problem in the missionary home, just as the focus on job or vocation remains a problem in the church and society at large. However, if it was a disproportionate feature of these families in the past, in our experience it no longer is today. In addition to this, it is hard to imagine any other group of children receiving more prayer and more expressions of community concern than the MK. While MKs do not always welcome this attention, it reinforces in their mind that education is important and that people, even God Himself, care about the learning process and results.

We remain optimistic about the educational success of MKs going forward because we remain optimistic about their parents and the on-going support of a wider community. Anecdotal evidence suggests that missionary families have more children, lower divorce rates, and a higher percentage of children who graduate from college. The most encouraging fact about the role of parents in the success of the child is that the value choices they make to support the child do not require more income, more resources, or more options. Involvement, interest, investiture of time, and expressions of love, concern, and hope are not derivatives of socioeconomic status.

Trend #1: Modern Missions and Therefore Modern MKs are Ethnically and Culturally Diverse

The assumption is that the number of international Christian workers serving cross-culturally will grow modestly over the next two decades. As a result, there will be at least as many MKs needing educational services thirty years from now as there are today. However, the single most remarkable fact about the ongoing missionary community is not its growth, but its diversity. This distinguishing feature demonstrates itself in three ways: where missionaries call “home,” where they serve, and what service they provide.

From Where?

Latin Americans, Asians and Africans have now joined Europeans and Anglo-Americans in the global mission’s cause. In 1900, Christians in Europe outnumbered the global Christian community 2 to 1. By 2017, there were more Christians living in both Africa and Latin America than there were in Europe. By 2025, there will be 1.25 billion Christians living in Africa (Earls, 2016). As economies strengthen in these areas of the world, it is only logical that the percentage of missionaries will continue to rebalance in favor of the east and the south. By one estimate there will be 700,000 global missionaries in 2050, up from 430,000 today. It follows logically that the largest contingents will come from Asia and Africa (cf., Knight, 2017).

The impact on MK education is literally visible in the classrooms of our schools. In fact, MK educational programs are one of the best ways to obtain a visual representation of the changed ethnic landscape in modern missions. Schools continue to implement curricular and co-curricular changes to accommodate the needs of students from various parts of the world. The trend to ethnic diversity is now so well-established that it is misleading to speak of it as something “new.” While educational providers have been stretched to adjust, the results are encouraging, even though most schools known to us are still clarifying ways to turn the challenges of diversity into opportunities which inspire and enhance the learning environment.

To Where?

Thirty years ago, when the Iron Curtain fell, we wrote to over 40 sending agencies asking their leaders what impact the fall would have on the number and nature of MKs in our region of the world. About half responded with the comment that we could anticipate twice as many students needing service in about six years. Re-assignment and new deployment were the watchwords of the day. Our school immediately began a major campaign to expand physical resources and staffing. Almost exactly six years later, the number of MKs rose as the agencies predicted. It was a simple case of extrapolation: at least twice as many missionaries would be serving in the former Eastern Bloc region, so the school should anticipate twice as many MKs. The investment the school and the mission’s community made was a major step of faith. When we decided to raise funds and rebuild the campus to accommodate students whose parents had not yet been recruited, to say nothing about deployment, one board member wept saying, “I can see what an amazing blessing these new facilities will be to MKs in the future.”

What are we as providers and supporters of MK education “seeing” by faith today? Opening new frontiers is a characteristic of the missions’ movement, not a passing fad. It is time once again for the MK supporting community to think prayerfully and carefully about what God is doing, and to act nimbly and boldly to gather and deploy the resources which will be needed.

And where will they be needed? That raises another question: “To where are missionaries now being sent?” Until recently most missionaries, and therefore MKs, lived in “developed” and “reached” areas of the world. As Knight (2017) put it, “… there are plenty of Christians to meet the world’s spiritual needs, enough money to meet the world’s physical needs, but it is all poorly allocated and not mobilized strategically in the hands of those to whom it has been allocated.” The future “base” of global mission will almost certainly be in large urban areas and especially those urban areas which are home to unreached people. The real jungle today is concrete: 55% of the global population resides in cities; by 2050 it will be 70%. By extrapolation, this is where our MKs will be and where MK educational services should be concentrated.

Doing What?

Over the last two centuries the western church has focused on church planting as its primary method of fulfilling Christ’s commission to make disciples, and this continues to be an important missionary endeavor. However, with the emergence of a strong, vibrant, reproducing church in many countries, local churches have increasingly assumed responsibility for church planting. For cultural and linguistic reasons this makes sense. Today, the global church’s involvement in church planting is more frequently supportive in nature and related to teaching, consulting, mentoring, and advising. Will this shift impact the ethos of MK support services?

Trend #2: The International School Option

While the missionary community has been expanding and becoming increasingly urban and ethnically diverse, the international non-missionary community has similarly changed. Two centuries ago, foreign service departments established schools for the children of embassy staff. A century later multinational companies expanded their operations to every region of the world. Like the diplomats, international businesspeople desired instruction for their children equivalent to the education they would have received in their passport country. By the end of the 20th century a series of economic and technological factors converged to create a period of intense globalization. The impact on the nature and provision of education was revolutionary.

Twenty years ago, 1,000 English language international schools existed. Today 4.5 million students attend over 8,000 international school. The pre COVID-19 expectation was that there could be as many as 16,000 schools and 8.75 million students by 2030 (Wechsler, 2017). Wechsler reports that, “… more than 20 cities in the world have at least 50 English-speaking international schools each, such as Dubai (which has more than250) and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates;Beijing; Shanghai; Bangkok; Tokyo; Singapore; Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; and Madrid. Cost factors aside, these rapidly multiplying schools are a realistic option for families, particularly now when their sending agencies are increasingly deploying them to major cities.

It is easy to see why these schools are an attractive option for MKs. Acting almost like a neighborhood school, they provide a type of education that aligns with what these parents desire for their children. It develops linguistic skills, a strong English-language core, and an international perspective. It provides globally-recognized leaving credentials, a broad, well-rounded curriculum (which includes music and athletics), and activities such as a Model UN. These schools offer state of the art labs for science and computer science, small class sizes, a problemsolving, student-focused pedagogy, engaged parents, and attractive facilities. These advantages are often enough to persuade missionaries to find creative solutions to the problems associated with finances and a (stridently) secular world view. For many missionaries today who are not involved in a local language intensive ministry, such as church planting, or who are not anticipating that their children will attend a local university and settle in the foreign country, the loss of local language fluency is an acceptable price to pay for all the other assets the school offers. And, just as the missionary finds the international school attractive, these schools in turn find MKs attractive because the students are typically fluent in English, “wellbehaved,” and likely to have parents who become involved in the life of the school.

Trend #3: The National School Option

The 20th century is usually remembered as the century of monstrous social experiments like National Socialism and Communism. While both still cast a shadow over the world, another revolution took place which has had a greater, more enduring impact: it is the educational revolution that brought literacy to most of the world.

In statistical terms, from 1950 to 2000 the percentage of children enrolled in school worldwide increased from less than 50% to more than 67% and the illiteracy rate for those 15 and older dropped from 44% to 20%. This impressive achievement is somewhat reduced by the fact that the population explosion during this period resulted in the absolute number of illiterate people increasing from 700 million to 860 million (Browning, 2019). Primary school enrollment grew from 200 million to 670 million during this 50-year period, secondary from 40 million to 400 million, and tertiary from 7 million to 90 million (Meyers, 2019). Added to this stunning achievement is the educational advances associated with informal education.

Out of this mélange emerged an educational initiative which represents another option for MKs. Those parents serving in Europe (post World War Two) always had a local school option for their children. However, until the global revolution began in earnest, local educational options for MKs did not exist. Today, they often do, and include private schools which cater to the needs and aspirations of businesspeople and professionals. These schools are of particular interest to MKs because these schools pursue international standards and provide a leaving credential that enables a student to attend a university abroad. This means that expatriate Christian workers living in large urban areas may very well be able to send their children to a national school, and in some cases, a Christian national (but private) school. TeachBeyond is currently working with local providers to foster the growth of this option and an attractive variant is discussed in greater detail below under Trend #5.

Missionaries may be attracted to this type of school if their child is likely to live in the host country for many years. Exposure to a national school provides an unparalleled insight into the local culture. It is also typically inexpensive and likely to create pathways into the local community. MKs and these national-international schools are attracted to each other because of a shared desire to perfect English. While the facilities may not equal those found at international schools funded by embassies, they are often more than adequate, especially in Asia.

Trend #4: A Presuppositional Disconnect

There are at least two, non-monetary reasons why missionary parents reject the international and national school options. One is that they prefer a strength-based education, which is described under Trend #5. The other is that the international and national school options typically operate from a philosophic position that the parents find unacceptable. The issue is not simply one of disagreement but rather a conviction that the nature of the secular option is seriously harmful.

There is nothing new about Christians living in a philosophically hostile world. Christ warned His followers that opposition was inevitable, but they were to remain in the world and live as salt and light. In some countries, it is physically dangerous to live openly as a Christian. In others, the opposition is subtle and insidious and therefore even more dangerous (Mathew 10:28). Given this latter point, parents may feel that the national and international school options in their area are unacceptably risky. They may feel there is too high a probability that the compensatory strategies available to them are insufficient to counter the non-Biblical worldview which is consciously or unconsciously promoted at the school.

Above we noted the dynamic role parents play in their child’s academic achievement. There is no single decision more influential in children’s lives than the school the parents choose for them.

This is not the place for a Christian school apologetic. In fact, the authors of this article have attended secular schools, Christian national schools, an MK school, used homeschooling with their children, and attended a Christian boarding school as a boarder. We appreciated each one of these options and benefitted from them all. Nevertheless, times have changed, and it is important that parents not assume the modern school is the school of yesterday (e.g., ARC Foundation, 2019; Dueck, 2020). Given that children typically spend ten times as many hours in school as they do in church and given that the media to which they are unrelentingly exposed aligns its worldview with the state’s educational system, it is clear the stakes are high. If parents with all their training find it difficult to live as salt and light in a contrarian world, is it realistic to expect that their children, who live in the same environment, will be able to live as salt and light?

As parents reflect on their educational options and the presuppositional disconnect that exists in at least two of the options, it would also be helpful for them to keep in mind the orienting purposes found in modern education.

Economic Utilitarianism

The most frequently cited goal of education is to prepare students for employment. Because there is a strong correlation between knowledge, skills, and employment, governments promote education to gain a competitive economic advantage (Smith and Sandvik, 2012). Two years ago we investigated the possibility of working with a local Christian school in central Africa with the intent of helping it raise standards to an international level. The school head interrupted our presentation to remind us that 80% of the young people in the country were unemployed and the best thing we could do would be to help their graduating students get a job. Viewed this way, education is the handmaiden of opportunity (Hess, 2020) and a tool of the government to make its citizens economically more valuable.

Socialization

Harvard law professor and Director of the Child Advocacy Program, Elizabeth Bartholet, recently wrote an article for the Arizona Law Review in which she advocated a ban on homeschooling. Even though homeschoolers represent an insignificant 3.4% of the student population in the United States, she felt homeschooling threatened to create a “parallel society” which would promote ideas contrary to the public good (Bauer, 2020). A teaching specialist on child welfare and reproductive technology, she argued that children were hurt by an overexposure to parents with “extreme ideological views” and an inability to make independent, “meaningful choices.”

Bartholet, like many others, holds that education’s orienting purpose is to socialize children to a preferred culture. In this case, it is a progressive culture. Although the merits of her position on homeschooling are not relevant to this article, it is worth noting, as Fred Bauer did, that her approach is in “… real tension with the project of living in a pluralistic society, which means having a place for individuals and communities that dissent from the cultural mainstream …. Like adults, children are not just abstract agents whose teleological end is to maximize “choice’” (Bauer, 2020). While she is eager to have children abandon their parents’ worldview, she offers no corresponding option for those wishing to step away from her view.

As long ago as Émile Durkheim, sociologists were advocating that the education system should be a vehicle for the transmission of values and a shared history, as well as for the learning of skills and knowledge which would create a moral society and a “social being.” With the disappearance of Sunday Schools, Boy Scouts, 4-H clubs and similar moralizing programs, schools have increasingly stepped in to provide the socialization society feels it needs (e.g., Browning, 2019).

Personal Development

On the other hand, not all educators are as concerned with society’s well-being as they are with the development of the student into all he or she wishes to be. The goal is self-actualization and selffulfillment. Although Christians who seek to love their neighbors as they love themselves view this educational objective with reservation or outright hostility, the goal simply stated is to see students happy, responsible, and on the pathway to prudential citizenship. This aligns with John Dewey’s belief that education was about the development of the child, which can occur if education is student-centered and characterized by experiential learning and critical thinking.

Transformation

All the above orienting purposes have a dark as well as a bright side to them. We wholeheartedly agree that a quality education should prepare students for work and independent living, it should help them think deeply about their role and responsibility in society, it should leave them sharing a common communal bond, and it should encourage them to adopt a healthy commitment to societal values which correspond to Biblical teaching. The two school options noted above may operate with an orienting philosophic framework that enables a student to leave the school well prepared for life and without a confused or non-Biblical worldview. However, there is also a chance, even a likelihood, that this is not the case.

Our goal at TeachBeyond is to support the development of more educational options for MKs and we feel strongly that local creativity and contextualization are required for a school to be effective for parents, students, and teachers. However, we also believe the unifying thread in global education should be a clear, strong focus on the Biblical goal of education. As advocates of a Christocentric education, we believe education is not just about students becoming all they can be, but about them becoming all that God their Creator has in mind for them. This is a much more ambitious objective than Dewey’s child developmental aspiration because it takes all human development and then invites the Creator to extend the horizons and empower the process in accordance with His wisdom and power. It’s more exciting, more fulfilling, and more self-actualizing than any autonomous journey of self-discovery could ever be (Durance, 2019)

Trend #5: The Evolution of Christian Educational Opportunities

International schools and national schools with international standards are two of the four logical options available to MKs today. Both are undergoing change including, most notably, their emergence as a kind of “neighborhood” school in all the major urban areas of the world.

A third option is to homeschool. Like international and national schools, this is at once a more attractive and a more feasible option than it was even ten years ago. Issues of socialization, access, and quality control are now generally addressed, which leaves issues of practicality, preference, learning style, and government regulation as the biggest remaining barriers.

The concept of a “learning center” is not new, but it is new as a formal strategy and a replicable model for the provision of MK education. Its success stems from the collegial interface it creates between homeschoolers, national Christian schools, and an international/MK school or some variant thereof. It is particularly attractive in countries where legal exigencies make it difficult or impossible to establish a school. Furthermore, it welcomes the involvement of parents which is one of the strengths associated with homeschooling. Its flexibility and affordability, together with its strong commitment to a Christocentric learning environment make it an option that is likely to flourish in the intersection of the homeschooling and international Christian school movements. A fourth option is the International Christian School and the MK focused international Christian school. Both expressions of international education provide an attractive Christian alternative to the international and national schools. At the same time, they raise issues of affordability and parental engagement, if boarding is available.

Like the other three options, international Christian and MK schools are more attractive today than they were 30 years ago when the vice-prefect mentioned at the beginning of the article attended Black Forest Academy in south Germany. Academic standards have improved thanks in part to the work of the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI) and its helpful accreditation process. Teachers and boarding home staff come better prepared and when they arrive, they are able to participate in professional development programs. Their performance is also regularly evaluated, as it would be in any quality school. Safeguarding practices are articulated, implemented, and monitored. Physical plants now feature proper labs, auditoriums, athletic facilities, and playgrounds. If schools do not have these features, they are raising funds to acquire them. TeachBeyond currently has capital campaigns in place or in draft form for schools in every region of the world. Programs, too, have been broadened to reflect the varying interests and abilities of the students.

Noteworthy though these developments are, there are two non-programmatic, non-facility related characteristics associated with these schools that merit extended comment. International Christian schools have as their raison d'etre the provision of transformational Christian education. It is hard to overestimate the importance of this in an age when the prevailing culture undercuts, rejects, or distains the Christian worldview and its concomitant educational goals. One of the hallmarks of the age in which we live is that it is no longer convenient to be a Christian. As a consequence, the nature and role of Christian education has become clearer. No longer are families interested in Christian education because it cultivates good behavior. Rather, they seek it out because it aligns with the Bible and complements teaching at home and in the church.

This is not intended as a criticism of a previous generation which may have been more focused on behavior. Instead, it is referenced as a lesson we have learned and need to continue learning in light of the human tendency to focus on what can be seen and measured. These schools represent an antidote to a culture that is self-referential and obsessed with the pursuit of pleasure, rather than with service to others and a thoughtful pursuit of the “good life” (Psalm 1). In a world where cleverness and wit are confused with understanding and wisdom, these learning communities represent hope for something better, an oasis for young people to discover truth and embrace the pathway to a life that truly satisfies.

A second factor stands out in the MK school as well as in international Christian schools which have a special track for MKs as a unique subset of Third- Culture Kids (TCK). Because we accept that all students are equal in worth and made in God’s image, we hold that all are to be loved, all are special, and all are equally worthy of our care and concern. In this sense, MKs are not a privileged class. However, we also recognize that unique experiences create micro-cultures and MKs participate in such a culture, even though many of the more visible cultural traits are not shared across continents or from the concrete jungles of Kuala Lumpur to the rainforests of the Amazon.

MK focused education can provide a kind of “strength-based education.” By this we mean that MK schools or internationals schools with an MK focus are able to help MKs discover and develop their unique combination of gifts, talents, and abilities. There is a reason talented children study music at Juilliard School of Music and, there is a reason MKs come together for a short season of life to learn together in community.

In recent years, MK schools and, to a lesser extent, international Christian schools, have had to face an array of pressures which COVID-19 has only increased. Existential threats exist because of government regulations, taxes, visa issues, training requirements, mandated salaries and an aggravating array of local rules and procedures. The greatest challenge remains rising costs and stable, even diminishing, revenue streams. These are tuition-reliant institutions, and the costs of emerging technology and the desire to remain competitive in the sense of modernizing with the times left some of these schools precariously positioned even before COVID-19 froze operations.

The solution is not to find ways to cope with COVID- 19. Rather, it may be a time to add new services, reenvision old services, and replace inhibiting financial models. In some cases, it may also be time to move to a Learning Center approach or to a more flexible enrollment policy that permits an increase in non-MKs or non-Christians, with a public, affirmed declaration that founding principles are irrevocably embedded in the policies and ethos of the school. In other words, the challenge of COVID-19 needs to become the opportunity of COVID-19. Rather than reacting to a short term problem created by a virus, the preferred approach is to understand the trends which the virus accelerated and to use this unique occasion to introduce change that is anchored on a reality that transcends the immediate crisis.

Trend #6: The Promise and Challenge of Technology

Learning online in 2020 is the new normal. Andreas Schleicher (2019) observed that, “The kind of things that are easy to teach are now easy to automate, digitize or outsource.” Providers of international educational in general and missionaries in particular have been early adopters of technological innovation. At a time when much of the world is amazed at Zoom, Teams, and WhatsApp, those working in missions are wondering why all the fuss.

Several years ago, we visited one of our schools in south Asia. The need for math and science teachers able to offer Advanced Placement and A Level courses was critical. Even before COVID-19, the school reported it had successfully transitioned students to a quality, online platform in curricular areas where qualified staff were historically difficult to find. It is already out-of-date to say to this group of educators that a blended online-physical classroom approach could provide a creative workaround for aggravating personnel deficiencies.

The Internet’s ability to facilitate a link between online and physically present teachers is only one of many benefits it offers. Resourcing the classroom is another straightforward service. Until recently, Christian educators in isolated areas lacked market size to create resources for their niche needs. Short runs of textbooks and worksheets were prohibitively expensive. Today developers can shift from print to digital and serve a global market.

Equally exciting is the prospect of tailoring resources to the interests, needs, and pace of the student. A data rich environment makes it possible for the teacher to differentiate learning in ways that enhance the usefulness of the classroom and increase the student’s love of learning.

The Internet now makes it technically possible to introduce flexible start dates and extended absences for those on home assignment. In a similar way, it makes it technically possible for boarding students to spend longer periods at home. With the advent of virtual reality, in the coming decade students should be able to join any classroom in the world and have a genuine sense of being “really there.” If surgeons in training are moving in this direction, schools with boarding students will surely find helpful ways to use the technology. In summary, it is easy to see why digital technology creates excitement (Mintz, 2020).

However, challenges remain. In one of our central American schools, the pandemic provided an excellent opportunity to move key aspects of the program online. To everyone’s dismay, student access was hindered by the Internet’s speed and reliability. Expectations were further shattered by the discovery that many families still did not own a computer. Along with these technical problems, educators are having problem obtaining licenses and usage rights.

Resistance to change can also be strong if people are highly invested in traditional delivery formats. Andrew Cuomo, Governor of New York, announced at a recent press conference that New York would work with Bill Gates to “reimagine education” using technology (Strauss, 2020). His reasoning seemed logical and the idea of working with Mr. Gates exciting.

"The old model of everybody goesand sits in the classroom, and theteacher is in front of that classroomand teaches that class, and you dothat all across the city, all across thestate, all these buildings, all thesephysical classrooms—why, with allthe technology you have? … Whendoes change come to a society?Because we all talk about change andadvancement, but really we likecontrol, and we like the status quo,and it’s hard to change the status quo,” he said. “But you get momentsin history where people say, ‘Okay, I’mready. I’m ready for change. I get it.’ Ithink this is one of those moments.And I think education, as well as othertopics, is a topic where people willsay, ‘Look, I’ve been reflecting, I’vebeen thinking, I learned a lot.’ We alllearned a lot about how vulnerable weare and how much we have to do, andlet’s start talking about reallyrevolutionizing education. And it’s about time." Strauss, 2020

His enthusiasm did not convince everyone. Kathleen Elliott-Birdsall, a teacher at Smith Intermediate School in Cortland, said she “very nearly became apoplectic” when she heard about Cuomo’s plan (Strauss, 2020). She reported a long list of items that were higher on her want list than new technology. While the list of wants and needs differs from location to location, the point remains that even though technology holds real promise, leaders, teachers, parents, school boards, and owners need to work together to introduce change on the scale which appears to be inevitable.

Conclusion

How can the Christian community best support the education of missionary children in the years ahead? The answer requires a re-examination of assumptions and reflection on the state of MK education today.

Firstly, crises like the current global pandemic clarify what is important and impose awkward timeliness. They also provide diverting answers related to the crisis itself rather than to the unfolding historic context. Genuine, enduring support for MK education will be most effective if it aligns with preexisting, evolving opportunities and challenges.

Secondly, solution-oriented support will be closely linked to developments in the wider mission community. MK education is not an independent, autonomous, professional activity: it is a dependent, service-oriented ministry. The more attentively MK educators and caregivers listen to sending agencies, parents, and students, the more helpful will be the strategies and programs they create. Furthermore, the more attention they pay to the changing dynamic of global mission, the more helpful, the more effective, and the more appreciated their service will be. Missionaries are moving to the global cities of the world, and they are coming from everywhere to undertake a wide variety of activities beyond traditional church planting. Genuine, enduring support for MKs will take these trends into account, and both the location and nature of the educational service will reflect the changing aspirations and diversifying ethnic backgrounds of missionaries.

Thirdly, the support which is currently given to MKs is of high quality and marked by success and steady improvement. A brief reflection on the opportunities and challenges associated with each option reveals a mix of advantages and disadvantages, strengths and weaknesses. Any comprehensive plan to support missionaries and the global missions’ effort should support existing MK educational options and help staff in these ministries leverage their opportunities and address their problems. When it comes to MK education, this is a case where, “One size does not fit all.” At the same time, this does not mean that the varying sizes, that is, the different educational options, represent an either/or dilemma. It is time for flexible, bold, faith-filled, collaborative thinking.

Fourthly, best support for MK education and care in the future does not lie primarily in more, bigger, and better. All the methods and options, all the excitement (and anxiety) associated with new technology, and all the facilities and resources are of secondary importance. The greatest support MK educators and caregivers can provide is a gift that is received in the hearts and minds of children and young people. A new campus is not to be compared to a breakthrough, transformational understanding of what it means for Christ to be both personal Savior and Lord of all His creation (Psalm 139; Matt. 16:26).

About Authors

George Durance

George Durance is CATE’s (Christians Advancing Transformational Education) Facilitator. He also serves as President of Gateway Global Foundation, which seeks to support CATE and other worthy educational projects around the world (www.gatewayglobal.foundation). After teaching in a public high school, he served 12 years at Black Forest Academy, Germany (Social Studies, Principal, Director), 12 years at Ambrose University, Calgary and 12 years at TeachBeyond. He remains President Emeritus of both Ambrose and TeachBeyond. His academic training is in

Biblical studies, history, and education – disciplines which continue to shape his thinking and activities. He earned his PhD at Durham University. George has traveled extensively to help build supporting organizational structures for transformational Christian education. Both his administrative and academic work grow out of a conviction that God is using education in a distinct way to build His church. He is particularly interested in working with those exploring the dynamic role of visionary-missional-transformative-Christocentric education in post Christian, secular cultures.

David Durance

David Durance is the current President of TeachBeyond and leader of several other educational organizations committed to providing transformational education services on a global platform. He was the Regional Director of Asia for TeachBeyond for five years before his appointment to the senior position in TeachBeyond. He holds an Economics degree (With Distinction) from the University of Regina in Canada and an MBA (BGS Honor Society) from the University of Massachusetts (Amhurst). He is currently enrolled at Trinity International University in its PhD leadership program. His research interests are transformation steward leadership, organizational change, and the embracing of organizational mission-vision-values across cultures.