Increasing the relevance of theological institutions in Asia
This project is part of a wider WITH initiative to encourage those who develop training to move from an emphasis on information to one of transformation.
Our transformational role
An international team – consisting of ATA, Entrust and WITH – is mentoring course writers from five seminaries. These writers are developing courses, focussing on the communities in which their students work and live, instead of on the course topic only. Courses written in this way equip students to play a greater role within their local communities.
How it works
WITH was invited by their partners ATA and Entrust to participate in developing a series of workshops designed for teachers from five seminaries, aiming to write new courses.
Because transformative learning is based in the local situation, the workshops are geared up so that each team can best design courses equipping students to engage with their own communities.
Three local leaders have joined the core development team. Ongoing coaching will equip them to be able to deliver workshops regionally and coach local institutions.
When completed, the local team will form a network of practitioners, training an expanding number of teachers in ATA accredited institutions. The developers will be able to run workshops and coach participants with confidence and understanding of how to help teachers move from a focus on information to equipping for transformation.
“We need to produce relevant and meaningful material. We used to write based on the content as the primary focus—content as master to the learner. Now, we have changed our approach and have seen an immediate impact on the students. It used to be that we had to pursue them, now they pursue us! “
Quote from a local professor
What next?
To expand the local network of training developers, WITH and its partners will continue to coach the local leaders who now are part of the core team. Further partnership involves workshops with new institutions. These workshops will be developed through the professional and relational networks that are already in place and new ones. WITH and the core team will continue to analyse how best to move forward working with seminaries.
Region:
- Asia
WITH’s partner:
Asia Theological Association (ATA), Entrust
Key objectives:
- To assist local coaches to develop and run writing workshops for a growing number of seminaries that want to move from traditional teaching models to transformative training models.
- To develop a local network of training leaders who are studying and applying the transformative training models in their local situations.
- To grow the number of practitioners of transformative training within local churches so that local communities of believers are transformed as a result.
- To expand the network to other organisations throughout the region.
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