Quality and Relevance

Most, if not all theological institutions, wish to be great and become better, not for reason of competition but for aiming for quality and commitment of their engagements in the world. With the rapid changes in the ecology of education created by the age of digitalization, some theological institutions turn to the experience of reputable business industries to learn how to improve the quality of performance of their faculty, students and the leadership in the seminary context. The definitions of quality may obviously vary from institution to institution. Depending on how the depth of their understanding of quality is, as accentuated in their mission statements, the necessity for evidence to show the correlation between their mission and programs cannot be ignored. The question, “To what extent is the mission of the school demonstrable in the curriculum of the institution?” needs further details for it to be more explicit. More often than not, there seems to be an “unknown ditch” between what drives the institutions to the future as reflected in its mission and what competency the school expects its students and graduates to exhibit during and after seminary education. This area also occupies the interest in higher education among the accreditation bodies globally. Perhaps, one of the reasons is the overwhelming efforts of translating the school’s mission to the curriculum. Challenging they may be, they provide a space for an in-depth process of evaluating the impact, if not the relevance of the school’s presence in the community.

This also has broadening implications to the assessment of the schools’ degree programs. At present, the common model of assessing the quality of theological schools is prescriptive. That is, that the quality status or rank of schools is tied to the number of its qualified faculty, titles of books and other library information resources, financial sustainability, facilities and other areas that support the school’s mission. They are, no doubt, fundamental requirements and should not be undervalued; otherwise, the schools have no reason to exist if they fail to meet the basic requirements. However, as observed by other accrediting agencies in the West, the prescribed standard, or the “one size fits all” approach, cannot be universalized anymore. The quality of the schools is measured on the basis of how the schools fulfil their promise and exercise their accountability to the students as publicized in their mission statement. Such view of quality has direct implications to our philosophy of theological education. In this age of digitization, not to mention the advent of 5G or the “superfast fifth generation mobile internet services,” (https://www.bbc.com/news/business-44871448) schools will be compelled to adapt to the times and rethink of their approach to learning. The volatility of the context created by information technology will likewise challenge the traditional classroom instruction due to the unlimited access to knowledge that reinforces learning and consequently performance. In the light of this new development in education as in the business world, the trend towards conducting data-based research is deemed a necessity for the future of the educational institutions. Access to data has the power to transform the mindsets of theological institution. While the data and their interpretation may constantly change, they help the institutions define or identify their position in society and also guide them to position themselves in a more solid ground in the foreseeable future.

Beginning this year, ATESEA will intensify its efforts to prepare the future of theological education by conducting surveys in the different areas of its services. It is our hope that this attempt and its outcomes will motivate the member schools to rise above the minimum standards of quality education and advance to higher academic level of excellence and extent of relevancy of their presence in the region.