| |
Global Leadership Potential
James Tucker, School of Education, AU
Dare We Dream?
It is possible to conceive of a concept of Leadership that is built primarily on relationships--relationships between God and mankind and between and among individuals who are willing to join in the corporate struggle to demonstrate the real satisfaction that comes from service.
The world needs educational delivery systems that are willing to take bold steps to show that the principles of true education not only work, but also represent the answer to human need on a dying planet. These principles include the integration of faith and learning, successful achievement for all learners, learning that provides a balance of physical and mental pursuits, and practical preparation for a life of service.
Educators can and should seize the moment and move forward in faith to change the face of education, by demonstrating a dynamic-action agenda devoted to service rather than a philosophical/symbol agenda devoted to image.
A Global Alliance
We can forge a global alliance within which a community of professionals sets aside the competitive aspects of ego and melds a coalition of wisdom and experience--a worldwide brain trust, under God's direction, that is sanctified by the Spirit and motivated by the Commission of Jesus Christ.
Leadership Laboratory
We can form a Leadership Laboratory where ideas can be molded into models--a place where the eternal ideas of Christian servant-leadership can be explored and modeled for adoption around the world
A Community of Professionals
We can gather as a worldwide faculty brought together only by common goals and shared vision--a group that corporately grapples with and at least tentatively resolves the "power and control" issues related to accreditation, quality, and accountability, without establishing a "king." We can establish facilitation without control, quality without censure, access without prejudice.
Traditionally, ideas are kept close to the vest and disclosed only under controlled conditions. Can we change that? Can we achieve honor and glory as a collective rather than striving for individual power for supremacy? Better yet, can we dare hope that we can work together to bring honor and glory to God by mutual contribution to a common vision?
Not too many years ago, a group of people got together in secret and created the atom bomb. They changed the world. We need a group of people to come together out in the open to create ideas that will change the world. A group that works without thought of copyright or royalty to provide ways to meet the needs of people on Earth. A group of people who, acknowledging the natural motivation of ego-driven self, consciously agree to a collaborative menu of services.
The Role of Higher Education
"Higher" education has long been viewed as a source for improving quality in the world's educational systems. Yet it is increasingly evident that undergraduate and graduate programs of study primarily lead to the accumulation of symbolic information with little or no emphasis on applying that information to meet the real needs of people. Institutions train gifted manipulators of symbols instead of effective human servants. The result is a largely symbolic agenda (i.e., committee meetings to discuss a service) rather than an action agenda (i.e., providing the service).
Every public-service agency appears to be scrambling to find symbolic solutions to the social ills of our time. And while the information managers try to construct a "super highway" to manage the flow of symbols, people are dying for lack of the needed service. The term community has come back into popularity, in part because of wide recognition that we have lost the sense of brotherhood that once held communities together against the moral and ethical evils of life. If there ever were a time when society needed a community of human servants, it is now.
The Role of Technology
Technology is nothing more nor less than a tool to achieve goals and objectives that are consistent with the mission. To the degree that technology can assist in that effort, it should be brought to bear in all of its force. To the degree that technology detracts from the goals and objectives, it should be viewed with skepticism and modified or discarded accordingly.
Conclusion
"Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil." Eccl. 12:13-14.