Kingdom Chat Week 32: The Average Represents Nobody
For this week’s Kingdom Chat, I invite you to watch the 5-min video. “No such thing as an average student” produced by Stand Together, the non-profit organization where I currently work. It’s an insightful take on the challenges of the modern educational system and opportunities for making innovative changes. The message is quite practical and may not appear to be “spiritual”, however, one of the core pillars of this ministry is innovation, because we believe that God inspires us to address this world’s problems with creative solutions. In addition to receiving ideas from God about new ways of doing things, we ought to be able to evaluate the validity of new innovations and ideas through the lens of God’s Kingdom.
To complete this Kingdom Chat, watch the video and then respond to one or more of the questions below:
1) “The average represents nobody” was an interesting quote from the video. What evidence can you find in Scripture or in nature that points to the uniqueness of each person’s gifts, abilities, and life calling?
2) The video argues for 3 critical components of a good educational system (summarized below). Do you think these recommendations align with the principles of God’s kingdom? Why or why not?
- Mastery of Learning – Focusing on a student learning and becoming confident about applying their knowledge, rather than focusing only on test scores and grades
- Deep Flexibility – Adapting to the needs, interests, and learning style of the student whenever possible
- Divergent Outcomes – Acknowledging that “success” is not standardized in the way the world assumes it to be, so the outcomes may look different from student to student
3) Student disengagement is unfortunately common in schools, especially as children get older. Are there young people in your life that you can encourage to re-engage in learning and self-discovery? If so, who are they and how can you inspire them?
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Verified
Kingdom Explorer I was reading Proverbs 22 in the Amplified version today and saw something new about the commonly referenced “train up your child in the way he should go” verse. The Amplified version adds “in keeping with his individual gifts and bent”. That’s what we’re talking about here. Meaning, not all kids are headed on the same exact path into adulthood. We train them to follow Jesus wherever He would take them in life, and that happens to be directly correlated to way He uniquely crafted them.
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Trusted
Kingdom Pioneer
@purposefaith It’s interesting how that one moment you think you have understood a verse and the next moment a new perspective is thrown at you and the learning resumes. Never considered this verse in this light💡. Good word!
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Trusted
Kingdom Pioneer
Thanks Nia. This reminds me that we must treat each person God brings our way uniquely. I think of it in the area of discipleship. We tend to lump every believer into the same basket using the same method of discipleship and this can lead to a disconnect and we wonder why people don’t persevere through their process of spiritual development. Just as we saw in one of the daily Devotionals this week, Jesus met Peter multiples times before calling him to follow Him. He knew people was uniquely different and can’t be reached the same way his brother, Andrew, was reached. In our families, every kid is different and must be related with and given the opportunity to explore who they are and what they really care about. I will definitely be applying this both in ministry, family and my business.
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Verified
Kingdom Pioneer
Thank you Nia. I think its a captivating heading. We have been trained in our traditional education system to compete with each other to reach a predetermined goal in order to be termed successful. Unfortunately, we don’t know who set the goal or determines what success is. I often think about it that our examinations are geared to favour those who can memorise data or facts and regurgitate them without recourse to others who appreciate facts differently. I see why homeschooling seems to be a trend though it has its own social challenges.
I agree that as believers, its important to infuse our children with the right concepts about life while we guide them to follow their God-given passions and purpose. In dealing with my children I try to watch how they respond to different scenarios or experiences of life, from food, to TV programs, to individuals, et. This helps me understand how to relate better and engage them better.
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