Challenging Themselves and International Schools to Change for Better Education and Care
David Wilcox, PhD, ACSI
Note: Please see the IMKEC page for current conference information.
Twenty-two home office mission personnel met at the Children’s Education offices of the Summer Institute of Linguistics August 23–26, 2001. These sending organizations represent over 8,200 children of missionaries from many lands, not just the United States and Canada. The meeting was the Intermission MK Education Consultation (IMKEC), which meets annually to bring together MK education policy makers from the home offices of evangelical mission agencies. This year the topics were the internationalization of curriculum, the components of pre-field preparation for families in the area of their children’s education, and planning for future research. Mission organizations have representatives on the school boards of many Christian international schools. They wholly own and operate some of these schools. Their influence on the policies and vision of the schools varies significantly from one school to another. The purpose of the resolutions is to communicate to interested parties the shared values and perspectives of mission agency headquarters personnel. IMKEC passed the following resolutions:
Resolution #1
How missions and international Christian schools should proceed in response to the changing demographics of missions
IMKEC recognizes that the mission community continues to become more culturally diverse. We further recognize that this diversity both strengthens and continues to be a challenge for international Christian schools. Therefore, we recommend that:
♦ Missions
- Strongly encourage schools to provide a biblically based, culturally sensitive education, including consideration of students’ backgrounds, the host culture, and the students’ future plans.
- Require pre-field training to specifically equip school personnel for serving in a multinational setting.
- Recognize and accept the financial implications of providing an appropriate education for a more diverse missionary community.
♦ Schools
- Intentionally and systematically adapt curriculum, teaching styles, and assessment and reporting systems for multinational student populations.
- Aim to recruit faculty and board representation from a variety of countries represented in the student population.
- Develop written statements about their school’s vision for serving a multinational population. An example we recommend for study is the Black Forest Academy statement, which presents their definition of the international Christian education they seek to provide.
Resolution #2
Components of the flow of care for families serving internationally
Based on the organization’s philosophy of children’s education, each mission should develop an educational flow of care for families. This should include:
- Advocacy on behalf of parents and their children—encouraging mission leaders to look carefully at educational and family needs in making strategic decisions regarding the assignment of personnel.
- Communicating their philosophy of children’s education to families from the earliest stages of contact.
- Requiring a comprehensive pre-field preparation for parents to help them make informed educational choices, consider long-term implications, be aware of appropriate resources, and develop the skills needed to implement options. We note that parents using homeschooling, national schools, or boarding need more extensive preparation.
- Providing ongoing support to parents on field, during home assignment, and at reentry through information, consultants, and testing services.
IMKEC Missions Working Together Q1 2001