TOPIC:

IDEAL ADVENTIST EDUCATION

BY
IHUOMA, JOSHUA CHINOMSO
 Bible Reading: Proverbs 22:6.

•"Train up a child in the

way he should go: and
when he is old, he will
not depart from it."
 OUTLINE
• WHY EDUCATION?
• WHO ARE WE (SDA CHURCH)?
• PHILOSOPHY OR AIM OF ADVENTIST EDUCATION
• IDEAL ADVENTIST EDUCATION
• TYPES OF EDUCATION (SECULAR)
• TYPES/ OF EDUCATION (ADVENTISM)
• HISTORY
• LEADERSHIP AND STRUCTURE
• CURRENT ISSUES
• WHAT SHALL WE DO THEN? (WAY FORWARD)
• CONCLUSION
 WHY EDUCATION?

• Education exist as a medium for value (norm, belief,

principles/set of rules ) transmission.
• Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is
old, he will not depart from it.(KJV) -Prsoverbs 22:6

• According to the encarta Dictionary, educating suggests

the imparting and acquiring of knowledge through
teaching and learning, especially at a school or similar
institution "After all, what is education but a process by
which a person begins to learn how to learn?" (PETER
USTINOV Dear Me 1977)
Triangular/tri-patriate form of education

Moral /
spiritual aspect

Physical aspect Mental aspect

• WHAT’S THE INTEREST OF THE SDA IN EDUCATION

• According to the Church Manual, Church

entities operate schools from kindergarten
through university levels for the purpose of
transmitting to students the Church’s ideals,
beliefs, attitudes, values, habits, and
customs. The source, the means, and the aim
of Adventist education are a true knowledge
of God, fellowship and companionship with
Him in study and service, and likeness to Him
in character development.
CONSTITUTUENTS OF EDUCATION
• INSTRUCTION & TEACHING
• TRAINING
• LEARNING
• Give [instruction] to a wise [man], and
he will be yet wiser: teach a just [man],
and he will increase in learning.(KJV) -
Proverbs 9:9
 SUPER CURRICULUM AID EDUCATION
• As a means of intellectual training, the Bible is more
effective than any other book, or all other books
combined. The greatness of its themes, the
dignified simplicity of its utterances, the beauty of
its imagery, quicken and uplift the thoughts as
nothing else can. No other study can impart such
mental power as does the effort to grasp the
stupendous truths of revelation. The mind thus
brought in contact with the thoughts of the Infinite
cannot but expand and strengthen. {CCh 207.6}
HISTORY OF ADVENTIST EDUCATION

LOCATION: Byington’s home at Buck’s Bridge,

New York.
1st Teacher: the teacher was Martha Byinton
(John Byinton’s daughter) .
LEVEL OF EDUCATION: Adventist elementary
school in conjunction with the Sabbath school
YEAR OF ESTABLISHMENT: begun in 1853
 Education
The Education Department provides coordination and supervision to the worldwide
Seventh-day Adventist educational system, from the elementary school to the
university level. Adventist educational institutions promote the total development
of their students– mental, spiritual, physical and social– and actively support the
mission of the church.
The first denominationally-sponsored Adventist elementary and secondary school
began in Battle Creek, Michigan in 1872, and the first college opened in the same
location in 1874. Since then, Adventists have established new schools, colleges and
universities in over one hundred countries, with more than one million students
enrolled.
The Education Department publishes The Journal of Adventist Education in English,
French, Portuguese and Spanish. The department also supports the church’s
ministry on behalf of Adventist students attending public colleges and universities
by publishing Dialogue, which is distributed free to them in the same four
languages.
 Historical and contemporary accounts
Sporadic efforts had been made to establish church
schools as early as 1853. Possibly the first of
these was sponsored by John Byington, with his
daughter, Martha, as teacher at Buck’s Bridge, New
York. The first official Seventh-day Adventist school
anywhere in the world was begun in 1872 at Battle
Creek by Goodloe H. Bell, a former patient of the
Battle Creek Sanitarium. The school was the
building that had originally been built for the press.
Today the church operates more schools around
the world than any other Protestant denomination.
-(CHURCH HERITAGE )
 Establishment of Medical institutions
• As a direct result of a second vision on health
received by Ellen White, a health institution was
opened in 1866. It was first called the Western
Health Reform Institute and later became world
known as Battle Creek Sanitarium. It was paid for
by personal pledges (James White and J. P. Kellogg
gave $500 each) and became the first of what was
to become one of the largest chains of
medical institutions in the world.
• Dr. Kate Lindsay helped start a school of medicine
at Battle Creek in 1883. (Church Heritage)
 Medical Missionary School
• A medical school had been established in Battle Creek, but it
left with Dr. Kellogg and later had to close.
• In 1910, the church opened the College of Medical Evangelists
in Loma Linda, California. The institution prospered, and in
1913 a clinic was opened in Los Angeles, which became White
Memorial Hospital. CME, as the college became known, and
renamed Loma Linda University, has become world renowned,
and today is listed for many great accomplishments, including
this stated by the American Medical Association: “one of the
top three medical schools in the nation for training physicians
how to help patients stop smoking. (Church Heritage)
 EDUCATION, TRAINING AND EARLY
LEARNING
• There is a period for training children, and a time for educating
youth. And it is essential that both of these be combined in a
great degree in the schools. Children may be trained for the
service of sin or for the service of righteousness. The early
education of youth shapes their character in this life, and in their
religious life. Solomon says: "Train up a child in the way he
should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."
[Proverbs 22:6.] This language is positive. The training which
Solomon enjoins is to direct, educate, and develop. In order for
parents and teachers to do this work, they must themselves
understand the way the child should go. This embraces more
than merely having a knowledge of books. It takes in everything
that is good, virtuous, righteous, and holy. –C.E (1894) PP. 6
 WHO ARE WE (SDA CHURCH)?

• Adventist are those who are expecting the second

return of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
• Seventh- Day Adventists are actually special group
of Adventists who are not only expectants of the
soon return of our Lord Jesus Christ but have the
faith of Jesus and also keep God’s commandments.
Their historical background is backed up and
rooted in the bible as seen in the Bible book of
Revelation chapter 10, 12 and 14 (their message).
 PHILOSOPHY OR AIM OF ADVENTIST EDUCATION

• Adventist Church settles for ‘True education’: true

education means more than the pursual of a certain
course of study. It means more than a preparation for
the life that now is. _ED pp. 14 (1903)

• It deals with meeting with and achieving the purpose

for which God created us (humans) for. Adventist
education advocates for something higher than being
a medical doctor, a classroom teacher, a nurse, etc; it
dwells on achieving God’s purpose in your life.
 PHILOSOPHY OR AIM OF ADVENTIST EDUCATION cont..

• It is redemption, restoration and reconciliation in its

mission.
• Adventist education must seek to achieve a balance among
the social, spiritual, mental and physical aspects of each
student in all of its activities and through its total program.
• It has to do with the whole being, and with the whole
period of existence possible to man. It is the harmonious
development of the physical, the mental, and the spiritual
powers. It prepares the student for the joy of service in
this world and for the higher joy of wider service in the
world to come. {Ed 13.1}
 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE AND THE
MECHANIC ARTS
• Every institution of learning should make provision
for the study and practice of agriculture and the
mechanic arts. Competent teachers should be
employed to instruct the youth in the various
industrial pursuits, as well as in the several branches
of study. While a part of each day is devoted to
mental improvement, let a stated portion be given
to physical labor, and a suitable time to devotional
exercises and the study of the Scriptures. {FE 72.4}
 Facts check
• The educational system is still the largest Protestant
parochial school system in the world, with 2000
data indicating 4,809 elementary schools, 1,126
secondary schools, 99 colleges and universities,
with a total enrolment of more than a million.
 SCIENCE THROUGH TRUE EDUCATION
• The first great lesson in all education is to know and understand the will of God.
Take the knowledge of God with you through every day of life. Let it absorb the
mind and the whole being. God gave Solomon wisdom, but this God-given
wisdom was perverted when he turned from God to obtain wisdom from other
sources. We need the wisdom of Solomon after we have learned the wisdom of
One greater than Solomon. We are not to go through human wisdom, which is
termed foolishness, to seek true wisdom. For men to learn science through men's
interpretation, is to obtain a false education, but to learn of God and Jesus Christ
is to learn the science of the Bible.
• The confusion in education has come because the wisdom and knowledge of God
have not been honored and exalted by the religious world. The pure in heart see
God in every providence, in every phase of true education. They vibrate to the
first approach of light which radiates from the throne of God. Communications
from heaven are made to those who will catch the first gleams of spiritual
knowledge. {SpTEd 15.1}
 WISDOM OF GOD EXALTED ABOVE MEN’S WISDOM
• The students in our schools are to consider the knowledge of
God as above everything else. Searching the Scriptures alone
will bring the knowledge of the true God and Jesus Christ whom
he hath sent. "The preaching of the cross is to them that perish
foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will
bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent." "Because
the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of
God is stronger than men." "But of him are ye in Christ Jesus,
who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and
sanctification, and redemption: that, according as it is written,
He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord."
• March 26, 1896.
 IDEAL THEME OF ADVENTIST
EDUCATION (FEAR OF GOD)
• The fear of the LORD [is] the beginning of knowledge:
[but] fools despise wisdom and instruction.(KJV) -
Proverbs 1:7
• The fear of the LORD [is] the beginning of wisdom: and
the knowledge of the holy [is] understanding.(KJV) -
Proverbs 9:10

• The fear of the LORD [is] the beginning of wisdom: a

good understanding have all they that do [his
commandments]: his praise endureth for ever.(KJV) -
Psalm 111:10
 Ideal Primary education
• Our primary education starts with home training (the
mother, father, the church, nature and good society)
***********************************************
• The mother should be careful how she trusts the molding
of the infant mind to other hands. Parents ought to be the
best teachers of their children until they have reached
eight or ten years of age. Their schoolroom should be the
open air, amid the flowers and birds, and their textbook
the treasure of nature. As fast as their minds can
comprehend it, the parents should open before them
God's great book of nature. These lessons, given amid
such surroundings, will not soon be forgotten. 346 {CCh
208.3}
 Dangers of early childhood education
• There’s dangers in Sending Children to School Too Young
***********************************************
• As the dwellers in Eden learned from nature's pages, as
Moses discerned God's handwriting on the Arabian plains
and mountains, and the child Jesus on the hillsides of
Nazareth, so the children of today may learn of Him. The
unseen is illustrated by the seen. {CCh 208.1}
• So far as possible, let the child from his earliest years be
placed where this wonderful lesson book shall be open
before him. 345 {CCh 208.2}
• Do not send your little ones away to school too early.
Reason why we should’nt subscribe to the reigning
early childhood education

Not only has the physical and mental health of children been
endangered by being sent to school at too early a period, but they
have been the losers in a moral point of view. They have had
opportunities to become acquainted with children who were
uncultivated in their manners. They were thrown into the society of
the coarse and rough, who lie, swear, steal and deceive, and who
delight to impart their knowledge of vice to those younger than
themselves. Young children, if left to themselves, learn the bad more
readily than the good. Bad habits agree best with the natural heart,
and the things which they see and hear in infancy and childhood are
deeply imprinted upon their minds; and the bad seed sown in their
young hearts will take root and will become sharp thorns to wound the
hearts of their parents. 347 {CCh 208.4}
 IDEAL AGE AND CONTENT
PRIMARY EDUCATION

• 6-8 YEARS IS IDEAL

• MORAL EDUCATION
• READING
• WRITING
• ARITHEMETIC
• PRACTICAL LEARNING
 HOME SCHOOLING IS
ADVOCATED.
It (HS) is the ideal early
childhood education. Home
schooling saw the Jewish
education system through.
 Secondary education
• CONTINUAL BASIC EDUCATION
• MORAL EDUCATION
• TRUE SCIENCE THAT EXALTS GOD
• AGRICULTURE
• READING, COMPREHENSION AND MEMORISATION OF
THE SCRIPTURES
• TRUE HISTORY (ARTS)
• TRUE MEDICAL SCIENCES (COMBINATION OF GOOD
INNOVATIONS AND NATURAL LAWS OF HEALTH OR
NATURAL REMEDIES)
• FUNCTIONAL EDUCATION
 Higher education
• The true "higher education" is that imparted
by Him with whom "is wisdom and strength"
(Job 12:13), out of whose mouth "cometh
knowledge and understanding." Proverbs 2:6.
{Ed 14.1}
 Ideal Adventist Education
• Popular education does not remedy the evil. The lax
discipline in many institutions of learning has nearly
destroyed their usefulness, and in some cases rendered
them a curse rather than a blessing. This fact has been
seen and deplored, and earnest efforts have been made
to remedy the defects in our educational system. There
is urgent need of schools in which the youth may be
trained to habits of self-control, application, and self-
reliance, of respect for superiors and reverence for God.
With such training, we might hope to see the young
prepared to honor their Creator and to bless their fellow
men. {FE 64.1}
•
 Ideal Adventist education
• It was to secure these objects that our own College
at Battle Creek was founded. But those who
endeavor to accomplish such a work, find that
their undertaking is fraught with many and grave
difficulties. The evil which underlies all others, and
which often counteracts the efforts of the best
instructors, is to be found in the home discipline.
Parents do not see the importance of shielding
their children from the gilded temptations of this
age. They do not exercise proper control
themselves, and hence do not rightly appreciate its
value. {FE 64.2}
 Parents responsibility
• Many fathers and mothers err in failing to second
the efforts of the faithful teacher. Youth and
children, with their imperfect comprehension and
undeveloped judgment, are not always able to
understand all the teacher's plans and methods. Yet
when they bring home reports of what is said and
done at school, these are discussed by the parents
in the family circle, and the course of the teacher is
criticised without restraint.
 FAMILY RESPONSIBILITY
• The family circle is the school in which the child
receives its first and most enduring lessons. Hence
parents should be much at home. By precept and
example, they should teach their children the love
and the fear of God; teach them to be intelligent,
social, affectionate, to cultivate habits of industry,
economy, and self-denial. By giving their children
love, sympathy, and encouragement at home,
parents may provide for them a safe and welcome
retreat from many of the world's temptations. {FE
65.2}
 THE TEACHER
• The educators of youth should realize the
obligation resting upon them, and do their
best to obliterate defects, whether physical,
mental, or moral. They should aim at
perfection in their own case, that the students
may have a correct model. {SpTEd 22.3}
 TEACHERS SHOULD BE CAREFULLNESS
• Teachers should work circumspectly. Those who are
often with God in prayer, have holy angels by their
side. The atmosphere that surrounds their souls is
pure and holy; for their whole soul is imbued with the
sanctifying influence of the Spirit of God. They should
be learners every day in the school of Christ, that they
may be teachers under the Great Teacher. They must
learn of Christ, and become one with him in the work
of training minds, before they can be efficient
teachers in the higher education--the knowledge of
God. {SpTEd 23.1}
 MORE QUALITIES OF A SCHOOL WORKER /TEACHER
• Our church schools need teachers who have high moral
qualities; those who can be trusted; those who are sound in
the faith and who have tact and patience; those who walk
with God and abstain from the very appearance of evil. {CCh
207.1}
• To place over young children, teachers who are proud and
unloving is wicked. A teacher of this stamp will do great harm
to those who are rapidly developing character. If teachers are
not submissive to God, if they have no love for the children
over whom they preside, or if they show partiality for those
who please their fancy, and manifest indifference to those who
are less attractive, or to those who are restless and nervous,
they should not be employed; for the result of their work will
be a loss of souls for Christ. {CCh 207.2}
 PHYSICAL QUALIFICATIONS OF AN
ADVENTIST TEACHER
• The importance of the teacher's physical qualifications can
hardly be overestimated; for the more perfect his health,
the more perfect will be his labor. The mind cannot be clear
to think and strong to act when the physical powers are
suffering the results of feebleness or disease. The heart is
impressed through the mind; but if, because of physical
inability, the mind loses its vigor, the channel to the higher
feelings and motives is to that extent obstructed, and the
teacher is less able to discriminate between right and
wrong. When suffering the results of ill health, it is not an
easy matter to be patient and cheerful, or to act with
integrity and justice. 342 {CCh 207.5}
 Location for our education
• From the light given me in regard to the location
and building up of our school interests, I know
that it is the purpose of God that this institution
be established at a distance from the city that is
so full of temptations and snares, of amusements
and holidays, which are not conducive to purity
and piety and religious devotion. He designs that
we shall connect manual labor with the
improvement of the mental powers.
 ADVENTIST EDUCATION AND AGRICULTURE
• . I have been shown that study in agricultural
lines should be the A B and C of the educational
work of our schools. This institution must not
depend upon imported produce,--for the fruits so
ssential to healthfulness, and for their grains and
vegetables.
• This is the very first work that must be entered
upon. Then as we shall advance and add to our
facilities, advance studies and object lessons
should come in. We are not to subtract from that
which has already been taken hold of as a branch
of education. {SpM 134.4} SPM pp. 135 (1985)
 LEADERSHIP AND STRUCTURE

• Education Secretary

• Home and School Association

• Church School Board

• NOTE: The principal is an ex officio member of the

Home and School Association committee.
 School Board Meetings
The church school is usually supervised by a church
school board. The church elects a chairperson to
preside over meetings and a secretary to keep records
of meetings and actions. This board should meet at
regular times.
Special meetings may be called by the chairperson.
Some churches prefer to have the church board, or a
subcommittee of the church board, also serve as the
school board. (CHURCH MANUAL PP. 133 See also pp.
90-92.)
WHO SHOULD BE OUR PRINCIPAL OR H.M
Secure a strong man to stand as principal of your
school, a man whose physical strength will support
him in doing thorough work as a disciplinarian; a
man who is qualified to train the students in habits
of order, neatness, and industry. Do thorough work
in whatever you undertake. If you are faithful in
teaching the common branches, many of your
students could go directly into the work as
canvassers, colporteurs, and evangelists. We need
not feel that all workers must have an advanced
education. 335 {CCh 206.2}
 FEAR OF GOD IS A SPECIAL QUALITY A TEACHER MUST
POSSESS
• There should not be a teacher employed, unless you have evidence
by test and trial, that he loves, and fears to offend God. If teachers
are taught of God, if their lessons are daily learned in the school of
Christ, they will work in Christ's lines. They will win and draw with
Christ; for every child and youth is precious. 337 {CCh 206.4}

• The habits and principles of a teacher should be considered of even

greater importance than his literary qualifications. If he is a sincere
Christian, he will feel the necessity of having an equal interest in
the physical, mental, moral, and spiritual education of his scholars.
In order to exert the right influence, he should have perfect control
over himself, and his own heart should be richly imbued with love
for his pupils, which will be seen in his looks, words, and acts. 338
{CCh 206.5}
 TYPES OF EDUCATION (SECULAR)

• FORMAL: classroom and certification

• NON-FORMAL: there may be
certification and there may not be;
deals more with skill acquisition
• INFORMAL: classless education
 EDUCATION (SECULAR)

• Advocates for a bookish pattern of education (SUBJECT

BASED)
• Advocates for early child hood education
• Seeks to canvass humanism
• Adopts false science against true science
• Dwarnism against creationism
• Seeks wealth above Godly greatness
• Pride and firm is the focus
• Less or no attention is given to morality
• Restlessness as a result of anticipation against the will of God
ADVENTIST EDUCATION (ADVENTISM)
***METHODOLOGY***
• Advocates for a practical and functional pattern of education
(FUNCTIONAL BASED)
• Advocates for motherhood training and homeschooling against
ECHED
• Seeks to canvass Godliness
• Adopts TRUE science
• Creationism
• Seeks Godly greatness above wealth
• Humility and Gentleness is the focus
• Great attention is given to MORALITY/SPIRITUALITY
• Restfullness as a result of adherence to Godly counsel and the will of
God is advocated
 INFILTRATION
• Secularism
• Immorality
• Humanism
• Post modernism
• Truth relativism
• Common good
 PHYSICAL AND MORAL TRAINING
• In the eager effort to secure intellectual
culture, physical as well as moral
training has been neglected. Many
youth come forth from institutions of
learning with morals debased, and
physical powers enfeebled; with no
knowledge of practical life, and little
strength to perform its duties. {FE 71.2}
 CONCLUSION
THERE’S A DISCONNECT IN THE IDEAL
EDUCATION SYSTEM: WE MUST RETURN TO
OUR ROOTS