Anxiety and Christian Higher Education

At some point I am going to write about anxiety that exists among the administration and faculty of Christian higher education institutions. Today is not the day. Instead, I am going to offer a brief synopsis of an "in progress" paper I am hoping to submit to a journal for publication.

The paper's thesis is as follows:

One of the least recognized and most concerning aspects of online theological education is that it nurtures chronic anxiety. In order to unpack this statement let me define chronic anxiety and it's systemic nature. Counselor and educator Peter Steinke highlights the etymological origins of the term anxiety as "wind" or "air", "choking" or "strangling" (Steinke, 2019). Notice the physiological link between the experience of anxiety and not being able to breathe. He describes someone who is chronically anxious as being unable to regulate their emotional capacities.

According to therapist Murray Bowen, when two parties are in a chronically anxious system, they look to triangle in a third party to alleviate the anxiety. This can be seen when someone has a disagreement with another person and later they talk to a third party about the conflict. It serves to transfer the anxiety, shifting it around to make it more comfortable for the anxious person.

While I don't have time to explain the details, the paper I am working on looks at technology as a third party that can be triangled in to the learning system. Before the move to online learning, students interacted directly with the teacher, other students, and the learning material. Now, computers, phones, and digital interfaces have been triangled into education.

While what I am suggesting may seem like a stretch, the research on people and their prolonged interaction with digital devices indicates growing rates of anxiety as one of the results. While the Internet is allowing more students greater access to Christian higher education, excessive uses of the Web also seems to produce heightened levels of anxiety.

 

Jacques Ellul on technology

French historian, sociological, and theologian Jacques Ellul had some interesting insights about technology. In chapter thirteen of his book, Jacques Ellul on Religion, Technology, and Politics: Conversations with Patrick Troude-Chastenet, Ellul was asked, "How would you summarize the main thrust of your work on technology?" Ellul responded:

I would say that I have tried to show how technology is developing completely independently of any human control. Carried away in some Promethean dream modern man has always thought he could harness Nature whereas what is happening is that he is building an artificial universe for himself where he is increasingly being constrained. He thought he would achieve his goal by using technology but he has ended up its slave. 

Ellul, like Marshall McLuhan, Martin Heidegger and others, writes about the influence of technology on human being. Here, Ellul appears to suggest that technology acts autonomously from humans and in ways that subjugate people. However, unlike colonization where one group exerts their will over another, technology is generally embraced willingly and freely by those who use it. As we build our digital universe we begin to function within technological perimeters and limit our potential for being human. Human being gives way to technological being.

I think the application here is obvious: Be careful in your embrace of technology because you may find it's hold on your to be highly constrictive. So put down your phone, close your laptop lid, shut down the tablet, take off the smartwatch and go for a walk, pick up a book, spend some time in contemplation and meditation. You will find yourself set free.   

 

A Secular Age and Internet Education

I've started reading philosopher Charles Taylor's A Secular Age. A professor forwarded me a Call for Papers the deals with Taylor's work. I'm hoping to write and present a paper focused on online pastoral education that interacts with Taylor's concept of human flourishing. 

Contrary to the narrative of Modern society, Taylor does not see human flourishing as an end in itself. Rather, he argues for a higher good, a transcendent God, that exists beyond human flourishing. It is the human response to God that results in human flourishing. Taylor posits that secularity has displaced the very idea of God as the centre of human social life. Secularity is not part of human nature but has it origins in "... the fruit of new inventions, newly constructed self-understandings and related practices..." (p. 22). I am interested in seeing how online learning affects learners so the part about new inventions intrigues me. I'm going to examine how the interaction with technology affects a person's sense of God's transcendence and power. Before I start writing I'll need to spend a bit more time with Taylor's book. With a page count over 800, it's probably going to take longer than expected.

Stay tuned!   

Post-Presentation Recommendations from the Wesley Symposium

After presenting my paper at the Wesley Symposium a number of people asked for practical recommendations. Here is a recap of my guiding question, a summary of the findings, and some recommendations for theological educators:

Guiding Question:

“How might technology itself affect student formation?”

Findings:

The interaction of a person with technology, as is the case in online education, has the potential to diminish social well-being, train the brain to be distracted, and impede pastoral skill and virtue formation. Therefore, while online learning programs and courses offer many positive elements, they are not particularly helpful for developing character virtues and skills that are unique to pastoral ministry. Embodied mentorships, such as theological field education/internship opportunities with seasoned practitioners, are essential.    

 

Recommendations for schools offering online pastoral formation programs:

1. Schools would be wise to consider defining and prioritizing character formation for students and faculty. The current standard is for students and faculty to undergo academic assessments: Faculty are assessed in the form of course evaluations while students undergo assessment through completing tests, exams, and assignments. While academic assessments are firming in place, most schools have no formal means by which to assess character. Why not find ways to assess the growth of student and faculty character? The method of assessment would likely differ from academic assessment. Prioritizing character formation will require some changes to the way education is delivered. For example, some schools are choosing to explore Competency-Based Theological Education (CBTE) as a way to shift learning priorities (see this article by Karen Stiller for an overview). Regardless of the model chosen, assessing character is a steep hill to climb for standard, on-campus programs; for schools committed to teaching and learning predominantly online, trying to assess character formation may end up feeling like scaling an insurmountable mountain.
   
   
2. Schools committed to online education must ensure they have robust theological field education (TFE) programs in place. Since online education is not an ideal way to nurture virtues, theological field education programs must work even harder to ensure students are getting embodied opportunities with mentors. Schools committed to staffing and providing resources to their field education departments will be much further along than those with weak, understaffed programs. Research indicates that many theological field education programs function on the periphery of theological schools because field education is often seen as less important than academic coursework. Additionally, due to vast discrepancies in denominational requirements for ordination, TFE programs can vary significantly from school to school. Problems vary from choosing appropriate supervisory settings and supervisors, providing adequate field supervisor training, and determining how to mentor students, who are serving as solo pastors with full pastoral responsibilities. The more schools can do to support online students through strong field education programs, the better off those students (and field education supervisors!) will be.
   
   
3. Schools should consider making space for faculty, administrators, and students to theologically reflect on the effects of technology on teaching and learning for ministry. This could be a simple as setting aside class time at the beginning of a new semester as part of a review of the syllabus. It could also look like an annual faculty retreat where professors are invited to consider the impact of technology on their lives, their teaching, and their students. Reflecting theologically on the question, "how is technology affecting our formation into the image of Christ?" may surface interesting unspoken insights and perspectives that could shape and reshape how learning looks. This should not be a one time event. Administrators, faculty, and students should revisit this question regularly and prayerfully.
   
   

Virtual Virtue: Exploring the Fruitfulness of Online Pastoral Education

I will be presenting a paper at Tyndale Seminary's 2021 Wesley Studies Symposium on Zoom.

My presentation focuses on some of my PhD research findings, examining the role of technology on character formation in online pastoral education programs. 

The research is important for at least two reasons:

1. According to a 2019 article published by the Association of Theological Schools (ATS), 62% of ATS accredited schools were approved at that time to offer online distance education (Gin, Lester, Blogett, 2019). That represents almost two thirds of all accredited theological schools in North America.

2. Since the pandemic, there has been an even greater shift toward online learning. In an August 2020 Faith & Leadership interview with ATS Executive Director, Frank Yamada, he referred to the newly adopted accreditation Standards saying: 

... we changed residency requirements. With these new standards, there are only residency requirements for the Ph.D. program, and all the other degree programs no longer have residency requirements ... it provides schools the flexibility to be able to do, for example, more online distance education at this time. (Read the full article here)

Yamada acknowledges the heightened need for online education during the pandemic. With the new Standards, even more schools are able to shift courses and programs online. 

With the rapid uptick in Internet theological education, how are programs of pastoral formation affected? Even more importantly, how does this educational milieu affect ministerial students?

Consider attending the Wesley Symposium this year. It's free and you might find some answers to those questions.