Values-Driven Education - Conclusion

At the 6th Annual Exhibition of Institutions hosted by the National Council for Higher Education ARCC was asked to present a paper on "The Role of Universities in Advancing National Cohesion and Integration." The following is a portion of the paper presented by Jeff Atherstone, the Director of ARCC, on the role of values in education for advancing national cohesion and integration.

VALUES WORK TOGETHER

You will notice at this point that there is a degree of overlap in our values. The scholarship students are required to work 10 hours per week on campus (accountability) and also students and staff work together on Friday mornings (community) and the majority of their projects take place on our school farm (stewardship). Just as values must be established and implanted into our character they must also work well together and not conflict with one another.

You cannot have competing values such as community and individualism, extravagance and stewardship or irresponsibility and accountability. Values must work hand in hand to achieve the intended results that we are aiming for.

Values must work hand in had with the vision of the school. If the vision can be seen as the foundation of the building, then values would be seen as the pillars, which cause everything else to stand. You will remember that the vision of our Institution is to “equip Christian leaders for transformation of society.” Our values are the pillars that we believe will bring about transformation: accountability addressing corruption, stewardship addressing poverty and community to bring unity to diverse groups of people.

There are many lectures that I have forgotten over the course of my lifetime but whenever I need information I know where to find it.  Values are not something that you can find when you run up against a problem in life. Values are implanted deep within your character and will reveal themselves when the storms of life hit you the hardest.

When I was in secondary school I had a coach who taught us the value of perseverance. Everyday he would shout from the sidelines of the field “quitting is a habit!” And every day he would give us an opportunity to practice perseverance. He would start practice by giving us a goal such as “run for 30 minutes straight.” I will never forget the day that one of my teammates stopped running at 29 minutes. My coach called us all over and told us that one of us had quit so we would all pay the price. We all had to start the run over again, a full 30 minutes. But this time we also had to pull the others along who fell behind. Not one of my teammates quit that run. We wouldn’t let them. And still to this day every time I am tempted to quit early I can hear my coach shouting, “Quitting is a habit!”  And believe me, I don’t want to start that run over again from the beginning.

YOUR VALUES ARE YOUR STUDENT’S FUTURE

So how do we measure the success of our “values-driven education?”

Each week when our staff comes together we measure our success. For a shoe salesman he would measure his sales in number of shoes sold. For a restaurant they could measure their success in number of costumers served. At ARCC we measure our success in number of lives that have been transformed. Every staff meeting a member of staff will volunteer to give the testimony of a student’s life that they have seen changed. In order for this to happen you realize that the staff actually have to know the students and interact with them.

Specifically we ask the staff to demonstrate how the students have been transformed by the values of the school. Two weeks ago a staff member shared the testimony of a student from Lira. School fees have been a problem for this young man in the past but this term he cam and paid his fees in full. The staff member took the time to listen to the young mans story and find out what had changed.

This student was assigned to work on our farm the previous term as part of our Scholarship Program. In working on the farm he was taught stewardship, specifically the farming practices of composting and proper spacing of plants. When he returned home he realized that he had not been properly caring for his land and his garden of sunflowers was not profitable. So he dug up his sunflowers and replaced them with peppers. Modeling the practices that he had learned at ARCC about stewardship. By the time the field produced he had more than enough to cater for his school fees and tuition.

To borrow an old analogy, lecture tells students about fishing but values give our students the skills to fish. As Universities we need to take advantage of this golden opportunity to impact the next generation of leaders for Uganda by imparting in them the values that will bring about true transformation for our nation. Imparting knowledge does not ensure that our students will use that knowledge for the good of their fellow man but imparting values will direct our students to effectively use the knowledge they attain at University for the good of their fellow man and the development of this nation.

Values-Driven Education - Stewardship

At the 6th Annual Exhibition of Institutions hosted by the National Council for Higher Education ARCC was asked to present a paper on "The Role of Universities in Advancing National Cohesion and Integration." The following is a portion of the paper presented by Jeff Atherstone, the Director of ARCC, on the role of values in education for advancing national cohesion and integration.

EXAMPLE #3 – STEWARDSHIP

Uganda has been called “the pearl of Africa.” We have beautiful soil, abundant rain and sunshine, along with thick and diverse vegetation. Yet many people in our country are hungry and ranked among the poorest in the world. How can a country be so fertile and yet so poor at the same time?

Jesus Christ told us that “the poor will always be with you” and so we are not claiming to have the answers to end all world poverty. We do believe that we can do better and alleviate a great portion of the poverty around us through teaching proper management of time and resources, which we call stewardship.

In order to teach the value of time some of our students pay us in units of time rather than in Uganda shillings. In 2009 we established a Scholarship Fund to help students from disadvantaged regions of Uganda. Currently we have 85 students enrolled in this program. Each student is required to pay a small fee of less than 100,000 UGX per semester in addition to working 10 hours per week on campus. Students in this program are assigned jobs in the library, IT lab, kitchen, farm, maintenance and secretarial services.

With 85 students providing 10 hours per week this is the equivalent of having 21 full-time employees working for free. Between the Scholarship Program and our Friday Community Days, discussed under the value of community, over 40% of the human resource hours on campus last term were performed by students in a volunteer capacity. As I mentioned before, practicing values-driven education has the potential to save your university money.

Along with practicing stewardship with our human resource we also practice stewardship with our natural resources. Currently our campus has 20 acres of which only 6 are used for classrooms, offices and dormitories. The rest of the 14 acres were covered in weeds when we bought them 2 years ago. Our philosophy with land is that if we don’t have finances for buildings we will use the land for farming. Currently our campus has 4 acres of matoke, 4 acres of beans, 2 acres of potatoes and 4 acres of assorted vegetables, including pumpkin, eggplant, peppers, onions and tomatoes. We have also incorporated 250 fruit trees into the landscaping of the campus.

This term our projection is that the farm will provide over 50% of the food served to our 200 staff and students this term. With the majority of our students boarding on campus this represents a huge savings to the school that can be used in other areas to improve the library, IT and other student services on campus.

Our goal is to build a university campus that provides a model of our value of stewardship in the way we care for creation. We also have plans to add on solar panels to collect power from the sun and to build water collection tanks to capture the rain from our roofs to be used for our campus farm.

Click here to watch our Stewardship Video. 

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Values-Driven Education - Accountability

At the 6th Annual Exhibition of Institutions hosted by the National Council for Higher Education ARCC was asked to present a paper on "The Role of Universities in Advancing National Cohesion and Integration." The following is a portion of the paper presented by Jeff Atherstone, the Director of ARCC, on the role of values in education for advancing national cohesion and integration.

EXAMPLE #2 -ACCOUNTABILITY

This is a value that we see as essential for the future of our nation. With continual reports of corruption among our leaders unrest and division is surely to follow. So at Africa Renewal Christian College accountability starts at the top.

Each term in the final week before exams the Director of Africa Renewal Christian College gives a term-end report to the student body. This report gives a detailed summary of all fees collected, donations received and other streams of income to the institution during that period of the calendar year. Then a report is given of all operational and capital expense detailing the amount in Uganda Shillings as well as the percentage of the overall budget.

Why would a school go to such length to report to their students?

Because we have nothing to hide. We are accountable!

The first time this event took place it was actually to address concerns some students had expressed over the schools finances. At the time they felt that too much was being spent on construction not realizing that we had received a large sum of donations designated for new construction. Once the report was finished they were so grateful we figured it only made sense to continue the tradition.

When leaders are accountable the people follow.

We also require our students to be accountable whether it be in paying their fees, reporting on time to class, handing in their assignments or citing sources correctly within their papers. We believe that students must be held to rigid standards in their conduct and academics in order to help them develop into responsible and accountable adults.

For there to be true accountability there must be an instructive consequence for behavior that is not acceptable. I have noticed that when a student is caught dodging school fees, cheating on an exam or missing an assignment their immediate response is to plead for forgiveness. As Christians we believe strongly in forgiveness but that does not necessarily mean shielding the student from consequences. We can forgive a student for missing an assignment but that does not mean that we have to give them credit for work they did not do. We can forgive a student for cheating but that does not mean that we will still allow them to receive passing marks for that class. We do this because we believe that consequences are a great form of instruction, which can lead students to right behavior.

We have been asked before why we use the term accountability rather than integrity. At ARCC we believe that the two go hand in hand. If you are accountable you will be a person of integrity. If you are not accountable you will not be a person of integrity.

Values-Driven Education - Community

At the 6th Annual Exhibition of Institutions hosted by the National Council for Higher Education ARCC was asked to present a paper on "The Role of Universities in Advancing National Cohesion and Integration." The following is a portion of the paper presented by Jeff Atherstone, the Director of ARCC, on the role of values in education for advancing national cohesion and integration.

EXAMPLE #1 of Values-Driven Education - Community

Many would say that “community” is already a value that Ugandans hold to strongly. But truth be told tribe, political party, economic status and educational status often separate us. To have true community we must be a people that share common values and vision for the future.

At Africa Renewal Christian College there are plenty of individual needs; faculty would like larger salaries, students would like more computers and faster internet, administration would like more resources but you won’t hear complaining every day around the lunch table because our community has a common vision of where we are headed.

At ARCC we define community as living and working together in unity. We are specifically working together, staff and students to create a greater tomorrow for ourselves by building a greater institution together. Our aim is to become a University. As the institution becomes great staff have greater pride over what they have accomplished and students have greater pride in where they have studied. If the people of Uganda were united with a common vision for developing a great country directed by values that promote transformation they could experience the same pride. As the universities of Uganda we should lead in this charge towards greatness.

One way in which we promote community is through diversity. At ARCC we believe that the more diverse our staff and student population becomes the more evident the unity within our community will become. At ARCC our management team is made up of three nationalities from five different tribes and our twenty-five member administrative staff and full-time faculty come from a total of twelve different tribes. This can make communication and conflicts challenging at times but by putting in the effort to overcome our differences we are able to achieve a greater sense of unity as we work together. Students are encouraged to do the same as we have had students from 9 nations and 54 tribes among our 160 alumni since 2008. 

A second way in which we promote community is through working together for the common good of all. At ARCC classes are not scheduled for Friday mornings but everyone still gathers for Community Day. All staff and students appear in blue jeans, t-shirts, gumboots and gloves as we spend the morning hours working on projects together. For example, students requested a more diverse diet in the dinning hall so we spent one community day planting 250 fruit trees around the campus. Together we solved the problem of diet by combining our efforts for the good of all.

Each week areas around the campus that need improvement are identified by staff and students and together we work to solve the problems as a community. Through our Community Days we have started an on-campus recycling program, created new sidewalks and pathways around the campus, prepared and planted 12 acres of land with matoke, sweet potatoes, beans, tomatoes, carrots, onions and peppers and improved the overall cleanliness of the campus. Through working together we are creating an environment that is conducive to study and a source of pride to staff and students a like.

As our student population continues to grow it is our desire to put this value of community into practice in the community that surrounds us. Our plan is to continue to gather students on Fridays and eventually send them out in the area outside the campus to help in local community projects much in the same way that Rwandans gather one Saturday a month to work on community projects within their local areas. This practice has brought true transformation in Rwanda where the streets are clean, the traffic is organized and overall the people are more committed to working for the common good of their fellow man.  

Click here to see our Community Video. 

Values-Driven Education - Part 3

At the 6th Annual Exhibition of Institutions hosted by the National Council for Higher Education ARCC was asked to present a paper on "The Role of Universities in Advancing National Cohesion and Integration." The following is a portion of the paper presented by Jeff Atherstone, the Director of ARCC, on the role of values in education for advancing national cohesion and integration.

IMPLANTING VALUES WITHIN OUR STUDENTS

My mentor as a young man in ministry often encouraged me not to put all my focus on preaching. He would remind me, “Jeff, more is caught than taught!” For most of us this is our primary mode of learning, imitating others.

When my sons were young we didn’t hold lessons on walking and talking. As they grew we discovered that their greatest times of learning were when we had them spend time with children that were just a few months or possibly years older than them. The boys would instantly see what the older children were doing and seek to imitate them.

The most important way that we can implant values within our students is to surround them with faculty and staff who live out the values of the school each day. In order for these values to pass from faculty to students we need to examine the current state of our classrooms. Our classrooms cannot simply be filled with lecture and exams but they must also be filled with dialogue and debate, practical exercises and assessment of real life scenarios where learning will transition into practical application. Through lively interaction the values of our staff will most effectively pass on to become the values of our students.

I would even go further to say that our staff must begin to interact with our students outside of the classroom if values are to be passed on. I have seen faculties such as the Makerere Veterinary faculty doing great work in taking their year four and five students out to local farms, including the farm at ARCC, to share the practical skills with their students. Recently, I was with one such group of students from Makerere as the professor handed the students the blade and helped them to dissect a goat that had mysteriously passed away. As I watched them work to diagnose the problem I wondered how many other faculties spend time in the field with their students.

Do Social Science, SWSA and Community Development students visit the field with their professors to diagnose the needs of Uganda’s communities? Do Education students visit Ugandan Primary Schools or Secondary Schools with their professors to diagnose the challenges in education? Do theology students sit with grieving families as their professors seek to share the hope of the gospel?

Friends, more is caught than taught. Are we giving our students anything to catch?

Values are most easily passed on as one person imitates another.

Values-Driven Educaiton - Part 2

At the 6th Annual Exhibition of Institutions hosted by the National Council for Higher Education ARCC was asked to present a paper on "The Role of Universities in Advancing National Cohesion and Integration." The following is a portion of the paper presented by Jeff Atherstone, the  Director of ARCC, on the role of values in education for advancing national cohesion and integration.

IDENTIFYING VALUES FOR OUR UNIVERSITIES

Values are not simply a list of grand words to be painted across the walls of our offices and student notice boards, such as “honesty” “courage” “tolerance” “service.” This practice is common in many institutions and organizations but is unlikely to produce any results or lasting impact.

Values are important and enduring beliefs or ideals shared by the members of a culture about what is good or desirable and what is not. Values exert major influence on the behavior of an individual and serve as broad guidelines in all situations.

Values are the actual character of an institution. Every institution is different with a unique vision and a unique set of leaders, therefore it is important for each institution to identify their own values that they intend to pass on to their students.

When we established our Africa Renewal Christian College in 2007 we did not have a list of values. We had numerous meetings in which we discussed values that were of importance to us but the institutional values were not apparent until our leadership team became familiar with one another and came to a common vision for the Institute.

As we became familiar with one anther we discovered that there were some values that members held to individually but these were unlikely to stick for the Institution as a whole. The values that we affirmed as a leadership team ended up being the values that we shared as a group and were passionate about passing on to others.

To narrow down our values we took a look at our end goal of our vision for the Institute “equipping Christian leaders for the transformation of society.” As a leadership team we asked ourselves, “What type of leader will transform society?” From there we had to break it down even further and ask ourselves, “What needs to be transformed in our society?” From our discussions we felt most passionate that our students should be transforming the nation in relation to corruption, poverty and discrimination based on gender, tribe or social status.

Once we knew what we wanted to transform society, we indentified the values that would bring about the transformation we desired. The value of accountability was identified to address the problems of corruption. The value of stewardship, meaning responsible management of time and resources, was selected to combat poverty. And the value of community was selected to bring about unity among diverse groups of people.

These values became the identity of the Institution and our next task was to establish them firmly within the foundation of the institution.

ESTABLISHING VALUES WITHIN OUR UNIVERSITIES

Once values have been identified an Institution should use them as a road map for determining the course of the school. Identifying values without establishing them is like throwing a seed on a dry ground and then shielding it from sunlight and rain.  This is commonly seen in Institutions that merely write values on their walls but do nothing to integrate them within the school.

I would propose that staff hiring and staff orientation have the greatest impact in establishing the values within our universities. In his 2012 national best seller The Advantage, Patrick Lencioni declared, “If an organization is led by a team that is not behaviorally unified, there is no chance that it will become healthy.” How do we become behaviorally unified? Through common values which direct team member’s behavior and chart the course for the organization.

Most prospective faculty that I interview only seem eager to add to their credentials for their development, but degrees only mark what you know. They cannot define who you are or give an interview panel an accurate picture of what you intend to do with the knowledge you have gained. Values, on the other hand, do define our character and can give others an accurate picture of the course that your life is taking. Your values will also leave the greatest imprint on the people around you.

Recently, I had to excuse myself from an interview panel for personal reasons. It was a difficult decision but I was confident that my fellow staff members on the panel could make the right hire in my absence. How could I be confident? Because their selection of questions which were drafted to assess skill and experience of the candidates was built around the values of the institution. The candidates could not escape the panel without clearly identifying their level of understanding and commitment to our institutional values. But more importantly I knew that every member of the interview panel had embraced and demonstrated the values of the institution in their own lives.

The more we add people to our team with common values the more the values become established in our institution’s culture. We no longer spend staff meetings reminding ourselves of our values but rather our values appear in every discussion and debate as we work together to plot out the future of our school.  We also ensure that within the first 3 months new staff members have been thoroughly oriented to the practical out workings of our values within the school. With the values firmly established within the framework of the school our final task is to then implant them within our students.

Values-Driven Education -Part 1

At the 6th Annual Exhibition of Institutions hosted by the National Council for Higher Education ARCC was asked to present a paper on "The Role of Universities in Advancing National Cohesion and Integration." The following is a portion of the paper presented by Jeff Atherstone, the Director of ARCC, on the role of values in education for advancing national cohesion and integration.

INTRODUCTION

It is of great encouragement to see the National Council for Higher Education addressing the topic of national cohesion and integration. Cohesion and integration are not an event but rather a process of leading different groups of people across different regions to become united citizens with a common outlook to the future.

If you were to judge the cohesion and integration of Uganda based on the headlines of the newspapers this country would not receive passing marks. Based on headlines you could summarize that people are looking out only for themselves and that there is little to unite the people of Uganda. Politicians are embroiled incorruption scandals, our policebeing ranked the most corrupt in East Africa, national leaders have been caught participating in land grabbing, and university lecturers at odds with their leaders are some of the many headlines you can read.

On the other hand, we have plenty of landmarks that could serve as rally points for unity. Uganda’s first gold medal in 40 years, the discovery of oil which could bring great wealth and prosperity and most especially the celebration of 50 years of independence but at this time that unity is not felt or seen by the common man or mere newspaper observer.

When we have a cohesive and integrated society it means that as a country we have common aims and that we pursue our aspirations together. Where cohesion and integration are lacking, society is characterized by discrimination, animosity, mistrust, and bad blood. In such a society people are driven to identify with their own tribe, religious group or any other society of their interest – sometimes characterized by unhealthy competition, bigotry and even violence against those perceived to be different. Wasn’t this the scenario we witnessed in Uganda after our last elections and the riots that followed?

In order to advance national cohesion and integration this great nation needs a unifying link to rally around. For example, in times of war nations can unite over a common enemy. In times of natural disaster nations unite over a common loss and grief. But as we celebrate the year of jubilee the public and private universities of Uganda need to help our nation unite around a common vision for the future.

I would like to make the case that we, the public and private universities of Uganda, have a great window of opportunity to promote and advance national cohesion and integration. Specifically I would recommend a holistic approach to education that is values-driven.  As Universities we need to instill values into our educational system that promote a vision for a greater future for Uganda and promote the common good of all members of society.

WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY

With over 55% of the population below 18 years of age and more students reaching university than any period before in our nations history we have the opportunity to instill national values into the next generation of Uganda’s leaders more thoroughly and swiftly that ever before. As our young people transition from adolescence to adulthood their character is taking full shape. University is a key stage in their development to instill values, which will set the course for their future.

Universities are the eyes to society. Our classrooms and halls are filled with passionate debate and dialogue about the past, the present and most especially the future of our nation. We are the thinkers, creators and dreamers of society with the brightest and most energetic audience. We cannot waste their time with endless hours of dichotomous lectures that dictate the student’s path but rather we must implant values, which provide a guide as the students chart out a greater future for themselves, their communities and this country.

Some upon hearing the term “values-driven education” might already be making a case in their heads as to the cost of implementing a new philosophy of education and feel that their university staffs are already over worked making it impossible to implement such a system. I will argue today that a values-driven education could actually reduce the workload for staff and increase the sustainability of Uganda’s universities. Imparting values can also better equip students for their professional careers as these values prepare them to handle the practical out-workings of their courses with values serving as their constant guide.