“Is this in the exam?” The question makes my heart sink every time I hear it – I want my students to care for more than exams; I want them to become good engineers.
At work, I’m leading a group designing new undergraduate programmes. As well as thinking about “constructive alignment” and “learning outcomes”, we’ve been wrestling with the problem of students who would rather watch online than sit in lectures, finding the balance between group and individual work, and managing the impacts of generative AI (positive and negative).
So what? Why write a piece on engineering education for en? Well, don’t those challenges resonate with you and your church? Streaming services changes the nature of fellowship. Finding the balance of “though we are many we are one body” is hard. AI has changed how we engage with our Bibles, even though we may not realise it. I’ve found greater resonance than I expected between teaching engineers and making disciples. My reading for the Crosslands Cultivate programme is already impacting how I teach and my experience in engineering education is influencing my thinking on discipleship.
That resonance should not surprise us. So much education in the UK has Christian roots, another example of “the air we breathe” being deeply Christian. From a personal perspective, I owe much to the monks of Reading Abbey, who 900 years ago this year founded my secondary school. Every summer, I bid farewell to another class of students wearing a fetching set of scarlet robes with purple trim, a vestige of clerical dress.
Then, consider the apostle Paul as an educator. Like me with my students, he was no stranger to learning outcomes – he had a clear goal, to “present everyone fully mature in Christ” and urged Titus “to teach what accords with sound doctrine” – the word “sound” indicating effect as well as content. Like me with my students, he knew the importance of group work, he cared about the individual, and he cared about the church. Paul was also wary of just filling heads with facts, warning Timothy against those with “a form of godliness but denying its power”.
Yet, that final point also reminds us that there is an essential difference between teaching engineers and making disciples. Lecturing on engineering is categorically different from preaching the Bible. Making disciples is more than teaching students to pass a multiple choice test, to apply the right method or to develop transferrable skills. Making disciples is introducing people to the person of Jesus Christ and nurturing their relationship with Him. Would you ever ask: “Is this sermon in the exam?” There is no exam, just the obedience of faith.
I heard this week about the witness of a lady drawing alongside women fleeing persecution and domestic violence. She shared time and food and the Bible with them. She showed God’s love for them in practical ways, introducing them to Jesus as she walked beside them in their suffering. Now she was celebrating, because amidst the tears of suffering there were tears of joy. One of her new friends had accepted Christ.
Yes, there’s a resonance between education and discipleship, so let’s take advantage of developments in education to help us disciple others. Let’s stream our services, let’s use PowerPoint slides, and let’s exploit the terabytes of resources on the web. But let’s not forget that when we gather on a Sunday morning or meet in our small groups, we do not come to study for an exam, sermons are not lectures, and discipleship is more than learning about God.
When the writer to the Hebrews encourages us to “draw near”, his mind is in the temple. So, let’s keep on meeting together to worship, not just filling our heads with facts, but meeting God in His word and spurring each other on to love and good works so we exercise that obedience of faith.
