Starting with the End in Mind -Developing Lifelong Learners, Part 4 of 5

“We are currently preparing students for jobs that don’t yet exist, using technologies that haven’t been invented, in order to solve problems, we don’t even know are problems yet.”
That quote, from former US Secretary of Education, Richard Riley (Qtd in The Jobs Revolution, 2004), can be a bit startling for us as parents and educators. Taken with a grain of salt, of course (certainly there will still be engineers, teachers, doctors, pastors, entrepreneurs, lawyers, and machinists in the future!). It still speaks of a changing reality.  
The world is already much different than it was in 2004 or 1904.

By the time our WCS kindergarteners graduate in 2036, the world will be even more different still. So as Christian educators, our strategy is not simply to give our students facts and information, but more importantly, to train them to be critical thinkers and to develop wise discernment. If they are going to change the world, they will need to see the world clearly and this means having a developing Biblical worldview, the critical first step to becoming life-long learners, who . . . 

• Exhibits intellectual curiosity and perseverance
• Learns new skills to adapt to rapidly changing environments
• Thinks logically and critically to discern and apply truth

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Proverbs 1:7
Take for example human identity. While today, the loudest voices in our culture are confused by something as seemingly self-evident as gender, what will be the questions facing our children in their future?  We are already seeing the sweeping changes brought on by artificial intelligence. Couple that with dramatic innovations in implantable technology, and very soon it will be our students who are sitting in positions of business, theology, or government influence and answering the question, “What does it mean to be human?”  
That is why we are committed to helping our students love learning.  Not just school, good grades, or just a diploma. We are striving to develop our students into young men and women who will continually learn and grow. We are not preparing the road ahead for our children; we are preparing our children for the road ahead.
Perhaps you’ve been to a graduation ceremony where someone reminded the audience that the word “graduation” does not mean “culmination” or “the end” of something, but rather, a “next step” to something greater. When our students walk across the stage and receive their WCS diplomas, we know that it is not the end of their learning, but only the next step in their lifelong pursuit of true knowledge and impact.   
The cliche is only partially true: Children are the future, but they are also the present. What a joy to be presently preparing them for the future that God has designed for them! 
Next month: Part 5 – Fostering Creators and Cultivators.    
Educating for Eternity,
​Jonathan Nazigian
WCS Headmaster