Getting Your Organization On Board With Education Planning

Today’s article is by Kay Baker, a member of PACE’s leadership team. Kay is responsible for all activities related to PACE’s “Education Planning for Families in Transition” course. Kay serves as an education consultant with SHARE Education Services and lives with her husband and son in Sweden. When she’s not consulting with families, she sings with a local gospel choir and hosts dozens of visitors in her home each year.

Scenario:

The Doe family is anxious to get to the field and get started in ministry. They want to arrive as quickly as possible. Their support has come in and the mandatory requirements from their organization have been completed. Education planning for their three children is not one of those requirements.

Within two weeks of their arrival on the field, there is trouble. The education option they strongly believe is the best for their children is not in line with the ethos of the team they are ministering with. They are dealing with this additional stress as they adjust to a new language, culture and way of life.

This situation could have been averted with pre-field education planning. But how do you get an organization on board with education planning for families before they leave for their field of service? A scenario similar to the one above helped convince one organization of the value of Education Planning for Families in Transition. Thankfully there are other ways to present the case for pre-field education planning.

Find the key person or persons who are influential decision makers in your organization. Present some of the key issues that may not be apparent to families who have not received training in education planning.

• Dealing with children’s education can be very stressful when dealing with a new way of life in a new culture.
• The family’s preferred education option does not always work in the culture where they live.
• Families may not be fully aware of the educational implications raised by each child’s unique personality.

Second, present positive outcomes if a process to work through education planning is used to help parents.

• Parents will have confidence that they have an appropriate education plan in place for each of their children.
• Leadership will be aware of parents’ convictions regarding education before deployment. This knowledge can play a part in placement decisions and whether the family should be sent to the field at all.
• Parents will interact with field leaders about their education plans. If concerns are apparent, they can be dealt with before deployment.
• Parents will have the resources they need to make changes to their education plans as their children grow. A relationship with an education consultant is one of the main resources!

Finally, present the “Education Planning for Families in Transition” (EPFT) course as an option.

• It is an affordable, online course facilitated by the organization’s education consultant.
• The education consultant guides the family regarding TCK issues, researching education options available in their area of service, and developing an education plan for each child.
• The education consultant and the parents develop a relationship that will provide a platform for future interactions as issues arise.
• If an organization is interested, but would like to know more about the course, register for the EPFT Preview Week. The Preview Week allows education consultants access to parts of the EPFT course. During the week emails are sent to explain the thinking behind each module. At the end of the week there is a time of Q & A via a Skype chat with a current facilitator of EPFT. The next Preview Week is scheduled for April 11-16.
• Once an organization decides to use EPFT, an education consultant goes through EPFT Facilitator Training. This training is free of charge.

What have you done to encourage your organization to consider education planning for families before they more to their area of ministry?

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