Ask Nancy: How the Role of Education Consultant Has Changed in the Past 20 Years

Nancy Elwood is the co-founder of PACE, and is the executive director of SHARE, where she leads a staff of education consultants serving throughout Europe and Eurasia. Nancy and her husband Mike live in Budapest, Hungary, and have two adult sons. She enjoys opening her home to guests and playing “Words with Friends.” This year, she and her husband celebrate 30 years of ministry in Europe.

At the end of this year, SHARE Education Services will celebrate 20 years of service to families in our target region. In those early days, it was my privilege to serve alongside colleagues like Dave Brooks, Donna Crawford and Kay Baker to figure out what we had gotten ourselves into. However, we weren’t the earliest consultants. Whole departments of folks at Wycliffe, NTM, TEAM and other organizations had been faithfully serving as consultants for overseas families to help them with the education of their children.

Much of what those early pioneers did is still what happens today. Sitting down with parents to discuss issues of concern continues to be the primary role of contemporary education consultants. Since each family is unique and each child is unique, there is a need to tailor counsel to each family and circumstance.

There are, however, significant differences now in how we get information and relate to each other and to parents. I remember, for example, spending hours mailing hard copy newsletters to our list of families. One of the main challenges was in keeping up with mailing addresses! Today, we have newsletter services that provide templates for our letters, maintain our lists, and send them out at the touch of a button. There is still maintenance to be done but it doesn’t involve photocopiers, stamps and trips to the post office.

Email has become the primary communication tool that has connected us to the families we serve. Twenty years ago, we were beginning to explore the benefits of email but many of our families were not connected to the internet, especially if they lived in remote places. Now it is unusual to be away from the internet for more than a few days at a time. Even in sensitive places, people find ways around the system in order to stay connected.

Another game changer has been Skype and similar real-time communications programs. Families and consultants can now talk whenever, wherever, and without cost. That has revolutionized our contact with families and, at times, has made it more demanding in terms of expectations for a quick response.

Certainly the internet has brought a new world of connectedness for consultants worldwide. Through PACE and other professional groups, we can share expertise and experiences that raise the level of our interaction with families. And the “candyland” of information available to us probably keeps us more tied to our computers and tablets than we would really prefer. There are few topics relating to education and cross-cultural living that are left undiscussed online. The challenge, of course, is wading through what is reliable and profitable for our families. That can be extremely time-consuming!

Personally, I would love to spend more time sharing resources and expertise with other consultants who serve around the globe but I find that I am busier now than I was 20 years ago; it’s just that the way I perform the tasks is different now. As always, it’s a matter of priorities, isn’t it? The way we do things will continue to change. I can’t even get my mind around how it will be 20 years from now. However, if we keep our focus on the families we serve and ultimately on the One we all serve, the methods will simply be a tool to accomplishing the task of enabling families to thrive in what they are called to do.

How have YOU noticed that the role of education consultant has changed in the past 5, 10, or 20 years?

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