Monday 28 May 2012

The Difference Between Schooling And Education

They're called "Degree Mills". These are universities which have shifted their focus from education to money-making. This is having a dramatic effect on educational standards across our nation. It's now not uncommon to have students undertaking degree programs who can not spell, write an essay, or read well. It wasn't that long ago I asked a University graduate how much his degree cost. He told me that it was in the vicinity of around $30,000. I then asked him how much it would cost for him to teach what he learned to someone else. He said it would cost that person less than 1% of what he paid!  
The problem with some schools is that they sometimes get in the way of a good education.
I gave a radio interview recently on the difference between Schooling and Education. Just because someone has gone to school, doesn't necessarily mean that they have had an education. And conversely, just because someone hasn't gone to school or college doesn't mean they haven't had an education.


My hero, Rev. F.W. Boreham, had to cut his college days short by at least a year because he was asked to leave London and take up a fledgeling pastorate in the recently founded country of New Zealand. Bitterly disappointed that he couldn't complete his Theological Degree, he encountered a giant of man (who was barely five foot tall) but who totally changed the way FWB viewed education. 

John J. Doke was a Baptist minister who had never received a College education. Yet, F.W. Boreham describes J.J. Doke as the most learned man he had ever met. He asked the seasoned minister (who would go on to save the life of Ghandi, but that's another story) how he became so educated without the benefit of a College? J.J. Doke gave the young Frank Boreham some stirling advice: "Read broadly." Boreham was already a good reader, but his diminutive mentor set him on a path to becoming a great reader. 


From that point, F.W. Boreham would go on to read at least one book a week. This cost him a small fortune. But the results were breath-taking. He would go on to write some 58 books, 3,000 plus published essays and achieve book sales in the millions. 

His informal learning was awarded a Doctor of Divinity Degree by McMaster University (Canada) in 1928 (some 35 years after his College studies were cut short).

Part of my undergraduate studies was with ICI College Australia. I was impressed that this College was focused on delivering quality education. In 2003, I was asked to become the President of ICI College Australia. Today, each week we receive feedback from our students that we are achieving this. But it doesn't end with just providing quality education - this education provides the means by which our students become better equipped to fulfil their ministries. Some preachers are well-schooled but poorly educated. Some preachers are "un-schooled" but have become very educated. (It's fairly easy for listeners to tell the difference.) 


F.W. Boreham discovered that schooling was different from education, he went on to become one of the greatest preachers of all time - being listed in The Banner of Truth Trust's, 20 Greatest Preachers Of All Time) and Warren Wiersbe's, 50 People Every Christian Should Know

This is one of the reasons why I am proud to be associated with ICI College Australia. And perhaps, in the not too distant future, one of the next people to be recognised as one of the greatest preachers of all time will be educated as an ICI College Australia graduate. 

Andrew Corbett
28th May 2012

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