Our Apprenticeship Journey

Mentoring has been highlighted as a core value at the Akrofi-Christaller Institute of Theology, Mission and Culture (ACI) where I recently joined the faculty. For new faculty, we have been asked to enter a period of apprenticeship, as noted in our handbook,

A period of ‘apprenticeship’ is required before teaching begins. A prospective lecturer appointed to teach a course should first sit in the course to understudy his/her predecessor for at least a year or for the duration of the course before assuming teaching responsibilities.

From my own experience and from listening to the experiences of others, this form of mentoring and apprenticeship is the exception rather than the rule in institutions of higher learning. Perhaps some important reasons for ACI’s approach to mentoring and the apprenticeship period for junior staff include our desire to inculcate in our students and staff the high value we place on scholarship and spirituality, our desire and need to “channel” our mode and method of pedagogy (manner of teaching), and lastly our strong desire to be responsible, thoughtful, and faithful in our approach to African Christianity as a field of study and a field worthy of deep exploration beyond the scope of other theological institutions whose frame of reference emanates from the West.

Last month, colleagues and I had the opportunity to begin this period of apprenticeship. We were able to sit through and audit two courses: “Studies in Gospel and Culture,” “Christ and Other Faiths in the African Context.”[1] Some salient issues we covered include the idea that theology must be rooted in culture, the centrality of language (the vernacular, local language) in apprehending reality and responding to the Transcendent through religious practice, the significance of Christian-Muslim relations as an opportunity for promoting peace and demonstrating mutuality, respect, and collaboration around issues which promote life and development, and understanding the person of Jesus Christ in ways which resonate for African persons and communities in light of primal understanding and African religious heritage and lived experience.

These two courses were held online,
with lectures and interaction with students
 

I am grateful for this apprenticeship journey. The greatest joy in this journey so far has been not only witnessing students' engagement with the lecturer and the material, but also seeing their gratitude for what ACI is presenting to them. For example, at the end of the course ‘Christ and Other Faiths in the African Context’, the student representative of the class said:

Akrofi [ACI] is such a wonderful place…the knowledge we get, we want to thank you very much; we want to promise you that as we go out, we will do great things…we know that God loves us, God loves our culture…we know that God is with us…

The end of this course felt like a celebration and a time of thanksgiving as students expressed their gratitude for what ACI has to offer. It encouraged me to know that as my colleagues and I begin this apprenticeship journey, we can anticipate great things to follow.



[1] These two courses are part of our nine-course MA program in Theology and Mission.