Theological

Education by
Extension (TEE)

Why pay attention

1. The Learners Need to Know
- maybe you have heard of TEE but never
understand the concept of it (for you)

- This may give you a heads up on what you

maybe facing later in the ministry/working fields
(for them)
2. The Self-concept of the Learner
- What goes around comes around

Finding the need for TEE

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the
Presbyterian church in Guatemala experienced an
explosion in church attendees that caused a need
for more leaders in the church
Also the traditional seminary proved incapable to
recruit and train the leaders in time. Given this
problem, international mission organizations
devised a plan to take Christian instruction and
leadership training to the people on this
project/workshop

 The TEE course/project/workshop began in 1963

under the missionaries of the Presbyterian church
Ralph Winter and James Emery (Winter, 1969) (1.
The Learners Need to Know)
Although the TEE project ran into some major
obstacles, it proved that it is flexible enough to
meet at least some of the leadership training
needs which the formal training could not do

The 5 Problem
1.

2.

3.

4.
5.

The method was incapable of producing enough leaders to

cope with the rapid growth that was happening in the church.
Ex: In previous 25 years the Presbyterian Church in Guatemala
only had 10 men who were trained and serving actively
The western approach often left churches without
trained/gifted leaders as the leaders were being taken away to
get the training.
The higher level of education achieved, the seminaries were
causing significant proportion of potential pastors to be
tempted away from the ministry
The training was discovered to be very expensive way of
training due to the financial requirement
The seminars were accused of imposing western modes of
thinking and expressing theology on different cultures, rather
than allowing theology to be expressed in a culturally
appropriate way.

Purpose of TEE
The entire method is training people in the ministry rather
than training people for the ministry
- instead of students coming to where the knowledge and
training are, the knowledge is brought to where the people
are
- instead of requiring attendance 5 days are week, there is a
set of work to be done over a prescribes period of time
The learning has 3 key factors (2. The Self-concept of the
Learner)
i) self study materials so that students can study in their own
homes rather than having to attending specific
center/institution
ii) ongoing experience in their own communities/congregation
iii) regular meetings with tutors and fellow students to
promote fellowship and appropriate learning

The Extension Method

The extension in the course can be thought of in

several key areas
- It is a geographical extension, where the
education is brought to the student
- The second extension can be taken to the
place chronologically, the lessons and dead lines
are constructed after consultation with student
- Culturally the course is extended as the
material is presented
-It is extended academically as the level at
which the student learns appropriate to the student

TEE Four Part Railway

Model

The railway model has 4 essential features.

1) The right hand rail is the information being learnt through
studying and working through their prescribed reading
etc
2) The left hand rail is experience they are gaining from being
practically involved in the ministry situation
3) The railway sleepers are the seminar times which are used
for the two rails to interact. The idea is that these two rails
are constantly informing each other. That is either the
practical experience informing the formal or vise versa
4) The picture is the ground in which the track is laid, this is
the spiritual growth.

Six ways Jesus taught his

disciples- Discipline
Mentoring
Theological Education by Extension
1. Teaching by example, practicing what he preached
2. Teaching in real life situations, using the circumstances
they found themselves in as tool for educating (4. The
Learners Readiness to Learn)
3. Teaching from the known about the unknown,
understanding at what level the disciples were already at
and building upon that foundation (3. Prior Experience of
the Learner)
4. Teaching in a highly personalized way, that is teaching the
lessons which are specific to the needs of the people 5.
The Learners Orientation to Learning)
5. Teaching by constant assessment, that is always ensuring
that the disciples had understood what was being taught
6. Teaching by delegating important tasks, that is allowing a
degree of responsibility

How it address the

problems
1. It provides a means for a higher education for
higher number of leaders and others to be
trained at any one time.
2. The literature by TEE course rife with statistics,
an ex: the Presbyterian church in Guatemala.
When initiating the course in 1983 with forty
students has now grown to twenty five churches.
By mid 1986, more than five hundred students
were enrolled, taught by forty eight tutors.

The extension method ensures that the students

can remain in their communities and churches
while they train.
It keeps the student grounded and content in their
community after graduation so they go straight
into ministry field
The financial requirement is cheaper because the
buildings are fewer ex: house, classrooms, church
etc..
Instead of understanding westernized doctrine,
students can understand the proper, more Biblical
basics and discern what it means in their culture.
(6. The Learners Motivation to Learn)