Education for All Ages and Stages: Models that Shift the Culture

The world is changing. Are you ready? Is your family ready? Education is formation, and many of our young citizens are trapped in an outdated cycle that is forming and transforming them not into productive members of society but into patterns of dysfunction and hopelessness. .Fortune Magazine says that over 4 million GenZers are what's called NEET, not in education, employment or training. They are drifting. What can we do to turn the tide? We are developing a new breed of education for a new era, a model that gives hope and purpose and vision to every generation. If you have breath in your lungs, you have purpose in your life. Join Dr. Dunne as she shares some of the epiphanies from her graduate school days, studying under a mentee of the father of adult learning. Mentors matter. Let us help you connect the dots across generational lines. Join our K to 8 outreach at AcademicRescueMission.com, our public school outreach at VeritasCC.us or our university certifications and degree programs at CVCU.us. Let's shift the culture of education for the next generation. 

K to 12 Rescue Mission: https://www.academicrescuemission.com  

Christian Community College: https://www.veritascc.us

CVCU degree programs: https://www.cvcu.us

Book Dr. Lisa to speak: https://www.DrLisaDunne.com

@DrLisaDunne

Transcript

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Hi, I'm Dr. Lisa Dunn, and thanks for joining me here today on The Communication Architect. Each week, we'll share content that will empower you to grow your personal leadership capacity through the development of communication competencies that build emotional health and relational resilience. We'll unpack some practical applications of interpersonal, intrapersonal, family, and organizational communication. And we'll connect with stories of transformation that will inspire you to achieve personal and social change. Now, let's build the scaffolding you need to become a communication architect. The world is changing. Are you ready? Is your family ready? Join me for today's show to learn more about a new breed of education for a new era. Education is formation. Hi everyone, and welcome to the show. I'm Dr. Lisa Dunn, a lifelong homeschooling parent, author, and president of Chula Vista Christian University, a Bible-based university model that centers on mentor-driven, debt-free higher education. Education is formation. Why would we send a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, into a pagan system of education? Parents, your kids don't have to go woke or broke to earn their college degree. Join us for transformative education that's not yoked to a woke government system. Visit us at cvcu.us to see how we are taking back education for the next generation. Pastors, we can help you arm your congregation against pagan indoctrination. Just click the Start an Academy tab so we can help you launch your church-based academy model in just four weeks. For preschool to eighth grade options, go to Academic Rescue Mission.com to find a support academy or start your own. If your eighth to twelfth grader is ready for more academic challenges, you can join us for our new community college dual enrollment program. Your homeschooler or your high schooler can take a college course once and count it twice, both for high school and for college. You'll get highly affordable classes in a safe, supportive, in-person Christian environment that you can transfer to a university, a Christian university. Why would we send our kids to a pagan education institution? You can join a campus at Veritascc.us or just like our academic rescue model, you can start one of your own. Go to VeritasCC.us to learn more. And of course, our flagship program, Chula Vista Christian University. Starting in high school, students can take in-person classes right here in Chula Vista, a load of college courses in our in-person, debt-free, faith-based model, where they can graduate with at least half of their college courses done by the time they finish high school. Go to cvcu.us, apply to learn more, or to our dual enrollment link, cvcu.us slash dual enroll. And of course, you can find all of our books, blogs, and resources online at cbcu.us. That's Chula Vista Christian University. Well, the world is changing. No surprise. Are you ready? Is your family ready? We are developing a new breed of education for a new era. And I think you'll be excited and encouraged about the details on today's show. We have something for every generation. If you have breath in your lungs, you have purpose in your life. Education is formation. And mentorship is the heart of every healthy educational process. In graduate school, I had the honor of working with a mentee of Malcolm Knowles, who's considered to be the father of adult learning. Knowles recognized that the pedagogical method of education that's used by most universities, which is teacher-directed, externally motivated education, was actually stifling the acquisition of knowledge and the love of learning. And he saw that an andragogical approach, which is adult-centered, adult-centric, self-directed, internally motivated, would be far more effective at nurturing deep learning, transformational learning. And through that work with that mentee of Malcolm Knowles and then my graduate studies and organizational development, I saw this unique potential for the blending of three systems. I saw Knowles' andragogical kind of model, small group church model, discussion orientation, Oxford's tutorial methodology, and of course the parent-directed model that's been popularized by the homeschool model and which I experienced in my own home when I compared the traditional model of education with the organic nature of homeschooling. And those three systemic stool legs became the foundation of the mentor model that we now implement in our kindergarten to college programs at the Academic Rescue Mission ARM. That relational grounded mentorship approach has potential for impact in all of our lives, whether we're leading as parents, as business owners, as church ministers, as community influencers, in all these realms. That Luke 640 model that the student will become like the teacher, it's by far one of the most piercing and persistent reminders of our collective corporate responsibility because mentors do matter. They matter in every arena. They matter in the home. How we're raised through our formative childhood years bears a deep and lasting impact on our lifespan development. No child emerges completely whole from a broken family. We walk with a limp, right? Frederick Buchner said that it is within the quote, fragile yet formidable walls, and quote, of our own families that we learn or do not learn what it means to be human. We're all molded in that crucible called family. And mentors matter in the church. Paul told the Church of Corinth to be wary of the company that we can that we keep and the influences we allow because bad company corrupts good character. A popular saying is that we'll become the sum of the five people with whom we spend most of our time. Our church leadership, our area of service, the friends we're drawn to within the church, all of these shape our character. And mentors matter in the marketplace. Proverbs 1320 reminds us that as social creatures, we are highly persuadable. Proverbs 1320 says, Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools suffers harm. We have to activate that gift of discernment so that we don't find ourselves unequally yoked with a business partner or a governmental system. Our beliefs and our behaviors will be heavily persuaded by those with whom we regularly meet, greet, and eat. So choose them wisely. And today, of course, we are barraged by a by numerous cultural quote unquote teachers, voices who attempt, aggressively attempt in some, in some cases, to influence the way we think, we feel, and we behave. If you followed my social media account at Dr. Lisa Dunn, you saw this week I was showing what Chula Vista elementary school students received in their handouts this week. And um, it's pretty shocking to see the aggressive indoctrination on anti-Christian, anti-faith, anti-family worldviews. Umt advertisers like music, movies, social media, as well as those in our organizations, our clubs, our churches are trying to influence decisions. In fact, one of the most significant concerns for me, of course, um, in this generation is the millions of students who are being taught, literally being discipled by a secular system whose values are untrustworthy, who are anti-faith, anti-family, even anti-freedom, being trained to hate our country. Jesus said it would be better to be drowned in the depths of the sea than to lead one of his little ones astray. And yet, entire industries of education and entertainment are forged with the goal of luring away the young from faith and family. And that's one of the main reasons we founded ARM, the Academic Rescue Mission. If your church has at least two available spaces, two rooms during the week, and you do not already have an academic outreach to the community, let us come alongside you and help you develop one. Our team is standing by to help you create a parent-involved, fully customized academic program for preschool to college that will give you the opportunity to disciple two generations at once. Tell me where else in the culture you see that ROI. We provide the paperwork, the weekly coaching, the curriculum support, the on-ground team development that will help you reach your community for the kingdom. Learn more about that at Academic Rescue Mission.com. And at the college level, we are literally watching the culture shift in our multi-generational work at Chula Vista Christian University. We are so blessed to have the support of our radio and podcast listeners on the journey with us. So thank you. And we rejoice in seeing the lives that are impacted through the CVCU vision from ages 16 to 86. CVCU is a model of education that's built on mentorship, on authenticity, on stewardship, on a biblical worldview. It is a new breed of education for a new era. And I'm not talking about AI robots teaching your kids, your grandkids. This is personalized, humanized, discipleship-oriented education. It is formation for human flourishing. You know, after 20 years in higher education, standing at the front of the college classroom, I was personally so grieved by the fruit that I saw in California. Extraordinary dropout rates, 70% dropout rate in California community colleges, crippling debt, ineffective methodologies, overtly secular content that was driving students further and further away from their foundations and the faith. I met students who were literally living in their cars while trying to finance overpriced education that would take a lifetime for them to repay. I saw students who fell through the cracks of the teach to the middle mantra of the public sector, struggling learners who were left behind, brilliant scholars who were bored by the mediocrity of the academic delivery. And I wanted to create a program that would offer rigorous academic coursework in a mentor-based Socratic format, a new model of higher education that teaches students the way they learn best with a focus on historical and contemporary content, things that are most important to our lives, things that are most impacting to our relationships, our careers, the future of our nation. And so in 2020, after I had already launched a little over two dozen kindergarten to 12th grade academies, I started Chula Vista Christian University. And it's built on this tradition of classical studies in a discussion-based, cohort-driven format. Our goal is to empower students to make meaningful academic and spiritual contributions to the campus, the community, their career field. Students in our system are challenged to read rigorous academic works and through the diligence of careful analysis and critical thinking to contribute their own wisdom, their own experiences to the understanding and application of these primary texts. This is the heart of transformative education. And at Chula Vista Christian University, we are training up a next generation of culture shapers, world changers. It's not a one size fits all educational shoebox. Instead, we're partnering with parents and local churches to offer flexible, affordable, individualized education that inspires self-directed learning through a biblical worldview. CBCU is one of the first modern universities to be built entirely on the mentorship format. And this gives us this flexible, affordable education process at a fraction of the cost of traditional private higher education. It's a flattened hierarchical model. And this year I am very excited about one of our new outreach models that we're doing through CBCU. It's a Christian community college format. We're offering get this free Christian college credit to public school students who are in eighth to twelfth grade. Go to VeritasCC.us, fill out the contact form, Veritas Christian Community College, to learn more about this program. If you know an eighth to twelfth grader right now who's in public school and they've we've surveyed them, we've heard their studies, their stories, they're afraid of the bullying. They feel like they're being um, they're they're in environments that where they're not learning, where they don't feel safe, where they're we're being pressured to compromise their Christian values. They've told us all their stories. Learn more about this. We have a parent interest meeting coming up. We want to help you give your kids Christian college credit. And if you thought, I can't afford Christian college, that's why my kids are or Christian private school, and that's why my kids are in public school. Listen, we have an answer for you. We have some investors who are coming alongside us to help us so that we can offer a free college class, Christian college class. It's dual enrollment. That means you take it once and you count it twice for both high school and for colleges. And our team is so incredible, friends. We have scientists, physicians, pastors, homeschoolers, business owners, these incredible leaders who know from experience and from the research that the tutorial model is the most effective training method for the vast majority of generations, especially Gen Zs and Alphas. Their entire generations have been nurtured in learner-driven modalities where every imaginable question is instantaneously answerable at their fingertips. In this type of knowledge-based economy, the tutorial discipleship-based methodology is the most rational response to the academic needs of this generation. CBCU is a place where rigor meets relationship. Students gain practical skills that help them acquire vital attributes of problem solving, of critical thinking. At CVCU, students are given the opportunity for self-government, for independent learning, for local leadership. They're required to serve in field-based internships where they gain practical real-world experience. It's the education and the practical skills they need to compete in today's complex and multifaceted world of work. Again, you can learn more about that model at cvcu.us, or you can sign up for a personal call on our landing page. Learn more about that dual enrollment program I was talking about. Just go to cvcu.us slash dual enroll. Our programs are hybridized to give students greater flexibility with in-person mentor meetings two days a week, internships, community service, and meaningful homework the other three days. Your eighth to twelfth grader can take general education courses and CTE courses, career training, education in entrepreneurship, in leadership, in psychology, in pre-med, pre-law, mechanical engineering, education, communication. And make sure you check out our new Equipping the Saints program, our very brand new rollout this fall that offers certifications and degree programs in apologetics, pastoral care, much more coming your way. Check that out at cbcu.us slash dreamdegree. CVCU is debt-free, mentor-driven, faith-based education. You know, Hebrews 3.13 says that we are to encourage one another daily so that we won't be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. And that word exhort, encourage, paracaleo means, listen to this, to call near, to invite, to invoke, to console. When we come near, when we encourage one another, we offer sincere praise, encouragement. We we do more than just function as a corporate cheerleader. We are actually activating the reward center of the human brain, flooding it with dopamine, the neurotransmitter that regulates emotion and motivation. It's shifting the way students learn. When we come near, quote unquote, in that Socratic classroom environment from preschool through college, we help create a joyful, emotional environment, an ecosystem where the people in our realm can be influenced. This is the joy. This is the CBCU method. Tell me the last time you saw a group of Gen Z's who were joyful. You don't see that. You see the Gen Z gaze. Look up the Gen Z deadpan expression. And we're seeing this literally shift. And, you know, if we would work together, we can catch students who are falling through the net of apathetic academia. We can empower them to live, to dream, to activate their futures. You can come alongside us as a sponsor and make a tax-deductible donation to our nonprofit at cbcu.us slash sponsor. Go to the cvcu.us page, watch our videos, hear the testimonials, see how we are shifting the culture. Imagine the impact we can make when we all work together to turn the tide for the most anxious, depressed, atheist generation in the history of our nation. You could be part of that mission. Our ultimate institutional goal is one campus in every county across the United States, 3,100 locally governed, mentor-driven, debt-free K to college models that reclaim America's dysfunctional educational system that put parents where they belong, back in the driver's seat, that restore the voice of authenticity, of influence to the church, to the parent. Friends, we have to be wise to the subversive attempts of the enemy. We have to be alert to the dangerous potential of mission drift from our own faith and family. If there is a vacuum of time or leadership, something else is going to fill it. Plato said that the two most vital questions any civilization must ask is who is teaching the children and what are they being taught? Our mentorship, our intentional leadership begins in the home. Education is formation. And out of the overflow of that success, we mentor and minister to others. Our educational models inspire mentorship in everyday interactions. And we're watching God turn commonplace conversations into divine downloads. You know, we're all teaching and learning, we're all giving and receiving, but our opportunities for intentional mentorship are all around us and they're often overlooked. Who's speaking into your life and whose life are you pouring into today? We encourage our CBCU students to break off the dysfunctional cultural norms of generational segregation and we help them embrace multi-generational mentorship by reaching up to someone 15 years older and reaching out to someone 15 years younger. And when we do this, we create this beautiful communicative fiber across generational lines, this tapestry that reflects and fosters human flourishing. Can I encourage you, as C.S. Lewis once put it, to read outside of your generational lens, or in this case, to live outside of your generational lens? You know, at CVCU, our professors range from ages 28 to 86. If you have breath in your lungs, you have purpose in your life, consider the gifts and talents God's given you and how you can share them within your realm of influence, to use what's in your hand right now to make a difference in the life of someone else. Maybe you don't have the time or the energy to be part of our program, but maybe you want to give in another way behind the scenes. Go to cvcu.us, click the drop-down tab on give and look at the different ways you could sponsor a student. You could sponsor a building. You can get your name on a building. If you know what the word pitch deck or marketing deck is, and that makes sense to you, you're welcome to view even our marketing deck. Just go to cvcu.us slash marketing deck and you'll learn more about just the behind-the-scenes approach to how you could support this vision. One heart, one home at a time. The mentor method is the heart of discipleship. It's the heart of education. It's how we shift the culture of neighborhoods, of nations, because the student will become like the teacher. Psalm 102, 18 says, Let this be written for a future generation, that a people not yet created may praise the Lord. And that's what we're trying to do at CBCU. It's going to take innovative education for the next generation, but I believe that working together, we can accomplish this goal. Friends, education is formation. Who is teaching the children and what are they being taught? One of the amazing offshoots we see in the CBCU model is not only academic support and structure, but also whole student development that comes from having mentors, from having your voice matter, from being sharpened in the context of community. Our children need relational, emotional, and spiritual fortitude to thrive, to flourish. So out of the overflow of our hearts and our homes, let's strengthen the bonds of community within our realms of influence. For the continuance of the church and the faith, I'm calling on pastors and parents across the U.S. to be part of the solution. For preschool to eighth grade options, go to Academic Rescue Mission.com, start an academy or let us come alongside you, coach you, or find one that already exists and get plugged into that. If you're looking for eighth to twelfth grade support, your public school students join us on our outreach with Veritas Christian Community College. Go to Veritascc.us, fill out the contact form, and we'll tell you how you can get involved. In that national approach to mentorship and academic discipleship. And for our full university programs, go to cbcu.us. That's Chula Vista Christian University. If you're new to the show or you're homeschooling for the first time, you can catch all the episodes on my communication architect podcast. Just scroll back for interviews and inspiration. And don't forget to check out my two latest books, The Mentor Method and Outsourced Why America's Kids Need an Education Revolution. Both are available in print and on Kindle. And of course, you can find all of our books, blogs, and podcasts on the homepage at cbcu.us. Again, I'm Dr. Lisa Dunn. Thanks for joining me on today's show. And I'll be back next week with more tips and tools of the trade. We'll see you then. Thanks again for joining us here on the Communication Architect. If you have questions about today's episode or if there are topics you'd like to see us address, send your comments via Instagram to at Dr. Lisa Dunn or via email to contact at drlisa dunn.com. That's dr-l-i-sa-d-un e dot com. And remember, strategic communication will help you build greater emotional health and relational resilience. So don't miss the next episode. I'm Dr. Lisa Dunn and I look forward to talking with you next time right here on the Communication Architect.