Our Approach

Learning Philosophy

The concept of The Shepherd’s Academy is based on the life and ministry of Jesus Christ as presented in the Gospels. Jesus calls himself the Good Shepherd (John 10:11-18) who leads, provides, cares, protects, multiplies, trains, and understands His sheep.

Our programme, content, and learning outcomes are modelled after these seven characteristics of the Good Shepherd.

  1. Leading towards Mentoring, Modelling, Instructing, Prophetic Engagement, Discipline and Servant Leadership.
  2. Providing with Spiritual Nourishment and Biblical Applied Knowledge.
  3. Caring for Holistic Development and Transformation.
  4. Protecting from Internal and External Challenges.
  5. Multiplying through Discipleship, Evangelism and Mission.
  6. Training with life skills for Church, Society and Nation.
  7. Understanding the Bible, Church, Culture and Context.

As church leaders and disciples of Jesus, we are called to follow in his example and become ‘shepherds of the flock’ or church (1 Peter 5:2-4). In order to be faithful and qualified shepherds, we must lead our churches in the same way Jesus leads us.

We want to journey along with you, as the learner, and broaden your existing understanding of Biblical knowledge and relate this to social, spiritual, emotional, financial, managerial, national and global issues. In other words, the programme enables you to do ministry in, for and through your context.

Blended Learning

Our modular courses are delivered through a blended learning approach with online material developed by subject experts, peer group learning under a qualified mentor, and weekly tutorial meetings.

Our courses are hosted on an online Learning Management System (LMS). Instead of lectures, you will read self-study lessons for each week and then discuss what you have learnt in a guided tutorial. Assessments will vary with each course, but aim to encourage practical action and reflection.

These informed peer-to-peer discussions will encourage critical and self-reflective thinking, and enable effective application within your specific contexts.

  • Self-study and Reflections. You will complete the required self-study material, take the quiz and reflect on the discussion questions at your own pace throughout the week. This will enable you to continue working within your church and community.
  • Tutorials. Following the online discussion and self- study, you will attend a weekly tutorial with other learners. These tutorials will be led by a trained tutor and will be an opportunity for you to discuss the content, ask questions, and apply and reflect what you have learnt. This will be made possible through regional and local ‘hubs’ or ‘study centres’
  • Assessments. Our courses will have different kinds of assessments dependent on the type of course. For us, ‘learning’ is achieved when you take action and put into the practice the things you have been taught, not merely when you recall facts in an exam. Our assessments are based around this model of learning

LMS

We use a Moodle-based Online Learning Management system to host our weekly learning. This user-friendly platform is designed to meet all the needs of regular classroom based learning, whilst providing learners with the flexibility to progress at their own pace and the ability to take control of their own learning.

Instead of lectures, you will use the LMS to read self-study lessons for each week, compete various tasks and assignments, and interact with your classmates. You will then take what you have learnt through the LMS into a weekly guided tutorial with your classmates.