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Pathway: a Gateway to Global Church Education Benjamin Charles Peterson Brigham Young University

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Pathway: a Gateway to Global Church Education Benjamin Charles Peterson Brigham Young University Brigham Young University BYU ScholarsArchive All Theses and Dissertations 2016-11-01 Pathway: A Gateway to Global Church Education Benjamin Charles Peterson Brigham Young University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Peterson, Benjamin Charles, "Pathway: A Gateway to Global Church Education" (2016). All Theses and Dissertations. 6105. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/6105 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Pathway: A Gateway to Global Church Education Benjamin Charles Peterson A thesis submitted to the faculty of Brigham Young University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts John L. Hilton, Chair Robert C. Freeman Scott C. Esplin Department of Religious Education Brigham Young University November 2016 Copyright © 2016 Benjamin Charles Peterson All Rights Reserved ABSTRACT Pathway: A Gateway to Global Church Education Benjamin Charles Peterson Department of Religious Education, BYU Master of Arts Education and learning have ever been at the core of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Throughout its history that now extends nearly one hundred ninety years, the Church has made numerous attempts to provide educational opportunities for its members. Some attempts have failed, and others were met with some success—though limited, to be sure. In hindsight, most of these efforts were simply laying the foundation for something far greater. At the dawn of the twenty-first century, the groundwork for global Church education had been laid, and the seeds planted. Beginning with a pilot administered through BYU-Idaho, a program known as “Pathway” grew into a worldwide effort that is successfully providing educational opportunities to individuals distanced from such occasion. The Church-affiliated university also created a robust online program, that coupled with Pathway, was providing a largely affordable, yet high-quality education to Church members and even a few other individuals across the globe. Not without its barriers, Pathway and the BYU-Idaho online degree program worked to overcome legal and other limitations in order to create and expand a vigorous offering across cultures, time, and space. Recently, these programs have given root to what is now a global education initiative, collaborating a united effort from each institution affiliated with the Church Educational System. Keywords: CES Global Education Initiative, Pathway, BYU-Idaho, Church Educational System, Latter-day Saint education, internationalization, Seminaries and Institutes, religious education ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My sincere thanks go to each of the many individuals who contributed to the life of this project. I first acknowledge my thesis chair, John Hilton III, who from the beginning has believed in this project and has contributed sources, experienced insight and support at every point of this journey. As a colleague recently said of him, he is a wonderfully rare blend of both intelligence and goodness. Robert Freeman contributed support both as a member of the thesis committee and through his valuable experience gathering personal histories. Scott Esplin, with his wealth of knowledge in Church education and his impeccable writing skills has shared many insights that have also greatly improved the quality of this work. Also deserving of my gratitude are all who have worked in the past and present to envision, implement, and grow Pathway. Their personal histories and experiences are the backbone of this thesis. Steve Adams and Lynne Landon, as well as J.D. Griffith, Bryan Justesen, Gene Hayes, April Spaulding, Peter Williams and Alan Young have each offered tremendous help by allowing me to interview them, answering my relentless inquiries and providing their review of this work. I also sincerely thank the dozens of others who have worked to make Pathway what it is today. Without their contributions to Pathway, this project would not be possible. Other key individuals at BYU-Idaho who have personally contributed to this thesis are Brad Hales, Betty Oldham and Rob Eaton. Brother Eaton’s personal record-keeping in the early days of Pathway and his own personal research of President Henry B. Eyring’s involvement with the program brought unique insights that have greatly enhanced the quality of this work. I also thank Henry J. Eyring for his kind willingness to contribute his experience with Pathway and for his remarkable work with Clayton Christensen on innovating higher education. I express my gratitude to President Clark Gilbert and Elder Kim B. Clark who also graciously contributed their personal experiences to this project as both architects and administrators of Pathway from the program’s genesis. My sincere thanks also go to President Henry B. Eyring for reviewing portions of this work and allowing the use of personal comments that have enriched it. On a personal note, I acknowledge the enduring love and support of my wife, Traci, who has cheerfully and elegantly supported me during every day of this journey. Her encouragement and love have been paramount to me. I also thank my children, Gabe, Olivia, Madeline, and Liam, who constantly remind me of life’s greatest joy, and my parents and siblings who have so willingly supported us along the way. Ultimately, I thank my Father in Heaven for inspiring me to pursue this project and for opening doors that have allowed it in every way to become what it is. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................... iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................................ v LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................................... viii LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................................... ix CHAPTER ONE: WORKING THE SOIL – FOUNDATIONS OF CHURCH EDUCATION .... 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 1 The Priority of Learning .............................................................................................................. 3 Brigham Young Academy ........................................................................................................... 6 General Church Board of Education ........................................................................................... 7 Seminaries and Institutes of Religion .......................................................................................... 9 Expansion of Secular Educational Opportunities ...................................................................... 18 The Perpetual Education Fund .................................................................................................. 20 CHAPTER TWO: PLANTING THE SEED – RICKS COLLEGE AND BYU-IDAHO ............ 22 Bannock Stake Academy Becomes Ricks College ................................................................... 22 From Henry B. Eyring to David A. Bednar .............................................................................. 27 Becoming BYU-Idaho ............................................................................................................... 29 CHAPTER THREE: CONTINUAL GROWTH – “RETHINKING EDUCATION” .................. 33 Kim B. Clark’s Vision ............................................................................................................... 33 BYU-Idaho Learning Model ..................................................................................................... 37 CHAPTER FOUR: STRENGTHENING THE BRANCHES – ONLINE LEARNING INITIATIVE ................................................................................................................................. 42 Learning Online ......................................................................................................................... 42 The Vision of Online Learning ................................................................................................. 43 Bachelor of University Studies Degree and Online Learning ................................................... 45 Increasing Course Quality ......................................................................................................... 51 Extending the BYU-Idaho Experience ...................................................................................... 58 v A Proving Ground of Fidelity ................................................................................................... 61 CHAPTER FIVE: EXTENDING THE BRANCHES – CREATING ACADEMIC START ...... 63 “Technology and Institute Buildings” ....................................................................................... 63 Focus Groups............................................................................................................................. 70 Potentially Projected Impacts on BYU-Idaho ..........................................................................
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