On March 27, Richard Gill, dean of Undergraduate Education, spoke on “Teaching and Navigating the Course of Disciple Scholarship.” Gill shared stories of open ocean voyaging and parallels between navigating the ocean and navigating disciple scholarship.
Gill was enlightened by the idea of navigating disciple scholarship years ago while conducting research with a group of Native Hawaiians on the island of Molokai. During this time, Gill connected with the Polynesian Voyaging Society and learned about their efforts to revive the traditional ways of open ocean navigation.
Open ocean vessels are directed by crews of about 15 members. The most essential member, the wayfinder, guides the vessel across the ocean without instruments, using only the surrounding nature to navigate the course. Wayfinding is an ancient, sacred practice.
In comparing wayfinding to navigating the course of discipleship, Gill shared five points professors can use to help students navigate their own course of disciple scholarship:
- Know the origins of students
- Give them a vision for their destination
- Link motivation to discipleship
- Support covenants
- Seek the spirit
Know the origins of students
Gill encouraged conference attendees to strive to know who their students truly are.
“As we think about helping students on their path of disciple scholarship, the first step is to know where they are and where they’re coming from,” Gill said.
Gill showed videos of two New Zealand students sharing their pepeha. A pepeha is a way of introducing yourself in Māori, it introduces the places and people that are important to you and your history.
Gill posed the question: How can we invite students to share who they are within the classroom? To share their pepeha?
Give them a vision for their destination
In the Polynesian Voyaging Society’s efforts to restore the art and science of wayfinding, Native Hawaiian Nainoa Thompson was trained in the tradition by master wayfinder, Mau Piailug, from Micronesia. In 1980, Thompson was the first Polynesian to navigate a long distance, open ocean voyage without instruments in 600 years. Pialug trained Thompson to use landmarks to navigate the boat, and to always keep an image of the destination in his mind.
Gill asked conference attendees to discuss two questions concerning the vision of a student’s journey amongst themselves.
- What does it look like to be a disciple scholar?
- For students in my class or area of stewardship, what are outcomes that would show that we are making progress toward becoming disciple scholars?
Link motivation to discipleship
Zenith stars are used by wayfinders as points of orientation. Zenith stars are transit followers of a specific latitude; when a zenith star is directly above a canoe, a wayfinder knows exactly which latitude they are at. Gill compared zenith stars to the different points of direction a student uses to navigate their course—moral, future lifestyle, social, and practical. He shared that Jesus Christ should be a zenith star in student’s lives.
“There is another fixed star that they need to be guided from, and that’s the gospel of Jesus Christ and their own discipleship,” Gill said.
Support covenants
On a canoe journey, the crew stops at multiple waypoints along the way. Gill likened the waypoints on the crew’s ocean journey to the waypoints on a student’s journey of disciple scholarship—baptism, endowment, and the new and everlasting covenant.
Professors and advisors can help students see their waypoints. “Part of helping students become disciple scholars is helping them see how their covenant relationship with God connects to what they’re learning in the classroom,” Gill said. “The work in the classroom should support our covenants.”
Seek the spirit
On a journey across the ocean, there are dark, cloudy nights when no landmarks are visible. When the wayfinder cannot see the moon or the stars, they must feel what Gill described as “the magic” of navigating. Gill shared a story of how Thompson was able to feel, rather than see, where the moon was on a dark night traveling from Hawaii to Tahiti. Similar to open ocean navigating, seeking the spirit is essential in navigating the course of disciple scholarship.
Gill closed his remarks by sharing a Samoan proverb: “The rock may erode but the story remains.”
The content of Brigham Young University classes may change, but the stories students tell about their time at BYU will remain. These stories will help students navigate their course of becoming disciples of Jesus Christ.
“We are joining them somewhere along their path, and we get to help them navigate,” Gill said.
To learn more about Christ-oriented navigation view the slides below and watch the full workshop.