Educational Values

charge

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Educational Values

Our Teaching Philosophy

Alternative - we offer higher education which is  both affordable and unique in its content and dynamic.  We  are an alternative to schools with physical classrooms. At ITS, you are in charge of your own education. It's based on assignments and projects that you have to complete within strict deadlines. Traditional schools rely on teachers. Although we have teachers that help you with your questions and give you feedback on your assignments and projects, we mostly rely on books, your commitment to learn and our educational method to offer you a quality higher education.

Independent - we are not bounded by any particular body religious or not. Our primary commitment is with God his word and our students. Although we have a Christian Confession of Faith and a general reformed theological orientation, we are not linked to any church, denomination or institution and members of all faiths are welcome to study with us. We are private and independent.

Spiritual - we are aware of the particular academic aspect of the theological education, therefore, we do not discard the need of the illumination of the Holy Spirit  in order to grasp its most profound aspects. The Holy Spirit is the our Teacher "par excellence". Without the Spirit's guidance there is no real theological education, only intellectual apprehension of religious knowledge. We are committed to listen and learn from the Holy Spirit.

Our Standards

Online higher education is a very practical resource available for adult learners. The principle that makes online education acceptable is: education is not validated because you get it in a physical classroom; rather it is validated by its educational standards.

That's why Illinois Thompson School  is zealous of its educational standards. They are the very foundation of our teaching: Academical Excellence, Spiritual Foundation and Friendly Environment. By practicing these three principles, we believe that we are offering one of the best educations online. Our Education Standards are:

Academical Excellence

We are very proud of the academic standards we have set for our programs, following good an long tested practices by traditional and non-traditional schools in U.S. and abroad. Those standards are seriousness, scholarly and method.

a) seriousness - we are very serious about our work. Students who are serious about their education, will get the best of us; non-serious students won't prevail on their program.

b) scholarly - although scholarly is not our prime target, we respect it and take it seriously, encouraging students to do the same. Students must be able to interact with all levels of knowledge without fear, because we cannot fight truth and its knowledge it is our very freedom.

c) method - We have a very particular method to teach theology. It's based on requiring assignments and projects from students with personal assistance and feedback from teachers. Papers are expected to follow Chicago Style for Research Papers and strict policies are enforced.

Clear Purpose

We are hum aware that  purpose  for higher education is to enrich one's life with knowledge and experience and improve one's life quality with better chances for fulfillment achievements in life. Our main goal is to help students to reach their maximum potential as adult learners, as they walk  towards their personal objectives.

Friendly Environment

Without to step down from the above  principles, we are committed to offer a friendly environment to  our students. They will be treat with respect and dignity, as human beings created all by the one God. Fairness, respect and friendship will guide our relationship with our students.

a) fairness - students are graded according their ability to elaborate and articulate concepts in a scholarly, authoritative and logical manner; they won't be graded by expressing their particular opinions as long as they are founded on the above principles.

b) respect - students, teachers and staff will be respected as human beings and on whatever position and titles they hold.

c) friendship - as members of the same human race e created equal by God, we expect be able to relate to one another in genuine friendship.
 

We don't sell diplomas

We don't accept "life experience" for credits.

We don't tolerate plagiarism.