Published: October 6, 2025
I was raised with the understanding that there are three kinds of education – material, human, and spiritual – and that for education to have its maximum impact on individuals and society, all three must operate in harmony. As the President of the University of Liberia (UL) – indeed, as an educator at the university level for the duration of my career – I have often thought about this, and it guides my approach. With classes finally back in session at UL (thank you, ULFA), I find myself once again thinking about how UL’s education can have maximum impact.
As educators, our role in society is to mold human beings from a state of “not knowing” to a state of “knowing” – but the question then becomes: Knowing what? And why? In today’s world, people mainly think about education, especially higher education, in terms of “getting a job,” because a job leads to material benefits, the proverbial “house and a car,” and, if one is lucky, “wealth.” As important as these things are, a well-rounded education encompasses so much more. In fact, it might be argued that that “so much more” is actually the most important part of education and it’s the “why.”
Let’s take a look at the three types of education for deeper insight.
The first type – material education – relates to achieving comfort. It is primarily focused on physical wellbeing and material security. Its goals are survival, vitality, and ease, things that everyone needs and deserves. It provides a stable foundation for the other two types of education.
The second type – human education – relates to developing the human mind and contributing to the betterment of society. This is the kind of education that produces research, yields discoveries, generates creative works, and inspires artistic masterpieces. Human education leads to scientific and cultural progress. However, it must be morally anchored to produce its best results, because the human mind is capable of using knowledge for good or ill.
Without an ethical compass, knowledgeable people may use discoveries merely for personal profit or, at worst, to harm others. A classic example is the discovery of atomic energy – it produces both nuclear bombs capable of killing millions and nuclear generators produced from the dame of atomic energy is capable of bringing needed electricity to millions. Humanity is still fighting with the consequences of this discovery because we have not yet fully overcome our desire to compete with and harm one another. Yet, the promise of widespread human benefit is there, and many people of goodwill are trying to bring it into being.
The third type – spiritual education – relates to the cultivation of human perfections. Some traditions call these virtues, others refer ethics, others call this morality. In my tradition, the Bahá’í Faith, we use the language of “Divine perfections,” and understand this to be the realm of education in which human beings arc towards the realization of this verse: “Let Us make man in Our image, and after Our likeness.” In our tradition, we understand the human as being comprised of body, mind, and soul, and spiritual education refers to that which educates the soul. Other traditions, such as Christianity and Islam, have similar ideas about spiritual education or achieving spiritual perfections. However, this concept is not alien to those who are not religious, because there are strong philosophical traditions in the realm of ethics that also direct human beings toward the cultivation of goodness and excellence. There are even very practical applications of this concept, such as “leadership development” and “soft skills.” The bottom line is this – human beings need to be educated in terms of moral and ethical thinking and behavior, not just left to themselves, if they are to be all that they can be, and if society is to be all that it can be.
Education that is at once material, human, and spiritual lifts nations to greatness and ensures an ever-advancing civilization, locally, nationally, and globally. A university that takes the three types of education into consideration as it strives to be all that it can be is a university that positions its students, faculty, and staff for greatness and, in turn, becomes an engine of greatness for the nation. That is my goal for UL.
Relying on my Baha’i tradition in which it is mentioned that “The earth is but one country and mankind its citizens,” I remain opened to and welcome the meaningful contributions of everyone as we push for not only an appreciable national space and respect but also a global recognition which would readily integrate graduates of the UL in any society-academic, social or religious they find themselves in.
To conclude, I have also learned that “Blessed is the spot, and the house, and the place, and the city, and the heart, and the mountain, and the refuge, and the cave, and the valley, and the land, and the sea, and the island, and the meadow where mention of God hath been made, and His praise glorified.”
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