In Adventist education, the work done in the classroom, administrative sectors, and support areas can go beyond the fulfillment of a professional function. When educators and other employees recognize that their activities contribute to the education of students, the well-being of families, and service to the community, the work is perceived as part of a mission.
This was the main reflection of a research study presented on July 21 during the 42nd Standing Conference on Organizational Symbolism (SCOS 2026), held in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. The event brought together researchers from more than 15 countries to discuss how sacred, spiritual values and symbolic practices participate in the life of organizations.
The study of 338 professionals was developed by Danilo Carvalho dos Santos, Eduardo Lopes dos Santos, and Fábio Vinícius de Macedo Bergamo, and asked participants to rate the extent to which they believed their daily tasks improved the lives of others. The study then examined how this perception related to their professional experience.
The research originated from D. Santos' master's thesis, developed in the Master's Degree in Leadership at Andrews University, in the United States. E. Santos was the academic advisor and is a graduate professor at the Adventist University Center of São Paulo (UNASP). Additionally, he works in the Adventist health system in Florida, United States. Bergamo is a professor of the Master's Degree in Communication at UNASP and the State University of Southwest Bahia (UESB). He participated in the theoretical expansion of the study and was responsible for its presentation at the conference.
Results showed that participants had a high perception of the positive impact of their work. In general, they recognized that the quality of the activities performed could benefit students, families, and other people served by the institution.
The analysis also identified a significant association between the perceived significance of the task and professional satisfaction. This factor explained 37.3 per cent of the variation observed in job satisfaction.
The study can be broadened to understand the presence of the sacred in Adventist education.
Spirituality is not only manifested in services, devotional moments, or religious teaching. It can also be present in the way teachers, managers, and professionals in administrative and operational areas understand the meaning of their tasks.
When a teacher recognizes that they participate in the integral formation of a student, when a support professional understands that their work contributes to a safe and welcoming environment, or when a manager realizes that their decisions favor the development of people, the spiritual mission gains concrete expression.
In this sense, the significance of the task works as a bridge between the mission of Adventist education and the daily life of its professionals. The sacred becomes part of the work when serving others is no longer just an abstract idea and is recognized in each activity.
The context analyzed also has an important characteristic: the professionals shared the same religious tradition as the institution. This creates a strong possibility of alignment between personal beliefs, organizational values, and educational mission.
For the researchers, this alignment does not mean that a religious affiliation automatically produces job satisfaction. According to the study, the mission becomes significant when professionals are able to identify how their work materializes the values that the institution announces.
Religious affiliation can, in this way, function as a symbolic and moral structure that connects different functions. Teachers, managers, secretaries, cleaning professionals, technicians, and administrative employees perform different tasks, but they all can recognize that they all participate in the same educational mission.
This shared recognition can also strengthen the sense of community, as professionals are not only united by a work structure, but by the understanding that their activities converge towards a common purpose.
At the end of the session, international researchers discussed the ways Adventist education articulates professionalism, religious identity, and the presence of the sacred in the daily experience of its collaborators.
According to Bergamo, participation in an international event like this demonstrates that Adventist education can be studied not only from its pedagogical proposal, but as a relevant environment to understand topics such as leadership, spirituality at work, organizational culture, purpose, and community formation. "Taking a research object such as Adventist education to such a relevant event at the international level shows that we can contribute to several areas of knowledge at a high standard," says Bergamo.
The authors highlighted that spirituality should not be used to replace recognition, good working conditions, or adequate management practices.
Understanding work as a mission can strengthen the meaning, belonging, and satisfaction of professionals. However, this experience needs to be accompanied by appreciation, organizational justice, dialogue, and care for people. The research shows, therefore, that the mission of Adventist education becomes stronger when each employee is able to realize that their function has value and produces impact.
The original article was published on the South American Division news site.
