Every day, we come to understand more fully the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on our lives. The dominance of the internet is one of the most impactful examples. According to the website Statista, over the next five years, global data creation is projected to grow to more than 180 zettabytes. Plentiful access to information and the proliferation of electronic devices have changed our lives...and the lives of our students.
“Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?” (T.S. Eliot, The Rock)
According to the Preamble to the Constitution of the Jesuit Secondary Education Association (1970), Jesuit educators are challenged to go beyond the mere delivery of facts and data to “the far more challenging task of bringing about a true metanoia among their students" (Preamble, 5). While data and other forms of information are important, Jesuit schools go beyond the “transaction” of data into the realm of personal “transformation,” that is, in Eliot’s words, to wisdom.
The Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm (IPP) offers Jesuit educators a methodology in and practice of teaching that is special to Jesuit schools. Understood in the light of Ignatian spirituality, Ignatian pedagogy is rooted deeply in the Ignatian concept of “discernment,” that is, in the type of reflection on experience that leads a person to action (experience - reflection - action). Like Ignatian spirituality, Ignatian pedagogy “gets the facts and then reflects on them, sorting out the motives that impel us, weighing our values and priorities, considering how significant decisions impact the poor, deciding, and living with our decisions.” (Ignatian Pedagogy: A Practical Approach, ICAJE).
This past semester, JSN focused its professional development offerings on the IPP. In the summer of 2022 about sixty Ignatian educators from across North America participated in JSN’s first summer Master Class entitled, “Learning by Refraction: A 21st Century Guide to Ignatian Pedagogy.” In the fall, about 160 Ignatian colleagues engaged the IPP through our Ignatian Colleagues Gatherings (ICGs), hosted in Denver, CO and Omaha, NE. Colleagues will continue doing so in Dallas, TX, in the spring, at our final ICG of the year.
The Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm is a unique gift to Jesuit schools. In it, tenets of Ignatian spirituality (such as "discernment") are expressed in and through the Ignatian pedagogical approach. As such, the IPP is one of the most impactful tools available to Ignatian educators as they empower their students to go beyond information to wisdom, through the kind of “metanoia” that only a transformational education such as ours can provide.
For more information on the IPP, please visit Xavier University's IPP resource page, sponsored by The Center for Mission and Identity and the Conway Institute for Jesuit Education.
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Spiritual Conversation: Creating Safe Spaces to Share Our Stories
“Spiritual conversation presupposes attentive listening to oneself and to others. It is a listening to the Spirit who speaks to us in the experience of sharing, opening us to a new look at reality, the fruit of this sharing.”
– Father General Sosa
In a day and age where we spend hours on our devices, it's easy to not only lose track of time but also get buried by information-overload. It’s not long before what we thought we saw clearly becomes blurry, and what we thought we heard clearly becomes muffled. We rush to respond to messages and emails only to find out later that we misinterpreted the whole thing. Misunderstandings become arguments which grow into fights which is clearly evident in the increasingly fractured world that we live in. How can we “journey with the youth” or “walk with the excluded” when we cannot even hear each other clearly? – One pathway that leads to clarity is Spiritual Conversation.
In doing the complicated work of reconciliation through diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, I have spent a lot of time researching and implementing the power of story, specifically, the power of our personal narratives and using them as vehicles of social justice. Living in a fractured world, I have found that whenever there is conflict, more often than not, people are not yelling just about an issue; they are yelling because they do not feel heard. Opening the door to hear each other’s stories drives listeners to empathy that leads to tangible actions promoting equity and change. I'm talking about ACTIVE LISTENING which requires intentionality, turning off that voice in our heads while the other is speaking.
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Spiritual Conversation is a simple yet powerful way to do just that. I have been using it in the theology courses I teach as well as with my colleagues. |
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The formula is easy: 1) Personal reflection in prayer on a given prompt(s). 2) Each person in a small group shares something from their reflection while everyone else LISTENS. No interruptions; no questions. Just listens. 3) Personal reflection in prayer on what they heard. 4) Another sharing by each person in the group while the others LISTEN. 5) Prayer and discernment on where one thinks the Spirit is leading them from what was shared. 6) Come back together as an entire class to discuss.
I have found that by using this format and tool, what would have taken me 45+ minutes to lecture becomes organically learned from students sharing their stories with each other. I'm amazed at the trust they extend to each other through these listening sessions. The key is in the prompts that they must reflect on. Craft them carefully and allow the Spirit to do the rest.
Included is a Powerpoint presentation that I used to teach my students on the issue of “exclusion” as our Justice Summit this year is on UAP #2: Walking with the Excluded.
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Seattle Prep and Spiritual Conversation – A New Way to Begin the New School Year
While I was at the JSN Colloquium this summer, colleagues from Seattle Prep and I mused about how we could bring the three-round format of “spiritual conversation,” central to the colloquium, back to our school. We knew these conversations – grounded in prayer, rooted in listening, founded upon trust that the Holy Spirit will speak through this intentional practice – would only benefit our community.
All faculty and staff started the year together in August with this communal prayer experience. Fr. Greg Celio and Fr. Ryan Rallanka, colleagues at Seattle Prep, led the meditation and spiritual conversation session (August session outline). Between the cadre of faculty who attended the colloquium and others comfortable leading a variety of prayer practices, we identified facilitators to guide the conversations. They led cross-departmental small groups as part of the two-hour session (August Facilitator Guide).
I was not sure how this would go when planning for the year. However, I trusted that creating space to listen deeply, cultivate relationships, and strengthen our Ignatian spirituality practices would bear fruit. Six months later, I am certain it has.
Resources created by Fr. Greg Celio and Fr. Ryan Rallanka from Seattle Preparatory School.
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Spiritual Conversation for Community Discernment
In August of 2022, my colleague Rita O’Malley and I heard from many women – what does it mean to be a woman in Jesuit education in 2022? As women in the Church, we felt called to something but were unsure what. We turned to St. Ignatius who calls us to live our lives of faith in the world. That faith is lived experiences understood through reflection to prayerful action. How better to support those calling out than to turn to prayerful listening in the method of Spiritual Conversation.
We led two virtual Spiritual Conversations this fall via Zoom. Open to women and men of the Midwest Province (and guests from other provinces), we followed the three-round method on the prompt “What feeling is stirring within you right now?” The fruits of our prayer lead to a Women’s Advent Retreat, exploring the theme, The Road to Bethlehem. Through scripture, personal reflection, and personal prayer, more than 165 individuals from our schools, retreat centers, universities, parishes, and general public walked the Road to Bethlehem through women’s voices.
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In the Spiritual Exercises, we're challenged to attend to the movements in our soul. Feelings offer direction. Feelings over time begin to prompt us to God’s movement. I have found that Spiritual Conversation is a great way to listen, pray, and be moved to action.
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A Spirit-Led Compass: Inspiring Deeper Teaching and Learning Through Action Research
The Center for Ignatian Pedagogy at Saint Ignatius High School emerged out of the deliberate, prayerful, and collaborative experience of communal discernment that led to our strategic plan, Vision ’30. This spirit-led compass for the next phase of our pilgrimage as a school directs us to embrace innovative curricular design, a commitment to deep learning, a unified culture of professional learning, and student-centered Ignatian pedagogy informed by research in the science of teaching and learning.
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The findings of this study are galvanizing a series of action research projects, studying student learning and engagement led by our pilot group of Student Research Fellows. In collaboration with faculty researchers and mentors, our students will be empowered to develop action research projects using frameworks modeled on the IPP and powered by Ignatian discernment. By partnering with our students to initiate complex questions about their learning, we can authentically accompany them in the creation of a hope-filled future.
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Promoting the Spiritual Exercises in Jesuit Schools
Inspired by this summer’s JSN Colloquium, a group of mission officers began gathering to share resources around our work to promote the Spiritual Exercises in Jesuit schools. We meet online the second Thursday of each month for an hour. So far, we've been blessed by the insights of Dr. Damian Zynda from McQuaid Jesuit, on the topic of “What happens to us in the work of directing the Exercises”; Amy McKenna from St Ignatius High School Cleveland on “Promoting the Spiritual Exercises to Faculty and Staff"; and Brendan O’Kane from Loyola Blakefield on “Patience - A Holy Necessity.”
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The remaining sessions this academic year are January 12, February 9, March 9, April 13, and May 11 at 2 p.m. ET. Sessions are recorded and shared with those who are not able to join live. If you're interested in attending or learning more about any of these sessions, please contact Robert Stephan at [email protected].
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ISN's Ignatian Spirituality and Antiracism Gathering
“Still the nations curse the darkness, still the rich oppress the poor; Still the earth is bruised and broken by the ones who still want more. Come and wake us from our sleeping, so our hearts cannot ignore All your people lost and broken, all your children at our door.”
– God of Day and God of Darkness
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This month, the Ignatian Spirituality and Antiracism Gathering assembled practitioners from across a variety of national Jesuit institutions to create a shared vision for Jesuit antiracist apostolates and explore possibilities for partnership across the Jesuit Network. Organized by the Ignatian Solidarity Network, U.S. Jesuit Provinces, and the Jesuit Antiracism Sodality (JARS), we gathered to explore the intersections between Ignatian Spirituality and antiracism using the framework of the four weeks of the Spiritual Exercises. Through Ignatian Spirituality, this powerful and prayerful experience invited us to discern the interior and collective work necessary to deepen our commitment to racial justice as men and women for and with others. Returning from this gathering hopeful and rooted, we're offered a path forward to collaborate upon our work and transform our institutions into what they ought to be.
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FLACSI Teachers and Other Networks Prepare to Support Their Students' Training in Global Citizenship
"As educators, we must find a way to bring this course to the classroom, transforming it into actions with our students."
This was one of the reflections during one of the five virtual sessions of the Global Citizenship Course offered by Educate Magis, in a new and interesting modality that combines asynchronous modules with weekly virtual meetings. Inspired by Spiritual Conversation, the course is aimed at participants reflecting together on each of its five themes: Global Citizenship, Human Rights and Global Goals, Social Justice, Right to Education, and Care for our Common Home.
Organized by Educate Magis and facilitated by Jimena Castro, Global Citizenship Project Coordinator of FLACSI, and María Oliva García, educator and coordinator of the International and Global Citizenship area of Colegio San José Villafranca, the course was attended by 12 teachers from schools in Argentina (Inmaculado Corazón de María Adoratrices), Spain (Colegio San José de Valladolid), and Mexico (Tampico Cultural Institute), thus counting on diverse visions and experiences that have enriched the group reflections, and likewise the formation of each participant.
This course was carried out during the month of November 2022, with the hope that more sessions will be made so that the course continues to be an opportunity for more teachers in the region and in the world, on the hopeful path of the formation of students as Global Citizens, with and for others.
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General Curia Launches 'Jesuit Pilgrimage' App
The General Curia recently launched a free “Jesuit Pilgrimage” smartphone app aimed at giving an intimate experience of the locations that helped make Ignatius of Loyola a saint. Through maps, and 360-degree photographs, as well as audio and text meditations, users can visit each of the transformational stops on Ignatius’ journey, either virtually from home or on-site, in each of the 44 places covered. The app is available in English, Spanish, Italian and French, both for Android and iOS.
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Utilize IAJU's Peace and Reconciliation Initiatives Geo-Visor
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Offered by IAJU as part of global initiatives for peace and reconciliation, the Peace and Reconciliation Initiatives Geo-Visor is an interactive map that allows users to view and learn about initiatives across the globe, with the option to filter their search by reconciliation level, reconciliation practice, type of initiative, and country. Watch a brief instructional video before utilizing valuable resource for Jesuit educators.
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Jesuit Pedagogy, 1540–1616: A Reader
From the Institute of Jesuit Sources at Boston College, Jesuit Pedagogy, 1540–1616: A Reader offers a wide selection of relevant materials that lets us see the development of Jesuit approaches to pedagogy in theory and practice to help deepen our understanding of why Jesuit schools became such important educational institutions in early modernity. The anthology will be a helpful tool for those researching Jesuit education, as well as a source of inspiration and insight for those directly involved in its practice today. Click here to learn more about the book and purchase a copy.
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