From the 22nd until the 22nd of March 2019, the Ateneo SALT Institute participated in an international conference on “Christian Education and Humanism in the Global Context.” SALT was represented by its Director, Fr. Johnny Go SJ, and Ms. Rita Atienza, Incoming Director of the Ateneo Teacher Center (ATC).
The Conference gathered over sixty delegates from around the world and was organized by the Institute for World Church and Mission (IWM), an academic institute at the Philosophical-Theological College of Sankt Georgen in Frankfurt, Germany. IWM is dedicated to theological research and reflection, particularly on the missionary role of the Church vis-a-vis today’s global issues–hence, the theme of its conference, “Christian Education and Humanism in the Global Context.”
In a world where differences and diversity are increasingly evident and–unfortunately in many places–polarizing, what role should Catholic Education play in promoting this much-needed fraternal humanism? Given the different contexts in different countries and churches, what kind of “self-reinvention” is called for among Catholic educators given the signs of our times?
Designed as an opportunity to reflect collegially on contemporary Catholic Education, the Conference took as its springboard the recently published “Education for Fraternal Humanism” by the Congregation for Catholic Education (CCE), and featured talks by international speakers from different fields in order to provoke the delegates into thinking and talking about the unique challenges facing the Church in its work of education today.
Among the keynote speakers were: Fr. Friedrich Bechina, FSO from the Congregation on Catholic Education at the Vatican, Maria Bohmer from UNESCO, Holger Zaborowski (Vallender), Dr. John Sullivan (Liverpool), Jacinta Adhiambo (Nairobi), and Sr. Karolin Kuhn SSND (Rome). There were also three concurrent workshops featuring Fr. Peter Balleis SJ of the Jesuit Worldwide Learning, Sr. Birgit Weiler MMS (Lima), and Elzbieta Osewska (Krakow).
The topics were diverse ranging from the CCE document itself, to the UNESCO’s perspectives on education, to dialogical pedagogy and curriculum concerns, as well as child safety and protection in Catholic schools. Most heartwarming and inspiring was the presentation of the Jesuit Worldwide Learning (JWL) on their ongoing initiative to bring humanist education to the marginalized in Afghanistan, Malawi, and many other conflict-stricken areas.
The Conference offered an “embarrassment of riches” in terms of insights and takeaways. It started off with Fr. Bechina‘s reminder that the Church is the largest global provider of education in the world. One could not help but realize how significant a role Catholic education plays in bringing about a more humane world. Many of the participants were moved by Fr. Balleis‘s sharing of the stories and faces of the young marginalized people who benefited from the education made available by the Jesuit Worldwide Learning, making the most of digital technology to build innovation on the Jesuit traditions of humanist education and preferential option for the poor.
Throughout the Conference, several speakers expressed the need to move forward as a network that works together and learns together. Towards the end, there was a suggestion that the conference attempt to articulate what its delegates consider a responsive form of Catholic education might look like. Whatever its articulation, three key insights that emerged from the discussions will surely be included:
First, the need, more than ever, to offer a deliberately holistic formation for our students, attending not only to the their intellectual formation, but also to their physical and emotional well-being. Holistic formation has always been the hallmark of Catholic education, but today it also entails making sure that our schools provide a safe environment for our students.
Sr. Karolyn Kuhn did not mince words when she asserted that safe institutions are a precondition for learning, with one child in the world experiencing violence every every minutes. She called for Catholic schools to courageously face the reality about “abuse in our institutions, about failure to protect victims, and about failure to seek justice for them.” We realized that no matter how daunting this is especially to Catholic educators, it is important that we exert even greater effort to care for children who have experienced any form of violence in or out of the four walls of the school.
Second, Catholic schools are called to resist the temptation to join the bandwagon of offering education focused exclusively on career-oriented skills development. While this remains important, the humanist education that our schools must teach and guide our students to become better human beings. In today’s world, that certainly includes the element of fratenal humanism: being open to diversity and committed to becoming a positive force in the world for the common good. In short, we need to offer our students education that is not just a means to an end, but an end in itself.
Finally, what is important is not just what a Catholic curriculum should provide, but just as importantly how this curriculum is to be taught. Dr. John Sullivan‘s talk on “dialogical pedagogy,” for example, stresses the need for the teacher to be attentive to the student, accompanying them in a creative and critical engagement with the world, a pedagogy that patiently waits for the expression of truth to emerge from the students and avoids supplying the students with prescriptions.
We feel challenged by the Conference to dialogue with all stakeholders of the Catholic school community and together think of what we must do–and to act on these–to develop the Catholic school graduate, one who, as Dr. Sullivan explains is a person who “sees with the eyes of faith, interprets with the light of truth, and responds with a heart of love.”
It was through the invitation and assistance of the Institute’s Director, Dr. Markus Luber SJ, that Fr. Go and Ms Atienza were able to participate at the Conference, thanks to the support provided by the mission procurators of the Jesuits in Germany (Nuremberg) and in Switzerland (Zurich).
The Jesuits who attended the Conference welcomed the opportunity to meet with one another, as well as to learn about Jesuit works in different parts of the world, and to share their dreams and hopes with one another.
Once again, we thank Dr. Marcus Luber SJ and the IWM team, especially Sr. Christiana Idika, who was the conference organizer, as well as the mission procurators of the Jesuits in Germany (Nuremberg) and in Switzerland (Zurich).