AdZU JHS holds
IPP Seminar-Workshop
“Educating
is not a profession but an attitude, a way of being; in order to educate it is
necessary to step out of ourselves and be among young people, to accompany them
in the stages of their growth and to set ourselves beside them.” – Pope Francis
In constant pursuit of
promoting holistic formation, the Ateneo de Zamboanga University Junior High
School (JHS) gathered together for a two-day seminar-workshop on the Ignatian
Pedagogical Paradigm (IPP) last May 7 to 8, 2018 at the AdZU Kreutz Campus in
Tumaga, Zamboanga City. Nancy Lourdes Toledo from the Sacred Heart School of Ateneo
de Cebu touched on the definition and the application of the Ignatian
Pedagogical Paradigm.
Ignatian
Pedagogy or IP “involves evaluating the whole student, not just his/her
academic progress but also his/her growth in attitudes; priorities and actions
‘consistent with being a person for others.” Aiming to promote an exceptional
educational experience, IP encourages holistic formation. Academically and
spiritually, it engages the five senses in order to encourage students to use
their imagination and expand their horizons.
Toledo
stressed the importance of discernment or making decisions with the guidance
and presence of the Lord. In school or at home, it is necessary that we look
and listen to all that occur. On the other hand, she similarly stressed the
importance of learning to be magnanimous in school. Magnanimity is the virtue
of having a great heart and a similarly great mind to do great things to
respond to what God asks of us as his servants. These two are necessary in
achieving the Ignatian Pedagogical way of teaching.
The
IPP seminar-workshop was held to address the issue of AdZU JHS faculty and
staff having different understandings and practices of IPP. Deliberately
scheduled after the faculty’s three-day retreat, the seminar was held to
hopefully connect with the framework of the retreat with IPP. Moreover, with
the rise of the new curriculum and the shift to K-12, IPP has been set aside in
the teaching practices in recent times. Believing such as the core of AdZU
being a Jesuit institution, JHS aims to apply it in all their proceedings and
their framework. 
AdZU
JHS felt fortunate to have Toledo as the resource speaker, an individual who
truly lives out the Ignatian spirituality in lifestyle, prayer, and outlook in
life. IPP can be taught with its entire framework, technical jargons, and other
aspects, but it achieves a whole new meaning if it is taught by one who has spirituality.
More than just a means for curriculum and instruction, there is depth, clarity,
and soul.
