Jesuit Higher Education

Canisius University is affiliated with the Society of Jesus, or the Jesuits,  a Roman Catholic religious order founded by Ignatius of Loyola in the sixteenth century.  The University is named for an early Jesuit, Peter Canisius.  The Jesuits have pedagogical concepts that draw from their particular spirituality, and alongside other Roman Catholic social and educational philosophies, form a bedrock for teaching and learning at Jesuit universities. 

Ignatius of Loyola’s Spiritual Exercises form the basis for the Jesuit educational project, although the Jesuit Constitutions and the Ratio Studiorum also are important components to the Jesuit philosophy of education.  The Ratio Studiorum (Plan of Studies), produced by the order in 1599 as an integrated program for their schools, is in many respects relevant to its era rather than our own, but it includes precepts that carry to the present and established an intentional pedagogy tradition within Jesuit education.  Although a program for personal growth within the Catholic faith,  the Spiritual Exercises provide a beneficial description of the teacher-student relationship.  The professor does not simply recite things the student should know (for an exam), but guides the student in a journey toward truth and freedom.  

Below are key concepts that, over time, have come to characterize the Jesuit way of education.  Many ideas are paralleled in other faith traditions’ approaches to education, as well as instructional design methods, but together they form a helpful perspective for connecting our individual courses, disciplines and curriculum to the greater world.  

Faculty at Jesuit colleges and universities, regardless of their religious affiliation or involvement, are not simply a workforce contracted to teach in various disciplines.  The Society of Jesus relies upon and celebrates a diverse faculty and staff as mentors for students, preserving Ignatian intellectual character and ethics across disciplines.  Compared to the previous century there are fewer Jesuits at colleges and universities, but as Barton Geger, SJ declares: “[i]t may fairly be said that Jesuit institutions are better capable of articulating the Jesuit mission now – and they are certainly more deliberate about it – than they ever were in the past.”   This is to the credit of professors and staff committed to students’ intellectual growth and well being. 

Core Concepts

For the Glory of God (AMDG)

The motto of the Society of Jesus, and in an educational context, reminds faculty and students that their scholarly labors serve greater purposes, within or beyond Roman Catholic spirituality.  St. Ignatius himself was clear on it’s implication: “When discerning between two or more good options, all else being equal, choose that which serves the more universal good, i.e., that which makes the widest impact.”  This has obvious implications for students; put your learning and earned credentials to good use (in accordance with other Catholic and Jesuit values described here.)  And specifically at Canisius, regard your schoolwork as genuine preparation to benefit others throughout your professional and personal life.  Course activities may encourage students to link their schoolwork with real-world social, cultural and political problems, both as opportunities to better understand those issues as well as perhaps take actions to better others’ lives and conditions.  However, AMDG works in close concert with Magis, discussed next.

Magis

Translating variously to “more” or “greater,” Magis appeared as a watchword in the Jesuit sphere in the 1960s. Magis elaborates St. Ignatius’ counsel to seek a more universal good: “For the Greater Glory of God” (AMDG.) and therefore move us closer to the divine.

However, as Barton Geger, SJ points out, Magis can also signify the greater use of limited resources in the world.  St. Ignatius warned against “zeal not according to knowledge,” or well-meaning but simplistic  views and less consequential actions.  This means acknowledging that many actions or judgments are genuinely good but some are better than the rest.  For example, a professor might challenge her students to develop a plan, argument, or evaluation that accepts calculated risk, concedes negative implications, acknowledges criticisms, but rigorously deploys evidence and reason to present an ultimately better outcome in affairs such as public health, democracy, or inclusion.  

Magis has implications for pedagogy, too.  For example, what purpose does this learning objective, that assignment, or those syllabus policies really serve?  Are we guided by unthinking adoption of teaching methods we experienced as students or teaching assistants, or have we describable and measurable outcomes in mind for the subjects we choose, rules we make or activities we assign?  Are we designing courses for a stereotypical student in our minds, or a real class of students with diverse backgrounds, interests and life experiences?   Do we adhere to a simplistic notion of “fairness” where all students must be treated identically, when a justice might be better served by allowing a student an extended deadline or alternative assignment due to special circumstances?  When should we see “creative fidelity” (as St. Ignatius put it) in a student who completes a project with impressive rigor and in the spirit of, if not dogged obedience to the assignment instructions?  Do we oblige students to work smarter, or only harder?  Optimally, we are not simply telling students what to know but how to be capable, constructive, reflective, and ethical professionals.  How can we, as professors, achieve the greatest good with our limited time, energy and resources?

Magis includes commitment to excellence, but by itself excellence is an insufficient definition of Magis.  High expectations for students is proper for Jesuit schools, but it is so commonly a goal (or platitude, anyway) among education, healthcare, business or government that it can hardly be a definition of Magis or a particular characteristic of Ignatian education in general.

Cura Personalis

The phrase itself is of relative recent vintage, dating to the time of the Jesuit Superior General, Wlodimir Ledochowski, in the early twentieth century.  The concept goes back to Ignatius of Loyola and the Spiritual Exercises where the direction of the Exercises depends on the graces or insights that the exercitant receives while making them.  This approach finds its basis in the dignity of each individual made in God’s image.  Jesuit pedagogy uses this approach in the hope of developing the special talent of each student.

Ignatian Discernment of Spirits

This process is one for making decisions that founded on one’s Christian faith. However, these decisions may lead to a better life or one inspired by the evil spirit.  Ignatius proposes two sets of these rules in the Spiritual Exercises.  One set for the First Week is to lead one to conversion. The other set is for the Second Week and seeks to help those already leading a good life to pursue an even better way of life.

Within our curriculum, we prepare students to make informed judgments.  Leadership and personal effectiveness can serve the greater good, but require individuals to make choices in their beliefs and actions.  Humility is crucial; our knowledge of truth is, like us, imperfect.  But through the Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm, we can hone habits of mind for making good decisions.

Women and Men For and With Others

This phrase derives from a comment by then-Superior General Pedro Arrupe, in a 1973 speech to the alumni of Jesuit schools on July 31, 1973.  It describes an ideal Jesuit graduate who sees the love of God as manifest in love for the least of our neighbors and in a pursuit of justice for all.  In short, it is the goal of Jesuit education.  

“For Others” commands us to service.  “With others” compels us to listen to, assist, support, and advocate for those who need and deserve justice and recognition in accordance with tenets of Catholic Social Teaching and Intellectual Traditions, as well as the Apostolic Preferences (below.) 

Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm: Five Core Principles

The Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm represents a practical means to implement The Characteristics of Jesuit Education, originally developed in the 1980s by the International Commission on the Apostolate of Jesuit Education. The core concepts above help faculty to identify what is characteristic about Jesuit education; together with the Apostolic preferences (below) the five IPP principles are the practical means to connect subject matter, activities, learning goals and objectives in many disciplines with Jesuit pedagogy.  

Context

Getting to know students as individuals is the first element of Ignatian pedagogy. Teaching is not only about the course content in a Jesuit institution; it is also about understanding who our students are and how best to “meet them where they are.”  This is not just a good teaching strategy that can be found at any institution. This perspective is grounded in the Catholic understanding of the dignity of the human person. Catholic teaching is that every human being…regardless of race, nationality, gender, or economic circumstances…is made uniquely “in the image and likeness of God” (Imago Dei). Therefore, getting to know our students as persons honors the reflection of God that they uniquely are.

 Experience

Grounded in the Imago Dei, every person (faculty and students alike) brings unique life experiences to the educational process. Ignatian pedagogy honors this and asks us to reflect on how we can connect the courses we teach to the life experiences of the students we teach. Ignatian pedagogy challenges us to respect the different cultural and other experiences our students bring to their education. It challenges us to think about how to best connect the content of our course to the experiences of all of our students.

Meanwhile, students learn through the experiences we develop and deploy for them, within our courses.  Vicarious experiences such as reading or lecture can provide students valuable insights.  But students learn higher-level cognitive skills through direct experiences.  These obviously include community-based learning or lab experiments.   But they also might be discussions where students learn through others’ perspectives and discover how others perceive a text, artifact, or event differently.  Or, students may help each other acquire procedural skills through peer instruction or developing tutorials for others.    

Reflection

One of the purposes of education is to challenge students to develop critical thinking and the ability to reflect upon experience. Beyond critical examination of course content, Ignatian pedagogy includes reflection on what the course content means to the person we are becoming and how what is learned can contribute to the common good. 

Drawing upon many pedagogical traditions, faculty and instructional designers value reflective activities that encourage students to consider how they are learning.  That is, to be intentional, persistent, and creative in becoming better learners throughout their lives.

Actions

Ignatian pedagogy asks us to reflect upon how what we learn will inspire us to change how we act in small ways and in large so that we increasingly become “men and women for and with others.” 

Here, a professor provides opportunities for students to translate their reflections into procedures, decisions or judgments.  They must deploy acquired skills, creativity, and courage.  This activity might bear directly on real-world circumstances, or it might be an exercise simulating real-world conditions that help students prepare for the future.  

In the process of acting during a course – be it community-based learning or solving a complex mathematics problem on an exam – a student orders things in her or his mind in order to carry out the action. This might represent an understanding of concepts or personal priorities.

Their sense of success, accomplishment or personal growth can lead to action beyond a course.  For example, a student may acquire a new understanding of professional identity, commit to exercise as part of a healthier lifestyle, or choose public service as an early career path.

Evaluation

Finally, in Ignatian pedagogy, evaluation means more than grading and assessment. It is grounded in the Imago Dei, the methodology of the Examen, and the concept of magis. As understood in Ignatian pedagogy, grading and feedback on student work should be tailored to assist each student to reflect on the meaning of their experience in the course as well as on what they learned and how they can improve. The purpose of assessment, understood in Ignatian pedagogy, is similar, asking faculty to reflect upon how the experience they crafted fulfilled the teaching mission embodied in a Jesuit education.

Universal Apostolic Preferences

In 2019, Pope Francis issued to the Jesuits four Universal Apostolic Preferences.  These guide Jesuit activities around the world and in many spheres, including education.  They speak directly to many  concerns in our communities, local and global, in the next decade.  Many of our disciplines and much of their curriculum are already concerned with these topics.  

Arrupe, Pedro.  “Men and Women for Others.”  1973.  https://ignatiansolidarity.net/men-and-women-for-others-fr-pedro-arrupe-s-j/

The Universal Apostolic Preferences at Jesuits.org  https://www.jesuits.global/uap/introduction/

“Ignatian Pedagogy – A Practical Approach.”  Jesuit Institute. 1993. http://jesuitinstitute.org/Resources/Ignatian%20Pedagogy%20(JI%20Edition%202013).pdf

“Discernment of Spirits.”  Jesuits California.  https://youtube.com/embed/l_XWgRB6djM

Geger, Barton.  “What Magis Really Means and Why it Matters.”  Jesuit Higher Education 1, 2012: 16-31. https://www.xavier.edu/jesuitresource/resources-by-theme/documents/WhatMagisReallyMeansPublishedCopy.pdf