An updated approach to Ignatian Pedagogy was introduced on the 25th anniversary of the publication of Ignatian Pedagogy: A Practical Approach. GBSEALD Founding Dean Fr. Johnny Go SJ and ATC Director Rita J. Atienza collaborated on a workbook intriguingly called Learning by Refraction: A Practitioners’ Guide to 21st-Century Ignatian Pedagogy.
The book introduces the core concepts of Ignatian pedagogy (like the Experience-Reflection-Action cycle) and deepens the readers’ understanding of these concepts by contextualizing them for 21s- century learners. Aside from introducing and deepening concepts, the book also provides worksheets, activities, and reflection questions for readers to think more about how they can apply the concepts of the book to their own teaching.
Ignatian educators around the world have expressed their appreciation for the practical approach of the book and the concrete examples that it offers. On February 3rd to 6th, 2020, over 30 educators from nine European countries attended a four-day conference on the Learning by Refraction approach to Ignatian Pedagogy.
The European conference was followed by another held in Sydney, Australia, where the Key Leaders of Learning and the Ignatian Coordinators from Jesuit and Companion Schools Australia joined a four-day workshop at St. Peter Canisius House, Pymble from the 23rd to the 27th of February 2020.
When the pandemic struck, these face-to-face training sessions were replaced by the online MasterClass on 21st-Century Ignatian Pedagogy. To-date, the MasterClass has been offered to our Ignatian colleagues from Europe, Australia, and the Philippines.
So far the book “Learning by Refraction” has been translated into Spanish, Thai, Polish, Brazilian Portuguese, and Chinese.
