How to Get that Ignatian Vibe in Your Course

At the beginning of every one of our Course Design programs, we ask faculty what their fears are about teaching online. The biggest fear is always that they will feel disconnected from their students. This isn’t surprising, Seattle University prides itself on providing a high-touch learning environment, where the Ignatian idea of cura personalis, care of the whole person, is the foundation and the context in which real learning takes place.

As Brendan Busse, S.J. noted while he was designing his first online course, "Ignatian pedagogy demands that we meet the person where they're at and help them along by any means available."

One of the most important aspects of online course design is finding ways to create a sense of presence. The concept of "presence" is used to describe the moment when technology becomes transparent and the instructor and learners see each other as real people, feeling as connected as they do in the classroom. Many instructors report being surprised and delighted when they find themselves connecting deeply with their online students. Online spaces have great potential for creating presence but you must be intentional in harnessing the rich diversity of communication tools at your disposal.

Going back to our original question for faculty, once we ask them to consider the kinds of things they are already doing in their classrooms, they realize that with a little bit of thought these can be incorporated into their online learning spaces. Below are some ideas from Seattle University faculty for using the five pillars of the Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm to inspire students to fully experience course concepts and to internalize the material so learning goes beyond an intellectual exercise.

 

CONTEXT

How do you create a climate of trust and situate your course into the world of the learner?

  • "I begin by acknowledging the value of the students to the course. The course is designed to meet a certain set of objectives, yet the learner’s experience will also emerge and play a part."
  • "I start out by creating by asking the students to work together creating class norms and defining community agreements."
  • "I like to ask the question, “What things have shaped your worldview?” but first I make sure that students are comfortable sharing."

 

EXPERIENCE

How do you inspire your students to fully experience course concepts, to internalize the material so learning goes beyond an intellectual exercise?

  • "I usually provide an example, case study or illustration of a topic. Then I ask students to provide their own illustrations of the topic from personal experience.”
  • “I ask groups to discuss the practical implications of the readings by viewing it from an alternate perspective and writing about how their imagined personas would be impacted by the ideas put forth in the readings.”
  • “I like to introduce some form of civic participation into each course such as writing letters to public figures or creating blog posts so that students can directly experience public dialogue.”

 

REFLECTION

What techniques do you use to help students create meaning from their experiences?

  • “Reflections can take many formats. I have asked students to keep photo journals to assist students ‘seeing’ theory in their everyday lives. Sharing these without the narrative is a great way to get students to discuss what they see in photos of other students.”
  • “After engaging in some activity, I feel that creating space to debrief is important. It helps the students to synthesize the data. It is also important to give them the opportunity to think about how their biases might impact their observations”
  • “I use semi-regular check in discussions. ‘What are you learning that has surprised you? What has challenged your assumptions or experiences with this topic?  What are you worried we're not considering, who/what has been left out of our exploration?’”

 

ACTION

What do you have your students do with their new understanding? How will you encourage students to engage in transformative action?

  • “I like to ask students how what they’ve learned has been meaningful. ‘What is this learning going to change for you? What are you going to change because of this learning?’”
  • “I design my course to try to put them in a situation where they will need to get involved with people outside the classroom.”
  • “I sometimes ask students to create an action map that shows how they might use what they’ve learned outside of class and in the future.”

 

EVALUATION

How do you guide students to evaluate their own learning and formulate a plan for future growth?

  • "I often start by asking groups to reflect on the course objectives and report back about where they think they are and how they might relate the objectives to their lives and learning trajectories.”
  • “At end of course, I ask students self-assess based on learning goals each student formulated at beginning of course.”
  • “I like to see how the students are interpreting the assignments. I ask three questions: 1.) What did you notice about the assignment? 2.) What did you value about the assignment? 3.) What questions are you left with after completing the assignment?”

 

A key principle of Ignatian pedagogy and spirituality is that the person is not simply a rational cognate but a creature full of desires and creativity. The human person is a volitional creature with many layers of affect and intellect. This depth of the human person is what Ignatian education seeks to inform and enliven and it is for this reason that Jesuit education has for centuries sought to utilize all the senses, all the sciences, all the arts to invest students with a depth of intellectual insight and creative imagination."

Ignatian Discernment Online: Instructor Notes, Brendan Busse S.J.