Concern for the Poor: Transferring Social Justice Initiatives
Prof. Rebecca Proehl
School of Education, Saint Mary's College of California
Transferring Social Justice Initiatives into Lasallian Schools
As with many religious orders, the De La Salle Christian Brothers are facing dwindling numbers of Brothers while the need for their work – educating the impoverished - is increasing. To address this challenge, the order is actively partnering with lay associates to carry forward the Lasallian (Christian Brother) tradition, which is a call “by God to the educational service of the poor.” The Brothers state: “We are aware that our educational service of the poor cannot presume to solve all the problems of poverty in the world, but only specifically those which are related to education. As a group we follow the path which leads to the poor, acknowledging that God calls us to bring creative and generous responses to the world of the poor today, through fidelity to our founding charism” (De La Salle Brothers, n.d.).
In 2000, the Superior-General identified an approach to help lay associates fully understand and embrace the call to educate the poor. “We need to welcome enthusiastically those who wish to become Lasallian associates and help them create new and original ways of living the Lasallian charism” (Botana, n.d., p. 1). He further suggested that Brothers and lay associates alike need to “listen to, meditate upon, tell, and celebrate our founding story, the story of how we came to be and how we began to experience and perceive ourselves as original, different, and distinct” (Botana, n.d., p. 1)
In the U.S./Toronto Regional Conference of Christian Brothers, numerous mission formation programs are offered to help Brothers and lay associates identify with the Lasallian charism.. One such program, the Lasallian Social Justice Institute (LSJI), was created to “ground Lasallians experimentally, practically, and spiritually in the Gospel call to attend to the needs of those on the margins of society, in the Church’s option for the poor and in Lasallian association for the educational service of the poor” (De La Salle Institute, n.d., p. 6). Regan and Sirois (2004) contend that the focus on social justice in Lasallian schools is an extension of the Christian Brother mission. They suggest that “education for justice – both works of mercy in service of the poor and social action leading to long term change – are two expressions of [the Lasallian] ministry” (p. 14).
Though there are different opinions about how to teach for social justice, certain themes have emerged, standing the test of time. For example, teaching for social justice places an emphasis on: fostering critical thinking so students can see the social, political, and economic contradictions of their time (Friere,1970; Shor, 1992; Swanger, 2002); teaching both for intellectual understanding and for personal transformation (Elias, 2005; Reed and Black, 2006)); encouraging students to become agents for social and political change ((Bell, Gaventa & Peters, 1990; Brown, 2006; Friere, 1970; Horton, 1998; Shor, 1992) facilitating a reexamination of unexamined assumptions and beliefs (Swanger, 2002; Rodgers, 2006); and empowering the powerless and disenfranchised (Freire,1970 ; Horton, 1998).
In keeping with these emphases, the LSJI offers participants an opportunity to develop relationships with persons living in poverty; a place to examine the church teachings on poverty, justice and peace; and a community of participants with whom to integrate their experiences and explore their individual paths (Christian Brothers Conference, n.d.). Begun in 2004, there are now three sites where staff and instructors working in Christian Brother (or Lasallian) schools and universities can attend the LSJI: (1) El Paso/Juarez, dealing with Global Economic Justice; (2) Chicago, focusing on Violence and Social Peacemaking; and (3) San Francisco, emphasizing Homelessness and Human Dignity.
Though each site has a different focus and slightly different goals, the program has identified its main goals in the following way: (1) to examine theological, sociological and Lasallian insights into poverty, justice, and peace in order to recognize more fully the scope of the struggle for human dignity, (2) to provide a face-to-face encounter with persons in poverty, (3) to create opportunities that will allow for a change of head and heart by examining societal and global trends in light of our experience and the Gospel, (4) to examine and understand the rights of children and how these rights have direct bearing on our Lasallian vocation, and (5) to provide participants with tools to create and sustain programs of social justice in Lasallian ministries.
The LSJI is an example of a well-developed and implemented mission formation program that makes a significant difference in the lives of the participants. Even so, the challenges of transferring such a powerful experience back into the participants’ personal and professional lives are great. To help participants more easily channel the commitment and zeal they felt at their program’s closure, institutions need to more intentionally select, orient, welcome back, recognize, utilize their energy, and follow up with graduates so they will bring the lessons learned from such powerful experiences back to their institutions.
Future research is needed to determine which factors help professional participants transfer mission-related learning back to the work site. For example, does the culture of the educational institution influence the participation level and subsequent transfer of learning back to the institution? Does the institutional leaders’
commitment to the mission make a difference in how readily participants transfer their learning to the worksite? In this study, the two factors that were most associated with positive transfer were the applicability of the learning to work and the level of social support available for transfer of learning. By building on the findings of this study while examining additional research questions as described above, it is possible to develop new transfer of learning models for non-traditional educational programs.