Jesuit Education at the Crossroads

The book tackles the lack of research on contemporary Jesuit primary and secondary schools in North and Latin America by bringing together the studies available and adding commentaries by well-known education experts. As a whole, the book pictures a tradition that is living a historical moment, akin to a crossroads.

The Jesuit educational tradition has existed for more than 450 years, and today, there are more than 150 Jesuit primary and secondary schools in North and Latin America. Jesuit Education at the Crossroads tackles the lack of research on these schools by bringing together scattered studies and asking experts on the issues about the current challenges for Jesuit education. The landscape pictured by this collection of essays suggests that Jesuit primary and secondary education is at a historical moment, analogous to a crossroads. After a crisis between the 1960s and ‘80s, these schools were consolidated, establishing themselves in national and international networks. But the twenty-first century has brought new challenges. For instance, the secularization of culture is demanding an update of the Jesuit educational project; leadership is rapidly shifting from Jesuits to lay men and women, with multiple issues at stake; and researchers and policymakers are asking new questions about the role of these schools and school networks for equity and inclusion in each region. The book touches on these and other points that will be very relevant for all who are interested in the Jesuit educational tradition.

Jesuit Education at the Crossroads: An Introduction to the 23 Texts, Juan Cristóbal García-Huidobro

Chapter 1: The Oaxtepec Document

Chapter 2: The Christian Formation of Jesuit High School Students, Joseph Fichter

Commentary: Religious and Social Formation in the Mid-20th Century: Insufficiencies and Overcoming, Luiz Fernando Klein

Chapter 3: Jesuit Education for Justice: The Colegio in El Salvador, 1968-1984, Charles Beirne

Chapter 4: Closure of the Instituto Patria in Mexico: An Emblematic Case of the Change in the Jesuit Educational Apostolate, María del Socorro Gutiérrez

Commentary: Two Ways of Tackling a School’s Complicity with Structural Injustices, John Swope

Commentary: Lack of Dialogue and Overvaluation of the Jesuit Influence in the Mexican Case of the Closure of the Instituto Patria, Juan Luis Orozco

Chapter 5: A New Ratio for a New Millennium?, Vincent Duminuco

Chapter 6: The Ratio Studiorum Today in Latin America: Its Update and Its Challenges, Pablo Sada

Commentary: Forget the Ratio Studiorum or Recover Its Genius?, Claude Pavur

Commentary: A Renewal of Jesuit Education Based on Ignatian Spirituality, John O’Malley

Chapter 7: Teaching in Jesuit Schools from 1950 to 2017: Changes in Composition and Meaning, Cristóbal Madero

Chapter 8: Education of the Whole Person in an Increasingly Competitive and Secular Context: Two Decades of Professionalization and Searching at Colegio San Ignacio El Bosque, Juan Cristóbal García-Huidobro and Daniel Araneda

Commentary: Challenges of the Jesuit Abandonment of Classrooms and the Curriculum, Cristián Cox

Commentary: Curricular Tensions and Possibilities in Times of Neoliberalism, Encarna Rodríguez

Chapter 9: Exploring Mission, Inclusion, and Formation of Lay Educators: Recent Research on Traditional Jesuit Secondary Schools in North America, Kristin Ross Cully

Chapter 10: Networked School Improvement: The Latin American Jesuit Schools’ System for Quality Management, Jorge Radic

Commentary: If It Rains in the North, the South Does Not Escape It: Research on Jesuit Education in Latin America, Esteban Ocampo

Commentary: Prospects for Jesuit Education in a Secular Age, Dennis Shirley

Chapter 11: The Cristo Rey Jesuit Model and Social Justice: Dialectic Tensions of Mission and Brand in U.S. Jesuit Education, Sajit Kabadi

Chapter 12: Educating for Poverty Relief: The Case of Fe y Alegria, Camilo Arciniegas Pradilla and Jose Bento da Silva

Commentary: Reflections on Cristo Rey and Fe y Alegría: Two educational models conceived to alleviate poverty and bring about social justice, Jorge Enrique Vargas

Commentary: Jesuit Education in the Americas up for Reinvention: Internal Dilemmas and Broader Lessons for the Future of Learning, Santiago Rincón-Gallardo