Formation on” Ignatian Pedagogy” By Fr Alvin Ho, SJ

LIKAS – 92 participants comprising of Sunday School teachers/religious educators, RCIA, CIC, Kids of the Kingdom facilitators, as well as the special ministry group attended the formation on Ignatian Pedagogy, held in St. Simon Likas parish hall on 14^th – 16^th Sept. 2018.   Fr. Alvin Ho, SJ from the Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur was invited to facilitate this formation organised by Kota Kinabalu Archdiocesan Catechetical Commission.  An educator by background, as well as a trained catechist and a Jesuit priest rooted in Ignatian spirituality, Fr. Alvin Ho, SJ is an expert in this field.  He is also the immediate past chairperson of the Malaysian Catechetical Commission. 

This formation was targeted for the English-speaking in the K.K. Archdiocese who are involved in the catechetical ministry in giving catechesis to the young. Fr. Alvin reminded the participants that to serve as catechists is not a part time hobby, but to fully dedicate oneself to this ministry. The goal is to help learners to attain the end for which they were created: knowledge and love of God, and salvation. The elements of the Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm helped the participants to consider the context (what needs to be known about the learners), experience of the learners (to engage the learners by relating to their experience) and to guide them to reflection and to move beyond knowledge to action.    

After the inputs given, participants were put into small group discussions on how to apply the steps given by the speaker.  The participants were very enthusiastic, happy, inspired, motivated and encouraged in learning the new skills and methods of teaching even though it was difficult to apply in the beginning, but after more sessions of discussion and clarification from the speaker, the participants were more enlightened and challenged to apply this method in their weekly catechism classes.  Some participants expressed that there were still so many things they need to learn, and that Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm is very complex. Other remarks from them are: “We need more refresher course or workshop such as this”, “This formation is very useful in order to mould us Catechists to better improve our ways of guiding and approach when it comes to dealing with children of God”, “The training program is very useful for me. Now I have confidence to prepare my lesson”.  “The examples given by Fr. Alvin from his personal teaching experience were very helpful”. The feedback from the survey forms showed an overwhelming response where 90% found the programme met their expectation and useful for their application in their classes.   

Participants were mainly from the parishes of Sacred Heart Cathedral, St. Simon Likas, Stella Maris Tg. Aru, Blessed Sacrament Labuan and St. Michael Penampang with 1 each from St.John Tuaran and Holy Family Telipok. Of special note is the Chinese speaking from Sacred Heart who joined in the training. There will be on going follow up for this group in the future. 

The organising team was led by Ms Magdalene Chu with team members from St. Simon Likas and Sacred Heart Cathedral, K.K.