Learning by Refraction

A Practitioner's Guide to 21st-Century Ignatian Pedagogy

Johnny C. Go, SJ & Rita Atienza

• Publisher: Ateneo de Manila University Press
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9789715509060
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education Teaching Methods

"[Learning by Refraction] offers a fresh take on Ignatian pedagogy, curating what's most helpful from the latest education research and consolidating what has been tried and tested. A must-read for all educators, even those who may not know Ignatian pedagogy."- Fr. Jose R. Villarin, SJ, President, Ateneo de Manila University, Philippines

Why call it

Refraction is, we propose, what learners do in order to learn.

Much as water refracts a ray of light, learners need to do the same to the matter that they are trying to learn: They cannot simply let the content through them or reflect it back exactly as they have received it. True learning requires the learner to bend the content, change it, and make it their own. In learning, content is appropriated by learners to their context.

Also, much as eye doctors practice “trial and error” to determine the correct prescriptions for their patients, so too must learners engage in experimentation, explore different ways of understanding an idea, and make self-adjustments based on the feedback they receive in order to more fully understand a concept or become proficient in a skill. Refraction suggests a similar process of “trial and error” and feedback-based self-adjustments so essential in learning.

Finally, the word “refraction” suggests the combination of the two most crucial ingredients of Ignatian Pedagogy: Reflection and Action. Learners need to reflect on the subject matter—pore over it, analyze it, wrestle with it, take it apart, and put it together in a new way—and to act on it by applying what has been learned to real life.

ACTIVITY   

CONVERSE with COLLEAGUES

  How each of these creatures works can serve as a metaphor for learning. Can you figure out why? Which one would be your choice?

[ ] Ant

[ ] Spider

[ ] Bee

CHAPTER 1

The 6 Es of Refractive Learning

Learning is grounded on relationships.

“Of course!” we say. And immediately we think of the obvious relationship between the teacher and the students, and we affirm how crucial this relationship is to learning. All we need to do is to recall some of our best and worst teachers, and chances are, the best of them enjoyed good rapport with their students.

But in every classroom, there is a third party other than the teacher and the learner: the World that we are studying or investigating in the discipline or subject area. By “world,” we mean whatever phenomenon is under investigation—whether natural or social—especially the ideas and concepts related to them. For example, gravity, atoms/molecules, poverty, or history. In other words, the content or subject matter.

Hence, there are actually three distinct relationships that are crucial to learning:

Between the Learner and the Teacher

Between the Teacher and the World

Between the Learner and the World

The most obvious of these three relationships is the one between the Teacher and the Learner. But there also exist two other relationships that are just as crucial in bringing about learning: the relationship between the Teacher and the World under investigation, and most importantly, the relationship between the Learner and the World that s/he is studying.¹

A teacher who wants to facilitate learning needs to be mindful of these relationships and, whenever possible, manage these relationships so that they all promote learning.

Ignatian Connection

“[The IPP] consistently maintains the importance and integrity of the interrelationship of teacher, learner and subject matter within the real context in which they live. It is comprehensive and complete in its approach” (Ignatian Pedagogy, 1993, #71). In his manual for retreats called the Spiritual Exercises, Ignatius of Loyola advises retreat directors against taking center stage: They are to let God deal directly with the retreatant (Annotation 15, in Fleming, 1978). For Ignatius, there is also a three-way relationship in every spiritual retreat: the relationship between the retreat director and the retreatant, between the retreat director and God, and most importantly, between the retreatant and God.

A practical way to strengthen these three relationships is by using a checklist that we call “The 6 Es of Refractive Learning.” This checklist suggests two elements for each of the three relationships for learning to be optimized. It is the teacher’s responsibility to promote all six elements: Engagement, Excellence, Expertise, Enthusiasm, Empathy, and Empowerment.

Figure 1.1: The 6 Es of Refractive Learning

Learner-Teacher Relationship: Empathy and Empowerment

The relationship between teacher and learner is ideally characterized by Empathy and Empowerment.

Empathy refers to the teacher’s ability to enter the world of the students and to imagine what it must be like to be in their shoes. Only with Empathy can one be an effective teacher,...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title page
• Copyright page
• Dedication
• TABLE OF CONTENTS
• TABLES
• FIGURES
• FOREWORD
• INTRODUCTION
• PART ONE: DEFINING LEARNING
• CHAPTER 1: THE 6 Es OF REFRACTIVE LEARNING
• CHAPTER 2: FROM TEACHING TO LEARNING
• CHAPTER 3: LEARNING THROUGH REFLECTION AND ACTION
• PART TWO: DESIGNING LEARNING
• CHAPTER 4: ESTABLISHING EMPATHY THROUGH CONTEXT
• CHAPTER 5: STRENGTHENING ENGAGEMENT THROUGH REFLECTION
• CHAPTER 6: PROMOTING EXCELLENCE THROUGH ACTION
• CHAPTER 7: BUILDING EMPOWERMENT THROUGH EXPERIENCE
• PART THREE: REFINING LEARNING
• CHAPTER 8: INCREASING EXPERTISE AND ENTHUSIASM THROUGH EVALUATION
• AFTERWORD
• WORKS CITED
• ADDITIONAL MATERIALS