We are here with varied experience in teaching – We might come from different academic and cultural or even geographical backgrounds. But we are here together as faculty members engaged in teaching the students in Jesuit institutions. The students are admitted by the Jesuit management but you are here to own them and form them as men and women for others.
The orientation program provides an occasion to the faculty members an opportunity to understand who the Jesuits are and what is the focus of education in a Jesuit institution. Orientation would help you get concise and accurate information about Jesuit education policy and pedagogy and would open up the window for you to see how you could comfortably work equipped with Jesuit pedagogy. The orientation would encourage you and help you to adapt faster to your mission and would promote communication between the management on the one hand, the students and their parents on the other hand. You would become the buffer or bridge of relationships.
In this respect orientation is to seamlessly integrate us into campus culture. The orientation would tell you that the students need critical thinking; and would demonstrate that knowledge is limited but ideas and imagination are not. It would show the way how you could teach your students to dare to fly high. Someone presented a King with two costly falcons. He passed them onto the trainer. Soon the King found out that one was soaring high but other did not take off, however one tried to make it fly. He made a public announcement with a fabulous prize money to make the falcon fly. One rural farmer came forward and the very next day the falcon was flying high in the sky. The astonished King asked him for the secret. The farmer replied, “Simple, your majesty. I just cut down the branch the falcon was comfortably sitting.” We are here to learn to teach our students that even the sky is not the limit.
And you would also learn that the Jesuit education is not for individual but it is for the entire society. One day Big Panda and Tiny Dragon had a conversation: ‘Which is more important,’ asked Big Panda, ‘the journey or the destination’. ‘The company,’ replied the Tiny Dragon. Jesuit education is for building the community anew. You would agree that education is to empower people. But the Jesuit education would put forth the question: Whether the empowerment is vertical or horizontal. It is not only for an individual to rise up in the society but also, even more so, it is horizonal service leadership.
You are all accomplished teachers. Yet, the orientation would help you enhance the teaching-learning process. You could come to know more about the Charism, Pedagogy, and Contributions of the Jesuits; you would learn more about the perspectives, characteristics, significance of Jesuit education; and you would be convinced that the pedagogy of Jesuit education converges on holistic formation of the students.
As the head of the educational institutions in Loyola Campus in Chennai, I welcome you all for this orientation course. In a vast and green campus in the heart of Chennai metropolitan, you are surrounded by Loyola Arts and Science College, Loyola Business School, College of Education, Engineering College, and Institute of Dialogue with Religions and Cultures – In your free time take a walk around the campus. See and admire the variety of trees; hear and enjoy the chirps of the multitudes of birds; and look at the heritage and gigantic buildings in the campus. It is the outcome of hard work of generations of Jesuits and partners in mission like you.
Personally I wish for each one of us two things: i. We each one should be an inspiration to our students. Motivation is what is needed to face life. Recently Jilumol, born without hands, won legal battle in Kerala to get driver’s license. And Jessica Cox, born without hands, is successfully flying commercial airplanes in the USA. Pistorius, a South African, won gold medal in 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens, with both prosthetic legs, setting a world record of 21.97 sec in 200-meter. Limit is what we set for ourselves; and ii. Let us be pioneers in learning. A good teacher is a professional student. Often we could learn from our own students, if we have the openness and receptiveness to learn more.
This institution, known as LICET, has A to K blocks which offers hybrid education, which is a combination of Indian and French teaching-learning system. This campus enshrines Loyola College which ranks, as per NIRF, 3rd in the country; but actually it stands first among co-ed institutions, as the first and second ranking NIRF institutions are girls colleges with about 1,000 students a piece. LIBA, with a new building inaugurated by the Chief Minister a week ago, stands first in the south zone among the stand alone business schools. And our students from BEd College have all passed in University exams with distinction for all.
You would have meals in the hostel – People would show the short way from here. Tea/Coffee would be served here. The rest rooms are around. And in the evening, two nice and inspiring movies are waiting for those who would be interested. Have a nice time – Try to come to know our colleagues from other institutions. We are working on staff and students exchange programs between Loyolas in Chennai, Vettavalam, and Metalla.
I thank Fr Provincial who could be present here today; I appreciate the efforts of the Coordinator of Higher Education for his meticulous planning; and I am grateful to the LICET and Hostel administration for making all the arrangements. Let the orientation program be a time now for reflection and later for refraction with enhanced intensity and magnitude. Welcome once again.
Francis P Xavier SJ
21Oct2021