What happens when educators share a common vocabulary...

As our reflection on the “what” (serving young people, especially the poor, through education) and the “why” (ensuring the Brothers’ Mission effectively continues as more and more lay people take on the responsibility of running Lasallian schools) of Shared Mission continued today, I began to think about the role of formation (Americans would call it “professional development”) in connecting these two focal points. Because the Christian Brothers in the United States – and especially on the West Coast – have placed substantial emphasis on formation for lay people, those of us serving in Lasallian schools in the US tend to take this component for granted. At La Salle, Pasadena, for example, more than half of all teachers and administrators have participated in one or more formation programs sponsored by the Christian Brothers – some stretching over the course of three years. The subtle effect of this on school culture cannot be underestimated. It becomes a natural part of professional conversations, for example, to emphasize Lasallian priorities (“what is in the best interest of the students entrusted to our care”) and to use Lasallian language (“how can we win their minds and hearts”). That having been said, this month-long experience in Rome has reminded me of how much more we can do to enrich the experience of our students and to remind ourselves of the necessity of situating our college-preparatory program in a context of deep and abiding spiritual values that are non-negotiable. Today’s task was to articulate three statements (Europeans prefer the softer word “affirmations”) identifying the major themes that emerged in the discussions of each language group. Our group came up with the following: o We affirm that vocations should continue to be a focus of the Institute as the role of the Brother is essential to furtherance of shared mission o We affirm that, to preserve the complementarity of the roles of Brothers and Partners, the Institute must commit to broadening and deepening formation for shared mission for both Brothers and Partners o We affirm that, together, Brothers and Partners work to further shared mission and that our work together makes the Institute stronger; but we recognize that Brothers and Partners have distinct roles to play in furtherance of shared mission The themes, (I hope) are obvious: the importance of vocations to the Christian Brothers, the critical need for formation of both Brothers and lay people and that Shared Mission is dependent upon the distinct roles of Brothers and lay people.

*The photo is HALF of the entire painting in the dome of the sanctuary at the chapel of Collegio San Giuseppe near the Spanish Steps. It depicts De La Salle leading Brothers (to the right) and students (to the left and out of range of the camera) to the altar of God. An appropriate image, I should think, to reflect on as we wind down this session on why the Lasallian Mission is so important.