Please note: this paper uses the phrase 'informal education' to refer to what is more commonly known in Britain as 'non-formal education'   See at the end of this paper for a note on the meaning of these terms..

Introduction    

This document is based on a paper prepared by a number of Jesuit institutions in Europe which are involved in informal educational work with the young. Over the past few years there have been over 40 joint European projects with young people. This paper collects together the experiences gained over these projects, and is also based on the Jesuit documents which deal with education and the social apostolate.

This paper deals with work in the informal sector of education, that is, work which takes place outside the normal curriculum of schools, colleges and universities. It sets out to provide a guide to good practice in informal youth work. It tries to be faithful to the Jesuit understanding of the world in which we live, and to our ideals for our educational work. It is offered for comment to all those who work in Jesuit-run institutions, and any others who are interested in this field of work.

The original document used the word ‘Jesuit’. In Britain and much of Europe the word ‘Ignatian’ is preferred, because the Jesuits are only one of many groups of people who follow the rule and teaching of Saint Ignatius. However the term Ignatian is less well known and understood, and so, for the time being at least, the word Jesuit has been retained throughout this document.         <back to top>

A Jesuit understanding of the world and its people

In Jesuit thinking the world - which includes all creation and all the people in it - is a positive and good reality. As human beings we are called to discover and shape this world, and to develop a feeling for what is at the bottom of everything - the unexpected, the enriching. This reflects God’s intention in creating it all.

Every individual is part of the human community. If we want to become a complete human being, then we must be committed members of this community. This human solidarity covers every human being, regardless of race, culture or religion.

Every human being is called to freedom. This means that every one of us has the right freely to determine our own beliefs and way of life, and this right is the basis of the human rights which every human being can claim. However we know that this freedom is constantly being endangered and limited, and our aim is to enable young people to recognise the forces that impede it and help them to see how to deal with them.

Our world and the societies in which we live are burdened by imperfection and injustice. We can see this if we compare our actual situations with our vision of a good world and a just human society. We should respond by deciding to work to improve our world and to become personally committed to helping those left out by society - the poor, the marginalized, the needy - by changing the structures which disadvantage them.             <back to top>

Essential features of Jesuit informal education

Informal education in Jesuit-inspired institutions is based upon the same principles as formal education. These are spelt out in "The Characteristics of Jesuit Education". These are based upon the Jesuit understanding of the world and its people outlined above.

Faith: Although much of the youth work that is done is not obviously religious in any way, it is always based upon a view of human beings which includes a spiritual dimension. At the very least, it values human beings as precious in themselves, and as being more than just material objects produced in a chance process of evolution. It believes in right and wrong, and in everyone else’s right to be valued as much as we value ourselves. It fosters belief and hope, and commitment to what is worthwhile.

At its heart, this dimension of Jesuit informal education is based upon the belief that that everything is created by God, and found to be good by God. Our understanding of ourselves as being part of God’s immense human family, each individually loved and called by God, is the foundation of our faith and our hope. Our own beliefs and values will shape and colour the work we do with young people.

Justice: Any evaluation of the world in which we live leads to a commitment to work for a more just world. Young people need to learn skills through which to understand the world in which they live, and to evaluate it critically. They need to learn to distinguish between what is basically good, and the imperfection and injustice which are found in every human structure. So our work is based on the conviction that people and structures can change, and that we can struggle for the changes which will lead to more just human structures, and to freedom and human dignity for everyone.

A dialogue with culture: Our views about the world, about other people, and about ourselves are profoundly influenced by the cultures which shape every one of us. Some of these are derived from religious value systems, others from secular values, others again from prejudice, selfishness or greed. Cultures are shaped by common beliefs, but also by those seeking to influence our ways of thinking and acting for political, economic or other reasons. We all learn from the cultures which shape our lives the prejudices and stereotypes which prevent us from seeing other people clearly.

The Jesuit tradition invites us to respond to all these cultures with esteem and friendship, because it is a dialogue between equal partners. We seek to make the young aware of the cultures in which they are growing up, and to give them the insights and skills to understand the values and beliefs on which they are based. By introducing them to new cultures in our own society and overseas, we help them to become aware of the prejudices and stereotypes of their own. We encourage them to compare their cultures with their own deepest beliefs, and so to become committed to working for a fairer and more just world.            <back to top>

Teaching styles

Jesuit youth work is community based, and leads to a commitment to the communities in which we live. Its process and objectives are set in discussion with the young people we work with. Such learning can never be based only on the reading of books, or attendance at lectures. By exploring reality together, we learn from each other and we learn to value and make our own the insights of our colleagues. By working together in communities we can develop our own understanding and through our common action change the values and cultures which hold us back. We seek to become, and to help others to become, "people for others".

Jesuit youth work leads to action. The activities we run should be enjoyable and should increase our understanding, but are incomplete if they do not change young people’s outlooks and inspire them to action.

Jesuit youth work favours exploration and experimentation rather than just accepting the findings of others. So it will be characterised by a wide range of activities which provide the background for reflection and learning. But particularly by meeting others in a variety of situations, and taking part in activities which provide an opportunity for understanding human society, it will help them to understand the process by which discoveries are made, and insights gained, rather than just being given the results.

Learning as a life-long process: This way of learning, based on experience and developing understanding of the world, is a life-long process. It is important that such learning should be enjoyable so that in its turn it fosters a desire for more learning and more self-development.             <back to top>

Specific features of informal education of the young.

Informal education of the young differs in several ways from other forms of education.

Informal education is a necessary supplement to the formal field of education because it responds to the requests and questions of the young, which are picked out as a central theme and worked on in partnership with them.

Such work with the young is often short term, at most a week or two. This necessitates approaches which condense the encounters and learning experiences into this short time.

Leaders are in a special relationship with the young they work with, because it is through the characters and commitments of the leaders that the values and attitudes which are central to Jesuit youth work are passed on.

Jesuit work with the young is enriched and even made possible by the working together of Jesuits with full- and part-time leaders who are not members of the Jesuit order. Through them, youth work is enriched by a variety of life experience, sensitivity, and approaches.

An educational process of the type outlined above needs to be based on an understanding of the world from which the young people come. It is therefore important for the leaders to have a good look at the background and cultures of the participants.

The expectations of the young people depend on the context in which the work is done. They may not share the same objectives as the leaders. It is necessary therefore to clarify each other’s expectations and objectives at the beginning of the activity.

The atmosphere in which the activities take place must be friendly and inviting if successful learning is to take place.

An atmosphere of openness and trust will make it possible to come to terms with ourselves and our stereotypes and prejudices in a peaceful and helpful way.             <back to top>

The processes of Jesuit informal education

Jesuit informal education is built upon experiences of many kinds. In most programmes this will include the experiences which the young people have brought with them, the more structured experiences which form part of the programme, and the experience of the reflection process itself. The leaders help the young people to put these experiences in order, and to reflect upon the knowledge, feelings, values, insights and intuitions which they have or which they gain from the shared reflection process.

This kind of learning is deeper than intellectual understanding, because it involves not just reason but also the heart, the will, the feelings, and the imagination. As well as discussion it can involve art-work, drama, role-playing, and so on.

Young people will also need to learn how to reflect, using their memories, their understanding, their imagination, and their feelings. In the background to this process there is Jesuit "discernment" which looks beyond the facts we see in a situation to the motivations, visions, desires, and fears which affect our understanding of it. In this way the meaning and the value of the experiences can be more deeply understood.

Reflection should encourage the young to move from knowledge to action. This may be an internalised decision to do something, which it often all it can be during the programme, or it may lead on to external action. Reflection and discussion following the activities and experiences will support the young people in their personal decisions about their ways of life and their beliefs and values.

At the end of the programme it is of great value to the leaders and to the young people to evaluate what has been achieved. This involves working with the young people to summarise the achievements, and also to assess how their attitudes, priorities and decisions have changed during the course of the programme.             <back to top>

[Editor's note:  In British Youth Work the following terms usually have the following meanings:
Formal education: in schools, colleges, etc, where the work done is set by the achievement intended (exams etc.).
Non-formal education: education work which is not exam-orientated, and which is often based on the needs of the individuals in the group.  It starts from their present situation and moves on from there.  A lot of youth work is non-formal in this sense.
Informal education: what is picked up from family, friends, peers, and many other sources in the normal run of daily life. 
The above paper uses the phrase informal education to refer to nonformal education as defined in this note.]