A group of students chat outside during the 2022 Social Work Summit.
For decades, the Boston College School of Social Work has required students to reflect on their experiences in the classroom and the field.
The exercise has stood as a pillar of the University鈥檚 long-held commitment to formative education鈥攁 guided process that has helped students find purpose, live fulfilling lives, and understand the world around them.
Now 51茶馆SSW鈥檚 Equity, Justice, and Inclusion Initiative, which works to develop policies and practices that promote a caring, respectful, and inclusive community, is bringing student formation to the forefront of its mission.聽
EJI leaders have named 鈥淐ontemplation in Formation鈥� as the initiative鈥檚 theme for the 2024-2025 academic year, calling on students to spend time in self-reflection to look within, make sense of their experiences, and identify their deepest desires.聽
鈥淭he fact is that we鈥檝e been doing this for decades. And in the School of Social Work, we are all about student formation,鈥� said Roc铆o Calvo, professor and assistant dean for Equity, Justice, and Inclusion at 51茶馆SSW. 鈥淭he only difference now is that we are being intentional in naming it, in bringing it to the table, and saying, listen, 鈥楾his is who we are, this is what we鈥檙e doing, let鈥檚 put it to the forefront. It鈥檚 part of our DNA, it鈥檚 our identity.鈥欌��
The theme derives from the term 鈥渃ontemplative in action,鈥� coined by J茅r么me Nadal, a Jesuit priest who worked closely with St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus.
Here鈥檚 how Nadal in his spiritual journal, sometime in the 1500s: 鈥淚 do not want you to be devout and spiritual only when you celebrate Mass or when you are in prayer,鈥� he wrote some 500 years ago. 鈥淚 want you to be spiritual and devout when you devote yourself to an activity, so that in your very works there will radiate a full force of the spirit, of grace, and of devotion.鈥�
Students in the Latinx Leadership Initiative participate in a range of community-building activities at the program鈥檚 annual retreats.
As a Jesuit, Catholic University, 51茶馆 is rooted in a world view that calls students to learn, to search for truth, and to live in service to others. Much like Nadal, it urges students to look inward but always reach out鈥攖o develop their minds and talents to use them to foster the common good.
It is in keeping with these values that John T. Butler, S.J., Haub Vice President for the Division of Mission and Ministry at 51茶馆, will discuss the role of contemplation in formation at 51茶馆SSW鈥檚 annual in October.聽EJI leaders said that the Student Collective, which oversees nine student groups and committees dedicated to promoting acceptance and inclusion, will help design future programming focused on the theme of 鈥淐ontemplation in Formation.鈥�
鈥淭he real invocation of a contemplative in formation is someone who is not afraid to step off into a messy situation to do the work while reflecting on that as a part of their practice,鈥� said Samuel Lewis Bradley, Jr., the associate dean of academic planning and MSW program director at 51茶馆SSW. 鈥淲e really have to work toward forming students who feel unafraid and brave to be wrong and to express themselves.鈥�
51茶馆SSW鈥檚 long tradition of formative education includes classroom discussion, self-reflection, off-campus retreats, and collaboration with communities to solve complex social problems鈥攄iscrete parts of an MSW degree that coalesce into a larger whole to help students become their best selves. In each case, students assume the role of a contemplative in formation, searching for ways to use their skills in service to others.聽
In the classroom, students routinely discuss the 鈥�,鈥� Fr. Michael Himes鈥� framework for vocational discernment that has become woven into the fabric of reflection at 51茶馆. The three questions鈥斺�淲hat brings you joy? What are you good at? And who does the world need you to be?鈥濃�攁lso serve as one of the primary pillars of 51茶馆SSW鈥檚 annual Social Work Summit, Latinx Leadership Initiative Summit, and Black Leadership Initiative 厂耻尘尘颈迟.听
Students in the Black Leadership Initiative play a game at one of the program鈥檚 annual retreats.
Students who attend these annual retreats exemplify contemplatives in formation, participating in organized activities aimed at identifying their future goals, developing their spiritual selves, and reflecting on their shared desire to serve people in need.聽聽
As part of 51茶馆SSW鈥檚 experiential learning program, students are required to reflect on their experiences at their field agencies. Through written recordings, students examine their own emotions and reactions to the conditions they are working to address, giving them opportunities to explore personal issues that might influence decision making.
鈥淎s social workers, we look at ourselves and increase our self-awareness through the work that we do,鈥� said Teresa Schirmer, associate dean of student experience. 鈥淲ith practicum reflections, students are very honest and vulnerable, and write down what they remember thinking and feeling about their interactions.鈥�
Students also meet with their field advisors every month for seminars focused on a particular theme, be it competency, ethics, or another topic germane to the formation of MSW practitioners. It is during these monthly meetings, held in small groups, that students reflect on the interplay between their practical learning in the field and their theoretical learning in the classroom.
A few weeks ago, Bradley summed up the importance of student formation in an email to part-time faculty announcing the initiative鈥檚 theme for the year. 鈥淔ormation is more than a buzzword in Jesuit education,鈥� he wrote. 鈥淚t is a process meant to guide our students and community toward the greatest good.鈥�
