(Universidad Católica Silva Henríquez, Santiago de Chile) – Dozens of educators are participating in the Diploma in Salesian Pedagogy course being held at the Lo Cañas spirituality center in Santiago from January 8 to 20.
This year the course has returned to the presential mode and is starting again from the first level. A total of 29 people are participating: 20 from schools of the Salesians of Don Bosco (SDB) and 9 from those of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians (FMA), all with responsibilities in the various areas of school management.
The educational proposal of this degree is coordinated by the SDB and FMA Province of Chile, in collaboration with the Catholic University “Silva Henriquez.” In this first level, the first 30 years of Don Bosco’s and Mother Mazzarello’s life are being studied and discussed to know their history, pedagogy, and spirituality.
For Giselle García, Pastoral Director of “Silva Henríquez,” approaching the life of Don Bosco and Maria Mazzarello was extremely interesting, “because we are living it in an experiential way and one can connect with one’s own history and context, one’s work area and one’s own person.”
Carolina Barbosa, coordinator of the Salesian Youth Movement, active at the “Mary Help of Christians” School in Valparaíso, believes that the diploma course is very enriching and allows one to learn about little-known aspects of Salesian history and environment.
“What we have experienced these days is very useful to me, and I really intend to continue learning and using what I have learned to bring it to my community and apply it with our students.”
For Héctor Ramírez, Director of the “Don Bosco” school in Antofagasta, it is essential for every Salesian educator to know and fall in love with the work of Don Bosco. “This course is truly very timely, because it nurtures fundamental aspects in the educational context, but which are not talked about on a daily basis,” he said. He also goes on to emphasize the working group and the nice environment among the participants, “even if at the beginning we did not know each other, as the days go by a space of fraternity is being created, with a good fellowship, atmosphere of unity and collaborative work.”
Freddy Araya, of the Provincial Youth Ministry Team, concludes by explaining that to know the proposal of Don Bosco and Mother Mazzarello
“we need to appropriate a system that allows us to know the historical, genetic, procedural, pedagogical and theological aspects that help us to fully understand the proposal that these saints offer us.”
Source: Comunicaciones Salesianos Chile