The Augustinian Education Classroom celebrated a new edition in Madrid reflecting on the accompaniment that the teacher should perform as a benchmark for young people
The more than 200 Augustinian professors who participated in the twenty-sixth edition of the Augustinian Education Class concluded the two days of reflection and training especially motivated. The teachers have left with a clear commitment from the following day: to be companions of their students and families, of their classmates, of their directors …
The art of accompanying was the theme of the XXVI Augustinian Classroom that has gathered at the San Agustín School in Madrid to the educational centers of Augustinians, Augustinian Recollects, Augustinian Missionaries, Augustinian Sisters of the Shelter and Augustinian Recollect Missionaries. The accompaniment of the teacher has been approached from different points of view: with an Augustinian vision, under the coaching method and from the students who should be accompanied.
From the charism of St. Augustine, accompaniment is synonymous with empathy. The Bishop of Hippo already accompanied during his work as a teacher. For him, as explained by the Augustinian Recollect Enrique Eguiarte, the accompaniment must be done intellectually and spiritually. “For San Agustín, the important thing is not only science and human knowledge; but also wisdom, that which concerns the Kingdom of Heaven, “said Eguiarte. Love must also be present in this process, to reward and even to punish the student from love.
Accompany, a challenge for the Augustinian school
Coaching has been increasingly extended in the educational field, although it is somewhat simpler. Realistic coaching, about what Carlos Melero spoke about, is part of the accompaniment process, which is “neither to encourage the student nor explain what he should do”. “Accompanying the student is to stand next to him and discover with him,” he said. And it is that many times the teacher interprets the problems of the student according to his experience, “and that is an obstacle”.
Given this, a question arises: how to be companions of such different young people? In the stage of the ‘instagramers’ and ‘influencers’, Óscar Alonso indicated in the last conference that “we play our place in the world of education in how we treat people, in how we accompany their life processes”. An accompaniment for all, companions and managers above all, and with the Gospel as the main guide. “The figure of Jesus as a companion of the road must come first,” he said.
In the Augustinian classroom of Education there were even drones. The Balearic Alcudia School presented its experience with the construction and piloting of drones in the classrooms as a multidisciplinary method. The Colegio Agustiniano de Madrid explained how it has implemented mathematics in its center according to the Singapore method. The schools of Inmaculada Concepción de Gavà, Santa Rita de Palencia and San Agustín de Madrid explained other positive experiences in their centers.
The Augustinian Education Classroom has adapted to the challenges of education in 2019. Accompanying students is one of the challenges of Augustinian teachers today: to be a reference for young people by training them as professionals and as people.