In accordance with the ordinances of the last General Chapter, the Secretariat for the Educational Apostolate brought together the personnel responsible for this from all the provinces of the Order for a meeting in Salamanca, Spain. Between the 1st and 6th of May, representatives of the educational apostolate in the 19 countries where the Augustinian Recollects have a presence drew up a common plan for Recollect colleges and universities throughout the world, and set out plans for the celebration of the “Year of the Educational Apostolate”, starting on the 28th August 2015.
A Plan in Common
Professor Manuel Borrego Rivas acted as guide and facilitator for the task of editing the Order of Augustinian Recollects’ “Plan for Institutional Education”.
In a very participative work dynamic, with suggestions and discussions in small groups of varying membership, and followed by a review involving everyone, the idea of What is Ours began to take shape. This includes mission, vision, values, and identity and will form the framework offering an essential common identity to all Augustinian Recollect educational establishments. A Contextual Analysis was undertaken, which involved the gathering of data about the student bodies, teaching and non-teaching staff, religious dedicated to education either full or part-time, and the number of directors in each country and province. This analysis concluded by identifying the particular concerns, possibilities, and shortfalls of the different groups to which the document is directed: teachers, religious in teaching, and Augustinian Recollect religious communities.
The Objective for 2014.
The strategic option which has been determined and taken on board is to “develop an educational-pastoral Augustinian style/model for the whole Order”. This option will be rolled out through a variety of strategic objectives linked to the particular groups involved ( general and provincial secretariats, management teams, teachers) and which will be linked to a series of plans and activities which will in turn be evaluated in accordance with a set of strategic guidelines.
A firm commitment was made to drawing up and publishing the document “Foundations of Augustinian Education” in the medium term, as well as to choosing and sending out on a yearly basis (in September) the Educational-Pastoral Objective which will form the backbone of each centre’s various activities, whether involving formation, education, or pastoral work. The objective for 2014 is “We are a Family of Brothers: How about Joining Us?” which underlines the dimensions of community and fraternity that have a huge radius of influence in the world of education.