The annual meeting of the ICAJE held in the General Curia from 24th May to 28th May 2016. Hose Mesa SJ, the Secretary of Secondary Education of the Society, has well organised each days programme and the topics for discussions and discenment. This year's meeting mainly concentrated on the New Education Document, that is going to be out soon, after the final draft send to the experts in the region for their suggestions. 
The draft of the New Document will look at today's Context of the world, especially the following areas;
Changes in the Socio-political Reality
Changes in Education
Changes in Religious Practice
Changes in the Catholic Church
Changes in the Society of Jesus
These areas provide a summary of what contribution the Jesuit education did so far. 

In the context the document identifies 7 important and notable areas for our reflection. They are going to capture the mission and identity of Jesuit schools today:  Technology, Globalization and Citizenship, Religion and Spirituality in a Post-Institutional Culture, Care for Creation, Multiculturalism and Pluralism, Social Justice and, last but not least, Networking.  

1. Technology
No doubt that technology has changed our notions of time and space and leads to the question:  What will an effective school look like in the middle of the 21st century? 

    Educators in Jesuit schools are called embrace technology critically if they are to educate for depth:  affective depth, discovering the face of Jesus in and through His people, especially the poor; intellectual depth, seeking through study answers and new questions that reveal the ultimate meaning of human life and probe for the root causes of human exploitation and wounded creation; effective depth, addressing imbalances in resources and opportunities and building up the common good; in collaborative depth, in concert with all educators of good will, seeking a world of harmony and peace.  
We ask the following questions;
- Do we use technology to promote active and interactive learning not just as substitute for paper and pen?
- Do we discern the use of technology in a way that does not compromise deep reflection and discernment?
- Do we teach our students to use technology without sacrificing deep and personal relationships (students with teachers, etc.)?

2. Globalization and Citizenship 
    Education for global citizenship refers to focused pedagogy and programming aimed at preparing students to understand and embrace world cultures, communicate effectively at a global level, respect and value diversity, understand and take action against social injustices, and experience first hand countries, customs and cultures that are different from one’s own.  Students of the 21st century need to learn skills to succeed and contribute in a world that is constantly changing, one that calls for intensified global collaboration, communication and understanding.  

Jesuit schools have much to contribute to this effort of global citizenship. Our Ignatian vision allows us to find God in all things and to set the world aflame with the warmth and light of God’s saving love. 

Do we nurture openness to new horizons--even strange and different ones?
- Do we challenge our school community's regional narrow mindedness and reject stereotypes and prejudices?
- Do we encourage not only tolerance of diversity, but a celebration of it?

3. Religion and Spirituality

    Though levels of religious adherence differ across the world, many students today are growing up in an increasingly “post-institutional” world, manifested in disaffiliation with the traditional religious organizations and a privatized life that limits their understanding of the common good. 
Embracing the Dialog School model, Jesuit schools are called to the frontiers, and this should include the frontiers of the Church, which, as the Holy Father suggested, is “bruised, hurting, and dirty because it has been out on the streets.” Thus the sole objective of our schools, as Pope Francis reminded Jesuit school teachers, is to form “mature people who are simple, competent and honest, who know how to love with fidelity, who can live life as a response to God’s call, and their future profession as a service to society.” 

- Do we promote religion as a positive force, a cause for unity or rather than division or violence,  as a way of binding people together rather than tearing them apart? 
- Are we thinking of new and more effective ways of designing religious education program in a culture that is skeptical of authority and tradition?
- Does our curriculum combat fundamentalist thinking in religion? 

4. Care for Creation
It was Homer in The Odyssey who wrote poignantly: “the City which forgets how to care for the stranger has forgotten how to care for itself.” The same could be said about our home, the planet. To be careless about creation is to neglect our own welfare. It is so important in our schools to create environmental and ecological awareness. So we must ask the following;
- Do we teach our students that we are all custodians and stewards of creation, not exploiters?
- Do our formation programs counter the prevailing throw-away culture, acquisitiveness, and consumerism?
- Are our schools willing to invest in "going green" in terms sustainable energy, recycling, etc.?     

5. Multiculturalism and Pluralism
    Jesuit education acknowledges and takes seriously the complex global context in which it strives to make a difference.  Such complexities are a result of the ever-increasing challenges that Jesuit education continues to interface.  Among these challenges are the continued marginalization of the poor by the rich, increasing discrimination of minority groups of communities, violations of basic human rights, forced migration, unjust social structures, unbridled consumerism and the rise of religious and cultural fundamentalism. Our world today is marred by polarization and fear of difference. What results is the turn from mutuality and honest discourse to selfishness and superficial intolerance taking many different forms: tribalism, racism, sexism, sectarianism and the homogeneity of societies. These dynamics take place on the grand international scale but are also much closer to home. So many communities are torn apart by racial, ethnic and religious tensions and the senseless violence they beget.

Jesuit schools are equipped with a rich spiritual tradition to address these complex challenges. 
- Are we guiding our students to discern what is true and what is right in an age characterized by what Pope Benedict calls a "dictatorship of relativism"?
- Are we promoting open-mindedness, tolerance, and respect for other cultures and religions at the same time appreciating one's local culture and encouraging religious commitment?

6. Social Justice

    In 1974, the Society of Jesus published Decree 4 of the documents of the 32nd General Congregation.  It stated,” The mission of the Society of Jesus today is the service of faith, of which the promotion of justice is an absolute requirement.”  That mission has been reaffirmed by subsequent General Congregations 33, 34, and 35.  It is at the heart of preparations for the 36th General Congregation.  The mission has has featured prominently in the teachings of Superiors General Arrupe, Kolvenbach, and Nicolas.  The mission has been articulated in documents produced by Jesuit assistancies and conferences worldwide, by provinces, and by Jesuit communities and institutions.  

    As stated in earlier in this document, some progress has been made in eliminating extreme poverty. But much remains to be done.  The gap between rich and poor has increased, within nations and across national frontiers. Moreover, inequality is also increasing within networks of Jesuit schools.  If Jesuit schools are to be places of hope, they should teach students to see the world from the perspective of the poor and the marginalized, learning from them, acting with and for them. Jesuit schools should not only teach justice and social awareness but they should also act and promote the coherence within the educative project of the school, measured by the welcoming of migrants and providing pedagogical programs that are effective for the underprivileged in society.  Students in Jesuit schools are taught to embrace that spirit of solidarity with all, especially the suffering poor and oppressed.
- Do we join efforts in alleviating the condition of displaced, refugees and migrants in solidarity with them?
- How accessible, welcoming, and hospitable are our schools to migrants and refugees?

7. Network

    Traditionally Jesuit schools were networked through the internal governance structures of the Society of Jesus by region, province, and assistancy.   While these avenues of collaboration will continue, Jesuit educators need to find new and innovative ways to ensure unity while respecting the principle of subsidiarity, which teaches that decisions are best made closest to the action and in light of the particular context.  www.educatemagis.org, provides a forum to disseminate documents and to stimulate learning and conversation about schools.  Broader in scope than education alone, Jesuitnetworking.org is an international initiative to support the emergence of collaborative bottom-up innovation for the universal mission within the Jesuit apostolic body. 

- How do our schools participate in strengthening the network of Jesuit schools in the world? 
- How do we take advantage of this network?

After addressing all these in detail, the new document  specifies what a Jesuit School should be in our times...
    What characteristics make a Jesuit school Jesuit?  Is a school Jesuit because of its history, having been founded and staffed by Jesuits for many years? Is a school Jesuit because the Society of Jesus owns the property?   Is a school Jesuit because of its canonical status is though its connection to the Society?  Is a school Jesuit because Jesuits work there? Is a school Jesuit by history or by choice?  Is a school Jesuit in a substantive way or is it Jesuit in name only?

We are sure the final New Document that is going to be in our hands after expert consultation in each region and the approval of Fr. General is going to be so effective and paving the way for a new direction for the Jesuit Education world over.

Sunny Jacob SJ
JEA Secretary and Member ICAJE, Rome