With a mission of joyful lifelong learning, skill building, and knowledge-sharing for all, the Friends of the Jesuits of the Goa Province have started Collaborative Learning Café (CLC). NT BUZZ learns more
RAMANDEEP KAUR | NT BUZZ
Education can change people’s lives and change the world. And Jesuit education, since the last 450 years, has been helping young men and women become productive and good human beings, and to work for positive social and economic changes in society.
And observing the lacuna between formal school/college education and the skills that the industry/employers are looking for, the Jesuits and friends had been mulling over ways to fill this gap through different modes of education. The COVID-19 pandemic opened new avenues – with the proliferation of Zoom and Google Meet, webinars, cell phones available with most families, and the desire that people not waste their time with too much Netflix at home.
This got Frederick Noronha and Fr Merwin D’Souza, SJ (both alumni of St Britto School, Mapusa) putting on new thinking hats. With the help of Savio Dias (tech support) and Emelia Mascarenhas (former professor at St Xavier’s College, Mapusa), they began an online platform, the Collaborative Learning Café (CLC), to encourage joyful lifelong learning, career information, new hobbies, skill-building, and sharing of knowledge among all people. The non-profit also hopes to help create productive citizens and foster peace and reconciliation among all. “Through this platform, we aim to help young (and not-so-young) people to develop skills, grow in self-confidence, and find employment, or just learn something new for the sheer joy of learning,” says Fr Merwin adding, that the idea is to promote informal, open, and shareable learning.
“When we started, we found a lot of things had fallen into place. Perhaps this was the right idea at the right time. We are grateful to our many alumni and well-wishers, and the online group called the Friends of the Jesuits of the Goa Province,” says Fr Merwin.
Their courses so far have focused on careers in the IAS, the basics of Konkani, and a talk by a Goan priest-astronomer, Fr Richard A D’Souza, SJ, who has done amazing work at the global level. And their forthcoming programmes will be on leadership, management, education and teaching, social sciences, home improvements, computer skills and programming, accounting, entrepreneurship, psychology, theology and scripture, photography, media and journalism, crochet, macramé, astronomy, prep for competitive exams (IAS), music, languages, and more, depending on the needs of people.
Fr Merwin further informs that their teaching will be based on the Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm which is student-focused. “We hope to engage the students by learning about their context and helping them through a process of experience, reflection, action, and evaluation, to deepen their learning and to help them utilise that learning to better society. The focus will not be on paper-based qualifications but on creating and sharing knowledge.”
The CLC functions on the principles of the 3Cs – coverage (as wide as possible, without barriers and open to all, subject to a willingness to learn and the maximum online capacity available); nominal or no charge (as this is a not-for-profit venture); and the use of the Creative Commons (CC) licensing for educational content generated. This will be shared in cyberspace, so that the same may be widely utilised by whoever needs it.
These sessions will also help tap the skills of veterans willing to share their knowledge. And in fact, many have stepped forward. “We expect them to encourage hobbies and promote the networking of people with similar interests. Hopefully, it should open up some job opportunities too,” says Fr Merwin, adding that they may even use WhatsApp or Facebook groups to offer certain courses that require people supporting each other while learning. “For now, it will be online talks, training courses, how-tos, networking among learners, etc. But, once the pandemic is over, we plan to have real-life in-person training sessions. Basically, we are planning to have two main courses spread out over one or two weeks. Also, one course based on hobbies and one common lecture, hopefully every month,” says Fr Merwin.
According to Fr Merwin, they are learning “on the job” and expect things to shape up as they move along. “But the name stresses our priorities – learning in collaboration with one another, and ‘café’ is a fun way that everyone enjoys.”
To keep costs low, they are using Jesuit infrastructure in Goa (retreat houses, schools, etc) without an adverse impact on existing activities. “Now, more than at any other time, we need initiatives like this,” says Fr Merwin.
Registration is on a walk-in basis, separately for each course. But currently, they are restricted by the maximum number of ‘seats’ allowed in an online session. Other than the monthly talks (one or two sessions) where there could be a larger group, generally the courses will be restricted to smaller groups so that there is greater interaction, engagement with the subject, and follow through.
And since the launch of this initiative on June 5, they are most encouraged by the overwhelming response. “Every course has been ‘over-booked’. Participants have appreciated the content, teaching and thought that has gone into each course. Invited speakers have willingly come forward with positive responses. What more can one ask for? We see this as another means of staying faithful to our Jesuit motto: ‘Ad Majorem Dei Gloria’ (‘For the Greater Glory of God’),” says Fr Merwin.
“A little time spent together with others at a learning café can hopefully change lives and promote a little more hope in these difficult times,” he adds.
(Volunteer support is gratefully accepted, for which one can contact Fr Merwin at 9871588406 by WhatsApp. Details: 7619399507/ [email protected])