Three faculty members of Chang Jung Christian University including Mon-Juan Lee, Secretary General, Chunlin Liu, Director of General Education Center, and Hye Kyung Park, Chair of the Department of Theology and Director of Language Education Center, participated in the Whole Person Education Academy 2023 course on Humanizing Higher Education through whole Person Learning, which was held on Oct. 16-20 2023 at Ateneo de Manila University, Quezon City, Philippine. This event was supported by the Office of Global Engagement, CJCU, and United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia.
This program was designed in a hybrid format, consisting of an online course in August 2023 and a residential program at the Ateneo Teacher Center in October 2023. During the online course, the participants explored the conceptual frameworks and education principles behind Whole Person Education (WPE) and worked collaboratively as school teams to examine their own institutional contexts through the lens of these frameworks.
In the residential program at the Ateneo Teacher Center, thirty-two participants from eleven universities in India, Indonesia, and the Philippines, along with CJCU, joined the WPE program in person. They attended lectures, went on a field trip to Miriam College, and presented on the topic of WPE. During the residential phase, the WPE program focused on training trainers in each institution with the aim of problem-solving.In physical gatherings at Ateneo, every day began with a mindfulness moment that focused on spiritual formation and reflections on the mission statement of several universities. The lectures covered a wide range of topics related to humanizing higher education in Asia including pedagogical development, a social computer lab, ethics and Ignatian spirituality, service learning, cura personalis, educational technology, ministry of teaching, and moments of creativity and imagination. Additionally, the field trip aims to showcase the activities at Women and Gender Institute, and the Integrative Lifestyle and Well-Being program at Miriam College.
During the presentation sessions, each university addressed its own WPE-related issues, encompassing educational, administrative, technological, or spiritual aspects, with the goal of training the trainers. The CJCU team presented “Supporting Curriculum Transformation from the WPE Perspective and Resolving Faculty Disagreement.” Ms. Rita Atienza, the Director of the Ateneo Teacher Center, applauded and strongly encouraged the CJCU team to implement this new course transformation both in theory and practice. The WPEA 2023 emphasized the significance of the whole person education in Asia.
“From the United Board’s perspective, it is a philosophy and practice of education that seeks to develop the whole person – intellectually, spiritually, and ethically (Whole Person Education: The United Board’s Perspective on Its Principles and Practice, p. 4.).”
