The formation committee of the Basic Education sector held a four-day workshop, “Ignatian Leadership for Mission,” from 28 to 31 October at Canisius College, Jakarta, Indonesia. The workshop brought together 66 senior and middle leaders from Jesuit schools in eight provinces: Indonesia, the Philippines, Timor-Leste, Cambodia, the Chinese Province, Malaysia-Singapore, Australia, and Japan.
The programme sought to deepen participants’ understanding and practice of Ignatian leadership in Jesuit education while fostering companionship and collaboration among educators within and across provinces.
Conference Secretary for Basic Education Fr Leonardus Winandoko SJ gives the opening remarks
Four interconnected themes anchored the workshop: self-awareness and authenticity of the leader presented by Fr Stanley Goh SJ of Malaysia-Singapore Region; trust and collaboration, by Dr Margaret Ann McKenna of the Australian Province; communal discernment, by Fr Paul Suparno SJ of the Indonesian Province; and educating for faith formation across a diversity of contexts, by Dr Ying Lun So of the Chinese Province.
After each presentation, educators from Cambodia, Timor-Leste, the Philippines, and Indonesia shared their experiences. These were followed by group activities, case studies, prayer, and spiritual conversation. Each theme concluded with plenary sharing and feedback from the keynote speaker.
Trust and collaboration exercise
While the four themes formed the core of the programme, the workshop unfolded through seven “movements,” beginning with a welcoming and warm-up session on the first evening. The themes were explored on the second and third days, followed by a cultural evening. The programme concluded with a final session on the fourth morning. Mass was celebrated daily, enriched by the choirs and orchestras of Jesuit schools in Jakarta.
The event was carried out in a spirit of communal discernment and collaboration. The organising committee, drawn from Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia-Singapore, and the Chinese Province, provided lively facilitation throughout the seven movements. Different provinces likewise contributed to the morning prayers, daily examens, and experience-sharing sessions.
By the end of the workshop, participants were inspired to put what they had learned into practice and felt a growing sense of connection across schools and borders. While diversity is a hallmark of Jesuit conferences throughout the world, few embody it to the extent found in JCAP, whether in language, culture, religious background, history, or regulatory framework. It was inspiring to see that, despite these differences, participants shared a common Ignatian vocabulary, set of concepts, values, and way of proceeding, expressed in distinctive ways within very different contexts.
It was equally heartwarming to witness how efforts to overcome communication barriers through mutual support became acts of collaboration and community-building.
Feedback at the end of the workshop was overwhelmingly positive. Participants described the experience as “inspiring,” “authentic,” “fruitful,” “empowering,” “enriching,” “life-giving,” “holistic,” and marked by “discernment” and “connection”.
Many reported feeling energised, grateful, blessed, affirmed in their leadership vocation, and refreshed by a strong sense of camaraderie and shared mission. They expressed a desire to share and replicate what they had learned with colleagues and teachers back home, to foster ongoing collaboration among JCAP schools, and to continue growing as authentic, reflective, and community-building Ignatian leaders.
