S TRENNA 2008

by Pascual Chávez Villanueva

EDUCATING WITH THE HEART OF DB

HIS SPIRITUAL/EDUCATIVE EXPERIENCE

Education for Don Bosco implied a collection of practices, based on convictions of reason and faith which serve as guides in pedagogical activity. At the centre of his vision stands “pastoral charity”… (Juvenum Patris, 9)

Don Bosco’s way was to encourage in the young person anything that was positive or showed ambition, putting him in contact with a cultural heritage consisting of ideas, customs and beliefs, and offering him the opportunity of a deep faith experience, helping him take his place in a society of which he could feel a part through his work, through co-responsibility for the common good, and a commitment to creating harmony in society. He expressed this in simple formulae that the young could understand and follow: “good Christians and honest citizens,” “health, wisdom, holiness,” “reason and faith.” So as not to fall into an exaggerated utopianism, Don Bosco began from where it was possible, adapted to the condition of the young person and the situation of the educator. In his oratory it was possible to play, they were made welcome, relationships were forged, religious instruction was given, they could learn to read and write, how to work, norms for proper civilised behaviour were given, thought was also given to the law which regulated labourers’ work and attempts were made to improve it..

◙ There’s a recurring complaint from young people that nowadays there can be instruction that doesn’t take into consideration life’s problems, a professional preparation that doesn’t have a moral or cultural dimension, an education that doesn’t deal with questions about life, but is limited to the present moment. If life and society have become complicated someone without a map and/or a compass is bound to get lost or be dependent on others. Formation of the mind, of the conscience and of the heart is more necessary than ever. But the “problem area” of education today is communication: between the generations because of the rapidity of change, between individuals because of a loosening, in relationships, between institutions and their clients because of different perceptions regarding their purpose. Communication, it is said, is confused, disturbed, open to ambiguity because of excessive noise, the sheer volume of messages, and because transmitter and receiver are not on the same wavelength. As a result there are misunderstandings, silences, limited and selective hearing (a “zapping” process), non-aggression agreements for more peace and quiet… In this way it is difficult to offer advice about attitudes, recommend ways of behaving, transmit values. This too has changed considerably since Don Bosco’s time. And yet we have suggestions from him that in their simplicity are winners, if the way can be found to put them info practice. One of these is: “You get more with a friendly look… than with many rebukes.”

◙ There’s a word, not much used nowadays, that sums up Don Bosco’s advice about the educational relationship: loving kindness. Its source is charity, by which the educator perceives God’s plan in the life of each young person and helps him to become aware of it and to put it into practice with the same liberating and magnanimous love with which God thought of it in the first place. This generates affection that is shown in the way a young person acts. In this way, but not without some difficulty, a relationship grows on which it is necessary to focus attention when one translates Don Bosco’s intuitions in our own times and places. It is a relationship marked by friendship which develops into a sense of fatherliness. Friendship grows with expressions of familiarity and is itself nourished by them. This in turn leads to trust which is everything in education. Friendship has a very practical expression: assistance. It is not possible to understand the significance of Salesian assistance from the meaning that the dictionary gives to the word: it is a term coined within a particular experience and has a significance and an application that are quite unique. It is being physically present where the boys gather together, exchange ideas or make their plans. It has a moral dimension with the ability to understand, and encourage. It is also offering guidance and advice according to individual need.

◙ Assistance eventually becomes an educative fatherliness that is more than friendship. It is an affectionate and authoritative expression of responsibility that offers important guidance and teaching, and makes demands about discipline and commitment.

It is love and authority. It is best seen “in knowing how to speak to the heart.” Not speaking too much but to the point; not harshly but clearly. In Don Bosco’s pedagogy there are two examples of this way of speaking: the goodnight and the personal word that he used to let drop at informal moments, in recreation. Two very sensitive situations, where real and immediate events are spoken about, and in which wise everyday advice is offered on how to deal with them, and lessons about life are imparted. This is why Don Bosco reached holiness while being an educator; this he how he succeeded in educating holy boys like Dominic Savio. There is a connection between holiness and education. 