Marist International Network of Institutions of Higher Education

The Institute of the Little Brothers of Mary, dedicated to the education of children and young people, was founded by Marcellin Champagnat on January 2, 1817. We are on the way, and quickly approaching, to the Second Centenary of the foundation of the Institute in 2017. This date has become of pivotal interest, so that different institutional estates might begin to make preparations for a celebration worthy of such an event. The Marist International Network of Institutions of Higher Education wishes to make a significant contribution, cooperating in the preparation of people who might be energizing agents of the celebrations of the 200th anniversary of the foundation of the Institute. To this end a course for specialists in Marist Charism and Educational Principles is being developed. In these pages we wish to offer some information in advance of the work being done at the PUCPR to bring this initiative to reality.

Organization of the Marist World

The Institute is divided into Provinces and Districts that group the more than 700 houses that the Institute has throughout the world. Each Province and District is animated and governed by a Superior and his Council, under the authority a Brother Superior General and his Council.

The Institute is made up of 24 Provinces, 4 Districts and an Ad Gentes Sector Asia and is officially established in 79 countries. Communications are in four official languages, but in the Marist ministries scores of the most varied languages in the world are heard. The more than 3,500 Brothers who are presently professed in the Institute are accompanied in mission by more than 50,000 lay persons with whom they serve about a half million children and youth throughout the world.

The supreme authority in the Institute is the ordinary General Chapter which has the following functions: 1. To elect the Brother Superior General, the Brother Vicar General and the members of the General Council, according to its proper law; 2. To study matters of greater importance related to the nature, the end and the spirit of the Institute and to promote its renewal and adaptation, safeguarding its spiritual patrimony; 3. Devising Statutes for the whole Institute; 4. Presenting to the Holy See certain modifications of some points of the Constitutions.

The General Council attends to the various functions of the governing and animation of the Institute assisted by 4 Secretariats and a Foundation for solidarity. For a more complete explanation of the organization of the Marist General Council one can consult the organizational chart at http://www.champagnat.org/000.php?p=65

History of the netword

The Mission Commission 1 of the General Council, set up by the General Council, came out of the 20th General Chapter (2001), that elected Brother Seán Sammon as Superior General, in developing its Action Plan for the period 2002-2009, set as one of its objectives, the "supporting the work in teams and in networks of mutual support in the different regions of the Institute”. The president of the Commission for Mission was Brother Emili Turú, general councilor, assisted by Brother Juan Miguel Anaya as Secretary. At the present time the Secretariat for Mission is directed by Brother João Carlos do Prado.

The first Encounter of Representatives of Marist Institutions of Tertiary Education2, in Curitiba, in November 2004, was the seed of the Marist International Network of Institutions of Higher Education animated by the Secretariat for Mission of the General Council. Presently the Network gathers together the common interests of 27 Marist institutions of higher education.

Marist International Network of Institutions of Higher Education

01. Australian Catholic University – Australia
02. Instituto Superior Marista (ISMA) – Argentina
03. Instituto Macnab Bernal  – Argentina
04. Faculdade Marista do Ceará – Brazil
05. Faculdade Marista Recife – Brazil
06. Faculdade Católica de Tocantins – Brazil
07. Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná – Brazil
08. Pontificia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul – Brazil
09. Universidade Católica de Brasília – Brazil
10. Universidade Católica de Santa Catarina – Brazil
11. Escuela Universitaria Cardenal Cisneros – Spain
12. Facultad de Ciencias Humanas y Sociales Marcelino Champagnat  (Salamanca) – Spain
13. Marist Pacific Center (Manila) – Philippines
14. Notre Dame of Marbel – Philippines
15. Marist International College (Nairobi) – Kenya
16. Universidad Marista de Guadalajara – Mexico
17. Universidad de Monterrey – Mexico
18. Universidad Marista de Mérida – Mexico
19. Universidad Marista de Valladolid – Mexico
20. Universidad Marista de Mexico D.F. – Mexico D.F.
21. Universidad Marista de Querétaro – Mexico
22. Universidad Marista Nayarit – Mexico
23. Universidad Marista San Luis de Potosí – Mexico
24. Universidad Marcelino Champagnat – Peru
25. Centro de Formación de Profesores (Baucau) – East Timor
26. Marist College – USA
27. Universidad Marista – Congo

HISTORY OF THE COURSE OF SPECIALIZATION IN MARIST CHARISM AND EDUCATIONAL PRINCIPLES

The first Encounter reflected on the services that the institutions of higher education might be able to offer the Marist Institute. Among the conclusions of that meeting emerged the proposal to carry out a reflection on the Marist pedagogical principles applied to higher education. This proposal was the origin of the document “Marist Mission in Higher Education”, published in 2010.

At the second Encounter, which took place in Guadalajara (Jalisco, México) November 9-12, 2006, at the Marist University of Guadalajara, they studied a document on “Marist Mission in Higher Education” and a proposal to offer a service of Marist formation open to the Institute was approved. In developing the document “Marist Mission in Higher Education” an idea was shared, which later became part of the document, in these terms:

“The Marist institutions of higher education play a fundamental role in the formation of teachers in specific Marist pedagogy. Such teachers will practice in a particular institution or in other schools of the Institute or under the educational system of the countries where there is a Marist presence. Thus it is extended especially the importance of Marist higher education in that which refers to the formation of Marist educators”.

In that meeting the definition was not yet begun of the “service of Marist formation offered to the Institute.”

The third Encounter of representatives of institutions of tertiary education, promoted by the General Council, the Luis Vives University School of Teaching, part of the Pontifical University of Salamanca, and the Cardinal Cisneros University School of Alcalá de Henares, was held from November 17-21, 2008. In this third Encounter were presented, studied and approved such important documents as “Marist Mission in Higher Education”, “Possibilities and Opportunities for International Exchange Among Our Institutions”, “Worldwide Network of Marist Institutions of Higher Education. Higher Education for the New Millennium with the Charism of Marcellin”. Also a proposal was presented to offer a postgraduate course in Marist spirituality called “Marist Vision, Mission and Educational Principles”; this stirred up pleasing expectations.

The fourth Encounter of the Council of Rectors and Representatives of the International Marist Network of Institutions of Higher Education took place at the events center of the PUCRS in Porto Alegre October 5-9, 2010. At this meeting the subject matter was set forth in three conferences: Great Challenges for the University of the 21st Century, subtitled: Considerations and Perspectives for Marist Higher Education in the 21st Century, Mission and Management in Our Institutions of Marist Higher Education. Challenges for the Future and, finally What does the Marist Institute expect of its Institutions of Higher Education? Some Dreams for the Future of Marist Institutions of Higher Education.
 
The Conference was followed by round tables on Vision for the Future of Institutions of Higher Education (Unesco, Fiuc, Bologna Process), Future directions for the Development of the Marist Institutions of Higher Education and Marist Mission in Higher Education: Practical Applications for the Future.

On this occasion Professor Ricardo Tescarolo presented the project of a “Distant learning postgraduate course in Marist Mission and Spirituality”, confided by the Marist Brothers General Council to the PUCPR, which took on the responsibility of creating the content, developing teaching resources and setting in motion the whole process of offering it to students, through the university infrastructure that the university already has for distant learning.

Brother Antonio Martínez Estaún, from the Province of the Hermitage, presently assigned to the Province of Brazil Centro-Sul, and living in Curitiba, was named Coordinator of the Course starting in July of 2012. Also named were those responsible for writing the contents of the course, whose names you can see in the chart below Of the eight disciplines that make up the course five have already been written; the other three are in process of development. Since the course will be offered in the four official languages of the Institute, the process of translation has begun for the disciplines, as well as the production of the student texts in digital format.

The program of the fifth Encounter, held October 9-13, 2012, at the Marist University of Mexico D.F. with the theme “Marist Higher Education in Network Building a New Land”, recognized the advances made in the presentation and carrying out of the work that was confided to the PUCPR. The Assembly decided, by vote, that the course be intended to promote specialists in Marist Charism and Educational Principles. This will be the official name of the course.

OBJECTIVES OF THE COURSE

General:

Specialization in “Marist Charism and Educational Principles” has as its objective that the graduate student (licentiate, master's,…) acquire the necessary knowledge, adequate training and the development of skills, so as to be able to apply them in the different areas of teaching and investigation, with professional quality and capacity to adapt creatively to ongoing changes.

Specifics:

To form educators in the Marist charism and spirituality that flows from Marcellin Champagnat, as a means to support the carrying out of the educational mission taken on by the Marist Institute.

To promote knowledge of the Marist educational system via studies in depth on ideology, educational principles and the Marist style of being and educating; seeking its adaptation to the challenges and demands faced in the 21st century.

To achieve on the part of the Marist educators, a commitment to live their Christian vocation and to promote in their educational centers the building up of true educational communities.

To develop upper level educational activities, attending to the principles of integral formation, necessary in the present times, in the context of the Marist educational proposal.

To share the experiences of Marist educators from different countries, with a view to promoting a sense of ownership in an international institution.

Description of the Course

The course comprises 420 hours, with a total of 30 credits, distributed as follows:

All the subjects are obligatory. The only optional item is the gathering at the Hermitage, that can be organized according to the needs of the Provinces or of the interprovincial groups. The students who do the course and then go to the Hermitage will be able to add 2 more credits to their curriculum.

The orientation dates, which are guiding the work of creating the course, point towards the first days of the month of August 2013, but given the complexity of the work that needs to be done, above all the translation of the books and the post production of the teaching materials, we are still unable to set a definite starting date.

WHO IS THE COURSE FOR?

Profile of the student at the beginning of the course

The course of specialization in “Marist Charism and Educational Principles” is designed for professionals with higher formation.

In order to participate in the course, students must have at least a licentiate degree, duly recognized or renewed in Brazil or abroad.

They must be persons with personal values of discipline, responsibility and constancy, as well as abilities for investigation, systematization and analysis.

To be available between 6 and 10 hours weekly to study the content and do the activities.

To have a basic knowledge of the history and teachings of the Church.

To have at least four years of experience as a Marist educator and a willingness to strengthen his or her educational commitment, by means of acquiring greater know-how in this area.

To understand written texts in at least two of the following languages: Portuguese, English, French and Spanish.

To have access to a computer with Internet connection, since the course is a "distant" one.

Profile of the graduate

The course provides a formation that qualifies the professionals for:

a commitment to the mission of the Marist Institute: to evangelize children and youth, especially the most disadvantaged.

a sense of ownership of the charism of Saint Marcellin Champagnat and of the community that emanated from him, above all in its pedagogical and spiritual foundations.

knowledge of the mission of the Catholic Church, especially the identity, ministry and way of life of the Marist educator.

valuing Christian humanism as a priority in formation for professional exercise: uprightness in one's own conduct and sensibility in his or her interaction with others, with nature and with God.

a personal conviction of respect for justice, liberty and in general for human rights, without distinction of persons, as the basis of social contact.

Information regarding dates, registration, schedules and other details will be published on the PUCPR website beginning in April 2013.

Br. AMEstaún
[email protected]