The Paulinian Educator |1

VOL. 15 NO. 1 #INTERCULTURALITY MAY 17, 2018

Sr. Lilia defines interculturality; presents indicators of intercultural education by Irvin John Andres

Sr. Lilia Thérèse Tolen-tino, SPC unmasked inter-culturality into contextual-ized areas before the local and foreign delegates in her keynote address during the 29th SPC Educators’ and 14th SPC Internation-al Educators’ Congress. The provincial superior’s keynote address began with a brief elucidation on the selection of interculturality as the theme in their minis-try assemblies. “Our congregation’s differ-ent ministries, such as educa-tion, health care, and pastoral ministry have been enjoined to include the topic intercul-turality… this is to be in sync with the thrusts and directions set by the General Council of the Congregation of the Sis-ters of St. Paul,” she explained.

Recognizing the vast-ness of interculturality, Sr. Lilia identified domains in which the topic may be suitably explored such as: its biblical foundation, in

sights from church leaders, responses and actions of international organizations and government leaders to address the impact of glo-balization on people’s lives, intercultural education and issues surrounding its ap-plications, and the inter-cultural teacher including self-evaluation questions on intercultural competence.

Defining Interculturality Not presuming a col-lective understanding of interculturality, Sr. Lilia quoted an article written by Fr. Van Thanh Nguyen, SVD saying, “intercultur-ality is a multi-directional exchange and enrichment.”

Biblical Foundation Sr. Lilia’s discussion on

the biblical foundation of interculturality bared the story of Adam and Sarah and how their hospitali-ty led to the promotion of peaceful relations with set-tled inhabitants of Canaan. Her discourse also in-cluded the life of Jesus whose mission she de-scribed as totally rooted in Jewish culture and identity.

Fr. Gustilo advocates cultural identity, dialogue, and interaction by Jhoselle Tus

attaining comprehensive mutu-ality, reciprocity, and equality.

Fr. Gustilo enumerated the importances of building cultural self-esteem and engaging in di-alogues, consequently advising the delegates to veer away from creating prejudgments about others. He also reminded edu-cators that education must not only be informative and trans-formative but more important-ly, it must be performative and manifested in daily actuations.

Father Francis Gusti-lo, SDB promoted cultural identity, dialogue, and in-teraction as means to inter-culturality in the context of globalization in his keynote address to the delegates of the Educators’ Congress.

Identifying the manifestations of cultural diversities in day-to-day living, Fr. Gustilo pointed that while culture is a given, in-terculturality presents itself as a task that involves the process of

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IMMERSE.Sr. Lilia challenges the delegation to interculturally interact in work, encounters, and dialogues.

COMMUNICATE.Fr. Gustilo espouses on the importance of communication in bridging interculturality.

2|Opinion The Paulinian Educator

Editorial What makes a painting beautiful are the colorful strokes that fill up the entire canvass. What makes the stars breathtaking is that they are aligned with other celestial giants in what we call constellations. What makes a day forgivable is the infinite number of different tomorrows. Almost everything that unfolds before us works better when seen for their collective appeal.

The SPC Congregation could not have picked a better time to tap “interculturality” as its theme for their ministry assemblies. The growing interaction between cultures whether local to local or local to foreign, further heightened by the advent of advance media, must have led the SPC sisters to realize the topic’s relevance and its potential impacts not only to the delegates of the annual Educators’ Congress but also to the greater community they serve.

In her keynote address, Sr. Lilia Thérèse Tolentino, SPC through the work of Fr. Van Thanh Nguyen defined intercultur-ality as “being marked by community of members from different cultures interacting with one another and thereby mutually en-riching the individual members and the community as a whole.” This profound definition explicates the significance of coexistence and interdependence in attaining a society of, although diverse, united individuals.

With this, greater limits of moral obligation are unveiled before the delegation of the annual congress. After having reached out to the new methods of evangelization (areopaghi), Paulinian educa-tors should now consider extending themselves even more as they transcend the confines of their own cultures to break the barriers of indifference and desensitization. Moreover, they are called to be more open as they immerse themselves in an environment per-vaded by individual differences. By doing so, they may be living exemplifications of the Paulinian mantra of being all to all.

The canvass will always be filled with different colors. The stars will always align regardless of their sizes. Tomorrows will always be different no matter how bitter or sweet they have been. As edu-cators, the classroom will always be composed of diverse students. But, if the Paulinian way is truly embraced and interculturality addressed, these children can be like perfect strokes in a master-piece, stars in a constellation, or tomorrows that one may always look forward to.

The preponderance of the recorded Philippine Histo-ry talks about being held by powerful tyrants, passing from one to another, forcing the Filipinos to be left with no choice but to adapt. That could explain why the Phil-ippines is considered as one of the most culturally diverse countries in the world. Add to that one of the most celebrat-ed Filipino trait, hospitality, which could probably provide a causation, or at least a cor-relation, as to why we have continuously welcomed, de-spite all the trauma brought about by the colonization, people of different back-grounds to inject cultures and traditions to our everyday life. “Cultural diversity is a given; Interculturality is a Task,” this is how Father Fran-cis Gustilo, SDB, the second keynote speaker on the first day of the 29th National and 14th International Educa-tors’ Congress, chose to be-gin his keynote. By providing examples in the millennial context of how cultural di-versity is incorporated in our everyday life, he pointed out that there is only little, if not completely nothing, that we can do about the existence of a huge variety of cultures. Yet, interculturality is a task that everyone must respond to for it is a way for us to bridge the cultural differenc-es that we, as part of the hu-manity, have grown to attain.

Now, in order to achieve interculturality, we must veer away from just merely and passively accepting the ex-istence of multiple cultures, which is multiculturality, or just being able to reach across boundaries, which is cross-culturality, and instead focus on attaining a com-prehensive mutuality, reci-

procity, and equality, and the attributes of interculturality.

According to Fr. Gustilo, the first step is to build cul-tural self-esteem by knowing one’s identity, consequently deepening cultural appre-ciation. In the philosophi-cal context, one of the basic teachings in western philos-ophy is to “Know Thyself.” According to Socrates, no journey in life can commence if this question is not posed thus, it’s only fitting that this be the first step towards attaining interculturality.

The second step is to ac-knowledge our differences by engaging in dialogues. Fr. Gustilo asserted that there will always be differences among people and that it is not always worth it to change something just to be similar with another. However, an en-gagement in a healthy conver-sation opens an opportunity to address our singularities.

The last step is interaction. While it is true that everyone is unique in one’s own ways, setting aside differences and focusing on one’s common ground with another allows them to experience harmony, thereby engendering peace, just like how instruments in an orchestra produce harmony. While it is true that embrac-ing interculturality and diver-sity has become more relevant than ever given the current cultural and societal situa-tion we are in today, there is no denying that there are still walls to be brought down and bridges to be constructed. Let us allow the Filipino sol-idarity to make its mark in our history by transcending indi-vidualism through the reali-zation of our shared destiny.

by Kenneth John Dela Vega Culturally Embedded

The Paulinian Educator News|3...Sr. Lilia

continued from page 1 “In order to understand the interculturality of Jesus, it is important that we first recog-nize his deep Jewishness… but even so, he healed both Jews and Gentiles,” Sr. Lilia noted.

She added that Jesus’ teach-ings showed cross-cultur-al sensitivity and how he is a different kind of Jew who touched lepers, befriended sinners and outcasts, and lib-erated those who were pos-sessed by unclean spirits. Sr. Lilia also cited Paul the Apostle as an example of in-terculturality mirrored by his contextualization of the gos-pel within the cultural setting of his listeners and his cultur-al sensitivity and “at-home-ness” with his audiences.

Church “From the perspective of the Church and its leaders, interculturality in the context

of evangelization, is a call to be open to dialogue and ex-change,” Sr. Lilia explained. She also mentioned the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World’s encouragement to read the signs of the times. The provin-cial superior added that the invitation has resulted in a sig-nificant shift in the content and methods of evangelization, and that it has led to an increased awareness on the relationship between faith and culture.

Global Situation In her discussion of the global situation, Sr. Lilia quot-ed the work of Fernando M. Reimers which states, “In or-der to participate, as citizens or producers, all people need to be able to understand glo-balization, be curious about the world and global affairs, know where to deepen their knowledge when necessary, and be capable of communi-cating and working produc-

tively and respectfully with people from other countries and cultural backgrounds.”

Treaties, Conventions, Cove-nants Sr. Lilia enumerated several treaties, covenants, and con-ventions from which concepts relevant to Intercultural Edu-cation have been drawn: 1992 International Conference on Education which highlighted the reduction of all forms of exclusion, and promulgation of understanding; The Decla-ration of the 44th Session of the International Conference on Education which advocates education for internation-al understanding; The 1996 Amman Affirmation which stressed the significance of lo-cal content in the curriculum; The 1998 World Declaration on Higher Education for the Twenty-First Century which aimed at understanding and promoting cultures in a con-text of pluralism and diversity; and the Organization for Eco-

nomic Cooperation and De-velopment (OECD) which will assess the skills needed for stu-dents to be globally competent.

Intercultural Education (Teacher) and Its Issues According to Sr. Lilia, UN-ESCO defines intercultur-al education as a response to the challenge to provide quality education for all. Conversely, she also cited challenges to intercultural ed-ucation such as interplay of language, religion, cultural di-versity, cultural heritage, ma-jority, and minority cultures. The keynote address end-ed with some questions for self-evaluation on intercultur-al education and the attitudes (openness, respect, and curi-osity), the knowledge (cultural self-awareness, inter-cultural field experience, and deep un-derstanding of world views), and the skills (listening, observ-ing, and integrating knowledge about other cultures) neces-sary to an intercultural teacher.

...Fr. Gustilocontinued from page 1

Throughout his address, Fr. Gustilo interchange-ably used contextual analogies between inter-cultural principles and an-ecdotes, as well as direct comparisons in efforts to clearly emphasize points. Towards the end of the speech, he focused on de-scribing Filipino and Cath-olic proclivities that lead to understanding of one’s cul-tural and religious heritage. He ended his talk by stating the importance of identifying the geni-une Paulinian and Fil-ipino identities. More-over, there must be a conscious effort in ac-cepting the challenges of crossing societal bound-aries and the a better ap-preciation of diverstity.

Sr. Dedicacion welcomes Educators’ Congress delegatesby Maria Azcela Zosima Cabo

“Solidarity begins where individualism ends,” this Sr. Dedicacion Rosario, SPC, Directress of St. Paul College of Pasig stressed in her welcome remarks that marked the start of the 29th National SPC Educators’ Congress and 14th International SPC Educators’ Congress, with the theme: Mainstreaming Interculturality in Paulin-ian in: Solidarity begins where individuality ends.” She ment ioned the period 2013-2022 as the Internat iona l Decade for the Rapprochement of Cultures with the UN-ESCO as the lead agen-cy for the mobi l izat ion of bui lding bridges and promoting mutua l un-derstanding conducive to harmonious coex istence

among the peoples and countr ies of the world. This new International Decade provides a unique occasion to reaff irm the ideals of a plural humani-ty where cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue are mutually reinforced,

and where education, the sciences, culture and communication and in-formation can enhance international cooperation.

Through this, a rea l rap-prochement of culture and countries can be rea lized.

Culturally Embedded

FAMILIAR FACES.Sr. Dedicacion warmly invites the delegates to the proceedings of the Educators’ Congress.

4|Focal Point The Paulinian Educator

DAY1: IN RETR SPECT

T E L L M E Y O U R N A M E .D elegates of t he SPC E ducators’ C on-g ress l ine up to conf i r m reg is t rat ion .

B a n n e r s u p .Selected teachers from different SPC schools carry

their flags as part of the opening rites.

S i s t e r s f r o m a fa rSPC Sisters from foreign countries pose for a photo after being welcomed to the congress.

FA R B U T N O T D I F F E R E N T .Foreign delegates are recognized after having shared

their intercultural ways in their respective SPC schools.

T U R N O V E R A N E W L E A F .The delegation of the 2018 Educators’ Congress now heed a different call- addressing intercultura lity.

S AY H I .Delegates flaunt their smiles for a photo opportuni-

ty with their respective SPC sisters.

The Paulinian Educator Focal Point|5

A P I C T U R E O F H O N O RThe Marine Corps leading the delegates of the Ed-ucators’ Congress in singing the National Anthem

H O W A B O U T T H E M B O O T H S ?SPC Educators pay a visit to the booths set up by different publishing companies.

K at o t o h a n a n m a g pa pa l aya s a b aya nResident GMA 7 news anchor and reporter, Mariz Umali, moderates panel discussion as the last part of day 1’s proceedings.

Panel discussants touch on multi-culturality and interculturality

by Jasmin Critica

A panel discussion on interculturality ensued with Ms. Mariz Uma-li , a GMA 7 reporter as f a c i l i t a t o r / m o d e r a t o r .

Panel discussants were Fr. Francis Gusti lo, SDB, Sr. Merceditas Ang, SPC, Mr. Conrado Fa-vorito and Ms. Ma. Lou-rie Victor. They shared their views on how in-terculturality happens in the dif ferent sectors especial ly in the aca-deme and the work place.

Sr. Merceditas Ang, SPC, the SPUP President, shared how they inte-grate interculturality in their curriculum, co-cur-ricular act ivit ies and Christ ian Formation. In-terculturality is contex-tualized as local, regional and national interact ion happen across knowl-edge, ski l ls and att itude.

Mr. Conrado Favorito stressed that employees become “intercultural ly competent” by inst i l l ing corporate values of col-laboration, cooperation and respect . Emotional intel l igence is given pre-mium in such a way, inter-culturality is cult ivated.

Ms. Lourie Victor shared that DepEd has programs that aim to make learners sensit ive to cultural dif ferences.Quest ions l ike, “Why are there st i l l many people being discriminated in the dif ferent sectors? Why is bul lying/discrimina-t ion st i l l prevalent? And more came up. Majority of the answers revolved on concerted ef forts be-ing necessar y within so-

cietal units to realize in-tercultural competence.

A quest ion on Christ ian Faith was “how they ad-dress those people who do not believe in God or those with dif ferent rel igion or set of be-l iefs .” The panel discus-sants explained that it wi l l be easier i f we have the same thing or are on the same direct ion but for people to be in-tercultural ly competent one must understand the dif ferences in cultures, rel igions, bel iefs , etc.

Sti l l , they recognized that a big challenge lies in politics and competition in workplaces. The gov-ernment, as well as oth-er specif ic groups, really play a big role in helping people to be culturally competent. As what Fr. Francis Gustilo, SDB said, “it only takes a single hu-man person to let others have the desire to relate with people of differ-ent culture or religion.”

The discussants also touched the issue on the responsible use of social media. Much of their ideas revolved on teaching peo-ple how to use social me-dia ethically as it may also be used to attack others. Education on the ethics of using social media must be continuous so that the digital world may not be an avenue for discrimination.

At the end of the dis-cussion, the panel dis-cussants chal lenge the ever yone to take respon-sibi l ity in understand-ing interculturality and help learners be inter-cultural ly competent.

6|NEWS The Paulinian Educator

The Paulinian Educator is the official newsletter and consequently the documentation of the SPC Educators’ Congress.

Articles are welcome, subject to editorial policies and editing. We may publish short insights, reactions, comments, suggestions, etc., based on editorial value.

The Editorial Board is comprised of teachers from St. Paul College of Bocaue

Contributor - Mr Holiis Sibal, St. Paul University Philippines

Chat Peypoch Photo Contributor

Sr. Ma. Gemma Moralita, SPC & Sr. Angeles D. Ilagan, SPCSPCEM Newsletter Steering Committee In-Charge

Should you desire to contribute to the paper, please approach Sr. Ma. Gemma Moralita, SPC or any member of the Editorial Board.

SPC Schools share intercultural Legacy

In the light of this year’s SPC Educator’s Congress theme, five chosen Paulinian schools in the country took the stage to share a glimpse of their In-tercultural Legacy Experience.

Taking the initial spot, Dr. Allan Peejay Lappay described how St. Paul University Phil-ippines takes the banner of interculturality addressing a great number of mixed cul-ture population of more than 7,000 catering a total of 132 foreigners who carry their re-spective cultural and religious backgrounds. He shared the schools’ effort in the advance-ment of interfaith practices, sharing a common culture of excellence and faith through compassionate service, and working hard together with international institutions. All these and more contribute to the formation of intercultur-ality towards the cultivation of harmony and solidarity.

Ms. Dianne Galicia of St. Joseph Institute of Candon started her sharing on in-terculturality by taking into account the students’ effort of helping out their foreign classmates in understanding Filipino language. But more than the language, according to her, interculturality en-compasses how her school crosses the board of reaching out to their poor neighbors.

Sr. Elisa Baynas, SPC of Sto. Nino High School shared the value of empathy in the context of understanding one’s culture. She further explained that in being empathetic, we need to adopt the other person’s way natural to them. She acknowl-edged that interculturality lies in the interaction of people from different cultural back-grounds using authentic lan-guage that is appropriate in a way that substantiates knowl-edge and understanding of cultures which serves as one of the keys for total formation. Mr. Ronnie John Delariar-te of St. Paul School Barotac Neuvo presented their insti-tutions’ intercultural practices that focus on the exchange of experiences with communi-ty. The areas of Intercultural development include; In-ternational experience, Stu-dent’s immersion, Faculty and Staff yearly exposure, Arts, outreach Program, Linkag-es, and Student Activities.

Ms. Freida Curiba of St. Paul School Buug looks at intercultural-ity as deeply rooted in the holistic education of the child, in solidar-ity founded on truth, justice and love, in cultivating a child’s identity.She ended her sharing by re-minding the delegates on their role as a teacher, of recogniz-ing the “self –in-the-other” and the “other-in-the-self ”.

Foreign delegates embrace intercultural challenges by Hollis Sibal Four delegates from Thai-land, Japan and Indonesia shared their practices in pro-moting intercultural conscious-ness among their students and employees during the first day of the Educators’ Congress. Their success stories bear wit-ness to the difficult and chal-lenging task of integrating the Paulinian values in the midst of differing cultural contexts.

Mr. Jess Javier spoke about the significant strides that the convent schools in Thailand have made in enriching the students and teachers ‘ho-listic well-being through the conduct of exchange student programs’ faculty develop-ment programs, educational encounters such as summer English camps abroad. The hiring of foreign teachers also boosts the schools’ intercul-tural facet. In the process of intercultural exposure, the students learn about the val-ues of tolerance and empathy.

Citing Japan’s changing social landscape, Ms. Cecilia Smith stressed the need for Shirayuri University to adapt by outlining relevant curricula and programs that facilitate ‘study-abroad’ for

exchange students and confi-dence-building, academic and social nurturing for teaching assistants. She declared impera-tive the speaking of English by the students. She also expressed hope about the daunting task of attracting inbound students, the pastoral care of students, establishing priorities while maintaining, and enhancing a Paulinian identity. Mr. Yukio Takahashi of Sendai Shirayuri University shared Ms. Smith’s sentiment about enhancing in-ternationality through studies, tours and visits in countries like the Philippines, Poland, and New Zealand. In this way stu-dents may be able to “feel the world” and “connect with the world with a Paulinian spirit.”

Sr. Imelda Ladjar, SPC shared about the dilemma the Sis-ters face in the diverse culture of South Kalimantan Banjar-masin-Indonesia. One such issue is whether or not the Muslim students be allowed to wear their veil while main-taining a Paulinian identity. In their reflections, one thing is certain: challenges are to be embraced to bridge the gaps in our intercultural divide!

by Imelda Baltazar

IT’S NOT ABOUT RACE.Local and foreign delagates strike a pose after shar-ing their intercultural legacies.