Running head: CURA PERSONALIS

Cura Personalis: Is It Rocket Science? Denise Jackson Gonzaga University COML 510, Prof. Cunningham, May 1, 2013

CURA PERSONALIS Cura Personalis: Is It Rocket Science? Students are unique. Depending on the goals of education, the outcomes can be quite

dramatic. When students enter into any learning environment, they are faced with growth issues that include maturity, intelligence, affective and spiritual growth (ICAJE, 2013, p. 10). Subsequently, students could find the educational environment alienating or irrelevant to their lives. Therefore, the goal of cura personalis is to find ways to interrelate knowledge to the students lives in ways that it becomes relevant. In this paper, I will discuss cura personalis and its function in creating educational relationships between educators and students. What Is Cura Personalis? Cura personalis is not rocket science. Rather, it is a fundamental belief in humanitarian, student-centered education. It is educating a student in order to develop all their intelligences. The ICAJE states, [T]he curriculum is [centered] on the person rather than on the material to be covered. Each student is allowed to develop and to accomplish objectives at a pace suited to individual ability and the characteristics of his or her own personality. (ICAJE, 2013, p. 10) Furthermore, to help students develop an emotional, vested interest in their education, instructors become active mentors that guide students in their development of a set of values leading to life decisions that go beyond self: that include a concern for the needs of others. (ICAJE, 2013, p. 10). In short, students are not only encouraged to examine the effect of their actions beyond themselves but also encouraged to inspect the effect of their role in the extended community. This self-examination of maturity means students should eventually reach their potential when

CURA PERSONALIS they are ready rather than when an instructor prescribes the action to be performed. As an illustration, in the film Ciao, Professore!, the main character Marco Sperelli must learn how to interact with the people and children of Corzano (Wertmller, 1993). He met Raffaele, who challenged Sperellis classroom authority. Sperelli must discover humanistic ways to reach out to Raffaele and demonstrate to the boy and the other students how becoming an adult has more opportunities than becoming a criminal. We understand the link Sperelli developed when Rafaele needed help getting his mother to hospital. Rafaele knows his only option is asking Sperelli for help. Both individuals realize they need a supportive community for its members to survive and thrive. What is the role in education? Because of community relationships, educators need to understand that how they teach affects whom they teach. Cura personalis affects the curriculum and the entire life of the

institution. All members of the educational community are concerned with one another and learn from one another (ICAJE, 2013, p. 10). In essence, when a community becomes involved in the welfare of the individuals, the timbre of the institution changes to be a supportive community where all members begin to learn from each other. To demonstrate this concept, we need to recall David Powelett-Jones in Delderfields novel To Serve Them All My Days (2009). Powelett-Jones and Headmaster Alcock are at odds over the treatment of the students. As headmasters, the two men have fundamentally different philosophies in education. PowelettJones believes in cura personalis while Alcock believes in strict authoritarian management of students and knowledge (R.F. Delderfield, 2009). Powelett-Jones held no malice for Alcock.

CURA PERSONALIS This sensitivity of humanism is demonstrated for the students; recognizing students and staff as people is a fundamental responsibility of all community members. In the modern era, Nathan (2006) examined how freshmen college students coped with their scholastic pressures. She discovered that with all the social demands placed on students, and the lack of cura personalis, many students had little social time, let alone time to complete the extra readings. In examining her syllabus, Nathan realized she needed to restructure her curriculum to focus on the students needs rather than on what she thought the students ought to know (Nathan, 2006). By refocusing her cura personalis on the students, she was able to create a better, more focused curriculum that enriched the needs of her students. Conclusion

When a student is taught facts, the information may not mean anything to the student and may be soon forgotten. When designing a cura personalis curriculum, there is a strong potential for creating a caring environment that enables students to not only comprehend basic facts but also to synthesize and evaluate the information by integrating it into their being and constructively used rather than forgotten. Designing these types of lessons means the instructor will need to give up the reins of power in the classroom and switch roles from instructor to mentor. In a like manner, students should be empowered to investigate information as a means of learning. As a result, students should enter into several relationships: the instructor, the information, their peers, and the extended community. After all, in the words of Sydney Harris, The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows (as cited in Alexander, 2010).

CURA PERSONALIS References

Alexander, B. K. (2010). Critical/performative/pedagogy: Performing possibility as a rehersal for social justice. In D. L. Fassett, The SAGE Handbok of Communication and Instruction (pp. 315-341). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications. ICAJE. (2013). The characteristics of Jesuit education. Retrieved from Gonzaga University: https://learn.gonzaga.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2F webapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_9026 88_1%26url%3D Nathan, R. (2006). My Freshman Year: What a Professor Learned by Becoming a Student (Kindle ed.). New York, NY: Penguin Publishing. R.F. Delderfield, R. F. (2009). To Serve Them All My Days (Kindle ed.). Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks Landmark. Wertmller, L. (Director). (1993). Ciao, Professore! [Motion Picture].