Dear Lynch School community,
Sixty-five years ago, the Lynch School opened its doors to teach and train educators and counselors and influence the youth they serve. We have since become a world-class school—attracting students and faculty from around the world and helping guide their work to inform research and practice in education and applied psychology.
This issue of eColloquia describes three conferences the Lynch School is hosting this fall, events that mark our distinctive approach to “formative education.” Drawing on the Jesuit tradition of educating whole human beings, we have been conducting research, teaching, and service that further the goals of educating mind, heart, and spirit. These conferences present our case for the importance of a deeper, more humanistic approach to education and give us an opportunity to share with educators our expertise in how to foster integrated development that combines subject matter knowledge with emotional, relational, civic, moral, and spiritual flourishing.
Given all the challenges facing school and society, one might argue that educators and applied psychologists do not have the luxury of engaging emotional, moral, and spiritual development—that we should focus on content knowledge and vocational preparation. With young people experiencing increased alienation, disengagement, and despair, however, we feel that educators and applied psychologists have an opportunity and an obligation to foster human development more broadly. We have found widespread hunger for a deeper vision of formative education among parents, educators, policymakers, and children, both nationally and internationally. Students are yearning for emotional stability, ethical direction, and the promise of a meaningful pathway throughout life. They deserve more than being defined simply by content mastery and vocational skills.
I hope you will join me in continuing this conversation about a more holistic and humanistic model of education. Together, I am confident that we can raise our collective voices to disrupt habitual perspectives and improve the lives of our students and the communities they will impact.
Sincerely.
Stanton Wortham
Charles F. Donovan, S.J., Dean