The Seminar for Pastoral Innovation took place on 5 and 6 March in León. About 40 teachers, Salesians and pastoralists, from different Salesian schools in the Province, participated in the initiative, which focused on accompaniment and interiority.
On Thursday morning, the Salesians Txetxu Villota, Provincial Delegate for Pastoral Care; Xabier Camino, Coordinator of Vocation Animation; and Sergio Oter and Sergio Huerta, presented the keys to the reading of the book El arte de acompañar by Xosé Manuel Domínguez Prieto.
In the afternoon, the participants attended two sessions on the main topics of the conference. Alberto Sanz, Pedagogical Director of the High School/Baccalaureate "Salesianos Estrecho", spoke about accompaniment. The psychologist Mario Piera, professor at the "Salesianas Sueca" institute, offered a workshop on interiority and provided indications to educate to silence and interiority.
At the same time, on March 6, the IV Provincial Innovation Day took place in the Provincial House of Madrid, with the participation of 50 teachers. These days "are proposed in order to compare [and discuss] our experiences to inspire and maintain the desire to update ourselves in everything that can give our students the best," explained Begoña Rodriguez, of the Provincial team of the Schools. On this occasion, the conference mainly addressed innovation coordinators, [such] as team animators and promoters of transformation processes in schools.
In the first part of the morning, Charo Fernández and Irune López, members of the accompanying provincial team, reminded participants of the meeting's reasons and purposes: to deepen the focus of innovation in the province, clarifying doubts and using the same language; reflect on the meaning and functions of innovation teams; deepen knowledge of the Educational Innovation Plan; provide resources and tools; get to know each other, inspire each other and create a network.
Subsequently, through the dynamics of the timeline, all the schools marked which stages of the process they had gone through and which were still to be completed. Participants also learned how to manage effective meetings, evaluate the present, past and future of each house or center and to see the strengths of each school and institution.
"It was a day that tried to enhance the value of the work of the innovation teams, to give them strength and to generate enthusiasm to continue to face every educational challenge," summarized Prof. Rodríguez.
