Experiencing Mission through People: Examining Student Response to Lasallian Mission and Values

The significance of the Social Development Research Center ending its 43^rd Anniversary webinar events with Dr. Hwa Seong Oh’s presentation “International Research on College Students’ Perceptions Regarding the Impact of the Lasallian Mission on Their Development” was not lost on its Director and staff.

As she spoke of how she experienced this Mission through the educators who embodied it, they recognized the event as an opportunity to reflect on whether they had also experienced the institution’s Mission and Values in the workplace.

Were their hearts touched and lives changed, as hers has been?

In her presentation, Dr. Oh – who is a success coach at the Office of Students Engagement and Academic Success of St. Mary’s College in California – shared the findings of her study focusing on the perceptions of the mission impact on students’ holistic development in institutions of higher education. Using a survey instrument she developed called the Lasallian Mission Impact Inventory, she looked into the academic, spiritual, social and career development of students in Africa (Christ the Teacher Institute for Education, Tangaza University College, Kenya), Asia and Oceania (DLSU-Philippines), Europe-Mediterranean (UniLasalle, Beauvais, France), Latin America (Universidad La Salle, Mexico), and North America (Bethlehem University, Palestine and Saint Mary’s College).

In her study, Dr. Oh found that many students in Lasallian institutions of higher education across the Lasallian Regions understand and value the mission, and that the mission has significant impact on the holistic development of students who value it. Her research data also indicated the importance and need for effective mission formation and integration. With regard to DLSU students, she found that the impact of the Lasallian mission on social development of students is significant, especially so for those who value the Lasallian mission.

Recommendations made for future practice based on her findings involved the importance of students’ understanding of the Lasallian mission and the value they place on the mission; the need for more effective mission integration to support students’ career development; and the need for mission programs to support students who previously attended Lasallian schools. Likewise, areas for future research suggested by Dr. Oh were follow-up qualitative research, and research on the mission impact on faculty/staff development.

Questions and feedback were shared in a discussion with participants that followed Dr. Oh’s presentation. Salient parts of the discussion involved the variables included in the Impact Inventory instrument to analyze students’ career development; possible sub-category analysis to be done in the future, focusing on comparing first year and upperclass responses, and Catholic and non-Catholic responses; the possibility of looking into the impact of Mission on the career, social development, and spiritual development of La Salle alumni; conducting a program analysis to determine what programs familiarized students with Lasallian Mission; the need for faculty to integrate Mission into the teaching of their subjects; and with particular regard to DLSU and its strong response to social development, the possibility of looking into the programs, events and extracurricular activities it offers, so that these can be duplicated in other institutions to improve support for students.

A roundtable discussion on strengthening the impact of Lasallian Mission to be participated in by representatives of the regional schools and facilitated by Dr. Oh, SDRC Director Dr. Melvin A. Jabar and DLSU Lasallian Pastoral Office Director James Laxa is also being planned.

By speaking about the impact of Lasallian Mission on students, Dr. Oh reminded participants that Lasallian educators are called to accompany their students in their inner journey for the purpose of honing their spiritual development.  Leaving behind their original title of “master” in favor of “Brother” was a clear indication of the kind of relationship they desired to build with students. The goal of bringing the youth to salvation through education that prepares them for employment remains as true today as in the time of the Founder. In the words of Br. Alvaro Rodriguez Echeverria, former superior general of the De La Salle Brothers, the Lasallian world is “where education is everybody’s birthright.”