Learning model

The Centre's approach to education is inclusive and transformative. Foundational to the whole program are principles of adult learning which are shared and modelled. Key principles include:

• Adults are responsible for their own learning: Students are expected to set learning goals and name their own challenges in consultation and with the support of peers and staff; goals are named in areas like theory, theology, integration, behaviour in a group, personal growth and vocational discernment. Responsibility is not an individual thing however, students also share responsibility for the learning of the whole community, so must consider how their actions affect the learning of others
  
• Learning is a process of integration of experience with theory and theory with experience, sometimes called "Action - Reflection" experience that students bring is highly valued, and becomes content for reflection and wisdom, and, students are expected to test out new insights and ideas, to open themselves to being transformed in their action
  
• Learning happens best when the whole person is engaged in the learning process: intellect, emotion, spirit, body
  
• A typical classroom day includes active learning through role play, drama, small group discussion, shared leadership, silence, presentations, worship, symbol and reflection
  
• Trust and vulnerability often result from sharing the whole person, deepening the level of interaction and growth
  
• We are all learners and leaders
  
• Students share in leadership, working in small groups with resource people, to prepare and lead curriculum for their peers
  
• Staff participate in learning activities, share learning goals and assess their learning along with the students

The Centre is also committed to being transparent about power and sharing it as much as possible. We work at being consultative and including people in decision making. Assessment of learning includes input from self, peers and volunteers from the field setting, as well as staff.

As an institution we operate from a Liberation Theology Perspective, inviting students, staff and volunteers to explore the ways in which they are oppressors and experience oppression. Students are exposed to theologies of liberation, including feminist theology, and are invited to consider God's preferential option for the poor.