This is the second edition of a series of interviews with the secretaries and directors of works of JCEP. This time, the interviewee is Agnieszka Baran, the secretary for Primary and Secondary Education of the Jesuit Conference of European Provincials and director of JECSE - Jesuit Committee for Primary and Secondary Education. 

Jesuit education across Europe, the Near East, North Africa, and Central Asia is navigating a period of profound transformation—marked by cultural diversity, secularisation, technological change, and growing social and ecological challenges. At the heart of this dynamic landscape stands JECSE, the network that connects Jesuit and companion schools across the region, fostering collaboration, formation, and fidelity to the Ignatian mission. In this interview, we speak with Agnieszka Baran about her personal journey into Jesuit education, the vocation of lay leadership, the evolving role of women within Jesuit structures, and the challenges and hopes shaping Jesuit education today. Drawing on her experience at both local and international levels, she reflects on how Jesuit schools continue to form young people as competent, compassionate, and committed agents of hope in an increasingly complex world.

1 - JCEP: To begin, could you tell us a bit about your personal and professional background, and what led you to work in Jesuit education?

Agnieszka Baran: Thank you for the invitation to share my reflections on our educational apostolate. I have a degree in psychology and pedagogy, and from the beginning of my studies I focused on adult education—working as a trainer, coordinating educational projects, and later teaching psychology at the university. This early engagement with education in its many forms helped me realize how much I value creating learning environments that support growth, reflection, and personal development.

A decisive moment came when the first Jesuit school was established in my hometown, and I was invited to support the community as a school psychologist. What began as an additional commitment soon became my main professional focus. This experience revealed the importance of working in a setting coherent with my personal values and faith. Jesuit education offered not only professional challenges but also a deep sense of meaning, rooted in care for the whole person and a mission that integrates education, faith, and service. It naturally led me to a deeper, lasting engagement with Jesuit education at both local and international levels—a journey that now guides my work with JECSE.

2 - You are a lay woman serving as JCEP Secretary for Education and leading a key Jesuit education network, JECSE. How do you understand the role of lay collaborators in leadership positions within the Society of Jesus, particularly in the field of education? Do you see this as a specific vocation within the mission? How do you see the role of women in Jesuit structures and institutions?

In the educational apostolate of our region, lay collaborators have been exercising leadership roles for many years. Many of us have consciously chosen to work in institutions of the Society of Jesus because we value the possibility of integrating professional responsibility with a clear educational vision grounded in human dignity, justice, and care for the whole person. Lay leaders take on leadership not only because of their expertise, but because they feel personally connected to the mission and want to serve it with responsibility and commitment.

I understand lay leadership not as a functional or delegated task, but as shared responsibility for the Jesuit mission. The current reality of Jesuit education makes it clear that lay collaborators are not supporting the mission from the margins; we are co-responsible for shaping its future. In the context of a Synodal Church, this shared leadership also becomes a form of witness: lay leaders, living and working in diverse cultural, social, professional or even family contexts, help translate the Gospel values and Ignatian vision into educational practice that is credible and accessible to all.

In this sense, I do see lay leadership in Jesuit education as a specific vocation within the mission, even when it is not expressed in explicitly religious terms. For many lay leaders this vocation is discovered and shaped within professional life itself, through commitment to education, service, and ethical leadership. While lay leaders usually come with strong professional formation, we are invited to grow into the Ignatian way of proceeding through ongoing human, pedagogical, but also spiritual and faith formation. This path requires formation, intentional accompaniment and support adapted to our personal journeys. It allows for a deep and authentic appropriation of Ignatian values such as discernment, reflection, justice, and care for persons, in ways that respect religious and cultural diversity.

As a woman, I am particularly attentive to the role of women in Jesuit structures and institutions. Women have always been central to Jesuit education—most staff members in our schools are women—yet their leadership has not always been sufficiently visible or structurally recognized. When I attended my first JECSE delegates’ meeting, I was the only woman present; today, there are several women in our Education Commission.

There is a growing awareness within the Society of Jesus that women’s voices and leadership are essential for sound discernment and governance. This is not simply a matter of representation, but of fidelity to the mission. I see the presence of women in Jesuit structures as both a gift and a responsibility: a gift that enriches perspectives and decision-making, and a responsibility to continue building inclusive, collaborative, and mission-driven institutions—especially in education, where the formation of the whole person is at the heart of our apostolic commitment.

3 -  Could you briefly introduce JECSE to our readers and describe its current priorities, team structure, and main activities?

JECSE is the network of Jesuit and companion schools in Europe, the Near East, North Africa, and Central Asia. Its mission is to promote Jesuit education in creative fidelity to the Ignatian tradition, supporting schools in responding to contemporary challenges while remaining rooted in their spiritual and educational identity.

In the academic year 2024/2025, JECSE brings together 222 institutions, making it the second largest regional Jesuit school network in the world after South Asia. Together, these schools educate 173,216 students and work with 15,910 staff members, including 149 Jesuits.

Each Province or Region of the Jesuit Conference of European Provincials (JCEP) is represented by an Education Delegate. Together with Regional Coordinators, they form the JECSE Education Commission, which guides the network. A small central office supports daily operations by coordinating collaboration, communication, formation programmes, and strategic priorities.

JECSE’s priorities focus on fostering reflective and collaborative discernment, strengthening formation for leaders and staff, supporting faith formation and interreligious dialogue, deepening a sense of global mission, and ensuring safe and healthy school environments for all.

JECSE provides spaces for Education Delegates and school communities to meet, share experience, and work together in service of a shared mission. It supports the formation of staff in Jesuit and companion schools through programmes that complement provincial initiatives, including training for formators and facilitators. Current formation proposals include accompaniment of the Education Commission, a Pastoral Conference, annual thematic conferences for school leaders, the Ignatian Leadership Programme, the Ignatian Pedagogical Formation Programme, and support in the areas of Global Citizenship and Safeguarding.

4  - Can you please describe the current landscape of Jesuit education in Europe, the Middle East and Northern Africa today? What are its main strengths and tensions?

Jesuit education in Europe, the Middle East, and Northern Africa today is marked by great diversity of contexts, histories, and educational models. The JECSE network brings together schools operating in very different social, cultural, political, and religious environments— in pour network we gave both public and private institutions; Jesuit and companion schools; institutions from early childhood education to secondary level (including sixth-form) and even offer vocational training. This diversity is both a richness and a challenge, shaping how schools live the mission, offer faith formation, and implement Ignatian pedagogy.

A key strength of Jesuit education in the region is its strong sense of mission and identity, rooted in the Ignatian tradition. This is expressed through care for the whole person, commitment to justice, and a culture of discernment. While deeply embedded in their local contexts, schools are also connected through a strong international network that fosters collaboration, mutual learning, and solidarity.

At the same time, Jesuit education faces significant tensions. Increasing secularization, declining religious literacy, and the rise of religiously unaffiliated young people challenge how faith is proposed and lived. Schools also respond to the rapid impact of AI and social media, socio-environmental crises, youth loneliness and mental health concerns, teacher shortages, and demographic shifts. In some regions, political instability, migration, and limited resources add further pressure.

Despite these challenges, Jesuit schools remain spaces of hope, seeking to form young people who are intellectually competent, socially responsible, resilient, and open to faith, dialogue, and engagement with a complex and changing world.

5 - How would you describe the role of JECSE in the above mentioned context?

In today’s complex and rapidly changing educational landscape, JECSE serves as both a bridge between schools and the global Jesuit mission, and as a support network for Jesuit and companion schools in our region. Its primary role is to foster collaboration, mutual learning, and solidarity, while helping each school remain rooted in the Ignatian tradition and committed to its mission.

JECSE provides formation and professional support for school staff to help them navigate contemporary challenges. An important place in this work is held by the Ignatian Leadership Programme, which prepares school leaders to facilitate Spirit-led change within their school communities.

JECSE also promotes a sense of belonging to a wider Jesuit network, helping schools see themselves as part of a larger mission. In addition, JECSE acts as a hub for strategic reflection and exchange of good practices, supporting provinces and schools in clarifying priorities, assessing identity, and translating Jesuit values into concrete educational action.

In short, JECSE helps schools respond to today’s challenges while growing as communities of learning, discernment, and hope—where students, staff, and leaders are empowered to make a meaningful, positive impact locally and globally.

6- Western societies are becoming increasingly secular and culturally diverse. How do Jesuit schools understand and live their Jesuit and Christian identity in this context, while remaining open and inclusive?

Our schools today operate in increasingly secular and culturally diverse contexts, which brings both challenges and opportunities for living our Catholic and Jesuit identity. We understand this identity not as a rigid label, but as a commitment to the Ignatian mission: forming the whole person—head, heart, and soul—and inviting students to discover God in all things. This formation encourages students to encounter Christ through prayer, service, community, and critical engagement with the world, rooted in faith yet open to dialogue.

Living this identity in pluralistic settings means being deeply rooted in our values while remaining open and inclusive. Most of our schools intentionally offer faith formation and spiritual experiences that are authentic, accessible, and respectful of diverse religious and cultural backgrounds. This includes fostering dialogue, empathy, and ethical engagement with complexity. We also recognize that faith formation must be strengthened—not only through pastoral care for students, but by providing opportunities for spiritual and faith growth for staff.

Jesuit schools focus on building communities of encounter, where students and staff listen deeply, reflect together, and act with conscience and courage. Being faithful to Ignatian spirituality does not mean excluding those with different beliefs; rather, it calls us to witness through presence, attentive listening, and accompaniment—engaging with others in a spirit of respect and dialogue.

In short, Jesuit schools live their identity by being both rooted and relational: rooted in Christian values and Ignatian spirituality, yet open to diversity, forming young people who can navigate complexity, embrace dialogue, and bring hope and justice to their communities.

7 - Looking ahead, what do you see as the main challenges—and sources of hope—for Jesuit education in Europe over the next decade?

As I mentioned, our schools operate in increasingly secular, culturally diverse, and technologically transformed societies, where social media, AI, and shifting worldviews challenge how truth, dialogue, and faith are understood and lived. Persistent teacher shortages, growing individualism, youth mental health concerns, and socio-environmental crises place additional pressures on both students and educators. At the same time, demographic shifts and the rise of religiously unaffiliated or spiritually “nones” call for renewed creativity in forming young people capable of ethical discernment, empathy, and service.

Yet these very challenges are also sources of hope. The Ignatian tradition, with its focus on forming the whole person—head, heart, and soul—offers a framework for nurturing intellectual competence, moral courage, and spiritual depth, even in a pluralistic context. Jesuit schools foster communities of encounter, where students and staff learn to listen deeply, act with conscience, and engage in dialogue. The strength of our international network encourages solidarity, exchange of good practices, and shared reflection, helping schools remain connected to a broader mission and inspired by common values.

In this light, the coming decade, while demanding careful discernment, strategic formation, and creative responses to new realities, is also full of possibilities: for deepening faith, strengthening identity, cultivating hope, and equipping young people to bring justice, care, and hope to their communities and the wider world.

8 - How do you bring together such an intensive and demanding mission as yours with your own spiritual life? Give us some hints on how you try to be contemplative in action in your circumstances.

Bringing together an intensive and demanding mission with one’s own spiritual life requires intentional choices and constant discernment. In roles like mine, caring for a healthy work–life balance is not a luxury, but a real necessity. Without it, even the most meaningful mission risks becoming disconnected from its source.

For me, being “contemplative in action” first means accepting that I cannot live this mission alone. I intentionally look for people who accompany me—spiritually and humanly—because we need others to act as mirrors, helping us remain truthful, grounded, and attentive to what is happening within us. In this context, I think with gratitude of my colleagues with whom I completed the Ignatian Leadership Programme in JECSE a few years ago; they continue to be an invaluable source of support, reflection, and encouragement on this shared journey in mission.

One of the challenges of this work is that when you are constantly engaged in supporting others’ formation and mission, it is easy to neglect your own formation and growth. I therefore try to protect spaces of silence and reflection, allowing myself to be not only a coordinator or facilitator, but also a recipient of formation and grace.

Very concretely, being part of a faith-sharing and formation group where I can speak openly and listen deeply is one of the most important experiences for me. At the same time, I see participation in retreats, the Spiritual Exercises, and spiritual accompaniment as essential elements of Ignatian practice—not only for me personally, but as vital supports for anyone engaged in mission and leadership.

In this way, contemplation and action are not opposed, but are gradually woven together into a way of living and serving the mission with freedom, depth, and hope.

9 - Finally, if you could convey one message to the educators and pupils of the JECSE network, what would it be?

 To educators: Never underestimate the impact of your daily presence and care: through your work, you shape not only minds but also hearts, build character, share hope, and have a real impact on the world.

 To pupils: Be curious, courageous, and attentive to others; make the most of everything Jesuit education offers, draw on the richness of our global network, and trust that your talents, nurtured in our community, can help make the world more just and humane.