Learning together to transform the world

How to best support people living in regions of conflict or at the margins of our society?  For Jesuit Worldwide Learning – Higher Education at the Margins (JWL), the answer is education. This initiative of the Society of Jesus, in partnership with universities and organizations, offers tertiary-level online courses to over 3,000 students around the world, in particular to refugees and other marginalized people.  JWL’s mission is to reach people and communities at the margins of societies through its courses, so that all can contribute their knowledge and voices to a global community of learners, and together foster hope to create a more peaceful and humane world.  Its goal is to reach 15,000 students annually by 2020.

JWL’s unique value proposition

JWL uses a blended online learning model which proves to be more successful with marginalized communities than purely online models (such as MOOCs) or entirely local models.  Through partnerships with universities and local partners, JWL employs a cost-sharing model which allows it to scale courses at higher quality and sustain programs at lower costs per course.

The Ignatian pedagogy is central to this transformative learning.  By following this pedagogy with its Global Curriculum, JWL stays within the tradition of 450 years of Jesuit education.  The ultimate goal of JWL is the formation of people as men and women who then can transform their societies.

JWL’s learning pathway comprises three main curriculum programmes : Global English Language Programme based on Cambridge Unlimited English courses, Professional Certificate Programme offering practical courses (such as Community Health Worker) and Academic Programme (Diploma of Liberal Arts).

New headquarters for a global initiative

On the 9th of November 2017, JWL’s Board President Fr. Christian Rutishauser, S.J., provincial of the Swiss Jesuits, officially inaugurated the new global headquarters in Geneva, together with JWL’s Executive President, Fr. Peter Balleis, S.J., the JWL Geneva office team and about twenty guests.  Fr. Orville DeSilva, S.J., the coordinator for JWL Programmes in Afghanistan, described the work of his association and provided a concrete example of JWL’s impact.  In Afghanistan, in addition to its  academic courses, JWL offers a safe space for students to study and allows for cultural exchanges between students, opening their hearts and minds to difference.  In Fr. DeSilva’s words: “What can bring us peace and stability is to invest in education, not in arms.”

Photos:

- Outside view of the Jesuits’ house in Geneva

- Presentation by Fr. Orville DeSilva, S.J. during the inauguration of JWL’s global headquarters in Geneva

- JWL’s Geneva team

(from left to right: Alessandra Carminati, Team Administrative Assistant; Elisabeth Kalman Sarkis, Head of Grants and Projects, Switzerland; John O’Hara, Global Financial Controller; Susanna Ablewhite, Global English Language Program Manager; Fr. Peter Balleis, S.J., Executive President)