Assessment
of Vincentian
Seminarians
(Files
presented as Received)
A. Definitions:
1)
Assessment: To officially estimate the value of
a seminarian as the basis for promotion to
the next level of formation? To vows? To ordination?
2)
Evaluation: To determine or set the value, to
appraise.
B. Value would be determined
by the presence of the habits needed to participate fully in the mission
of the Congregation of the Mission in Africa/Madagascar. Lived
experience with the students
would verify the presence or absence of needed habits.
C. Habits are; "For
our purposes, we will define a habit as the intersection of
knowledge, skills
and desire. KNOWLEDGE
is the theory - the what to do and the why. SKILL is the how
to do it. DESIRE is the
motivation -he want to do. In
order to make something a habit
in our lives, we have to have all three." Stephen
Covey/Seven Habits of Highly Effective
People.
D. An assessment will be
influenced by the climate or atmosphere or mood of the entire formation
program.
1. This
climate has been established through the quality of the regular
interactions
between
formator and student, student and student and formator and formator.
2. The
climate has been established by a regular declaration of the
principles that
program
and house live their lives by. The students know then the
standards
by
which they are being evaluated and have been expected to make
habitual in
their
lives. Included in this is a public and frequent statement
about the understanding
of
vocation that is operative in the formation program. Karl
Rahner once said that
the
surest sign of a vocation is having the gifts (read habits) to
do it.
3. The
climate has been established through the example of the formators,
especially if
the
formators exhibit love, reverence and interest for the seminarians.
E. An evaluation/assessment
of a seminarian is an attempt to get reliable and realistic
information concerning the presence/absence of the habits we believe
are essential to living
our way
of life.
1. Various
sources of realistic information; the formators, the students, the student
himself,
his pastoral supervisor, the people he worked with in pastoral,
the people he
served. The
more perspectives the better the assessment.
2. An
assessment/evaluation needs a process which is known and understood by all the
parties
involved.
a. Goal of the process: advancement to the internal
seminary, etc.
b. Procedure; what happens first, second, etc.
c. Clarity
of roles; who is going to do what, who sees the results.
d. The
process needs an instrument and/or venue.
1. Questionnaire;
a. Closed
questions. Ask for specific information. Problem
is they
control
the information given. Easy to collate though..
b. Open-ended
questions. Give the respondents the greatest freedom
in
answering. Hard to collate the responses.
2. Interview; along
the lines of a the confrontational coaching conversation.
Needs
to be structured.
3. A
focus group;
a.
A group that is asked to "focus" on a specific question, issue,
concern,
person
snd give its reaction to it.
b.
First, you need to determine what kind of information you want.
1. Open
questions.
2. Closed
questions.
c. Second
you need to select the group. 6-12 is the best. More
variety
greater
the perspective. If you select only elephants you will
only
get
an elephant's view of the world.
d. Third
step; set up the meeting.
1)
Informal setting to encourage conversation.
2)
One to one and a half hours.
