Ignatian Great Ideas For Teachers are curricular activities or assignments that demonstrate the application of best practices in teaching and the Ignatian pedagogy paradigm of Experience | Reflection | Action | Context | Evaluation or the SHC mission.

PURPOSE:
The goal of the I-GIFT program is to encourage faculty to design assignments, activities and curricular offerings based on the Ignatian Pedagogy Paradigm and linked to Spring Hill’s mission by establishing a program that showcases best practices in teaching and rewards excellence in linking mission to the academic disciplines. The I-GIFT program is an outcome of the Ignatian Colleagues Program (Dr. Sharee Broussard, Cohort 10).

RATIONALE:
Spring Hill faculty actively participate in mission activities sponsored by the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities and on-campus offerings such as retreats and Ignatian Seminars. How do faculty extrapolate from their personal mission-based experiences to create similar opportunities for their students? How do they bring mission into the classrooms within academic disciplines?

Work within some disciplines may be easier to link to mission or base in Ignatian Pedagogy than others, but surely there are examples of excellence in bridging mission, the Ignatian pedagogical tradition and curriculum throughout the academic unit. How do we find those nuggets? How can best practices of mission in action within classrooms be shared and encouraged among faculty colleagues?

Annually collecting I-GIFTs can provide actual, rather than anecdotal, evidence of mission in action. Encouraging participation, rewarding excellence and sharing I-GIFT submissions could strengthen mission-centric and Ignatian pedagogical activity.

PROCESS:
Submissions will be reviewed annually by a committee of peers with one designated as the Best Ignatian GIFT. The Best I-GIFT award winner will receive a physical award, a cash prize (as available), and publication of the one-page summary on the SHC I-GIFT website. Up to two additional submissions will be selected for acknowledgement and publication of the one-page summary on the SHC I-GIFT website.