Sister Dorothy Ettling (1940-2014)
Sister Dorothy Ettling, Sr. Dot, became a transformative educator.
She grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, entered Incarnate Word Convent in San
Antonio when she was 18, took vows at 21, and ministered in orphanages and
schools from 1961 to 1974 in Dallas, TX; El Paso, TX; and Old Mines, MO. She had
earned an MSW at Worden School of Social Work at Our Lady of the Lake College.
The Second Vatican Council 1962-65, was a major event in the
Catholic Church that shifted emphasis from clergy as the main part of the church
to the people of God, all united through baptism. Religious congregations were called to
renewal. The Incarnate Word Sisters took this call to conversion seriously and had
a Renewal Team from 1974 to 1978. Sr. Dot was among the six sisters who were to help all learn to
communicate and transform power structures. That team went around in a station
wagon from convent to convent, from country to country. They invited each
sister to listen on a deeper level, to get in touch with her own story, to
share her story, and to listen to each other stories. As we know ourselves, as
we know others, as we overcome fear, we can work to transform power dynamics.
This is an ongoing unfinished process.
In 1978, she was elected to the sisters’
leadership team and from 1984 to 1990, she led the team. The congregation had about 700 members at
that time. As a part of the Leadership Conference of
Women Religious, she influenced Sisters in many parts of the U.S. in renewal
after the Second Vatican Council that brought greater service to people. When
she was being interviewed in 1987, she said, “Today we are closer to the people
and our orientation leads us to concern ourselves more with social justice and
to defend their rights. Among us [the sisters] our relations have changed
also. We live more by collegiality and the sharing of responsibility,
something that has not always been understood by the Roman Congregation [formal
Roman Catholic clergy in the Vatican].” (Ettling, French article, 1987, CCVI Archives)
She was always aware of the most vulnerable.
After congregational leadership, instead
of returning to social work, she focused on getting a Ph.D. in Transpersonal Psychology
at Sofia University, Menlo Park, CA, and facilitating change. In the late 1990’s
she joined the Education faculty at Incarnate Word. In this “third career,” she perceived education as the best way for
her to promote individual transformation and systemic change.
Many kinds of work are needed, but at this time in the history of world transformative education is particularly important. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals , the Charter for Compassion, and Pope Francis’ document on “Out Common Home,” Laudato Si are all meant to be transformative education inviting us to new realities. Women's studies are a part of this.
Dr. Alfredo Ortiz notes: Sister Dot’s participatory worldview provides a deep philosophy for participatory and action research.: “Openness to cosmic awareness is the capacity for ongoing critical reflection on one's own deeply held beliefs within an evolutionary consciousness. It calls us to recognize not only the multiple worldviews in a global community but also the possibility of rediscovering reality in the paradigm of a participatory universe. This capacity may challenge us to rethink the meanings of development and participation. It will most likely entail a stretch in our thinking and in our teaching so a new intellectual basis in transformative education can collaboratively emerge”. (from Ethical demands of transformative learning )
Sr. Dorothy had written “At its core, the
mission is about transforming us from VIEWERS of a
disconnected and conflicted international reality, to PARTICIPANTS in
creating a more interconnected and responsive global community."
Background of Sister Dorothy's work
A group of
immigrant women strongly committed to solidarity with God’s global family
responded to needs and formed relationships in 1869. Over the years the women
institutionalized more and more, eventually being central animators in both
educational and health care institutions.
As they received accreditation to be a junior college in 1919 and soon a
full college, they emphasized equity in education. The Incarnate Word Sisters’
constitutional idea to “promote human dignity” has prompted them to an
underlying commitment to systemic change.
For a period of years the largest number of Hispanic women who earned
Ph.D. came from Incarnate Word College and Our Lady of the Lake College. When UIW firmly established Ph.D. programs, a
large number of Black women earned them.
Following
this trajectory of emphasis on systemic change in society, institutions, and in
education, in the early 2000’s UIW faculty brainstormed with Sr. Dorothy
Ettling how to create a more just world. Both males and females involved
defined and committed themselves to women and children as the more vulnerable
in the world. Women’s Global Connection was founded and since 2003 has extensively
promoted education and research that could transform unjust systems. WGC hosted
two major research conferences. The website of WGC shows some of the research
with links to dissertations and extensive articles.
Capacity Building https://www.womensglobalconnection.org/research/capacity-building/
Early Childhood and Girls https://www.womensglobalconnection.org/research/early-childhood/
Microfinance for Women’s Economic Empowerment https://www.womensglobalconnection.org/research/microfinance/
Nutrition and Health: Agriculture, Food Security, Clean Water Access https://www.womensglobalconnection.org/research/nutrition-and-health/
Current faculty in Humanities, Business, Nutrition, and Health Care have
been involved in research, traveling, and presenting in conjunction with WGC.
Dr.
Kevin Vichcales and Sr. Dorothy co-edited a book Reach Out Africa: Studies
in Community Empowerment, Sustainable Development, and Cross-Cultural
Engagement. Unfortunately she died before the final release of the book.
Worldview of Sister Dorothy Ettling as revealed in some of her
professional writings
These can be found by searching the UIW library resources using
her name:
Improving Teaching Through A Community of
Practice
Herbers, M. Sharon ; Antelo, Absael
; Ettling, Dorothy ; Buck, M. Alison
Journal of Transformative Education, 2011-04, Vol.9 (2),
p.89-108
Reach out Africa : studies in community
empowerment, sustainable development, and cross-cultural engagement
Dorothy H. Ettling editor.; Kevin B.
Vichcales 2014
Ethical demands of transformative learning
Ettling, Dorothy
New directions for adult and continuing education, 2006-03,
Vol.2006 (109), p.59-67
Teaching for change : fostering transformative
learning in the classroom
Series: New directions for adult and continuing education, no.
109
Edward W Taylor 2006
Learning toward an ecological consciousness :
selected transformative practices
Edmund O'Sullivan 1938-; Marilyn M Taylor 2004
Learning to learn: women creating learning
communities
Ettling, Dorothy ; Hayes, Neomi
ReVision (Cambridge, Mass.), 1997-06-22, Vol.20 (1), p.28
... and collaborating with women who want to become change
agents in their own lives. Building on previous studies where women shared
their stories of personal change (Ettling 1994...
The Joy of Learning: A Case Study of a
Transformative Educator and Activist
Buck, M. Alison ; Mercer, Wanita N ;
St. Clair, Norman S ; Herbers, M. Sharon
Adult learning (Washington, D.C.),
2019-08, Vol.30 (3), p.101-110
Dr. Dorothy,
“Dot,” Ettling was a contemplative practitioner, a spiritual leader,
a scholar, and a mentor...
Worldview of Sister Dorothy in some
of her personal actions:
When she died, the Pax Christi Vow of Nonviolence was found in her manual, the traditional place that IW
Sisters keep papers about their vows.
Over
Thanksgiving Weekend, 1975, she, Ada Maria Ada Maria Isasi Diaz, Sr. Mary Walden,
an Ursuline Sister, and Sr. Martha Ann Kirk drove to the first Women’s Ordination
Conference
in Detroit. They returned to their ministries and continued to raise questions
on how women might be recognized created in the divine image. They thought of
this in solidarity with United Nations
goals of gender equality.
To enter the 2000’s she, Sr. Neomi
Hayes, and Sr. Martha Ann Kirk participated in “Millennium 2000, Walking the
Ways of Peace,” an Inter-faith retreat with about 500 people including Fr.
Daniel Berrigan, SJ, Dec. 28 to Jan. 1, 2000. She was among
those choosing to participate in civil disobedience at the Nevada Nuclear Test
site. She incarnated her words seeking a peaceful world by being arrested in
the first hour of the new millennium.
She, among both San Antonio and
Houston Incarnate Word Sisters worked towards women’s empowerment through a
website Women’s Place. She with her
close friend Sr. Neomi Hayes gathered UIW
female and male educators and others to envision a way to promote systemic change. The group defined and
committed themselves to women and children as the more vulnerable in the world.
Women’s Global Connection was founded in 2003. See a glimpse of this history within
ideas of engaged scholarship and service learning at the University of the Incarnate Word. She promoted Women's Studies.
Sr. Dot dancing on one of the Women's Global Connection trips to Africa. See more about research and service learning in Africa and in Peru
https://wgctravelblogue.wordpress.com/about/
