Showing papers in "Transformation in 2018"

Emerging Mission from the Czech Republic

Abstract: This article focuses on international mission from Protestant churches in the Czech Republic since 1989. It analyses the contemporary missiological literature related to the Czech context and engag...

L’interaction en formation à distance : entre théories et pratiques

Abstract: Alors que la formation a distance (FAD) se developpe plus fortement depuis une vingtaine d’annees et permet d’accroitre l’accessibilite de l’enseignement superieur (collegial et universitaire), la perseverance des etudiants et la qualite de leurs apprentissages demeurent problematiques. L’incitation aux echanges voire au travail entre pairs est parfois envisagee comme une solution mais les dispositifs sont varies et leurs impacts mal connus. C’est ce qui a motive la recension et l’analyse presentees ici, concernant les dispositifs technopedagogiques encourageant l’interaction a distance dans le cadre de l’enseignement superieur au Canada. Notre revue systematique de la litterature porte sur 60 etudes publiees entre janvier 2005 et decembre 2014 et permet de degager une typologie des problematiques de recherche dans le domaine qui identifie quatre grandes questions de recherche et une typologie des dispositifs fondee sur leurs objectifs. Ces etudes font ressortir que l’interaction, tout comme le travail collaboratif, constituent des defis pour les apprenants qui considerent davantage l’aspect contraignant que les opportunites ainsi offertes. Elles demontrent cependant que, lorsqu’ils y parviennent, ce qui est notamment le cas dans le cadre de situation d’apprentissage authentique visant le developpement de competences, les etudiants tirent satisfaction des liens sociaux noues avec leurs pairs et sont susceptibles de realiser des apprentissages approfondis.

Narrativity as a Locus Hermeneuticus for Ecumenical Theology: Culture, Koinonia and Transformation

Abstract: This article argues that narrativity has the potential to be a key hermeneutical concept in ecumenical theology. Instead of pursuing a complex elaboration of the notion, it will seek to explore various aspects of narrativity. The thesis will be explicated in three major steps, consecutively discussing culture as the general setting of narrativity, explicating narrativity as a concept that can helpfully address some of the major issues in ecumenical theology and proposing transformation as the ultimate horizon of the faith and practice of the Christian koinonia.

Transforming Conflict: A Peacebuilding Approach for an Intergroup Conflict in a Local Congregation

Abstract: An intergroup conflict based on fundamental incompatibilities such as different group identity and values is the highest and the unhealthiest level of conflict in a local congregation setting. In this case, a peacebuilding process is required in order to transform the conflict situation to achieve sustainable peace. Different from peacemaking and peacekeeping, peacebuilding takes a longer period to transform the cultural, social and structural problems on the macro level as well as to change behaviours, perceptions and perspectives of individuals on the micro level. This article attempts to disclose the characteristics of intergroup conflict in an urban congregation in the UK to describe its serious intensity by analysing its nature and scale. Furthermore, it demonstrates how the conflict transformation approach, as a long-term peacebuilding process, can be used effectively not only to alleviate intergroup conflict but also to eventually promote rehabilitation and reintegration through fostering a culture...

Teaching Women's Writing: A Case Study in Creative Praxis

Abstract: abstract:Creative writing assignments as textual interventions and \"deformances\" of original texts, and as alternatives to traditional composition assignments, can strengthen students' sense of unfamiliar and marginalized subject positions encountered in the literature classroom. Entering into a long-standing debate over the value of creative writing pedagogy in the literature classroom, this article takes an in-depth look at the trials and triumphs of a semester in the classroom teaching \"The Woman Question in Nineteenth-Century American Fiction\" through a creative praxis. It includes a detailed review of the creative assignment prompts alongside the students' submissions. Writing creatively encouraged students to develop an intersectional and inclusive view of women's writing. Finally, creative praxis, by encouraging students to pull apart a text and rebuild it themselves, offers alternative ways of producing the same desired outcomes of traditional literary analysis: critical and astute close readings, effective use of evidence, and thoughtful and persuasive arguments.

This Will Change Everything: Teaching the Climate Crisis

Abstract: abstract:We argue that US sociologists have been woefully remiss in incorporating the climate crisis into our research agendas and, even more, into our teaching. After laying out the gravity of the situation we issue a call for sociologists to consider whether they wish to continue this striking denial of responsibility to our students and to knowledge production. We then present four ways that we have infused our understanding of climate change, climate crisis, and climate justice into courses on global issues, social movements, inequality, and much more. We believe that \"climate justice\"—the key concept that drives our concern as scholar-activists working closely with undergraduate students—allows for a proper sociological emphasis on structured inequality and relational/intersectional thinking. The article also points interested readers to resources that we have created, and invites them to contribute to a new project on writing case studies for teaching the climate crisis.

The Refugee Crisis – A Shared Human Condition: An Old Testament Perspective:

Abstract: This article provides an introduction to what the Old Testament has to say regarding displacement and displaced people – refugees, migrants and the marginalized members of society. It surveys the i...

Maps, Mission, Memory and Mizo Identity:

Abstract: This article will examine the role of imperial maps, Christian mission, shared memories and collective consciousness in the formation of Mizo identity. Arguing that imperial maps, supposedly based ...

Theological Education and Missional Formation in the South African Context

Abstract: This article looks at theological education and missional formation in the South African context. It examines the understanding of theology and mission and connects it with theological education. I...

‘The Spirit Alone’: Writing the Oral Theology of a Kenyan Independent Church:

Abstract: There are few accounts of the theologies of African Independent Churches (AICs), or of how such texts might be developed from what is an essentially oral phenomenon. In consequence, AIC students en...

Mission as Translation: A Fusion of Three Horizons:

Abstract: In this article we want to argue that mission models of inculturation and contextualization are not apt responses to the enlightenment model of mission or colonial mission and that the ‘mission as ...

Formaliser des savoirs d'expérience pour la formation : une recherche collaborative dans le champ du handicap rare

Abstract: Cette contribution presente une recherche collaborative centree sur l'analyse de l'activite des professionnels du Handicap Rare. La question de la perennisation et du developpement des pratiques d'accompagnement des personnes en situation de Handicap Rare se posent aujourd’hui pour les professionnels des Centres Nationaux de Ressources et des institutions medico-sociales au regard des evolutions politiques et organisationnelles du champ. La contribution vise a decrire les modalites de collaboration de la recherche mises en œuvre avec les professionnels pour formaliser leurs savoirs d’experience a travers une demarche d’analyse de l’activite combinant differentes methodes. Nous presentons aussi les resultats de recherche et une illustration de ceux-ci en mettant en evidence les principales fonctions qui delimitent quelques caracteristiques de l’activite des professionnels du Handicap Rare relatives aux situations d’interactivites avec les usagers et les perspectives de formation que la recherche ouvre.

Hospitality and Welcome as Christian Imperatives in Relation to ‘the Other’:

Abstract: Many would acknowledge today that the question of understanding and relating to ‘the other’ has become a vital and urgent question in our globalised world, which brings ‘the other’ right in front o...

Reading about What It Is Really Like Is Eye-Opening: Literature for Youth and College-Level Critical Pedagogy

Abstract: ABSTRACT:Children's and young adult literature are commonly used in a variety of professional and school settings when addressing challenging and controversial topics such as economic exploitation, gender and sexual diversity, and religion. We argue that since the best of such books are authentic, accurate, approachable, and emotionally engaging, they can also serve similar pedagogical purposes in college classrooms. This article outlines a set of three parallel-structured mixed-methods research and instructional projects that have sought to assess the appeal and effectiveness of books for youth that address three of the most hotly debated political and social controversies of our time: immigrants and migrants, gender and sexual diversity, and Islam and Islamophobia. The instructional and data collection processes are described with commentary on particularly effective or challenging elements. Pre- and post-survey data provide a quantitative backdrop for narrative qualitative data drawn from student interactions, inquiries, and summative reflective essays. With data from over a thousand participants thus far, these projects have yielded substantial findings and publications. The authors have documented ways to address student misconceptions and reactionary pushback, and the central importance of student-to-student interactions in transforming attitudes and dispositions. Particular books, both children's picture storybooks and young adult novels, have been shown to be especially effective in opening productive conversations regarding tough issues. These projects can serve as a template for other scholars considering their own choices of materials, methods, activities, and pedagogical approaches when introducing critical perspectives into their classrooms.

Christianity and the Refugee Crisis

Abstract: This introductory article serves two specific purposes. First, it orients the reader to the complex topic addressed in this special issue – the problem of human displacement in general, and more sp...

The Weird Giggle: Attending to Affect in Virtual Reality

Abstract: Virtual Reality (VR) is once again causing a stir, with conflicting assertions over its potential to usher in a glorious posthuman phase of freedom or to immerse bodies wearing headsets in pure and ...

The Missionary Formation in the Eastern Orthodox Theological Education in Present Day Romania

Abstract: The article presents the current missionary formation in the Romanian Orthodox Church. I evaluated the national curricula from the faculties of Orthodox Theology, following the missionary orientate...

Insights Into the Tensions Facing Western Christians Working Overseas in an Educational Faith-Based Organisation: A Case Study

Abstract: For the last 20 years, there has been a growing interest in researching faith-based organisations (FBOs) in international development. Much of the research on FBOs tries to analyse whether faith has a positive or negative impact on development. This often leads to contradictory results. This case study shows insights into tensions that FBO staff face on issues such as gender, evangelism and donor pressure. The results show that the picture of faith’s role in development is much more nuanced than portrayed by much of the existing literature. The conclusion offers recommendations for policy makers and member care personnel.

Anarchy in the Classroom: The Efficacy of Self-Directed Learning for Critical Whiteness Pedagogy

Abstract: ABSTRACT:This autoethnographic study traces my experiences designing and teaching two freshman writing seminars on topics of race. As a white female graduate instructor who focuses on antiracist pedagogy and praxis, I set out to locate, interrogate, and decenter my whiteness in the classroom. I turned to models of self-directed learning (SDL) for extending agency and responsibility to my students over their own racial education. While students were very excited about our class dynamic, they frequently felt overwhelmed or confused with the logistics of this approach. Upon reflection, I realized we were inhabiting the double meanings of "anarchy." Discomfort can actually be important for the racial (un)learning process, particularly for white students. However, unnecessarily contributing to more confusion in this already highly emotive context makes this work more difficult. In my second course I thus shifted democratic models from individualism to collectivism, meaning that students were better able to monitor, organize, and educate each other. This article explores the following interrelated questions: (1) How does social identity inform teaching identity? (2) What are the utilities and limitations of self-directed learning for critical whiteness pedagogy? (3) What does bell hooks's call for "education as the practice of freedom" mean in today's political and economic climate?

Faire émerger le réel du travail pour concevoir la formation : Autour des enjeux méthodologiques de l’analyse de l’activité des adultes pour la formation

Abstract: L’analyse de l’activite en situation de travail en vue de la formation (Montmollin, 1974) est eclairee par les differents courants qui se reclament des theories de l’activite dans les sciences humaines et sociales. Cet archipel de travaux sur l’activite (Remoussenard, 2005) s’accorde sur une relative opacite de l’activite de travail. Celle-ci rend compte de l’impossibilite d’acceder completement au reel, a tout « ce qui se joue » dans la situation au travail. La methode d’analyse de l’activite en vue de la conception des situations d’apprentissage-developpement constitue des lors un levier pour renouveler le debat scientifique autour de l’analyse de l’activite et du rapport entre travail et formation dans le champ de la formation des adultes (Lesne, 1984 ; Lacomblez, 2001). Les coordinateur.trice.s de cet appel a contribution interrogent les differentes voies d’exploration methodologique empruntees par les contributeur.trice.s de ce numero special autour des enjeux methodologiques de l’analyse de l’activite des adultes pour la formation.

Mentorship and Discipleship of OMF Short-Term Mission Volunteers as With-ness and Consociation:

Abstract: Short-Term Mission (STM) is a reality that is intertwined and integrated into the fabric of world mission and Christian experience. Many discussions revolving around short-term mission have been de...

Rethinking Documentary and the Environment: A Multi-Scalar Approach to Time

Abstract: This essay investigates the analytical potential of time in relation to the nonfiction moving image. Time is important because it drives understandings of environmental change (perceptions of past, present and future), and it is tied to the fundamental expectation of documentary – that it will speak to the reality of historical events (recent or distant). In seeking an approach to the moving image that might better harness the ecological work of documentary across different contexts, we propose a theory of the multi-scalar that is explicitly concerned with time and duration and has the capacity to function as a critical tool that might reveal the uneven realisation of scale across cultures and film modes. We explore how established knowledge in political ecology might dovetail with the expression of time in documentary (including the representation of history). We pose two examples. The first explores the natural history documentary, in particular, the time lapse representation of plant life and how it might offer alternative nonhuman temporalities. The second study explores an episode of an Australian television series, First Footprints (2013), which presents a history of Indigenous occupation of the continent, ranging across a 50,000 year time span, offering a way to consider colonial conceptualisations of time

Désacraliser la carrière universitaire : concilier compétences scientifiques, génériques et «de carrière» pour repenser les identités professionnelles en recherche

Abstract: Dans un contexte ou les carrieres scientifiques se sont diversifiees et precarisees, il est de plus en plus difficile pour les chercheur•e•s en debut de parcours d’anticiper leur avenir professionnel et de s’y preparer. Si de nombreuses etudes ont ete realisees jusqu’ici afin de mieux comprendre les enjeux de la formation et de l’insertion professionnelle des doctorant•e•s, peu de travaux s’attachent a comprendre les effets de cette diversification et precarisation sur la construction de leur identite professionnelle. Pourtant, c’est notamment a travers la construction d’une image de soi en adequation avec le role professionnel qu’il anticipe que l’individu en arrive a maitriser les competences propres a son champ de pratique. C’est aussi en fonction de ce soi professionnel anticipe qu’il oriente ses actions et fait des choix (Ashforth et Schinoff, 2016). Afin d’examiner cette question dans le cadre des parcours en recherche, une analyse exploratoire a ete realisee aupres de 98 doctorant•e•s et 37 postdoctorant•e•s suisse romand•e•s. A partir d’un devis mixte, il s’agissait plus particulierement de comprendre comment les competences developpees tout au long de leur parcours en recherche participent de la construction de leur identite professionnelle. Cette analyse revele, d’une part, que le soi professionnel ideal de la majorite des participant•e•s demeure celui de professeur•e d’universite, et ce, meme pour les personnes qui n’envisagent pas une carriere universitaire. D’autre part, il apparait que les participant•e•s tendent a developper, au fil des annees, une forme relativement inedite de competences que l’on peut qualifier de « competences de carriere » (Akkermans et al. , 2013). Ces dernieres renvoient a une capacite reflexive leur permettant d’anticiper et d’orienter les suites de leur parcours, en reponse a un contexte professionnel marque par l’incertitude et l’ambiguite.

Refugees: A New Testament Perspective

Abstract: This study builds an argument for ‘embrace’ as an adequate Christian response to the refugee crisis. Against the ‘church as homogenous unit’ missiological theory of Donald McGavran and Peter Wagner...

Radical Imagination as Pedagogy: Cultivating Collective Study from Within, on the Edge, and Beyond Education

Abstract: abstract:In our exploration of radical imagination as pedagogy, we theorize education as a particular mode of study that has historically been bound up with oppressive modes of life, including capitalism and colonialism. We argue that alternative modes of study have existed alongside, and in conflict with, education and its associated modes of life. These alternatives have been intertwined with the radical imagination, a collective practice that arises from within social movements against imaginaries that uphold the status quo. Inspired by Black radicalism, movements for Indigenous resurgence, and other intellectual traditions that theorize and mobilize a radical imagination, we reflect on our experiences of attempting to create subversive spaces of collective study, from within and beyond education institutions. In our analysis of our experiences in case studies of teaching a university course, organizing a radical education union, and projects of collective Black study beyond formal education institutions, we find that the practice of radical imagination-as-pedagogy is premised on affective and relational labor—labor that has been historically invisibilized, feminized/sentimentalized, and devalued in education, even in writing on critical pedagogies. Working across our examples, we consider the key role of relationships and affect for movement-building toward education justice. We conclude by offering strategies for cultivating a radical imagination within and beyond classrooms.

The Challenge of Providing High-Quality Feedback Online: Building a Culture of Continuous Improvement in an Online Course for Adult Learners

Abstract: abstract:Scholars of online learning have acknowledged the additional challenges an online format poses to relationship building and providing effective feedback. This article describes the authors' experiences providing feedback to adult learners in an online educational leadership course, the challenges they encountered in providing this feedback in a timeframe and manner to which students were receptive, and their research into how to build a culture of continuous improvement in an online course for adult learners. The authors conclude that effective online feedback occurs when course projects are sequenced to provide opportunities for students to receive and engage with feedback formatively, when instructors set clear expectations about feedback timelines, and when instructors take advantage of the variety of feedback mechanisms online environments can provide, including peer and instructor feedback, as well as self-reflection.

Move Slow and Fix Things: Teaching Computer Science Majors to Decode Discrimination and Design Diverse Futures

Abstract: abstract:Our course, \"Designing for Diversity: Anthropology and New Technologies,\" teaches how and why people experience technology as discriminatory in order to guide students to imagine more inclusive futures for the design and development of new technologies. We recognized that while interest and enrollment in computer science has increased dramatically over the last five years, few courses centered on the human-user and ethical issues related to designing and building technology. We created this course as a new opportunity to engage our students interested in entering the technology industry with principles of ethnography, disability studies, and critical race, feminist, and queer theories. With these new frameworks, students pursued small research projects that would prove valuable for future software engineers and the future of technology development. By training future technologists to recognize and remedy the encoding of bias into technology, this course offers a prototype for teaching students how to envision more desirable futures for technology in relation to gender, race, and disability. In this way, our pedagogy draws on a design perspective that addresses the future as something that will be both imagined and made to be ethical and inclusive.

The Role of Edify in Promoting Christ-centred Education Through Low-fee Independent Schools:

Abstract: Free universal primary education has been promoted globally since the declaration of Education for All in 1990. As a result, the number of school-going children in the developing world has increase...