Eastern Christianity and politics in the Twenty-First Century

This book provides an up-to-date, comprehensive overview of Eastern Christian churches in Europe, the Middle East, America, Africa, Asia and Australia. Written by leading international scholars in the field, it examines both Orthodox and Oriental churches from the end of the Cold War up to the present day. The book offers a unique insight into the myriad church-state relations in Eastern Christianity and tackles contemporary concerns, opportunities and challenges, such as religious revival after the fall of communism; churches and democracy; relations between Orthodox, Catholic and Greek Catholic churches; religious education and monastic life; the size and structure of congregations; and the impact of migration, secularisation and globalisation on Eastern Christianity in the twenty-first century.

The rise of Islamism amongst Muslim youth in the UK

The purpose of this study was to examine the possible reasons why Muslim youth are increasingly becoming attracted to radical Islam in the UK. Recent studies involving focus groups of Muslim youth across the UK and opinion surveys were used to measure youth's level of religious guidance, integration in society and feelings of hostility or of an enemy image of Islam. It was found that alienation from traditional methods of religious education, parents/ imams, is the possible first step that makes youth more vulnerable to outside Islamist groups. The second step is the lack of integration due to discrimination and feeling as an enemy within society. The enemy image includes the government's decision to invade Iraq and the perception that Muslims and Islam are under attack. There is a strong need for youth to reconcile their national and religious identities in order to be active citizens in the future.

Matrifocality and child shifting among the low income earners in Jamaica

Jamaican family structures have long felt the impact of unstable internal economic conditions and high volume of labor demands originating from England, Canada, the United States, and other larger societies. In response to the economic conditions and labor demands, increasing numbers of Jamaican women have migrated away from home, both within Jamaica and to other countries. Subsequently, many Jamaicans' households are restructured using a method called child shifting. This refers to "the relocation of children between households." Using three major theoretical paradigms: cultural diffusion, social pathology, and structural functionalism, this study explores the literature of child shifting to understand how economic conditions influence matrifocal families and in particular their child rearing practices. This study employs the structural functionalism paradigm's focus on "adaptive responses" to find plausible explanations for child shifting patterns. The primary premise of the "adaptive responses" approach is that economic marginality leads to certain adaptive responses in residential, kinship, and child rearing patterns. This study finds certain adjustment problems associated with child shifting. These include shifted children developing feelings of abandonment, of anxiety, of loss, and having difficulty trusting after the shifting occurs. These costs may outweigh the benefits of child shifting.

ENSINO DO FENÔMENO RELIGIOSO NA ESCOLA PÚBLICA: área de conhecimento necessária para uma sociedade secularizada

Ao estudarmos a evolução histórica e o panorama atual do ensino religioso no Brasil, nos deparamos hoje com o problema da exclusão mútua de duas visões do seu tratamento na escola pública: ou deve existir o ensino religioso confessional ou não deve existir nenhum tipo de ensino religioso. Superando uma visão de laicidade de abstenção ao afirmar que o religioso, por definição, não nos diz respeito ou não diz respeito à ciência, e admitindo uma laicidade de inteligência ao defender que é nosso dever ou dever da ciência compreendê-lo como expressão humana e social, o ensino do fenômeno religioso pode superar essas duas visões, a partir de uma base epistemológica sólida para esta área de conhecimento, como já é prevista pela nossa legislação. Ele garante o respeito à diversidade e à pluralidade cultural da sociedade brasileira e contribui para a compreensão do fenômeno religioso como “objeto de cultura”. Ele é capaz de subsidiar práticas de ensino do fenômeno religioso no sistema de ensino laico, sem prejuízo de sua laicidade, mas a favor dela. A educação laica para a cidadania não pode ignorar as religiões pela sua forte presença e função na sociedade. É preciso decodificar criticamente as representações e práticas religiosas em nome da convivência mais construtiva entre as pessoas e extrair das tradições religiosas valores que contribuam para a vida humana na sua plenitude. Este modelo de ensinar a religião como fenômeno antropológico, social e cultural pode ainda cumprir uma função específica no que se refere ao conhecimento de si mesmo (identidade) e do outro para a aceitação do diferente (alteridade) apontando para a construção de valores éticos e de cidadania. Esta pesquisa se baseia em um grande levantamento bibliográfico e entrevistas com especialistas em laicidade e ensino do religioso a partir da proposta de Régis Debray adotada na França. Ela nos leva a concluir que o ensino do fenômeno religioso na escola pública do Brasil não é apenas necessário, mas até indispensável, se queremos uma educação que contribua para a formação dos nossos alunos e alunas para a convivência solidária.

A DIVERSIDADE RELIGIOSA NO ESPAÇO ESCOLAR ADVENTISTA DO ABCD PAULISTA

Tendo como pano de fundo a confessionalidade da rede adventista de educação presente de maneira marcante no espaço escolar e a intensa diversidade religiosa discente, esta pesquisa analisa a relação de possíveis tensões entre a confessionalidade escolar e a diversidade religiosa presente neste espaço. Leva em consideração o processo de modernidade causadora de importantes transformações na educação, na religião e na forma dos dois institutos se relacionarem. Levou-se em consideração o perfil socioeconômico e religioso dos alunos e possíveis tensões na recepção do religioso no espaço escolar adventista por parte dos discentes, inclusive por aqueles que se declaram adventistas. O espaço escolhido para esta pesquisa foi o de colégios adventistas localizadas no contexto do ABCD Paulista, que ofertam o Ensino Médio. Estas unidades escolares estão situadas nas cidades de Diadema, Santo André e São Caetano do Sul, cidades localizadas na mesma microrregião, mas com distintas realidades socioeconômicas.

The ecocultural context and child behavior problems: A qualitative analysis in rural Nepal.

Commonly used paradigms for studying child psychopathology emphasize individual-level factors and often neglect the role of context in shaping risk and protective factors among children, families, and communities. To address this gap, we evaluated influences of ecocultural contextual factors on definitions, development of, and responses to child behavior problems and examined how contextual knowledge can inform culturally responsive interventions. We drew on Super and Harkness' "developmental niche" framework to evaluate the influences of physical and social settings, childcare customs and practices, and parental ethnotheories on the definitions, development of, and responses to child behavior problems in a community in rural Nepal. Data were collected between February and October 2014 through in-depth interviews with a purposive sampling strategy targeting parents (N = 10), teachers (N = 6), and community leaders (N = 8) familiar with child-rearing. Results were supplemented by focus group discussions with children (N = 9) and teachers (N = 8), pile-sort interviews with mothers (N = 8) of school-aged children, and direct observations in homes, schools, and community spaces. Behavior problems were largely defined in light of parents' socialization goals and role expectations for children. Certain physical settings and times were seen to carry greater risk for problematic behavior when children were unsupervised. Parents and other adults attempted to mitigate behavior problems by supervising them and their social interactions, providing for their physical needs, educating them, and through a shared verbal reminding strategy (samjhaune). The findings of our study illustrate the transactional nature of behavior problem development that involves context-specific goals, roles, and concerns that are likely to affect adults' interpretations and responses to children's behavior. Ultimately, employing a developmental niche framework will elucidate setting-specific risk and protective factors for culturally compelling intervention strategies.

Common Bound: The Small Groups of Methodism

The system of small groups John Wesley established to promote a proper life of discipleship in early Methodist converts was, in many respects, the strength of the Methodist movement. Those who responded to Wesley’s initial invitation to “flee the wrath to come” were organized into large gatherings called “societies,” which were then subdivided into smaller bands, class meetings, select societies, and penitent bands. The smaller groups gave Wesley the opportunity, through a system of appointed leaders, to keep track of the spiritual progress of every member in his movement, which grew to tens of thousands by the time of his death in 1791. As Methodism shifted from renewal movement to institutional church in the nineteenth century, however, growth slowed, and participation in such groups declined rapidly. By the early twentieth century, classes and bands were virtually extinct in every sector of Methodism save the African-American tradition. In recent years, scholars in various sectors of the Wesleyan tradition, particularly David Lowes Watson and Kevin Watson, have called for a recovery of these small groups for purposes of renewal in the church. There is no consensus, however, concerning what exactly contributed to the vitality of these groups during Wesley’s ministry.

Over the last century, sociological studies of group dynamics have revealed three common traits that are crucial to highly functioning groups: interdependence created by the existence of a common goal, interaction among group members that is “promotive” or cooperative in nature, and high levels of feedback associated with personal responsibility and individual accountability. All three of these were prevalent in the early Methodist groups. Interdependence existed around a shared goal, which for Wesley and the Methodists was holiness. That interdependence was cooperative in nature; individuals experienced the empowering grace of God as they each pursued the goal in the company of fellow pilgrims. Finally, the groups existed for purposes of feedback and accountability as individuals took responsibility both for themselves and others as they progressed together toward the goal of holy living. Wesley seemed to instinctively understand the essential nature of each of these characteristics in maintaining the vitality of the movement when he spoke of the importance of preserving the “doctrine, spirit and discipline” of early Methodism. Analysis of some of the present-day attempts to restore Wesley’s groups reveals frequent neglect to one or more of these three components. Perhaps most critical to recovering the vitality of the early Methodist groups will be reclaiming the goal of sanctification and coming to a consensus on what its pursuit means in the present day.

Knowing The Way: Scriptural Imagination and the Acts of the Apostles

In this dissertation, I offer a pedagogical proposal for learning the Christian Scriptures guided by respect for the nature of the reader and the integrity of the biblical text. Christian educators have profitably developed recent theoretical interest in the body’s role in human meaning with regard to worship and praxis methodologies, but the implications of this research for communal study of the biblical text merit further development. I make the case for adopting scriptural imagination as the goal of pedagogically constructed encounters with the Christian Scriptures. The argument proceeds through a series of questions addressing both sides of the text/reader encounter.

Chapter one considers the question “what is the nature of the reader and, subsequently, the shape of the reader’s ways of knowing?” This investigation into recent literature on the body’s involvement in human knowing includes related epistemological shifts with Christian education. On the basis of this survey, imagination emerges as a compelling designator of an incorporative, constructive creaturely capacity that gives rise to a way of being in the world. Teachers of Scripture who intend to participate in Christian formation should account for the imagination’s centrality for all knowing. After briefly situating this proposal within a theological account of creatureliness, I make the initial case for Scriptural imagination as a pedagogical aim.

Imagination as creaturely capacity addresses the first guiding value, but does this proposal also respect the integrity and nature of the biblical text, and specifically of biblical narratives? In response, in chapter two I take up the Acts of the Apostles as a potential test case and exemplar for the dynamics pertinent to the formation of imagination. Drawing on secondary literature on the genre and literary features of Acts, I conclude that Acts coheres with this project’s explicit interest in imagination as a central component of the process of Christian formation in relationship to the Scriptures.

Chapters three and four each take up a pericope from Acts to assess whether the theoretical perspectives developed in prior chapters generate any interpretive payoff. In each of these chapters, a particular story within Acts functions as a test case for readings of biblical narratives guided by a concern for scriptural imagination. Each of these chapters begins with further theoretical development of some element of imaginal formation. Chapter three provides a theoretical account of practices as they relate to imagination, bringing that theory into conversation with Peter’s engagement in hospitality practices with Cornelius in Acts 10:1-11:18. Chapter four discusses the formative power of narratives, with implications for the analysis of Paul’s shipwreck in Acts 27:1-28:16.

In the final chapter, I offer a two-part constructive pedagogical proposal for reading scriptural narratives in Christian communities. First, I suggest adopting resonance above relevance as the goal of pedagogically constructed encounters with the Scriptures. Second, I offer three ways of reading with the body, including the physical, ecclesial, and social bodies that shape all learning. I conclude by identifying the importance of scriptural imagination for Christian formation and witness in the twenty-first century.

Los más pequeños toman la palabra: La Escuela Infantil que a ellos les gustaría

El derecho a ser escuchado y participar en aquellos asuntos que afectan a los niños es un derecho fundamental de la infancia escasamente respetado por el adulto, quien tiende a silenciar su voz, infravalorando su visión y posible aportación. Ante esta realidad, la Escuela Infantil se erige como un marco privilegiado para la escucha y la participación de la infancia en aquellos temas que les afectan, contribuyendo a la formación de ciudadanos democráticos. A partir de un marco de escucha donde se concibe al pequeño como un sujeto activo, competente y experto en su propia vida, se ha llevado a cabo una investigación que ha adoptado el formato de estudio de caso, en la que se ha recogido a través de las técnicas del dibujo y de las conversaciones con niños, la visión que poseen los más pequeños sobre la Escuela Infantil, analizando el bienestar del niño en el contexto escolar, el sentido y finalidad que los niños otorgan a la escuela; el grado de satisfacción con la misma; sus gustos y preferencias en el contexto escolar; la autonomía y libertad que dicen poseer en la escuela; su visión sobre los aspectos organizativos que rigen el funcionamiento del centro y su perspectiva sobre cómo es y cómo les gustaría que fuera la participación de las familias en la escuela. Finalmente, se recogen sus propuestas de mejora para hacer de la Escuela Infantil a la que asisten su escuela ideal. Los resultados del estudio ponen de manifiesto la demanda de los niños de una Escuela Infantil diferente a la que conocen y la existencia de un pensamiento divergente del pensamiento adulto que es necesario escuchar y tener en consideración, siendo sus aportaciones de gran valía para poder iniciar procesos de innovación y mejora educativa.

Livsfrågor och religionskunskap : En belysning av ett centralt begrepp i svensk religionsdidaktik

This thesis focuses on “livsfrågor” (questions of life) a typical Swedish concept introduced in the RE syllabus in the curriculum for compulsory schools in 1969. The study poses three questions: what can qualify as a “livsfråga”, why are they regarded important, and how do they fit into teaching? The main purpose is to study differences of the concept in two materials. Primarily interviews with Teacher educators all over Sweden and, secondly in the R.E. syllabus for compulsory and secondary schools from 1962 until today. Finally, the two materials used, will be brought together, and foci are recognized with the help of a tool for thought.  The study is using the concept dialogicity from Bachtin. Syllabus are viewed as compromises in accordance with a German tradition. In the syllabus, “livsfrågor” is one within many different words used with none what so ever stringency. It is not necessarily the most important term, as “livsåskådningsfrågor” (questions within philosophies of life)  is often dominating in objectivities. Also “existential questions” etc is used. The relation between the words are never made clear.  The syllabus are in one sense monologial as different meanings of the word are not made explicit, and other utterances are not invoked. In the interviews the dialogicity is more obvious. Philosophy is mentioned, eg.. Martin Buber, Viktor Frankl, theology (Paul Thillich), but also literature (Lars Gyllensten) and existentialism in a general sence. Other words are not as frequent – but “livsåskådningsfrågor” are of course mentioned, eg. Faith vs. knowledge. In the last chapter “livsfrågor” is problematized with the help of Andrew Wright and his three metanarrativies within the modern R.E. And the assumption, especially in the syllabus, of “livsfrågor”, as common between cultures and over time is problematized with the help of . feministic theory of knowledge.

Spiritual guides: supporting adults who nurture the spirituality of children

This research considers the role of those who support voluntary youth leaders in their responsibility to nurture spiritual development in children and young people. It discusses particularly those who work in organisations with an ethos of supporting such spiritual development and at the same time of welcoming members of many faiths and encouraging their full participation in their various faith traditions. The specific context of the research is the work of the Guide Movement and, in particular, of Girlguiding in the United Kingdom. The research addresses the current challenges but also the enormous value of providing for young people a multi-faith space in which it is genuinely ‘OK to do God’. It discusses the issues which leaders are raising and some suggestions which trainers have made for addressing these.

O papel do auxiliar de desenvolvimento infantil da Secretaria de Educação do Recife : das normativas do cargo a prática profissional

O presente trabalho tem como temática: O papel do Auxiliar de Desenvolvimento Infantil da Secretaria de Educação do Recife: das normativas do cargo a prática profissional. Este profissional desenvolve suas funções dentro das creches e centros de educação infantil da Secretaria de Educação do Recife, trabalhando com crianças de 0 a 3 anos. O objetivo deste estudo é identificar as relações entre o pré-requisito exigido para o cargo, as atribuições conferidas à função e a prática profissional do Auxiliar de Desenvolvimento Infantil, tomando para análise o último concurso realizado em 2014. A partir dessa configuração e para entender de fato o papel do Auxiliar de Desenvolvimento Infantil, pontuando a sua função como pedagógica ou não, considerando que se atribui como pré-requisito para o provimento do cargo a exigência de formação no Ensino Médio. O estudo parte da revisão de literatura sobre a concepção de infância, criança e educação passando pelas contribuições teóricas de vários autores, sobretudo os que abordam as questões da infância e da educação infantil de maneira contextualizada. Procedeu-se também a abordagem da evolução do perfil profissional daqueles que atuam na Educação Infantil no Brasil, pois, ao longo dos anos, estes profissionais vêm passando por transformações e exigências em relação a sua atuação, sobretudo em decorrência das mudanças de concepção de infância, de criança e de educação. A metodologia é qualitativa e como instrumento de coleta de dados utilizou-se questionários e entrevista. Os sujeitos da pesquisa são os Auxiliares de Desenvolvimento Infantil, os professores de Educação Infantil e a Divisão de Educação Infantil da Secretaria de Educação do Recife. Os resultados apontaram que o trabalho desenvolvido pelos ADIs dentro das instituições de educação infantil é pedagógico. Estes profissionais realizam atividades educativas e desta forma, pode-se dizer, que esta função exige que o profissional tenha conhecimentos pedagógicos para exercê-la. Finalmente, este estudo poderá contribuir para que a Secretaria de Educação do Recife redirecione a política pública de Educação Infantil no que se refere aos pré-requisitos de formação dos profissionais concursados para o trabalho nas instituições de educação infantil, exigindo a formação mínima no Normal Médio (Magistério) para a função de Auxiliar de Desenvolvimento Infantil, entendendo que esta função exige que o profissional tenha conhecimentos pedagógicos para atuar junto às crianças de 0 a 3 anos.

Michael Glüer: Beziehungsqualität und kindliche Kooperations- und Bildungsbereitschaft. Eine Studie in Kindergarten und Grundschule. Wiesbaden: Springer VS 2011(484 S.) [Rezension]

Rezension von: Michael Glüer: Beziehungsqualität und kindliche Kooperations- und Bildungsbereitschaft. Eine Studie in Kindergarten und Grundschule. Wiesbaden: Springer VS 2011 (484 S.; ISBN 978-3-531-19315-1)

Representera och bli representerad : Elever med religiös positionering talar om skolans religionskunskapsundervisning

Hur kan lärare på bästa sätt möta elever med religiös positionering i religionskunskapsklassrummet?  Hur kan undervisningen utformas för att ge religiösa traditioner en framställning som elever med religiös positionering kan acceptera, relatera till och kanske också lära nytt av? Den här religionsdidaktiska studien handlar om hur elever som positionerar sig inom muslimsk, kristen, buddhistisk och judisk tradition talar om skolans religionskunskapsundervisning. Studien berör tre teman. För det första undersöks mötet mellan undervisningsinnehåll och elevernas erfarenheter av sin egen religiösa tradition och tro. För det andra riktas uppmärksamheten mot hur eleverna talar om sina erfarenheter av att vara eller att förväntas vara representant för sin egen tradition i undervisningen. Ett tredje tema handlar om hur eleverna beskriver ramar och förutsättningar för religionskunskapsundervisningen. Intervjumaterialet har analyserats med hjälp av kritisk diskursanalys. Resultaten visar bland annat att eleverna har svårt att känna igen och relatera till sin egen tradition i undervisningen. De befarar att undervisningen snarare förstärker än dekonstruerar stereotypa föreställningar om religion och religiöst liv.