Vanishing Boundaries: When Teaching About Religion Becomes Spiritual Guidance in the Classroom

Abstract. This article revisits the pedagogical dilemma of maintaining neutrality in the religious studies/theology classroom. I argue that if the boundary between teaching about religion and actually teaching spirituality seems to be vanishing, it is because the boundary was inappropriately constructed in the first place. To the extent that the religious concepts, even when compressed into religious studies categories, inherently inspire personal transformation, how can a boundary exist between the ideas students encounter and the power of those ideas to transform? Spiritual guidance emerges naturally in the academic study of religion, and those of us who teach in the field might as well get used to it. In explaining my position, I draw on my experience as a teaching assistant in Professor Walter Capps's course, “Religion and the Impact of the Vietnam War.” I, then, develop a pragmatic teaching strategy, neutral enthusiasm, which preserves the important neutrality of classroom presentation in religious studies courses, yet recognizes the unavoidable evocative power present in the intellectual territory that is religion. Neutral enthusiasm allows the content to do the work.     

Catholic Reflections for an Updated Donum Vitae Instruction: A New Catholic Challenge in a Post-Christian Europe

On February 22, 1987, the Congregation for the Doctrine of theFaith published the Donum Vitae Instruction. Twenty years later,on February 22, 2007, Pope Benedict XVI asked for an updateof this Instruction. According to the Donum Vitae Instructionof 1987, the principle of the holiness of life imposes respectfor human persons from the very beginning of human life. Inthese past 20 years, new medical techniques have raised freshethical issues that are to be addressed by the Roman CatholicChurch Magisterium. The Roman Catholic Church, in its updateof the Instruction planned for 2007, will have to explain howcivil law is to be regulated according to the fundamental normsof the moral law. The moral message of the new Donum Vitae (justas in the 1987 version) will be to affirm the substance of humanjustice: respect for human life, as expressed in the resolvenot to infringe on, or to protect such life. Even in a post-ChristianEurope, this theological message can be understood if it istrue that Europe is marked by the principle of the absoluteprotection of human life.     

From a Distance: Pastoral Care and Theological Education

Abstract. This article is a presentation and discussion of a seminary course on the Corinthian Correspondence. The pedagogical model for this course was structured to parallel the pattern of Paul's pastoral care from a distance as he relates to the Corinthian congregation by personal visits, delegations from and to the congregation, letters from and to the congregation, and unofficial grapevine types of communication. The course was designed for dispersed students to interact with the Corinthian letters, with each other, and with myself as instructor in ways that 1) simulate a first‐century exchange between congregation and apostle and 2) facilitate careful interpretive work on the message of these letters, including their contemporary relevance.     

New Digital Technologies: A Kairos for Catholic Education in Rwanda

ABSTRACT

While the Catholic Church in Rwanda endeavors to revitalize Catholic Education, the Government of Rwanda is trying to leverage the use of digital technologies to raise access, improve the quality, and strengthen the relevance of education and training to the labor market. The purpose of this article is therefore to explore and assess the value and potentially constructive educational benefits offered by digital technologies in Catholic schools. The Catholic Church is one of the key educational development partners of the Government of Rwanda. Approximately 41% of students attend Catholic schools in Rwanda. The article scrutinizes some ethical concerns associated with the emergence of digital technologies in schools. Then it critically analyzes the position of the Catholic Church vis-à-vis digital technologies and sheds some light on their ethical and responsible use in Catholic schools. Consequently, the article suggests some actions that may be undertaken by the Catholic Church in order to assist the youth to make an informed choice among a diverse range of options offered by digital technologies in a way that aligns with the Catholic social teaching and tradition.     

MIGRANT DOMESTIC CAREWORKERS: Between the Public and the Private in Catholic Social Teaching

This essay argues that Catholic (magisterial) social teaching's division of ethics into public and private creates a structural lacuna which makes it almost impossible to envision a truly just situation for migrant domestic careworkers (MDCs) within the current horizon of Catholic social thought. Drawing on a variety of sociological studies, I conclude that it is easy for MDCs to “disappear” between two countries, two families, and, finally, two sets of ethical norms. If the magisterium genuinely wishes Catholic ethicists to address the plight of these migrant women, normative Catholic social teaching must pay more attention to household sociological realities and more fully absorb the feminist critique of the sharp line between the public and the private, between care and paid work.     

The Body of Christ has AIDS: The Catholic Church Responding Faithfully to HIV and AIDS in Papua New Guinea

Using the example of the Catholic Church in Papua New Guinea (PNG), I detail how, through praxis, it has brought to life a living theology of HIV and AIDS. In this way, the Catholic Church in PNG is responding faithfully to the epidemic. As a Christian country with a generalised HIV epidemic, where the body of an individual is reconstituted through the liturgical practices of baptism and Eucharist, theologically, in PNG the body of Christ has AIDS. In order to examine the ways in which the Catholic Church in PNG has responded faithfully to the Christian body with AIDS, I do so in relation to the three theological virtues of faith, hope and love.

The Judas Within: A Look at the Sexual Abuse Crisis in the Catholic Church

Drawing from normal accident theory, high reliability theory, and systems theory, we analyze the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People that is promulgated by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in response to the sexual abuses of minors by clergy members. Although the Charter is a step in the right direction, there remain some areas that require immediate attention. In spite of the goodwill processes, the safety of minors must remain the concerted efforts and responsibilities of individuals at all the various levels if the Catholic Church is to prevent further cases of abuse from happening.     

Religious education programme of the Catholic Church in Hong Kong: Challenges and responses since 1997

The Catholic Church, the largest school-sponsoring body in Hong Kong, is a major provider of religious schools and educational programmes. In 2006, the Catholic Diocese released its first centralised and comprehensive curricular document concerning religious and moral education (RME) in Catholic schools. Taking this programme as a reflection of the Church’s response to the challenges of a changing social milieu, severed church–state relations and shortcomings in Catholic education in post-1997 Hong Kong, this article reviews the framework and principles of the new curriculum. While retaining strong religious elements in its curriculum, the Catholic Church has widened and re-oriented its programme, and re-designed the contents and pedagogical methods. The new programme is characterised by adjustment and differentiation, upholding Christian faith, and selective absorption of Chinese culture. This article also discusses problems in the implementation of the new programme, including organisational compartmentalisation and an underdeveloped political dimension in the content.     

Teaching the Devout Student: Faith and Scholarship in the Classroom

Increasing numbers of college students enrolling in religion courses in recent years are looking to develop their religious faith or spirituality, while professors of religion want students to use and appreciate scholarly tools to study religion from an academic perspective. Some scholars argue that it is not possible to satisfy both goals in the classroom, while authors in this journal have given suggestions on how to bridge the gap between faith and scholarship. I argue that such authors are correct and that, in my experience, historical‐critical methods can help devout students understand the original texts in their own religion better, comprehend why changes in interpretation have occurred over time, and appreciate the values in religions other than their own. Not all devout students are comfortable with an academic study of religion, but many can attain a more mature faith by such an approach.     

Women Negotiating Modernity: A Gender Perspective on Fundamentalisms in Catholicism and Islam

In the present age, the forces of globalized modernity are impacting upon and shifting the power structures of many aspects of civilizations as we have known them. Many studies of ‘fundamentalism’ have rightly diagnosed it as a reactive movement against the forces of modernity, yet fundamentalism has been little studied from a gender perspective. While many of the struggles outlined in this article are being fought out internally within both the Catholic Church and the Islamic world, at times they spill over into international forums, as occurred at United Nations forums in Cairo (1994) and Beijing (1995). This article explores the impact of fundamentalism on women's lives and their responses to it, with a focus on Catholicism and Islam.     

The Emergence of Student Creativity in Classroom Settings: A Case Study of Elementary Schools in Korea

This research explores the emergence of student creativity in classroom settings, specifically within two content areas: science and social studies. Fourteen classrooms in three elementary schools in Korea were observed, and the teachers and students were interviewed. The three types of student creativity emerging in the teaching and learning process found in this research were: (a) heuristic creativity when the students express their thoughts about a new concept based on their experience, (b) interpretive creativity when the students explain the meaning of materials based on students' knowledge, and (c) integrative creativity when students generate new solutions or make new products based on their internalized knowledge. The study results will challenge teachers to find instances of student creativity in their teaching and learning situations and to facilitate student creativity when the students interpret data or materials related to the contents of the curriculum.     

医学教育全球标准中的学生考核新理念探析——以美国名校为例

学生考核是医学教育中的重要环节,《本科医学教育质量改进全球标准(2015年修订版)》中学生考核标准体现了新的评价理念,即以结果为导向的学生考核、广泛多样性考核方法、形成性和终结性考核之间均衡、建立学业帮助进展考核制度、实施考核结果学生申诉制度等理念。介绍了美国名校如何采用新的考核理念。2016年,我国临床医学专业认证标准中已经融入了学生考核标准的新理念,但是目前的现实状况与国外相比差距还很大,需要认真理解与加快运用新理念的考核方式,大力推进我国医学教育评价制度改革,为健康中国战略培养优秀医学人才。     

Three Approaches to Doing Philosophy: a Proposal for Grouping Philosophical Exercises in Classroom Teaching

Classroom teaching has two aims: learning philosophy, that is, the great philosophers, and doing philosophy. This article provides an overview of thirty exercises that can be used for doing philosophy, grouped into three approaches. The first approach, doing philosophy as connective truth finding or communicative action, is related to such philosophers as Dewey and Arendt, and is illustrated by the Socratic method. The second, doing philosophy as test‐based truth finding, is related to such philosophers as Popper, and is illustrated by Community of Philosophical Inquiry. The third, doing philosophy as juridical debate, judging truth‐value and making judgment, is related to such philosophers as Foucault, and is illustrated by philosophical debate. The analysis shows that although the classical methods applied by the great philosophers appear to be missing from classroom exercises, they do, in fact, remain at the heart of the matter.     

凯利的个人建构理论:在香港与中国大陆教学中的问题

本文讨论了在香港和内地文化背景下 ,进行凯利的个人建构理论教学中发现的一些问题。在介绍凯利的思想时 ,中国学生通常倾向于借助具体的术语来理解理论 ,用定量化的方法来看待数据。这种情况似乎与建构主义心理学的精神相背离。但是 ,这种情况也表现出一些改变的迹象 ,更广义地讲 ,这是普通心理学主流的一部分 ,即定性的方法是富有吸引力的。作者认为 ,更多地考虑凯利理论的哲学假设和定性思想的价值 ,将能赢得更多的学生热衷于该理论在广为不同的实际情景中的应用前景。当然 ,凯利的理论中有一些术语还存在着翻译的问题 ,但这是可以解决的。     

A Note on State Individual Differences in Accuracy of Response Imagery: Aftereffects and Reminiscence

In two sessions, separated by 7 days, subjects imagined themselves performing a tracking task under a massed practice schedule. After conditions of interpolated rest and no-rest, which were counterbalanced across sessions, subjects actually performed the tracking task. During imagery practice, subjects verbally reported the temporal component of the task. The temporal accuracy of verbal reports varied widely across subjects, but not within subjects. Furthermore, a performance gain was demonstrated as a function of interpolated rest versus no-rest (reminiscence effect). Finally, the accuracy of verbal reports predicted imagery aftereffects, but not reminiscence effects.     

A noble quest: cultivating Christian spirituality in Catholic adolescents and the usefulness of 12 pastoral practices

The essay considers the process of cultivating Christian spirituality in Catholic adolescents. It will integrate and document official Catholic Church teachings on the subject and also unofficial scholarly reflections. The exposé briefly defines adolescent spirituality and situates the process of cultivating adolescent spirituality in Catholic youth ministry. The concentration of the inquiry is predominantly single‐minded – addressing briefly – 12 Catholic spiritual virtues, traits, practices, and disciplines that cultivate adolescent spirituality in US Catholic young people.     

实习初期教师职业认同的发展轨迹及其与主动性人格的关系:一项追踪研究

采用主动性人格量表、工作绩效量表、人际关系量表、教师职业认同量表对385名实习教师从其实习第一周起连续追踪测量五周,利用多层线性模型探讨实习初期教师职业认同的发展轨迹,以及主动性人格对教师职业认同的影响及其机制。结果表明：(1)实习初期教师职业认同呈先高后低再升高的U型非线性发展趋势;(2)工作绩效和人际关系在主动性人格与教师职业认同之间起部分中介作用,且工作绩效的中介效应显著大于人际关系的中介效应。研究结果不仅揭示了实习初期教师职业认同的动态发展轨迹,同时还揭示了主动性人格影响教师职业认同的中介机制,对提升教师培养质量具有重要的参考价值。