The author argues that if we are to foster life-giving and liberating moral reflection, we must first liberate moral reflection from distortions; specifically, from the distorting effects of moral insensitivity, destructive moral relativism, and confusions resulting from a failure to understand the dynamics of moral reflection. The author proposes…

In this article, the author begins by talking about power and his early vocational discernment. He continues by sharing his ongoing vocational discernment and religious education for liberation. Over the past twenty years the author has worked for a Catholic diocese and two Catholic universities. He has also done significant volunteer work in…

Catholic schoolteachers face the pedagogical dilemma between remaining faithful to the doctrinal requirements of Catholic Church teaching while also respecting their professional responsibility to promote autonomous, critical thinking and consider the pastoral needs of their students. Although in practice many Catholic educators achieve a…

This article addresses teachers' understanding of spiritual development in public and religious schools in Boston and Chicago. It examines how teachers define spiritual development in different educational contexts and looks at the way they relate spirituality to a number of factors including community, identity, and character. The data from the…

Nearly every school in Hong Kong claims to provide ethics/religious education as part of the curriculum, but teachers find it difficult to teach values and attitudes without having students find ethics/religious lessons boring. While much has been said about how students learn, it remains that it is the teacher s task to provide the relevant…

Suggests a playful approach to religious education that is not dismissive of orthodox points of view. Notes the literary, theological, and pedagogical aspects of the book of Job. Discusses the use of irony in teaching. Rejects any single approach's claim to exclusive truth about God. (DSK)

Suggests that contemporary films can be used by educators to engage people in religious exploration. Argues that viewers should engage in a conversation with film at the levels of content and cinematography. Discusses four types of film study and examples of films that can be used in each. (DSK)

Examines how a Canon (body of ideas, doctrines, and practices) becomes embodied in religious communities, how that experience forms the faithful in the tradition, and how that experience modifies the Canon of that tradition. Explores this phenomenon within the Jewish, Catholic, and Lutheran communities. (MJP)

Considers the role of lay vocation (here broadly defined as the servanthood of nonordained persons within and without the church) in everyday life and religious education. Discusses the relationship between lay vocation and the holiness movement, a perfectionist doctrine that arose in U.S. Protestantism in the late 19th century. (MJP)

Articulates an ethical and theological basis for ethnographic research in faith communities. Interviews with nine ethnographers reveal that both research and researcher are changed by the research act. Argues that ethnography is an opportunity for ministry that is empowering and educational. (MJP)

Argues that too often liturgy and religious education posit an idyllic notion of the reign of God and fail to address the injustice, oppression, and violence endemic to much of modern life. This amounts to a dichotomy between the sacred and the secular. Proposes several corrective measures. (MJP)

Examines and defines the world of play for children and considers what lessons and applications this might have for adults and their spirituality. Particularly notes that the "what-if" and "as-if" dimensions of play can be used as energizing and liberating aspects of a more active adult spirituality. (MJP)

Examines the ways in which African Americans link personal stories with biblical and heritage stories to decide future life directions. Maintains that these activities help people develop a spirituality of hope and restore relational contexts for storytelling and story listening in an age where these contexts have disappeared. (MJP)

Observes the pitfalls and possibilities of using feature films as educational tools for religious exploration. Praises film for its ability to synthesize a number of cultural, moral, and narrative elements. Lists several simplistic and reductionist approaches to be avoided. (MJP)

Formulates a pedagogical position that articulates religious experience as complementary to formal-rational thought. Recent postmodernist criticism has located secular thinking as a coequal position to subjective religious experience on the now-leveled philosophical playing field. Explores what this newfound (academic) respectability means for…