Session Information
27 SES 03 B, Critical Thinking, Citizenship and Worldview Education
Paper Session
Contribution
Worldview education (including Religious Education) is currently a hot topic in Europe. What it should be, what kind of skills and competences it should give? What is the role of traditional course content, such as narratives when we’re talking about general RE and teaching practices? Being able to operate in appropriate way in a multicultural and multi-valued society requires a broad-ranging and in-depth understanding and knowledge about different religious and world views.
Narratives are in the one hand part of the self-understanding of religions and on the other hand, narratives are one way of constructing and evaluating one’s own identity and worldview. Narratives can also be seen as part of our cultural heritage.
Narration and encounter are seen as important part of teaching work. Campbell & McNamara (2007) argue that much of the learning takes place by means of narration. However, narratives and story-telling has not been examined comprehensively as a part of key principles of teacher training.
In this PhD study the aim is to sort out following questions.
Research questions:
1. What is the role of the narratives in worldview education?
- How does the teacher use the narratives?
- What are the principles and practices of using narratives as part of worldview education?
- What are the experiences teachers have of narratives in teaching?
2. What kind of narratives the teachers consider relevant in worldview education?
- How does the teacher define a meaningful narrative?
3. What makes the narrative relevant at student's point of view?
Meaningful education can be defined as education that assists children in finding meaning in life and making sense of their self and the world around (cf. de Ruyter 2002, 34).
According to Ricoeur (1991), narratives can be helpful in making sense of self and the world in two ways: through narratives that we are able to conceive ourselves. In addition, we define ourselves through narrative. According Ricour (1992, 147-148) “the narrative constructs the identity of the character, what can be called his or her narrative identity, in constructing that of the story told. It is the identity of the story that makes the identity of the character”. Hence it’s important to be aware what kind of narratives are being used in lessons.
Bruner says (1986) that what varies is the cultural and linguistic perspective or narrative formin which it is formulated and expressed. He sees that there is two ways of knowing: Paradigmatic mode of thought which draws on reasoned analysis, logical proof, and empirical observation to predict and control reality, and to create unambiguous objective ‘truth’ that can be proven or disproved. The other way of knowing is Narrative knowledge - created and constructed through stories of lived experiences, and the meanings created. Narratives make help of making sense of the ambiguity and complexity of human lives. According to Bruner it the narrative knowledge that help us to making sense of the world by connecting events overtime through stories.
Narrations create meanings and add us as part of some larger wholeness. Through the narrations values are transmitted and ethical content is also integral part of the narrations. Awareness of the values , the ability to analyze and evaluate a range of values must be an integral part of education. (Niemi, 2010, 28.)
Objectives
This research gives information about narratives and narrative pedagogy which can be utilized on a large scale: developing the subject didactics of RE and Secular Ethics in teacher education and enable a development of meanings supportive approach in all teaching.
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
Bruner, J.(1986) Actual minds, possible worlds. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Campbell, A. & McNamara, O. (2007). ) Ways of telling: The use of practitioners´ stories. In A. Campbell & S. Groundwater-Smith (Eds.), An ethical approach to practitioners research (99-112). London and New York: Routledge. Doret J. de Ruyter (2002) The Right to Meaningful Education: The role of values and beliefs, Journal of Beliefs & Values: Studies in Religion & Education, 23:1, 33-42, DOI: 10.1080/13617670220125656 Niemi, H. 2010. Suomalainen opettajankoulutus uusien haasteiden edessä. (Finnish teacher education facing new challenges). Teoksessa Kallioniemi, A., Toom, A., Ubani, M. & Linnasaari, H. (toim.) 2010. Akateeminen opettajankoulutus: 30 vuotta teoriaa, käytäntöä ja maistereita. Suomen kasvatustieteellinen seura ry. Jyväskylä: Yliopistopaino. Ricoeur, P. (1991) A Ricoeur Reader: Reflection and Imagination, ed. Mario J. Valdes, Toronto: University of Toronto Press Ricoeur,P. (1992) Oneself as Another, Chicago: The University of Chicago Press
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