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Editorial |
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Written by David I. Smith
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This issue of the Journal of Education and Christian Belief focuses on
empirical research on Christian schooling. The four authors whose work is
published here explore questions regarding how much we know about the actual
effects and practices of Christian schools and how we might best go about
knowing more: how will our choice of research methods and paradigms affect
what becomes visible to us and how can research both honor the distinctive
intentions of Christian schooling and critique its real-world manifestations? |
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Read more...
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Vol. 16, no. 1 (Spring 2012) |
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Written by Administrator
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Contents
David I. Smith and Trevor Cooling
Editorial
News and Notes
Elizabeth Green
The Contribution of Secular Social Theory to
Research in Christian Education
Steven K. Mittwede
Research Paradigms and Their Use and
Importance in Theological Inquiry and Education
David Hastie
In Search of Holy Transcripts: Approaches to
Researching Religious Schools
Dianne L. Scouller
From Philosophy to Practice. An
Investigation of the Impact of a School’s Philosophy on Policy and Classroom
Practice
Book Reviews
Journal Information and Instructions to Contributors |
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The Contribution of Secular Social Theory to Research in Christian Education |
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Written by Elizabeth Green
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This article argues that educators should be aware of the way that Christian
beliefs interact with the structure and practices of secular education policies
and that established secular social theory can help them to do this. Drawing on
an example from empirical research, the author models how concepts associated
with Bourdieu’s social theory can illuminate the cultural impact of Christian
worldview on students. The article concludes that this type of engagement
counters the marginalization of religion within sociology of education
research. |
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Research Paradigms and Their Use and Importance in Theological Inquiry and Education |
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Written by Steven K. Mittwede
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A survey and analysis of four major research paradigms—positivism,
postpositivism, critical theory and constructivism—reveal that all have been
applied effectively in recent theological inquiry. Although these paradigms
might resemble worldviews to some extent, they are not so all-encompassing.
Rather, they are essentially matrices of deeply held assumptions or conceptual
frameworks that undergird and guide research, in this case, theological method.
A three-step approach—one that applauds a willingness to examine and blend
research paradigms—is recommended in so far as it may, in some cases, best
maintain a commitment to faithful dealing with the biblical record and, hence,
to truth-seeking—both in the direct theological endeavour and in theological
education, both formal and informal. |
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Approaches to Researching Religious Schools |
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Written by David Hastie
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I raise the problem that religious effects on the education practices of
Australian religious schooling have not been measured, despite many claims and
the critical size of the sector. The paper seeks to suggest factors to be
considered in shaping methodologies for researching this area. Identifying four
ways that religious schooling has been perceived and studied, the paper
suggests one of them as a way forward into research: the religious
purpose/effect model. Nine distinct purposes are then identified and argued to
be in dynamic tension with a further three factors: religion/culture interface
ideologies, theology, and unattested non-religious ideologies. Research theory
is then briefly explored, along with units of inquiry, problems with the use
of secular language to describe religious activity, and the need for more
explicit researcher-disclosure. |
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Volume 16 (2012) 