A Pedagogy Of Faith

How do you teach the faith at church and schoolnot just in religion or confirmation classbut at every opportunity throughout the day? Written by Concordia University professors who equip future church workers, The Pedagogy of Faith is a unique textbook for college and university courses.

This is the first book-length study in English to investigate Freire's landmark educational theory and practice through the lens of his lifelong Catholicism. A Pedagogy of Faith explores this often-overlooked dimension of one of the most globally prominent and influential educational thinkers of the past fifty years. Leopando illustrates how vibrant currents within twentieth-century Catholic theology shaped central areas of Freire's thought and activism, especially his view of education as a process of human formation in light of the divinely-endowed "vocation†? of persons to shape culture, society, and history. With the contemporary resurgence of authoritarian political and cultural forces throughout much of the world, Freire's theologically-grounded affirmation of radical democracy, social justice, historical possibility, and the absolute dignity of the human person remains as vital and relevant as ever.

This is the first book-length study in English to investigate Freire's landmark educational theory and practice through the lens of his lifelong Catholicism. A Pedagogy of Faith explores this often-overlooked dimension of one of the most globally prominent and influential educational thinkers of the past fifty years. Leopando illustrates how vibrant currents within twentieth-century Catholic theology shaped central areas of Freire's thought and activism, especially his view of education as a process of human formation in light of the divinely-endowed “vocation” of persons to shape culture, society, and history. With the contemporary resurgence of authoritarian political and cultural forces throughout much of the world, Freire's theologically-grounded affirmation of radical democracy, social justice, historical possibility, and the absolute dignity of the human person remains as vital and relevant as ever.

The "pedagogy of God" lies at the heart of the restoration currently advancing in the area of religious education and catechesis. According to the General Directory for Catechesis, the primary difficulty facing catechesis today is that catechists do not yet have a full understanding of "the conception of catechesis as a school of faith, an initiation and apprenticeship in the entire Christian life."

The "pedagogy of God" lies at the heart of the restoration currently advancing in the area of religious education and catechesis. According to the General Directory for Catechesis, the primary difficulty facing catechesis today is that catechists do not yet have a full understanding of "the conception of catechesis as a school of faith, an initiation and apprenticeship in the entire Christian life."

Based on the teachings of Jesus and a biblical foundation, this book presents a new framework for education and teaching, referred to as the shalom education model, that addresses four essential questions in education (why teach, what to teach, how to teach and who are teachers?). After explaining the theoretical background of shalom, the book investigates a range of contemporary educational issues including gender identity, bullying, disability, linguistic and cultural diversity, and social justice, and presents practical guidelines that can be applied to classroom teaching. The book also emphasizes the role of teachers as missional leaders who help students unlock their full potential.

In Teaching and Christian Practices several university professors describe and reflect on their efforts to allow historic Christian practices to reshape and redirect their pedagogical strategies. Whether allowing spiritually formative reading to enhance a literature course, employing table fellowship and shared meals to reinforce concepts in a pre-nursing nutrition course, or using Christian hermeneutical practices to interpret data in an economics course, these teacher-authors envision ways of teaching and learning that are rooted in the rich tradition of Christian practices, as together they reconceive classrooms and laboratories as vital arenas for faith and spiritual growth.

Christian teachers have long been thinking about what content to teach, but little scholarship has been devoted to how faith forms the actual process of teaching. Is there a way to go beyond Christian perspectives on the subject matter and think about the teaching itself as Christian? In this book David I. Smith shows how faith can and should play a critical role in shaping pedagogy and the learning experience.