- Title
- A praxis approach to learning: epistemological implications for religious education in a Christian context
- Creator
- Clement, Neville David
- Relation
- University of Newcastle Research Higher Degree Thesis
- Resource Type
- thesis
- Date
- 2005
- Description
- Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
- Description
- Groome’s (1976; 1977; 1980; 1991; 1998) innovative application of praxis to Christian religious education in his ‘shared Christian praxis’ has significant epistemological implications relating to the way that knowledge is both rendered and applied. Reflection on the epistemological implications of a praxis approach to learning and teaching occupies three main areas of interest. The first area focuses on the nature of praxis with its attendant implications for knowing and learning as it has developed in Western thought from Aristotle to the more recent formulations of Dewey, Piaget, Freire and Habermas. A comprehensive analysis of the epistemology of praxis necessitates an historical examination of the integral role of imagination in knowing and of poetics in facilitating praxis, as proposed by Ricoeur and Kearney. Attention is given to the role of reflection in knowing and to the role of formative influences in the justification of knowledge. The second area attends to an analysis of the relation between knowing and action in the Christian tradition beginning with the thought of Ancient Israel, extending into the New Testament documents, to the concept of conscience in Aquinas and Luther, and the ‘practical intent’ of Divine Revelation. Particular attention is given to the ministry and pedagogy of Jesus of Nazareth, and the significance of narrative for knowing for the Early Church and the theology of Divine Revelation. The third area of interest is an analysis of Groome’s application of praxis focussing on its epistemological and theological underpinnings, the interrelation of narrative and action, and the integrity of the critical apparatus. Reflection on these three areas culminates in the delineation of the epistemological implications of a praxis approach to learning in a Christian context in terms of the nature of praxis, knowing and praxis, the learning-teaching environment, and the social and historical situatedness of praxis. Specific consideration is given to the nature and role of reflection, and the epistemological, theological and practical implications of narrative, in order that a creative response is made to the contemporary challenges of religious education in the Christian context.
- Subject
- religious education; Christian education; praxis approach; reflection; THESIS 2938
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1491005
- Identifier
- uon:53024
- Rights
- Copyright 2005 Neville David Clement
- Language
- eng
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