REA Presidential Address: Spaces of Inter-cultural Provocation for Religious Formation

• Published in: Religious education Vol. 103; no. 4; pp. 396 - 408
• Main Author: Irizarry, José R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Decatur Taylor & Francis Group 12.08.2008; Routledge; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Cultural Context; Cultural Differences; Cultural Pluralism; Culture; Differences; Educational Practices; Faith; Multiculturalism & pluralism; Religious Education; Teacher Expectations of Students
• ISSN: 0034-4087; 1547-3201
• DOI: 10.1080/00344080802250644

The transformational perspective of religious education compels its practitioners with the collective hope that in passing on the faith, from one generation to the other and among contemporaries, another possible world may be forged. As religious educators they have chosen to participate of this task of faith sharing and human transformation with a form of scholarship and practice that is conceptually paradoxical. As educators, rightly concerned with objectives, the handling of the resources of time and space, developmentally appropriate experiences, and evaluative frameworks, they are the crafters of what is "possible". Nevertheless, as religious people they strive to immerse learners' imaginations in the transcendental reflection of things that are not yet, but are worth pursuing because of their value, because of what they evoke, because they irradiate beauty and provide meaning, because they point to the existence of an un-masterable "Other" that escapes the grasp, holding everyone in continuous wonder. For these reasons they may also be considered the inciters of the "impossible". The main goal of the author's invitation to consider how "culture matters" is to challenge religious educators to take a deliberate look at the contexts of religious educational practices as spaces where the gifts of human diversity and the dynamics of cultural representation can produce articulations of faith that can connect all more readily and actively to the reality they seek to respond to and to transform. (Contains 4 footnotes.)