Page 116 - TWO OF A KIND • Erik Renkema
P. 116

CHAPTER 5
but the outsider–researcher determines priorities and directs the process (Herr and Anderson 2005). The first author designed four group sessions and created an agenda for each session. There was consensus about the objective of the trajectory and the research question, but the steps were designed by the first author, and the teachers followed the directions of the researcher. Of course it was not clear beforehand what kind of celebration would be constructed, what shape and content it would have, or how dialogue was implemented in this experiment. The intention was to discover those things during the process. There were three sessions to develop the new celebration and one to evaluate it. All meetings consisted of two elements. First, the researcher encouraged individual reflection on values and celebration requirements. Second, he organized discussion between the teachers about their individual reflection and the consequences for the experimental celebration.
The first three meetings took place during a three-week period in November 2016. The objectives of the first meeting were: to detect school values as interpreted by the teachers, to share professional values; and to reflect on design requirements of a new practice interpreted as a celebration. The second meeting consisted of the reflection on the school values in relation to the common practice of religious education, and on the content of the new design. The third meeting was organized to construct this practice in relation to the values and requirements. In December 2017, the activity was put into practice. In January 2017, a fourth session meeting was organized to evaluate this activity.
In all four session meetings, the first author referred to dialogue as a possible way of expressing encounter as a key value of school identity. By asking questions, summarizing a part of the meeting, or stating a possible conclusion, he verified whether and how the participants interpret dialogue as a central feature of a practice of religious education at their school. Especially in the three meetings that prepare for the celebration, the first author asks the participants what motives they have for organizing didactics and the role of dialogue in this context. In doing so, he tries to verify the interpretation of dialogue that the participants express in implementing this value and what concepts of religious education direct their actions.
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