Page 127 - TWO OF A KIND • Erik Renkema

7. Conclusions
We asked the following question: What are the teachers’ motives for pursuing an experimental celebration at a cooperation school, what concepts and design requirements are involved, and how can this celebration be evaluated from a theory of dialogue and from the teachers’ perspective? Based on the research discussed above, we can draw the following three conclusions.
Our first conclusion concerns the identity of this specific cooperation school as an 5 ‘encounter school’. Theory about encounter in (religious) education emphasizes
this characteristic as important to teachers in handling plurality (Wardekker and
Miedema 2001a; Jackson 2004; Keaten and Soukup 2009; Leganger-Krogstad
2003). The participants stress it in the meetings as an important feature of their cooperation school. They also indicate that encounter is limited in their regular practice of religious education. In the meetings, the participants interpret encounter as the practice of dialogue and interaction between students. It is the implementation of this dialogue that was the main motivation for the teachers to participate in the research. They felt the need to deal with the limitation of dialogue in their religious education. Following this interpretation, the teachers recognize and value dialogue as a key element of the new practice and a valuable addition to the regular curriculum. Therefore, the teachers underline this new practice as an expression of the value of encounter and consequently of a key concept of their school identity. We can conclude that it is possible to create new practices of religious education in which teachers recognize school values.
Second, we recognize conditions for dialogue in this new design, as interpreted by the participants. As design requirements of this experimental celebration, the participants indicate their desire to provide religious education that fosters a climate in which students are respected and feel safe, and where attention is paid to students’ personal thoughts and feelings, without making distinctions based on background or religious views. This attention is a quality that connects formal and personal values, the requirements of a celebration stated by the teachers, and the final activity. The participants interpret this climate of respect and safety and the focus on student perceptions as important conditions for the implementation of dialogue in education. This interpretation is shared by all teachers, in both general and Christian religious education. In the design of their celebration, they felt the need
A PILOT STUDY
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