Page 131 - TWO OF A KIND • Erik Renkema

particularly in the content of this celebration, we detected another aspect of
limitations in practice: the content of the celebration was not fully discussed by
the students. This single case study is worthwhile, therefore, because we see a new
perspective on limitations of the expression of school values in practice. Without
this specific research, we would not have been able to fully understand the processes
that create these limitations. Now that we detected this new perspective, we have
more data to conduct further research in order to develop the correspondence
between values and practices of cooperation schools. 5
8.4. The role of the researcher
In the process of designing the experimental celebration, the researcher played an important role. This role was twofold.
First, in all meetings of the participants, the researcher related the motives and perceptions of the teachers to the school values: both formal as well as prescribed by the teachers. Everything that was discussed needed to be related to these values. Second, the researcher emphasized the concept of dialogue. This concept was the main reason for teachers to participate in this research: it was their desire to implement dialogue in an experimental celebration. In all meetings, the researcher presented the concept of dialogue as an important characteristic and requirement of the celebration, in line with the school values and the teachers’ motives for participating.
It turned out to be important that the researcher underlined these two aspects. Apparently, in the process of designing new practices for religious education, teachers find it challenging to keep in mind the relation between these practices and the school values, both as formally set out in school documents and as prescribed by the teachers themselves. Deliberate implementation of school values remains a challenge.
A PILOT STUDY
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