Collaborative Practical Theology

Engaging Practitioners in Research on Christian Practices
Erscheinungsjahr 2019
ISBN: 978-90-04-41322-1
Verlag: Brill

Buch, Englisch, Band 8, 371 Seiten, Format (B × H): 150 mm x 231 mm, Gewicht: 567 g

Reihe: Theology in Practice

Collaborative Practical Theology documents and analyses research on Christian practices conducted by academic practical theologians in collaboration with practitioners of different kinds in Christian practices all around the world. These practitioners include professional practitioners, everyday believers, volunteers and students in theological education. The book offers rationales for setting up joint investigation groups with different ‘communities of practice’, describes a wide range of collaborative research strategies and methods and also has a clear eye for their limitations. In Christian practices faith is mediated, enacted and nurtured. The aim of the book is to improve the utility of theological research on these practices. It communicates the vision that academic research is for the people of God in today’s world.

Autoren/Hrsg.

de Roest, Henk

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Praktische Theologie Christliches Leben & Praxis

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Contents

Introduction

The Valorisation of Practical Theology

1 Valorising Practical Theology: Enhancing the Practical Relevance of Research

1 We. All. Benefit!

2 Knowledge Valorisation, Collaborative Research, Stakeholder Orientation and Lifelong Learning in a Global Context

3 Collaborative Research in Practical Theology

4 Empirical Theology

5 The Structure of Practical Theological Research and the Problem of Implementation

6 Knowledge Transfer Activities in Practical Theology

7 Independent Academic Practical Theological Research?

8 The Researcher and the Researched

9 Two-Way Flows of Knowledge

10 Conclusion

2 Knowledge Transfer in Practical Theological Education: Seven Instructive Curriculum Reforms

1 Introduction

2 University of Leiden: an Attempt to Establish a Chair in Practical Theology

3 Franz Stephan Rautenstrauch, University of Vienna: Preventing Routines

4 Friedrich Schleiermacher, Humboldt University: Shaping an Academic Spirit

5 William Harper, University of Chicago: Shaping the Culture of the Nation

6 Anton Boisen, Clinical Pastoral Education: Co-Operative Inquiry

7 The Network for African Congregational Theology: Radical
Contextualisation

8 Protestant Theological University (PThU): Internship, Learning Empirical Research

9 Conclusion

3 Continuing Education in Community: Lifelong Learning in Communities of Practice

1 Introduction

2 Continuing Ministerial Education in the Netherlands in the Nineteenth Century

3 Continuing Education in Recent Decades

4 The Continuing Need for Continuing Education

5 Conclusion

4 The Scope of Practical Theology" Practices, Addressees, and Relation to Theology and the Social Sciences

1 Introduction

2 Practical Theology from the 1800s to the 1960s: Church-Oriented Practical Theology

3 Practical Theology Since the 1960s: Broadening the Domain

4 Practical Theology Since the 1980s: the Empirical Turn

5 Practices of the Church and Practices of the World

6 Practical Theology and Theology

7 Systematic Theology in Need of Practical Theology

8 Practical Theology and the Social Sciences

9 Conclusion

Collaborative Research Approaches and Methods in Practical Theology

5 Know-Why, Know-How and Know-What The Crisis of Routines and the Practitioner’s Needs for Knowledge and Skills

1 Introduction

2 The Concept of Practice, Crises of Routines and Professional Communities of Practice

3 Crises of Routines in Churchly Practices

4 Consequences for Knowledge Transfer in Contemporary Practical Theology

5 Practical Theology: a Science of Crisis?

6 The Information Needs of Professional Practitioners

7 Conclusion

6 Collaborative Research in Practical Theology: Rationales for Collaborative Approaches

1 Introduction

2 The Missio Dei Rationale

3 The Emerging Community Rationale

4 The Epistemological Rationale

5 The Innovation and Professionalisation Rationale

6 The Post-Colonial Rationale

7 The Utility Rationale

8 Conclusion

7 Doing Research in Community: A Multiplicity of Collaborative Research Practices

1 Introduction

2 Collaborative Research: an Example

3 Relational Approaches: Some General Characteristics

4 Action Research (AR)

5 Participatory Action Research (PAR) and Participatory Research (PR)

6 Theological Action Research (TAR)

7 Collaborative Ethnography (CE)

8 Change Laboratory (CL)

9 Appreciative Inquiry (ai)

10 Narrative Inquiry (NI) and Collaborative Narrative Inquiry (CNI)

11 Professional Learning Community (PLC), Research Community (RC), Knowledge Workplace (KW) and Action Research Community (ARC)

12 Citizen Science (CS)

13 Some Collaborative Methods

14 Conclusion

8 Collaborative Research in Practical Theology: Nuances and Limitations: Constraints to Participation

1 Introduction

2 Reliability or ‘Good Reasons for the Ivory Tower’

3 Nuancing Collaboration

4 Different Types and Roles of Stakeholders

5 Asymmetry and Power

6 Remedies against Power Mechanisms

7 Limits and Constraints to Participation

8 Mutual Beneficial Collaboration?

9 The Dynamics in Research Groups

10 Conclusion

9 Taking the Initiative: Practitioners Doing Collaborative Research
Communities of Practice Becoming Research Communities

1 Introduction

2 Practitioners Becoming Research-Informed

3 The Knowledge of the Community

4 Teachers Doing Research in Community

5 Chaplains Doing Research in Community

6 Ministers Doing Research in Community

7 Conclusion

Bibliography

Index

Über Autor(innen)

Henk de Roest, Ph.D. Leiden University (1998), since 2001 Professor of Practical Theology, currently at the Protestant Theological University, Groningen. He is ordained minister, Dutch Reformed Church, 1987-1999. He has published monographs, and articles on the communal dimension of Christian practices.