The Factual, Normative and Dual-level Measurement

Recontextualisation

‘Every shift in context constitutes a challenge to the Christian tradition to reformulate itself in dialogue with the relevant context’ (Boeve 2002, p. 22). This is Recontextualisation. While this may appear challenging, it is important to understand that Christianity has been recontextualising itself from the very beginning. Consider the first Council of Jerusalem deliberating the question of how Gentiles could be accommodated within the Church (Acts 15), or St Paul preaching in Athens seeking a new and culturally plausible way to speak about what God had done in Jesus Christ (Acts 17). These, and so many other examples demonstrate time and again that each new generation of Christians must experience the tradition in ways that are meaningful, plausible and relevant. The reception of the Christian heritage by the young, and perhaps not-so-young people in our schools depends on this. All those who make up our Catholic school communities are provided with the opportunity to experience and reflect on Christianity’s offer of meaning. They are encouraged to reinterpret the Christian heritage in response to the questions of their time in ways that are meaningful to their generation and their context, while all the time maintaining theological legitimacy, in short, to keep the Christian faith tradition alive and living (Boeve 2002, p. 24).

The process of Recontextualisation requires the believer to undertake a conscious critique of their context, and to develop a contextually-anchored understanding of their Christian faith, a ‘theology for today’ (Boeve 2002, pp. 108–109). Faith in God ‘remains an act of the will, a surrender that (especially today) is often accompanied by recurring doubt’ (Boeve 2002, pp. 110–111). This points to the development of what Paul Ricoeur calls ‘second naiveté’ (Ricoeur 1967, p. 351).

Dialogue

Post-Critical Belief opens up to an ongoing dialogue with both the Catholic faith tradition and the surrounding context. In a school environment this kind of dialogue becomes a pedagogical imperative, and a school engaged in these processes is called a Recontextualising Catholic Dialogue School.

To be a Recontextualising Catholic Dialogue School demands intentionality. Adults in the school community commit to an articulation of the Catholic heritage of the school that is intentional and explicit, while at the same time remaining receptive to the diversity of cultures and faiths that exist within and beyond the school. The ECSI research indicates that the development of this school type is the best way forward if schools are to be truly Catholic and intent on the personal formation of all students.

Through dialogue, all members of the Recontextualising Catholic Dialogue School get to know themselves better, become more aware of their own philosophical choices, learn to take responsibility for those choices and so deepen their identity. This diversity of voices and perspectives enhances Recontextualisation in the school and facilitates a healthy, mature development of all learners in meaningful dialogue with the Catholic faith tradition.

Catholic schools facilitate the growth and identity formation of all members of the school community, asking questions such as: What do we stand for? What do we believe? How do we shape our lives? How can the Catholic tradition, which has inspired and motivated generations before us, continue to do so today?