•  
  •  
 

Abstract

Teachers, students, and all other stakeholders in education share a common purpose that is realized through two specific objectives: to teach individuals and to build community. This might seem a utopian goal, particularly given the circumstances found in contemporary classrooms and schools. How can education be reimagined, given the many constraints that make change difficult? Our research has revealed an approach whereby teachers, students, administrators, professors, and parents can construe the many challenges of education not as problems to be solved but as opportunities to live within the inherent tensions and to transform the reality around them. This paper explores the nature of a spirituality of communion and its function in education—not only in schools sponsored by religious institutions, but in all education. It discusses the nature of education when it is approached from this perspective and presents narrative examples of individuals whose experience demonstrates how education can be reimagined through a spirituality of communion. It concludes with reflections from Chiara Lubich concerning rules of formation for dialogue that suggest how those who differ might establish genuine relationships. These principles also suggest how others might extend the research we have done in North America to other cultural contexts.

Download

Share

COinS