Children's Spirituality and Refugee Experience - A Practical Theology (DS9260C)

Content

The unit engages learners in a critical and practical theological study of children’s and adolescent spirituality. It investigates the understandings and issues belonging to the lived experiences of refugee and war-affected young people. The “experiential mode” of inquiry will focus on the work of David Hay and Rebecca Nye, Elaine Champagne and Brendan Hyde among others, and explore the notion of "spiritual connectedness”. The nature of war-affected and refugee children and adolescent spirituality will be examined, drawing on their accounts from war zones and in diaspora. Separate case studies will be identified, and analysis of the various qualitative methodologies explored. Critique of research methods suited to the practical theological task will be examined through the lens of a “mutual critical correlation” method guided by Swinton and Mowat. This will enable students to engage in a practical theology, offered through active participation in designing simple research tasks. These studies and tasks are relevant to pastoral ministries where refugee children and adolescents are involved.

Learning outcomes

Unit sequence

Prerequisites: one unit in BA, BN, or BS at level 8 or 9, and one unit in CT at level 8 or 9

Pedagogy

The pedagogical framework engages an inquiry-based approach which is underpinned by a constructivist learning model that is person-centred and acknowledges ministry experiences as an integral part of theological learning. A critical analysis and interpretation of children’s and adolescent spirituality will be explored and assessed through ‘Deep Learning’ methods and techniques. Case studies utilising various relevant methodologies will assist in the study of refugee children’s spiritual, cultural, learning and social needs. Assessment tasks and evaluation are guided by individual and group learning tasks.

Indicative Bibliography

• Denov, Myriam, and Bree Akesson, eds. Children Affected by Armed Conflict: Theory, Method and Practice. New York: Columbia University Press, 2017.
• Green, B., & Kanongata'a, K. A., eds. Weaving Theology in Oceania: Culture, Context and Practice. Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2020.
• Hay, D., and R. Nye. The Spirit of the Child. Rev. ed. London: Harper Collins, 2006.
• Hyde, B. Children and Spirituality: Searching for Meaning and Connectedness. London: Jessica Kingsley, 2008.
• Machel, G. The Impact of War on Children. London: Hurst and Company, 2001.
• Swinton, John, and Harriet Mowat. Practical Theology and Qualitative Research. 2nd ed. London: SCM Press, 2016.
• Güngör, Derya, and Dagmar Strohmeier. Contextualizing Immigrant and Refugee Resilience: Cultural and Acculturation Perspectives. Cham: Springer, 2020,
• van Manen, M. Researching lived Experience: Human Science for an Action Sensitive Pedagogy. 2nd ed. Abingdon: Routledge, 2017.
• Watters, Charles. Refugee Children: Towards the Next Horizon. London: Routledge, 2008.
• Denzin, N. K., and Y. S. Lincoln, eds. The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research. 5th ed. Thousand Oaks: SAGE, 2017.

Assessment