Embodiment: Reflections on Religious Learning in Youth Ministry

Abstract

The concept of embodiment has increasingly been in the foreground of recent debates within youth ministry and religious learning. Human experience and learning are rooted in flesh-and-blood bodies, which means that the focus of youth ministry should not only be on cognitive processes but also on concrete experiences, acts and rituals. This article aims to clarify the meaning and relevance of embodiment for religious learning in youth ministry. For this purpose, the paper reviews two lines of reflection: first, reflections based on educational learning theory and religious pedagogical theory; second, reflections based on socialization theory. Finally, the article concludes with a discussion on the consequences these two lines of reflections have for current empirical research regarding the religious learning of young people.

What About Learning in Practical Theological Studies? Toward More Conceptual Clarity

“…De Kock and Sonnenberg (2012) argue that the six families of educational learning theories (see "Interpretation of the Process of Learning" above) function as not only interpretation frameworks but also normative frameworks: Each family of theories mirrors certain ideals when it comes to learning processes, including faith practices:…”

“…De Kock and Sonnenberg (2012) reflect on learning in terms of a physical process when they address the question of how embodiment can conceptually be related to religious learning processes in youth ministry. The background for this question is the observation that youth worship events can erase religious learning (as suggested by, among others, Astley, 1984), resulting in the increasing attention paid to a bodily and physical approach in youth ministry.…”

“…This is in congruence with growing attention in religious pedagogy to learning goals in terms of emotions and experiences in addition to merely cognitive goals. (De Kock & Sonnenberg, 2012, p. 15)”…”

“…In De Kock’s (2012) work, three models of religious or catechetical education are elaborated: a behavioral model, a developmental model, and an apprenticeship model. De Kock and Sonnenberg (2012) indicate that within the last few decades, a change can be observed—from using behavioral models of religious education to adopting developmental and apprenticeship models. De Kock (2012) elaborates that in religious learning environments set up according to a behavioral model, the teacher directs the content of the lessons.…”

“…These four broad interpretations partly mirror the attempts made in the educational literature to interpret what happens when learning processes occur. In the educational sciences, these interpretation attempts are classified in six families of educational theories (based on the elaborations by Verschaffel, 1995, and Driscoll, 2000, as utilized by De Kock & Sonnenberg, 2012): (a) behaviorist theories, (b) cognitivist theories, (c) developmental theories, (d) motivational theories, (e) constructivist theories, and (f) biological theories. It is partly mirrored because our four broad interpretations of learning form another kind of categorization framework compared with the summary of the six families of educational theories.…”