Contemporary Areas of Christian Pedagogy

Abstract

The text investigates the issue of contemporary fields of Christian pedagogy, distinguished on the basis of its identity and the specific character of its scope. The author starts off with the identity of this sub-discipline. She searches for its basis in the matter of her research. Starting points are the identity of pedagogy as the science of upbringing and the specificity of a pedagogic action, known as upbringing. The concept of various (practical, prescriptive, descriptive-experimental and theoretical) areas of pedagogy by S. Kunowski is an auxiliary concept in the analysis of the research of Christian pedagogy. According to the author the specificity of a pedagogic action is expressed by a specific combination of its two dimensions: intentionally-rational and interactive-dialogic one. Christian pedagogy may and should be present in all areas distinguished by Kunowski and also as an intentional-rational action (the fulfilment of attitudes). The anthropological-axiological perspective of Christian pedagogy derives from a personal vision of a human being and values. It also assumes that Christian upbringing is a religious upbringing in and for Christian religion, built on the basis of personal upbringing. The suggested areas of the research concerning Christian pedagogy include: Christian upbringing in its direct meaning (based on fulfilling directly defined objectives of Christian upbringing as a religious upbringing) and in its indirect meaning (based on Christian religion and fulfilled by an educationalist-teacher through educational actions in the intentionally accepted personal and Christian attitude). In the final fragment of the text, the author underlines the alarming upbringing- -educational situations and social-cultural phenomena which can have a negative influence on Christian upbringing and therefore are a challenge for a contemporary Christian pedagogy.