Dat ik echt kan zeggen wat ik denk, ... en dat zij luisteren

Abstract

In this contribution, theoretically inspired by the work of John Dewey, the author addresses the issue of the posibilities for religious education within the Christian tradition in a context in which faith and belief do not go without saying anymore. Important for her theological view is that biblical subject-matter is interpreted in a narrative way. Biblical stories form the sediment of experiences of people there and then searching for the meaning of faith and belief in their lives, showing the search and find processes of the divine in their world. Adults and children now can relate to these stories from their situations and in their search for the divine, creating in this way new meanings and new stories. The author's plea is for cooperative searching and finding by parents and children/youngsters. Her argument is that religious education should not be conceptualised and practiced as a process of transmission - with exclusive responsibility at the side of the parents - but as a transformative and experimental process of construction of meaning in which adults (parents or teachers) and children/ youngsters collaborate. This view is illustrated by examples from an action research caried out by the author herself on this topic.