A praxis-based approach to liberating theological education : a Cape Town case study

Abstract

This study begins by framing the challenges for theological education/formation which remain disconnected from urban realities. The rationale for the study stems from a personal experience as a participant in a praxis-based approach to theological education during the Leadership in Urban Transformation (LUT) course in 2016, which opened up a quest to understand liberative pedagogy for the urban context.

The aim of the principal research question is to discover how a praxis-based approach shapes the consciousness and actions of urban practitioners towards liberating engagements with their urban contexts. The research methodology is grounded in the transformative paradigms of a praxis-based approach and Womanist theological conceptions which are presented as the vehicle to explore theological education in Cape Town. The aim of the study is investigated in three ways, namely (1) focus groups with theological educators, alumni of theological education programmes, community-based practitioners and ministers, (2) an auto ethnographic exploration and (3) semi-structured interviews with 2016 LUT participants.

As a methodology the praxis cycle and the requisite series of action-reflection

movements – exploring immersion, social analysis, theological reflection and co- constructing plans for action – were used as a framework to analyse lived

spiritualty in the city. Utilising the praxis cycle, participatory action research methods and pastoral ethnographic interviews, data was collected, complied, transcribed, reviewed and scrutinised using thematic analysis to identify themes for examination.

An autoethnographic chapter expounding on the biography of the researcher in conversation with Womanist theological literature and a praxis-based approach preceded the ethnographic investigation of the narratives of the LUT participants. Throughout the autoethnography, four quintessential resources of Womanist theology – redemptive self-love, critical engagement, radical subjectivity, and traditional communalism – were amalgamated with the movements of the praxis cycle to contribute to a developing pedagogical method for urban challenges.

In the ethnographic research, the praxis cycle movements and Womanist ideals aided in identifying: (1) how the context of the city was brought to life for LUT participants, (2) how participants received new lenses to read the past, present and future of urban contexts, (3) how the participants refined or developed fresh faith practices, and (4) what dissonances were generated for participants in the learning process. Finally, a revitalising orientation of theological education/formation using the praxis cycle methodology preparing practitioners for informed engagement with urban challenges was outlined.

Synthesising the study, focus group themes and imaginative scenarios were brought into conversation with the ethnographic explorations and relevant literature to substantiate how the praxis-based approach in tandem with womanist theology were joined reflecting liberative pedagogical and epistemological features for urban theological education. Finally, praxis-based and Womanist approaches where used to propose a transformative urban pedagogical framework employing Katie Geneva Cannon’s transformative pedagogical imperatives consisting of historic ethos, embodied pathos and communal logos. In addition, a fresh conception of imaginative oikos was fused together with Cannon’s ideals towards a liberative praxis-based pedagogical framework suitable to prepare practitioners for urban challenges.