Irish university shines
spotlight on adult religious education
 |
| A person studying the Bible on their mobile phone |
Researchers at Dublin City University embark on a three year
project to examine adult religious education and faith development in Ireland.
By Lydia O’Kane
As the saying goes, “you never stop learning”. That can mean
learning a new skill or brushing up on an old one.
But it also applies to one’s faith and spirituality.
Many will remember their religious education when they were
at school, but what’s out there for adults who want to explore their faith
further?
This is what researchers at the Mater Dei Centre for Catholic Education at
Dublin City University want to find out, and they are currently
looking at the nature, scope and potential of religious education and faith
development for adults in Ireland.
“We really want to find out what’s happening in adult
religious education and faith development in Ireland across Catholic and other
faiths and what might people actually really what to have in the future”, says
Post-Doctoral Researcher, Dr. Bernadette Sweetman.
Spiritual hunger
“It really is needed”, she stresses, “we have currently
begun our listening phase; we have an online survey where adults are taking
part, in bigger numbers than expected, and there is really a hunger, a need for
adults to have their spiritual side addressed in a way that has been
neglected…”
From school to adult religious education
Dr. Sweetman points out that, “there is the assumption that
you learn about your faith and you have your religious education very much in a
school context… and when you leave that context there isn’t really much on
purpose there for you.”
There are traditional courses and talks during Lent with a
formal approach, she notes, but there needs to be something for people who
“learn in different ways or want to engage in a way that they haven’t done
before.”
There needs to be an honest and open reflection on what
one’s faith means to them now, she says.
Speaking about the real thirst there is in Ireland for
people to know more about their faith, she highlights that, “one of the
problems is that there isn’t really a good grasp of the language. What do we
mean when we say we’re spiritual here in Ireland or what do we mean when we are
religious.”
Dr. Sweetman stresses that, in a changing and more
pluralistic Ireland, it’s important to have that language, so that we can “have
the respect shown to us, to hold our values; to cherish them and to be able to
articulate them and then to pass them on to the next generation as well, which
is so important.”
Expectations
Asked about what she would like to see coming out of the
project, she expresses the hope that it will provide a means for people “to
build up their communities; build up their faith within those communities.”
The survey they are conducting, which is the first phase,
she says, is really to find out “what do people want and to give them a space
to reflect on where they are at the moment.”
Next year the project will be placing the emphasis on
helping communities to try out new initiatives.
Dr. Sweetman says the project is like “throwing a stone in
the water and hopefully the ripples are going to go far and wide.”
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