Thesis (Ed. D.)--George Peabody College for Teachers of Vanderbilt University, 1989. / Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 172-173).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Western Seminary, Portland, OR, 2008. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 171-176).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Dallas Theological Seminary, 2006. / Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 98-101).

This dissertation develops a public practical theology of education. It argues that education is a practice that “schools the imagination,” forming individuals and communities to operate within social imaginaries that have been shaped by a latent, anti-material, and individualistic worldview. This project aims to show that public education is a viable site for theological reflection and that the results of that reflection can generate proposals for the transformation of both religion and education. It considers how the American social imaginary is maintained by educational practices and the ways these practices influence conceptions of knowledge and human purpose. The assumption is that the shaping influence of the imaginary is not manifested so much in the content of school curricula, but tacitly exists in pedagogical processes and the explicit and implicit goals of the US educational enterprise. Using a qualitative and quantitative mixed-method approach, the project develops the construct of conscientização natal, a pedagogy of birth with utopian anthropological dimensions. Grace Jantzen’s theology and philosophy of religion and the liberative pedagogical insights of Paulo Freire are central to the constructive work. Jantzen and Freire provide a way to interpret the telos and practice of American public education with their respective analyses of “necrophilic imagination” and “objectivizing worldviews.” Additional insights are drawn from educational sociology and history, as well as Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of practice and Cornelius Castoriadis’ concept of the social imaginary. The dissertation begins by developing a theology of education, doing so with practical theological methods informed by liberation and public theologies. It proceeds to provide historical and cultural-sociological studies drawn from educational literature, amplified by a quantitative study of 125 survey participants on their understandings of the relationship between education and spirituality. The primary discoveries in these three studies are analyzed, then reflected upon theologically, yielding proposals for the transformation of practice and theory in both education and religion. For practical theologians, the project develops a robust understanding of practice that links patterns of action to social imaginaries, providing an example of how practical theology might consider issues of broad public concern.

Thesis advisor: Theresa A. O'Keefe / Grassroots church communities demonstrate what it means to resist colonial ways of learning and of being church that have been internalized and reproduced in educational and ecclesial spaces. In their practices of communal discernment, they bear witness to a kind of religious education wherein all learn with one another. Learning from the practices of these communities, this dissertation is an exercise of reimagining a religious education that resists colonial ways of being and creates the possibility for all to learn with one another in the Spirit. Informed by a theology of synodality and the principles of critical pedagogy, I argue for a religious education that is a practice of creating space for an engagement with local theologies that are grounded in the everyday, for dialogue to emerge wherein all learn through diffraction, and for the voice of the Spirit to arise from a kind of dialogue that is not merely an exchange of ideas but a meeting and being with one another. Synodality, as seen in the synodal practices of basic ecclesial communities, creates space for a church that learns together. Synodal practices show how people can do theology together in a dialogical way, discerning how the Spirit is guiding the church in the context of the everyday. Critical pedagogy, on the other hand, centers silenced voices in the practices of learning and teaching. In doing so, critical pedagogy fosters a critical awareness of hegemonic epistemologies while creating space for capacitating silenced voices in dialogue. These two foundations inform the religious education I am arguing for in this dissertation. I propose that this religious education is seen most concretely in participatory action research (PAR) which creates spaces for people to learn with one another for transformation. PAR expands the pedagogical imagination as it involves the people as active agents of the process of knowledge production, decolonizing the research process and presents a way of learning with one another in a way that is just. Using PAR as a way to do a synodal and decolonial religious education, grassroots church communities can listen to the Spirit together, guiding the church into new ways of knowing and being. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2024. / Submitted to: Boston College. School of Theology and Ministry. / Discipline: Theology and Education.

Thesis advisor: Jane E. Regan / In the contemporary United States, trauma is a significant disruptive force in the lives of families. By its nature, however, traumatic suffering isolates and marginalizes its victims, with the result that the pastoral caregiving needs of suffering people can go unrecognized and unmet. This dissertation proposes that caring for families who struggle to cope in contexts of traumatic suffering and chronic distress is a vital work of mission for the Catholic church in the twenty-first century. It further proposes that this work can best be enacted in the local church setting when configured as a synodal, trauma-aware, relational, caregiving community of practice (a STAR caregiving CoP) ministry. The ministerial model offered here is designed to enable parishes and dioceses to develop compassionate, competent ministerial initiatives that can meet the particular needs of families in their communities. Grounded in the theoretical discourses of theological anthropology, ecclesiology, situated learning theory, the ethic of care, and traumatology, the model also reflects insights drawn from the author’s qualitative doctoral research study of two pastoral caregiving ministries that serve men and women struggling with the personal traumas that erupt in family life. The STAR caregiving CoP model offers the local church a flexible, robust framework to employ in the construction and evaluation of familial pastoral caregiving ministries. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2023. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry.

While there are many calls to maintain Catholic values in National Catholic Education Association (NCEA) and (arch)diocesan standards for Catholic school leaders, there is still a lack of guidance on operationalized support for gender-expansive students. This lack of clarity hinders the ability of leaders of Catholic schools to support and accompany gender-expansive students in their schools. This lack of guidance results in unclear leadership, which can adversely affect the well-being of gender-expansive students in Catholic schools. This qualitative study explored the experiences of principals and presidents of Catholic high schools in the United States as they work with gender-expansive students and their families. It was conducted through semi-structured interviews of six principals and two presidents, who were asked questions about their practices working with gender-expansive students, the ways of proceeding they use or plan to use in these conversations, and the barriers they face to supporting these individuals institutionally. Findings revealed three themes: (a) cura personalis versus cura apostolica, (b) individualized approach versus institutional consistency, and (c) individual values and beliefs versus institutional values and beliefs. Findings suggested that individual school communities need to engage in thoughtful dialogue to define a way of proceeding. Overarching policies mandated from the top down will face barriers to implementation. At the same time, it is essential to proactively engage in the work of defining organizational values and beliefs when it comes to gender inclusivity. It is not enough to handle it on a case-by-case basis, relying on students and families to tell you what they need.

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