religious educator as cultural spec-actor: Researching self in intercultural pedagogy, The

Religious Education, Summer 2003 by Irizarry, Jose R

Scriptural witness attests to the fact that Gods call is inclusive of the individual and the individuals situation in life. God calls people out of a place so that their social and cultural experience can enhance the future meanings of communal faith. When God called Israel, the divine voice declared "I am the Lord your God who called you out of land of Egypt."7 The "Egypt experience" was going to define both the emerging Jewish and Christian biblical traditions from then on. In the same manner, the religious educator is called by vocation out of a place into the Christian community. As a bearer of such vocation the religious educator becomes the ethnographer of his own culture, the place he was called out from. He relates to other humans effectively not necessarily by trying to comprehend fully the others but by been highly aware of the nature of his participation in that relation. By virtue of his vocation he becomes the spec-actor of the religious interculture that emerges before his eyes.

CONTRASTIVE PEDAGOGY IN SELF RESEARCH

Having established some arguments for considering religious education an intercultural practice and the need for the religious educator to assess her own cultural identity within it, some suggestions of how to go about this task are in order. If we observe a religious educator in practice and take note of the theological language and religious beliefs she shares with the learning community, we can promptly identity the cultural identity that defines her. When the educator herself is not aware of that cultural identity defining her action, she comes to think of what she does as some sort of universally held rationality for the pedagogical practice. In her credo for pedagogical action Marva Collins (2000) creates an image of educational excellence with the following language:

I bear the flame that enlightens the world I fire the imagination. I give might to dreams and wings to the aspirations of men. I create all that is good, stalwart, and long-lasting. I build for the future by making my every effort superior today. I am the parent of progress, the creator of creativity, the designer of opportunity, and the molder of human destiny. I wear the wisdom and contributions of all ages. I dispel yesterdays myths and find today's facts. I am ageless and timeless. I banish mediocrity and discourage being average. I stir ambition, forge ideals, and create keys that open the door to worlds never dreamed. I am the source of creation, the outlet of inspiration, the dream of aspiration.

A first reading of this credo may find the words poetic and inspirational. For sure, the educator has produced such a language out of a deep and authentic reflection on her own practice. The power of the language makes other educators claim that "this credo should inspire all teachers" and that it can serve "as the anchor and torchlight for their pedagogical practices" (Gay 2000). As a credo, it has been enunciated out of the experience of an individual sense of being and commitment. However, the intercultural spec-actor should ask how much of the creedal statement represents the cultural perspective of the practitioner being translated into a pedagogical practice that will be carried on comprehensively. The religious spec-actor, as well as the cultural "other," will point out to the emphasis on "enlightened" rationality, idealistic perspective, progressivist outlook, social opportunism and meritocracy, and historical presentism and find an educator very well rooted on her cultural identity. Is the educator aware of the explicit and implicit responses of learners who are cultural "others" to the practice informed by this creedal statement? In religious education, some prominent themes such as safe spaces, dialogical teaching, faith development, democratic processes, and learner-centered education carry also the mark of Western American and European cultural identity. In what ways can the educator become aware on the impinging of her cultural identity upon her practice?