• Journal of Christian Education in Korea
• /
• v.68
• /
• pp.175-216
• /
• 2021

This essay aims to seek an alternative model of catechesis, as this form of education faces various challenges from the Korean Church especially during COVID-19 pandemic. For a long time, catechesis in the Korean Church narrowly focused on the act of producing Christians who would be loyal to the local church, rather than focusing on nurturing members loyal to Christ, an issue that has been problematized in recent publications on catechesis. Thus, the loss of social trust in the Korean Church and the decline of its public image exemplify how this type of catechesis as disciple-making for local church's benefit, mostly nurtures a vertical dimension of faith. The current teaching and learning method mostly employs a unilateral transfer of doctrine from the teacher to the learner and emphasizes the memorization of doctrine. This type of instruction renders the catechesis as the most lackluster and outdated form of Christian education. This essay aims to reconceptualize the traditional model of catechesis. This essay first critically evaluates current situations of catechesis and presents several alternative meanings on the concept of doctrine. Then it explores the theories of catechesis through different models posed by Christian educators such as John Westerhoff III and Richard Osmer. The final section is devoted to presenting an alternative form of catechesis that focuses on seeking holistic faith.

• Journal of Christian Education in Korea
• /
• v.73
• /
• pp.93-115
• /
• 2023

The purpose of this study is to explore implications for intergenerational Christian education in Korean churches and families that struggle with "generational fragmentations" focusing on the conception of reciprocity and participation. For the faith community in Korea, "generational fragmentations" does not merely mean communication gaps or the disconnection between generations but also the absence of reciprocity and communal participation as a genuine intergenerational community of faith. With this phenomenon in mind, this study explores the concept of "intergenerationality" in education, focusing on reciprocity and participation. Next, this study examines the concepts of reciprocity and participation found in John Dewey's seminal works, Democracy and Education and Experience and Education based on his ideas of democracy and experience in relation to intergenerational Christian education for the Korean church and families. The present paper then attempts to find implications for intergenerational Christian education in the Korean church and family, showing the importance of an intergenerational community of faith with reciprocity and communal participation, and communal spiritual journey with children and adults.

• Journal of Christian Education in Korea
• /
• v.65
• /
• pp.163-187
• /
• 2021

The purpose of this study is to find the implications of Christian education on the relationship between the formation of faith and digital literacy in the Korean society, which is rapidly changing within the fourth Industrial Revolution today through critical conversations on educational contexts. Over the past decade, Korean society has lived in an era of rapid and radical change more than any other time through a new way of life called the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The Korean church is also facing the reality that it must fulfill its urgent mission to deliver the unchanging truth in an ever-changing era. With this in mind, this study (1) identifies digital literacy as an essential competency requested in the era of the fourth industrial revolution by examining the relationship with congregation's life as well as its definition and contents, (2) discovers educational rationale for the relationship between faith formation and digital literacy by applying educational context of Christian education with attention to the educational efficiency of digital literacy, and (3) finds educational implications of digital literacy by re-conceptualizing the contents, context, role of teachers and students, and evaluation in the context of Christian education. I hope that this study will help Christian education serve for the spread of the Gospel of Christ and the realization of the kingdom of God on this earth through digital media in the future more time-responsively and mission-practically.

• Journal of Christian Education in Korea
• /
• v.72
• /
• pp.205-223
• /
• 2022

This study was conducted to explore whether problem-solving ability mediates the effect of self-directed learning ability on interest level in a distance learning environment. The subjects of this study were 64 students in the Department of Christian Education and Early Childhood Education at A University located in Gyeonggi-do. For this study, data were collected through questionnaires on interest level, self-directed learning ability, and problem-solving ability. Collected data are analyzed using SPSS Macro and bootstrapping method. As a result, self-directed learning ability for interest level has a positive effect on .651 level. The influence of self-directed learning ability in step 2, which includes problem-solving ability, which is a parameter. It was lowered to .543 level. And the effect of problem-solving ability was found to be at .360 level. As a result, it can be judged that problem-solving ability mediates the effect of self-directed learning ability on interest level. The research results suggest that the level of interest can be improved by supporting problem-solving skills in a distance learning environment.