Critical Religious Educators: the Role of Graduate Studies in their Professional Development

Abstract

This research examines what form of knowledge is constitutive of professional development for a critical religious educator and to what degree a specific graduate course in religious education impacts on the personal and professional growth of the educator. The concern of this thesis is with epistemology from the perspective of critical theory with insights from poststructuralism. Therefore, the professional development of the religious educator has been considered in the light of the cognitive interest that constitutes the technical, practical and emancipatory interests of the teacher.