Het duurt nog even, maar op 2 oktober start de jaarlijkse week van de opvoeding. Dit keer met als thema ‘buiten de lijntjes’. Het gaat dit jaar dus om out of the box denken en doen in de opvoeding. Het thema heeft ook te maken met de ontmoeting met ‘de ander’: diegene die op het eerste gezicht niet in jouw straatje past of die geen onderdeel uitmaakt van jouw ‘eigen’ groep en de comfortzone van je kind of jou als opvoeder.

Ontmoeting met ‘de ander’ is ook het thema van de jaarlijkse conferentie van de Religious Education Association: Die start precies een maand later, op 2 november; in St Louis (Missouri). Daar zal ik een bijdrage leveren onder de titel “learning in encounter and foundations of education”. Ik zal daar twee uitgangspunten uit mijn boek Opvoeden is gekkenwerk bediscussiëren, namelijk (a) opvoeden is gericht op vrijheid en recht en (b) een kind is niet zichzelf zonder de ander. Hieronder tref je de summary aan van wat ik daar ga doen.

Het is een mooie kans om wat in technische termen begon als valorisatie project weer terug te brengen in het internationale academische discours. Zeer benieuwd wat dat weer gaat opleveren. Maar zoals gezegd: de maand daarvoor is er de week van de opvoeding. Wie weet kan daarin ook nog wat georganiseerd worden rond de thema’s ‘ontmoeting met de ander’, ‘buiten de lijntjes’ en uitgangspunten van goede opvoeding in deze tijd. Ik houd me aanbevolen.

Learning in encounter and foundations of education
Under the heading of the main theme Learning in Encounter, two of the main questions of this year’s conference are: (a) how do we deal with differences, and (b) which theological, educational, and philosophical foundations should our learning be based on? Learning in encounter and to learn from differences are at the very heart of my just published (in Dutch) book: Opvoeden is gekkenwerk – 11 uitgangspunten. In English, this reads: Raising a child is madness – 11 foundations of education. On the basis of 11 foundations, the book, from my academic, professional and personal point of view, reflects on important ideals and interests for bringing up a new generation nowadays and in the near future. These 11 foundations have both theological, educational and philosophical underpinnings and, as said, learning in encounter and learning from differences are more than once at the very heart of it.

The book is to be considered as a valorisation project of insights derived from three sources of reflection. In the first place a reflection on outcomes of my practical theological research on religious education and youth ministry practices. In the second place a reflection on what I as a religious educator at the Protestant Theological University in The Netherlands, implicitly or explicitly communicate when it comes to foundations of ‘good’ (religious) education. In the third place a reflection on my own practices as father in my own family and being a foster family for children and teenagers in vulnerable situations. I am convinced that all these reflections also borrow from insights derived from debates, interactions and research within international networks in my work, among which the Religious Education Association is an important one.

Given the main theme of the 2017 REA conference, I would like to focus in my paper presentation on two particular foundations: (2) Education is directed towards freedom and right: education is aiming at letting children become free persons who contribute to a righteous world; (3) One cannot be an individual without the other: by education a child becomes him/herself only by letting the life of others be part of his/her own life.

In this conference/paper I would like to bring back the content of the book into the academic and professional debate among religious educators by focusing on learning in encounter with the other who is different. Furthermore I would like to address in particular the ideal of freedom and the ideal of right(eousness) in this very encounter. Both theological land educational/pedagogical arguments will be elaborated. Main contribution of the paper presentation is an initiation of a fruitful discussion on foundations of education in the nowadays context worldwide.