The university classroom as a hermeneutical community for the contextualisation of pastoral care in South Africa

Abstract

This article originates from a practical theological paradigm and uses an auto-ethnographic research method as it is a reflection on my own teaching and learning duties at the Faculty of Theology to multi-cultural students. The saying is that effective learning occurs as a result of effective teaching strategies. The research question is: What aspects are of importance in the development of an effective teaching and learning strategy that can benefit multi-cultural pastoral students? The article presents three important aspects based on the view that the (university) classroom can be a hermeneutical community. The article unfolds by discussing the plea for the contextualisation of pastoral care in South Africa, followed by a discussion of what makes a classroom a hermeneutical community. Lastly, three different teaching theories for theological education are presented. The underlying principle is the lecturer’s understanding of teaching and learning theories and how to apply them to reach multi-cultural students in a holistic way (i.e. cognitive, motivational, affective and spiritual). Learning then becomes an active engagement where the content of pastoral modules is interpreted and understood from a cultural context and biblical perspective.