Professional paper
Catechists and Challenges of Croatian Contemporary Society and Croatian Contemporary School
Josip Šimunović
orcid.org/0000-0003-0253-1393
; Catholic Faculty of Theology, University of Zagreb
Abstract
In the last twenty years, since the beginning of a renewed coexistence of the Catholic catechism with other school subjects in the Croatian educational-teaching reality up to now, it has been pointed out that catechists have to be believers, witnesses, professionals, prophets, educators, teachers, …These postulates are valid for all times, despite the fact that each time brings its own characteristics and specific situations. The topic of the article directs us to think about catechists and challenges that the Croatian contemporary society and Croatian contemporary school puts on them. The first chapter of the article presents the reflections on the catechists and the challenges of the Croatian contemporary society. Catechists, as an integral part of the Church and society as well, have a daily opportunity and mission in their work, as the prophets of the Church and the state employees, to connect the Church, its teaching and activity, with the social plural reality, which is also evident in the school educational system. In this we see a permanent challenge that the contemporary Croatian society puts on the catechists, and the challenge is that their spiritual and religious identity has to be contextualized in contemporary social reality. Accordingly, catechists have a very complex task of integrating faith into contemporary Croatian social reality, and also of integrating the contemporary Croatian social reality into their own faith and their students’ faith as well. In order to do that, they have to overcome the cognitive stress. The second chapter observes the catechists facing the challenges of contemporary Croatian school. Croatian school educational-teaching system, as a part of an integral educationalteaching system of the Republic of Croatia, is at the beginning of a complex and lengthy process of forming a modern Croatian school, carrying out the strategy of The National Curriculum Framework for Preschool, General Compulsory and Secondary Education. The Catholic catechism is a part of Croatian school educational-teaching system. Affected by the changes in carrying out the strategies of the mentioned National Curriculum and all the accompanying legislative acts, it wants to respond the challenges and tasks of school and the addressee, taking into account the current political, social and cultural, church, educational and religious changes in a democratic and pluralistic society. As such, the Catholic catechism in primary and secondary schools cannot be viewed without the ones who take part in conducting the teaching activities, and those are the catechists and students. Apart from their concern for carrying out the religious teaching at all levels the catechists are facing the challenges of contemporary school. Three challenges that are put on the catechists and students are being discussed in co-forming a modern Croatian school: affirmation of formative elements at school, methodical-didactical competence and school pastoral.
Keywords
men catechists; women catechists; contemporary Croatian society; contemporary Croatian school; cognitive stress; upbringing; methodical-didactical competence; school pastoral
Hrčak ID:
79518
URI
Publication date:
3.4.2012.
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