Critical Philosophies and Christian Education in the Digital Era

Abstract

Contemporary Christian Education has been documented to be catching up with technological and educational advancements of the digital era in its praxis. However, there needs to be more discussion about changes and challenges around the underlying educational philosophies in Christian Education as a result of information technology and globalization. More than just adopting the new communication technologies in teaching, contemporary Christian Education needs to equip children and youth to negotiate new ideological encounters enabled by technologies and to navigate through a world of multiplicities. The main argument in this article is that critical philosophies are useful for navigating such a world, and Christian educators might find benefits in adopting critical philosophies with a purpose of re-thinking and re-practicing Christian education that is relevant and connected to 21st-century contexts. Through critical reflections on his experience as a Christian educator and an academic, the author explores the ways Christianity responded to the changing world throughout the history, and elaborates why critical philosophies are relevant for our contemporary world(s). The implications are discussed in terms of what parts of and how Christian Education should change when Christian educators adopt critically-oriented reforms.