Abstract
A growing momentum of challenge to James Fowler’s stage-based approach to faith development demands a sociological and educational paradigm shift. Through an examination of the impact of social media upon young people’s development, this chapter explores identity formation in teenagers through the framing of ‘journeys of faith’, and the implications that this has for church schools. The permanent yet transient interaction of multiple social stories, locates teenagers within a ‘multi-logue’ of 24-7 interaction, narrative shaping and identity formation. Through a deepening understanding of this social context, schools can become better equipped to provide the support and celebration of narrative that allows faith to develop in a refreshingly and reassuringly non-linear manner.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsNotes
- 1.
The growing chorus of dissenting voices is drawn from a variety of disciplines, and is most succinctly drawn together by David Heywood in his highly critical paper, Faith Development Theory: A Case for Paradigm Change (Heywood 2008). This paper mixes together the nuanced thinking of Astley, Streib and Reich and is further built upon by psychologist Dr Adrian Coyle in his 2011 paper, Critical Responses to Faith Development Theory: A Useful Agenda for Change? (Coyle 2011). Neither paper addresses the context of church school education explicitly, but both provide a rich academic response to the dominance of Fowler.
- 2.
A range of further ideas for school leaders , alongside a deeper ethnographic study of the ‘ONESTORY’ project at The Nottingham Emmanuel School, is unpacked in Wolfe (2016).
- 3.
An Act of Worship refers to the usually daily opportunity offered for collective worship within a school community . This may occur in a variety of forms, involving students and staff, and may include for example teaching, sung worship , prayers and other activities.
References
Astley, J. (1991). How Faith Grows. London: Church House Publishing.
Beckwith, I. (2004). Postmodern Children’s Ministry. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
Brown, A. (2016). How to See Collective Worship Anew. Cambridge: Grove Books.
Church of England Education Office. (2015). The Fruits of the Spirit: A Church of England Discussion Paper on Character Education [online]. Retrieved March 31, 2017, from https://churchofengland.org/media/2386307/fruits_of_the_spirit.pdf
Church of England Education Office. (2016). The Church of England Vision for Education: Deeply Christian, Serving the Common Good [online]. Retrieved March 24, 2017, from https://www.churchofengland.org/media/2532968/gs_2039_-_church_of_england_vision_for_education.pdf
Coyle, A. (2011). Critical Responses to Faith Development Theory: A Useful Agenda for Change? Archive for the Psychology of Religion, 33(3), 281–298.
Erikson, E. (1959). Identity and the Life Cycle. New York: International Universities Press.
Fowler, J. (1981). Stages of Faith: The Psychology of Human Development and the Quest for Meaning. San Francisco: Harper & Row.
Heywood, D. (2008). Faith Development Theory: A Case for Paradigm Change. Journal of Beliefs and Values, 29(3), 263–272.
Piaget, J. (1932). The Moral Judgment of the Child. Glencoe, IL: The Free Press.
Statista. (2014). Average Number of Facebook Friends of Users in the United States as of February 2014, by Age Group [online]. Retrieved March 31, 2017, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/232499/americans-who-use-social-networking-sites-several-times-per-day/
Wolfe, A. (2016). Journeys of Faith – Personal Stories and Faith Development in Church Schools. Cambridge: Grove Books.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Wolfe, A. (2018). Journeys of Faith: Personal Stories, ‘Multi-logue’ Narrative and Faith Formation in Schools. In: Stuart-Buttle, R., Shortt, J. (eds) Christian Faith, Formation and Education. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62803-5_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62803-5_10
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-62802-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-62803-5
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)