Steps Towards a Pedagogy of Pilgrimage? Introducing the Research Findings of the SpiRiTex Project 2018 in Belgium

This paper documents the central findings of the first round of the SpiRiTex-Project “Sacred Spaces, Rituals and Texts in European Teacher Education”, which was conceived as a pilot project, running in the Northern part of Belgium (Flanders) from the 21st till the 25th of May 2018. The general aim of the project is to introduce future teachers of religious education in powerful learning environments, in which they can discover the spiritual and religious capital of Europe. Through direct experiences they are invited to learn in the presence of European fellows in theology and religious education teacher education. The basic assumption of the project is that the three spiritual sources can become vital resources for personal and professional development, when they are recreated, redefined and reappropriated in the very act of learning. This paper offers a qualitative-empirical insight in the first pilot project in Flanders, in which the focus was on the element of sacred space.

Teacher education, religious education, pilgrimage, sacred space, performative learning, learning in the presence of the other