Contested Professionalism and Spiritual Legitimization: Catholic Religious Education Teachers and the Theme of Spirituality in Contemporary Italian Schools

Based on observations and in-depth interviews with Catholic Religious Education teachers in Italy, this sociological study tackles “spirituality” as a register of legitimization in their professional settings. Compared with more established topics of “religious culture”, the motives of “spirituality...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Religions
Main Author: Silhol, Guillaume (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: MDPI 2024
In: Religions
Further subjects:B Spirituality
B Religious Education
B Justification
B professional legitimization
B Schools
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Description
Summary:Based on observations and in-depth interviews with Catholic Religious Education teachers in Italy, this sociological study tackles “spirituality” as a register of legitimization in their professional settings. Compared with more established topics of “religious culture”, the motives of “spirituality” appear as a lesser category of justification in teachers’ discourse in two significant aspects: teaching about “spirituality” as a necessary component of human experience, and talking about their own relationship to “spirituality” as proof of sincere commitment and/or professionalism. Thus, in the context of teachers’ labor, “spirituality” constitutes an ambivalent category that can serve the purposes of Catholic institutions as well as forms of criticism of authority.
ISSN:2077-1444
Contains:Enthalten in: Religions
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.3390/rel15010130