On Wednesday, 10 December, the symposium Christian Education in Times of AI took place. This event marked the conclusion of the research group Personal Formation and Identity, which had been led by Prof. dr. Bram de Muynck since 2016. It was a meaningful moment to harvest the outcomes of this research group. During the symposium, Prof. dr. de Muynck presented a brochure offering practical guidelines for personal formation across the breadth of education. He also highlighted his book Gidsen, which he co-authored with Dr. Bram Kunz.
In his research group, Prof. dr. de Muynck not only focused on Christian education in the Netherlands, but also on Christian teachers and educators abroad. This international dimension was given special attention during the symposium. In the morning programme, The Courage to Guide, the English version of Gidsen, was presented. The morning session was conducted in English due to the presence of international guests, while the afternoon programme took place in Dutch.
The morning programme featured key lectures addressing the role of ideals and flourishing in Christian education. Prof. Trevor Cooling delivered a lecture on The Vitality of Religious Ideals in the Philosophy of Education, and Prof. dr. Doret de Ruyter gave a lecture entitled The Flourishing Teacher: An Exploration of Personal and Professional Ideals.
International Guest Lectures
Several international guests contributed to the symposium by giving one or more guest lectures to our students. We were pleased to welcome Péter Balla (Hungary), Hans van Crombrugge (Belgium), Amund Langøy and Torgeir Landro (Norway), as well as Trevor Cooling and Bob Bowie (UK). We looked back with particular gratitude on the guest lectures given by Hans van Crombrugge and Péter Balla, which were highly valued by our students.
Overall, we looked back thankfully on a number of very good days and a meaningful symposium.
