TMMC3141: Reflective Practice in an Ecumenical Context

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• To enable students to encounter and work effectively within a given international ecumenical study/ecclesial context such as the Ecumenical Institute, Bossey; The Beda, Rome; placement in Germany arranged under the Meissen Agreement.
• To develop a students capacity to articulate and critique their sense of their own developing ministerial practice and ecclesiological understanding within an ecumenical context.
• To develop skills in critical theological analysis of different ecumenical ecclesial contexts and ministerial practice which integrate relevant theological, social-scientific and missiological insights.
• To provide an opportunity to demonstrate self-awareness in a given ecumenical study/ecclesial setting and role and development as a reflective practitioner through engagement with those training for ministry in a different denominational setting.
• To develop ministers who can be an ecumenical resource for the national as well as the local church.

• This module involves a partnership between a students training institution and an ecumenical (and normally international) study/ecclesial context.
• A candidate will engage in modules as provided by and agreed with the ecumenical training institution and will live and study alongside those in the host training institution. It provides opportunity to enhance skills in understanding and analysing context, and integrating theological enquiry with pastoral and ministerial practice. It draws upon the resources of scripture and relevant Christian traditions in critical conversation with insights and differing understandings from other denominations. It demands of students attentiveness to their own assumptions and biases. Reflecting upon their engagement with the common life and study of the ecumenical student body and encounters with churches of a different denomination, students will take responsibility for identifying key aspects, encounters and themes out of which to develop work for assessment.

Subject-specific Knowledge:

• Offer a coherent and detailed account of ecumenical history and theology, exploring and explaining how they relate to aspects of faith, church and society today.
• Offer a coherent and detailed account of methods of theological reflection.
• Describe and evaluate a range of methods for nuanced reading and/or profiling a context.

Subject-specific Skills:

• Consolidate and extend competence in modes of inquiry involving observing, recording and analysing the given placement context and evaluating their findings in the light of ecumenical theology and history.
• Extend and apply critical theological reflection to interpret the placement experience, and the students own role and performance within it, in the light of ecumenical sources, communicating their findings with relevance, rigour, creativity and sensitivity to specialist and non-specialist audiences.
• Consolidate and extend confident collaborative ministry within the ecumenical formational community, working accountably to a supervisor, making use of supervision to understand and improve their own ministerial practice and self-awareness.
• Be an effective apologist for their own denominational theology and ecclesiology both within the placement context and in future ministerial practice.

Key Skills:

• Take responsibility for an extended project that involves the exercise of initiative, independent inquiry and the effective management of time, resources and use of IT; engaging with others in planning and decision-making in complex and unpredictable contexts; meeting deadlines; evaluating the project and learning from it.
• Take responsibility for their own personal and professional development.

• Teaching methods to be specified by each TEI, selecting from the following:
• Lectures provide content, a conceptual framework and a survey of approaches within a subject area that enable students to locate their learning in a wider context, to make connections with other disciplines, and to evaluate and apply their learning to different contexts.
• Seminars offer students an opportunity to present, evaluate and apply their knowledge to specific contexts, and to engage with teaching staff and peers in debate and reflection.
• Small group learning creates an environment where students learn to articulate their knowledge and understanding effectively and in a way that is relevant to the group and its context.
• Tutorials enhance learning by offering feedback and encouraging students to reflect on their own response to the knowledge and skills they have acquired.
• Practical classes enable students to practice their ability to communicate a subject matter orally, creatively and appropriately and to learn from the feedback of teachers and peers.
• Supervision of projects or dissertations offers students guidance and feedback on their independent learning and ensures the project / study is appropriately research-led and informed.
• Visits enable students to encounter the subject matter in a way that provokes formational as well as cognitive learning that demands critical reflection on the subject area and its implications.
• Placements and/or work-based learning ensures that students make habitual connections between knowledge, understanding, skills, professional practice and the reality of a specific context, under the supervision of an experienced practitioner.

Regular supervision discussions will provide direction for students on placement. Auditing modules as agreed with the ecumenical training institution and submission of practical and written work as required

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