153 The Methodology of Theological Action Research 4 theological intentions, on the one hand, and a strong design and educational practices, on the other hand. The central research question to be tested in the case of DCU was as follows: How can a holistic approach to education reinforce Christian citizenship formation in the context of a modern, fragmented society? Three sub-questions were formulated: 1. What are the challenges of a fragmented society that confront Christian citizenship formation on both the interpersonal and intrapersonal (social and cultural) levels? 2. How can WCD, approached from the perspective of Christian anthropology, be used to enrich the citizenship formation of trainee teachers? 3. How can future teachers in Christian schools be holistically trained to holistically form children in a fragmented society? The first sub-question was explored in the first chapter. The second subquestion was studied in the second and third chapters, leading to an answer that needed the test of real educational practice to be worked out in more depth. This methodological chapter intends to indicate a practical-empirical way to move the study from sub-question 2 to sub-question 3. It does so while remembering the central objective of this study—namely, to identify core components that are interconnected and guided by a more basic conception of what Christian citizenship should look like in a context of high diversity and complexity, which together could count as a practice-theory. This means that theoretical notions have to be brought into a practical process of curriculum renewal to show their practical value as well as to inform and possibly reform these theoretical notions. Meanwhile, through the renovation of citizenship formation as an integral aspect of teacher training, there will be an impact on the citizenship formation of students attending primary education. The lessons learned in this study can help other schools to think through their own personhood and citizenship formation. It was for this kind of purposes that TAR was designed, being ‘initiated to help church organizations and faith-based agencies find renewal in their own lives and in their relationship with society. Its aim was to help these organizations deepen their theology and improve their effectiveness’ (Cameron et al., 2010, p. 66). TAR has gained a well-respected position in the field of empirical practical theology since it was introduced in England between 1990 and 2010. De Roest (2020) treated TAR as a form of research in the community and a relational approach that values the experiences, values and knowledge of practitioners (p. 190). He placed TAR in his overview directly after action research, participatory
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