267 Basic Attitude and the Art of Living Together 8 After the meeting’s starting devotion, the participants were all invited to share their opinions on these basic attitudes and the formulated question. Because the meeting (27 June 2022) took place at the end of the project’s second year, during the conversation that unfolded the participants connected their insights to the broader project and its central question of how a holistic approach to education reinforces Christian citizenship formation for a modern, fragmented society. The conversation was fully transcribed and all eight members who were present for the meeting actively participated in it. The following paragraphs present a summary of the conversation before some analysis is be performed. In the summary, PI stands for participant insider group and PO for participant outsider group. PO1 starts by saying that she learned from the project that, while the Dutch government obliges elementary schools to provide citizenship education, it should not be given as a separate or added subject but as an integral part of the whole interaction between teachers and students within the school community and directly tied to the Christian identity of the school. When PI1 asks what this means for the choice between the four presented attitudes, she chooses ‘being with’, although she often feels inclined to just act. She sees in ‘being with’ a really accepting attitude towards other people. When asked again by PI1, she says that she wants this attitude to be an active one because she would find it hard to have colleagues who reserve their energy for only things that strictly pertain to their job description. PO2 adds that action and being cannot be separated and that, in her experience, meeting children appeals to one’s heart to collaborate where possible and necessary, which PO1 affirms. PI2 says that ‘working with’ makes her think of the pedagogical mission that is so central to WCD thought. PO3 sees a certain stratification in the presented attitudes. Not all children are ready and able to engage with a ‘being with’ attitude of the teacher and some need a teacher’s ‘working for’. PO4 responds that an active role for the child, which pertains to ‘being with’, is the educational goal. Together, they formulate the goal as helping children get ahead, letting them be a competent self and, eventually, enabling them to help themselves and ask for help where necessary. PO2 formulates this as an ongoing process, to which PI3 responds that this means to be present and available. PI1 stipulates that this includes not only an interest in the cognitive part of the child but also in the whole child, including his or her social and cultural background. This requires an attitude of openness, which PO2 observes to be lacking in many DCU students. A short conversation on openness follows, which was analysed in Chapter 7, in which PI2 and PI2 together advocate for the pedagogical principles of
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