30 Introduction 1. What are the challenges of a fragmented society that confront Christian citizenship formation on both the intrapersonal and interpersonal (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 question of Christian teacher formation is related to our modern, fragmented world and society, as well as to the need for a holistic answer that does justice to its complexity. This concern and need can be found everywhere teacher training is provided from a Christian perspective in and for (late) modern society as it bears the traits of fragmentation. Context The research for this study took place at—and was conducted for—Driestar Christian University for Teacher Education (DCU); more specifically, at its training institute for primary education. Action research for DCU’s curriculum can serve as a case study for faith-based teacher training in a modern, fragmented society. Located in Gouda, the Netherlands, DCU is a Reformed Christian teacher training institute in a Western country characterised by cultural change, high diversity and complexity, and fragmentation. It attracts students from all areas of the country who favour its identity and wish to be trained in relation to Christian education. Around the time of its 75-year anniversary in 2019, DCU faced the issue of how cultural change has impacted its way of training (future) teachers. In a study written at the institution, de Muynck and Kunz (2022) defined education as ‘an integral and holistic phenomenon that as a whole exerts a formative power, even if a teacher is not consciously and intentionally engaged in formation at every moment’ (p. 235) (17). The idea behind this statement served as the initial premise for the present study: A Biblically holistic approach to education could be helpful for broad and integrated citizenship formation in a pluralistic and fragmented society and should accord with the principles of Christian education. 17 More about the specific religious identity of DCU within the Dutch context of secularisation will follow in Section 1 of Chapter 5, when the study zooms in on the case of the Dutch teacher training institute: DCU Amid Secularisation and Fragmentation. The research pertaining to DCU can be seen as a case study that results in conclusions also of benefit to Christian teacher training in other contexts.
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