The “Lay State” – a Signifier of Transformations in the Church?

This article explores the renewal lay people initiated at a decisive moment in Church history. In the 16th – 17th century, with the development of the modern school, lay people were given the responsibility to teach religion and to guarantee Christian education in schools. A new type of religious congregation, with exclusively lay members, emerged. They had an impressive impact, worldwide, over the past three centuries. However, as the members of these congregations declined dramatically over the past decades, one wonders whether new generations will succeed in guaranteeing continuity in the near future. Or will ordinary, secular but baptized lay people create new forms of association while taking on responsibility for school education?Michel Sauvage (1923-2001), a French member of the De La Salle religious order, studied the theological identity of the lay “teaching brother” as initiated by J.-B. De La Salle at the end of the 17th century. The present situation, with 1.9 % brothers left and 97.6 % ordinary lay teachers in the educational institutions worldwide, seems to suggest that, once more, a historical mutation is occurring in the church.This article explores the renewal lay people initiated at a decisive moment in Church history. In the 16th – 17th century, with the development of the modern school, lay people were given the responsibility to teach religion and to guarantee Christian education in schools. A new type of religious congregation, with exclusively lay members, emerged. They had an impressive impact, worldwide, over the past three centuries. However, as the members of these congregations declined dramatically over the past decades, one wonders whether new generations will succeed in guaranteeing continuity in the near future. Or will ordinary, secular but baptized lay people create new forms of association while taking on responsibility for school education?Michel Sauvage (1923-2001), a French member of the De La Salle religious order, studied the theological identity of the lay “teaching brother” as initiated by J.-B. De La Salle at the end of the 17th century. The present situation, with 1.9 % brothers left and 97.6 % ordinary lay teachers in the educational institutions worldwide, seems to suggest that, once more, a historical mutation is occurring in the church

Rituals’ Narrative Logics

This article focuses on a double identity of rituals: the origin and main structure of rituals is narrative, and they represent a particular logic which aims at establishing a different quality of life. The narrative structure coincides with a typical characteristic of the human mind: the commemoration of striking dramatic or liberating events. Hence the ongoing concern to remember; the anamnesis intends to prevent that what among people never should be forgotten remains present in the individual and collective memory. Rituals are the most powerful means to keep memory alive. The coincidence of the faithfulness to a living tradition and the authentic commitment to present human concerns guarantees that the ritual anamnesis introduces qualitative change among the people involved

Tool-Based Design and Evaluation of Resilient Flight Control Systems

Communications engineering / telecommunication

Chapter Tool-Based Design and Evaluation of Resilient Flight Control Systems

Communications engineering / telecommunication

Motivational profiles of adult learners in online and blended learning

Having the necessary skills to succeed in an educational program does not ensure that learners will achieve positive outcomes. Learners also need the motivation to learn in order to use their skills and engage in the learning process. This is especially true in online and blended learning (OBL) environments, which offer learners flexibility and autonomy to shape their own learning process. Since adult education in general and particularly OBL in adult education attracts a heterogeneous group of people, there is diversity amongst adult learners with regard to their motivation to learn and their reasons for choosing OBL. The purpose of this study is to examine whether motivational profiles exist amongst learners in the specific context of OBL in adult education. To achieve this objective, we conducted a survey with 180 learners in adult education. We administered the academic motivation scale questionnaire (AMS; Vallerand et al, 1992), targeting learners enrolled in an OBL program in adult education. Finally, we have performed cluster analysis of the participant scores taken from the survey. Our results indicate the presence of three motivational profiles amongst adult learners. These motivational profiles may be viewed as contributing to our understanding of how individuals participating in OBL in adult education are or are not motivated to learn. This information can be used by institutions and teachers to develop their educational curriculum to match the profiles of their learners and to take into consideration of their learners' motivation. In turn, researchers can use the results as a starting point for further research into the relationship between motivational profiles and learning outcomes. In this way, deeper understanding can be made acquired into how motivation enhances intent-to-persist and success in OBL