Toward a Reconstructionist Philosophy of Missiological Education in Francophone Africa

Research paper from the year 2012 in the subject Philosophy - Philosophy Beyond Occidental Tradition, Atlantic International University, language: English, abstract: The purpose of this paper is to explore five major philosophical schools in their effort to promote specific vision of education, and to apply some findings to the context ofmy country, the Democratic Republic of Congo, using missiological education as case study.Missiological education is an emerging discipline still working to define itself and thechallenges it faces. In this paper, it is to be understood as studies about the mission Godimparted to the church. Given its correlation with God's mission (missio Dei), the mission ofthe church (missio ecclesiae) is global, going from and to the whole earth (oikumene). It alsoconcerns the whole human being (holistic/wholistic), taking into account physical,psychological, and spiritual felt needs. If education allows learners to transform their societyand themselves (Sidorkin, 2011, p. 524), how can missiological students transform theirchurches by making them both "mission-minded congregations" and "in-missioncommunities"? What kind of missiological education will cause students to engage theirchurches in missio Dei and to transform themselves? These questions cry out for scholarship onlearning theory, pedagogies/andragogies, and methodologies as they relate to the discipline ofmissiology. Without doubt, the study of educational philosophies will shed new light.