University of Santo Tomas (UST) Faculty of Arts and Letters, Department of Sociology academic staff and former coordinator Prof. Clarence M. Batan, Ph.D., and his thesis advisee Vincent Reuben E. Valientes presented their paper titled, “Creative Forms of Living and Learning Spaces in Doing Catechetical Ministry (CM) in the Philippines: A Visual Sociological Analysis” on September 10, 2022. The presentation was held during the 9th Malikhaing Guro International Conference on Culture-based Education, with the theme “Cultural Education in the Reconstruction, Transformation, and Convergence of Living and Learning Spaces organized by the Arts Research and Training Institute in Southern Tagalog, Incorporated (ARTIST, Inc.)”.
The paper examined the living and learning spaces of the CM in the Philippines through visual sociological analysis. The paper highlighted three salient dimensions of CM, namely, (1) the lives of catechists as creative creators, (2) the creative spaces for catechesis, and (3) the visual creative process in catechetical ministry. The research paper argues that living and learning CM spaces in the Philippines, as visually analyzed, direct attention to forms of creativity that informs, surprise, and signifies how catechetical processes are effectively and meaningfully experienced even with limited structures and available resources. Finally, the paper contributed to reimagining and rethinking a combination of culture and pastoral-based education in the context of the Sociology of Catholicism in the Philippines.
Along with various participants and moderators in the open forum, Dr. Batan highlighted the role of the conference in giving a platform for these types of creative, innovative, sociological research. Moreover, Valientes pondered on the creative opportunities in the Catholic Church to encourage the youth to participate in CM engagements.
