Curriculum design, practice and evaluation in ordained local ministry in the Diocese of Manchester

Abstract

This study reviews and critiques the development of Ordained Local Ministry (OLM) in the Diocese of Manchester, United Kingdom, from the perspective of the tutor for communications and preaching. I undertake this role on a part-time basis, alongside my ministry as vicar of a parish within the diocese. Through a discussion of motivations and models for change, links are drawn between change in the broad professional context, organisational change within the Church of England and specific changes which have to some extent shaped OLM within the Diocese of Manchester. Drawing upon interpretive and hermeneutic philosophies, together with Habermas’s work on critical theory (1972), the study focuses on the experiential acquisition of knowledge. Such an approach acknowledges that the student’s experience plays a significant part in OLM formation. The study therefore draws on qualitative and actionoriented approaches to research. Findings are derived from questionnaires, interviews, document analysis, focus group discussions and experiential knowledge.