Mengajar di Tepi Algoritma Pendidikan Iman Gen Z dalam Ekologi Digital yang Terfragmentasi
Abstract
This article examines the challenges of faith education for Gen Z, a cohort growing up within a fragmented digital ecology shaped by recommendation algorithms, the attention economy, and platform culture. Amid spiritual disorientation, volatile identity formation, and the erosion of traditional theological authority, churches and Christian educational institutions are compelled to develop contextual, responsive catechetical practices. The theoretical framework integrates Zygmunt Bauman's liquid modernity, Neil Postman's media ecology, and Heidi A. Campbell's digital religion studies, read alongside James K. A. Smith's theology of spiritual formation. The study employs library research with a theological, reflective, analytical approach to relevant primary and secondary sources. The aim is to articulate a model of faith pedagogy capable of enduring at the edge of the algorithm, namely the liminal space where faith is formed through affection-shaping practices, embedded liturgies, and differentiated communities. Preliminary findings affirm that faith formation for Gen Z demands reorientation from information transmission to cultivating a countercultural, reflective, and relational theological imagination.
Abstrak
Artikel ini mengkaji tantangan pendidikan iman bagi Gen Z yang tumbuh dalam ekologi digital terfragmentasi, yakni lingkungan pembelajaran yang dibentuk oleh algoritma rekomendasi, ekonomi perhatian, dan kultur platform. Di tengah keterasingan spiritual, volatilitas identitas, dan erosi otoritas teologis tradisional, gereja dan institusi pendidikan Kristen perlu merumuskan praksis katekese yang kontekstual dan responsif. Kerangka teoretis yang digunakan memadukan konsep modernitas cair Zygmunt Bauman, ekologi media Neil Postman, dan kajian agama digital Heidi A. Campbell, dengan teologi pembentukan James K. A. Smith. Metode yang ditempuh adalah studi kepustakaan dengan pendekatan analisis reflektif teologis terhadap literatur primer dan sekunder yang relevan. Tujuan penelitian ini ialah merumuskan model pedagogi iman yang bertahan di tepi algoritma, yakni ruang liminal tempat iman diformasi melalui praktik-praktik pembentuk afeksi, liturgi tertanam, dan komunitas yang terdiferensiasi. Temuan awal menegaskan bahwa pendidikan iman bagi Gen Z menuntut reorientasi dari transmisi informasi menjadi pembentukan imajinasi teologis yang kontrakultural, reflektif, dan relasional.
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