Refiguring Christian pedagogy through Ruang Karso: A symbolic framework for formative praxis

Christian education faces an urgent need for conceptual renewal amid spiritual erosion and cultural estrangement. This article proposes Pendidikan Budaya-Spiritual (PBS) as a symbolic framework that reframes formation as dialogical, volitional, and culturally embedded praxis. Synthesizing Dewantara’s cultural humanism and Pazmiño’s theocentric pedagogy, PBS offers four formative pillars: transformative spirituality, contextual cultural symbolization, liberating relationality, and dialogical pedagogy. These converge in Ruang Karso, a refigurative pedagogical space shaped by volitional will (karso), relational presence, and narrative encounter. Grounded in narrative hermeneutics, postcolonial critique, and Indigenous philosophy, this framework moves beyond integrationist paradigms by cultivating symbolic tension as a generative site of formation. Intradisciplinarily, it advances Christian pedagogy by foregrounding ethical presence and theological depth. Interdisciplinarily, it bridges theology, spiritual formation, and cultural education. Though conceptual, the model aligns with current educational trajectories and invites empirical exploration within diverse Christian learning communities.