Fancy a little lit on spirituality minus the woowoo?

This is a free chapter download from my PhD Thesis.

It is clear that very young children are richly aware of, and have an implicit understanding of their relationship to their spiritual selves long before they can recognise it. Like adults, children are intimately bound with matters of meaning, purpose, and connection, with urges for creative expression and transcendence. Through spirituality, children are able to synthesise their ideas and actions to form a developing view of self and the world which also becomes life meaning.

To experience a spiritual life is the right of every child. However, the research indicates that children’s spirituality requires expression from the internal to external manifestations and the catalysts that surfaced during this inquiry aim to develop this, encouraging children to explore their questions concerning the world and their relational understandings. In developing a framework to recognise and encourage spirituality within the various contexts of children’s lives it is anticipated that more children will be better able to fully experience their spiritual selves.

Though this inquiry has emerged in a context. It is, in essence, a response to the complexity of education in a changing society and arises from a deep concern for spirituality as a way of making sense of one’s life experience. While welcoming spirituality into the classroom is not a cure-all for all ills in education it may be a crucial step for beginning to address some of the problems. Glazer (1999) suggests, ‘spirituality in education is about transformation’ (p. 248) and it is hoped that this thesis will contribute to this process.

Head here to download the entire book: https://ro.uow.edu.au/theses/651/