Promoting the spiritual development of sick children

This paper considers whether there are aspects of spiritual pedagogy specific to the education of children who are sick and asks how these concerns are to be addressed. The context of the enquiry is England and Wales where the promotion of the spiritual development of children is a legislative requirement. The focus of the study is on sick children whose treatment requires extended stay in hospital. Such children have hardly been noticed in the continuing debate about spiritual education. Our enquiry has involved analysing literature published in English in the UK and North America. We have supplemented this analysis with primary data from semi-structured interviews with three hospital schoolteachers, two hospital chaplains and the founder of a hospice for children and a ‘respice’ for young people. We argue that what emerges as important in the spiritual education of the sick child has significant implications for the spiritual education of all children.     

Sexual Attraction in Conjoint Therapy

Considering the magnitude of the potential repercussions concerning sexual attraction between mental health professionals and their clients, relatively little research exists in the field of marriage and family therapy (MFT). Although the topic of sexual attraction and various ethical dilemmas accompanying the issue have raised awareness of the increasing need to address sexual attraction dynamics in therapist training programs (Harris, 2001 Harris, S. M. 2001. Teaching family therapists about sexual attraction in therapy. Journal of Marriage and Family Therapy, 28(1): 123–128.  [Google Scholar]), the inherent gray nature of the topic often makes it difficult to address. Research shows that that a majority of therapists encounter feelings of sexual attraction either toward or from their clients during their careers. In light of the MFT research addressing sexual attraction in therapy, to date few studies address the phenomenon in the context of conjoint therapeutic sessions, a significant component of our profession. This paper presents the results of a study designed to assess how therapists in training think about how they would handle attraction in the context of a conjoint couple session and discusses the inherent difficulty in managing sexual attraction in such a context.     

'Dancing cannot start too soon': Spiritual education in the thought of Jean Paul Friedrich Richter

Johann Paul Friedrich Richter (1763-1825) adopted the pen-name 'Jean Paul' in honour of Jean Jaques Rousseau. His Levana or the doctrine of education (Levana oder Erziehlehre) was once a standard text and required reading in teacher education. Outside Germany the name of Jean Paul is now little known and the seminal educational text for which he was famous is rarely read. This neglect of Jean Paul is undeserved. What Jean Paul owed to Rousseau is apparent, but his work is rich in insight of his own. Three principles undergird Jean Paul's understanding of spiritual education (geistige Erziehung). Jean Paul insisted that spiritual education is essentially counter-cultural, that it is promoted by play and that it is grounded in love. Such education can never be at home in a curriculum which, however lofty are its stated objectives, is ultimately politically controlled. Jean Paul's insistence that play is constitutive of education needs to be heeded in an educational culture in which the playful is always at risk of displacement by what the government of the day deems to be of greater consequence. The heart of Jean Paul's understanding of education can be expressed succinctly, 'We love to teach and we teach to love'.     

Wittgenstein on the Infinity of Primes

It is controversial whether Wittgenstein's philosophy of mathematics is of critical importance for mathematical proofs, or is only concerned with the adequate philosophical interpretation of mathematics. Wittgenstein's remarks on the infinity of prime numbers provide a helpful example which will be used to clarify this question. His antiplatonistic view of mathematics contradicts the widespread understanding of proofs as logical derivations from a set of axioms or assumptions. Wittgenstein's critique of traditional proofs of the infinity of prime numbers, specifically those of Euler and Euclid, not only offers philosophical insight but also suggests substantive improvements. A careful examination of his comments leads to a deeper understanding of what proves the infinity of primes.     

Retrospective spiritual narratives: exploring recalled childhood and adolescent spiritual experiences

This paper draws on a collection of retrospective narratives of childhood and adolescent spiritual experiences to explore the qualities and characteristics of the spirituality of the young. They recall a range of spiritual experiences that touch on death, mortality, visions, and perceptions and connections beyond the self. Their experiences include varying intensities of emotion and invoke a range of responses in them and others. The paper considers the social, emotional and familial context of these early life experiences and their impact on spiritual experience and the possibility/impossibility and freedom/lack of freedom to express, and integrate spirituality.     

Talking of God and Talking of Fairies: Discourses of spiritual development in the works of George MacDonald and in the curriculum

By law schools in England and Wales are required to promote the spiritual development of their pupils and school inspectors must report on how well they do so. This is a very recent local legislative enactment of a timeless and universal concern. A spiritual dimension to human life, however resistant to definition or measurement, has been recognized for as long as men and women have consciously reflected on their condition. The determination to seek the spiritual well-being of the young antedates the trial of Socrates and the writing of the book of Proverbs. Obvious as it is, this point does need to be made. It could be supposed from much of the discussion in educational circles that interest in spiritual development was unknown before the 1944 Education Act. That said, there are questions to be asked about the education of the spirit which, if not new, acquire an immediacy from the social and cultural conditions specific to our time and from the requirements of current educational legislation. To one question in particular today's debate about spiritual development as a curricular requirement continually returns. It is whether a coherent spirituality requires the support of a religious tradition. Students in our schools come from a diversity of religious backgrounds. At the same time--and often at the same school--many come from homes which long ago took leave of God. What is to be the relationship in such schools between the spiritual development which they are statutorily obliged to promote and traditional religious world-views whether these are still devoutly followed or long abandoned? Do notions of spirituality and spiritual development have any coherence without secure anchorage in a religious tradition with it specific truth-claims? In this article I shall argue that, while clearly spiritual education can be based on the claims of a religious tradition, such a confessional framework is not necessary for the concept of spiritual education to be coherent and for its implementation within the curriculum to be possible. There is, in a word, a spirituality without religion. In developing this argument I shall appeal to a Victorian writer of fairy tales, George MacDonald, whom we shall meet a little later.     

The plausibility of spiritual intelligence: spiritual experience,problem solving and neural sites

Australian teachers in Church related schools have begun to use the term ‘spiritual intelligence’ in their educational discourse. Is it accurate to describe spirituality as a form of intelligence? This paper explores whether the notion of spiritual intelligence is plausible. It addresses this firstly by discussing the notion of spiritual experience as a mechanism for problem solving—one of the central themes that underlies the concept of intelligence. Secondly, it examines some of the neural sites of the human brain that have been found to be active in those who apperceive spiritual experience. In light of this discussion, this paper argues that although some concerns prevail in considering spirituality as a form of intelligence, the concept of spiritual intelligence may nonetheless be rendered as plausible.     

Research paper

In this age of technological change and innovation which has had a major impact upon schools, together with the continuing demands of an assessment driven curriculum, are schools providing opportunities which will develop and enhance children's creative, aesthetic and spiritual experiences? It is the contention of this paper that learning through the medium of creative dance can provide an opportunity which can deepen children's spiritual awareness and provide a context for the development of a kinaesthetic intelligence which enables children to embody, and give expression to, abstract ideas and concepts. In the discussion of the initial findings from a small scale research project carried out with Y3 children, we shall see that although the children's developing spirituality is very much interconnected with their everyday lives and preoccupations, the dance work enabled them to connect with an abstract theme in a concrete way, and inspired them to create a symbolic interpretation of the Creation story.     

Do young boys and girls have distinct and different approaches and needs in relation to spiritual development?

Difficulties are outlined in how to consider whether boys and girls have distinctive approaches and needs in relation to spiritual development, especially the lack of any agreed definition of spiritual development and the nature of the research literature relating to gender. I explore this without presupposing, or excluding, any particular definition, arguing that, whatever one's assumptions and beliefs about spirituality, these influence, and are influenced by, assumptions and beliefs about gender, and vice versa. I present empirical evidence on aspects associated with personal well‐being indicating outcomes strongly differentiated by gender. I examine research evidence in relation to gender within a range of areas commonly associated with spirituality and highlight some gaps. I argue that considering spiritual development through the lens of gender and gender through that of spiritual development can illuminate one's understanding of both concepts. I suggest some possible implications for future research and for teachers of young children.