The purpose of this article is to challenge the assumption that a wholly secular spirituality offers an appropriate basis for encouraging spirituality in state schools. It does this by, firstly, drawing attention to the reality of secularist indoctrination in our society and in our schools. This makes the anxiety about religious indoctrination, so…

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…

The attempt to establish children's rights can be called one of the major twentieth-century projects, with the 1989 United Nations Convention on Children's Rights as one of its most important results. Yet while the issue of spiritual development has played a clear role in the struggle for children's rights ever since the ground-breaking Geneva…

Very few elementary public school teachers in the United States expose their students to religion and spirituality in an in-depth way. Even when they have the necessary knowledge base, they shy away from so dangerous an enterprise. They might fear provoking a challenge from parents who are irreligious and are shocked to find religion being…

On April 24, 2008, President George W. Bush convened an array of education and community stakeholders in Washington, D.C. to address the quickening disappearance of faith-based schools in America's cities. The disappearance of these schools, which have played a fundamental role in the American story of religious freedom and tolerance, community…

States that, although religion is taught in Jewish schools, the sense of spirituality that motivates and provides meaning for learning is absent. Arguing that society bears some of the blame, the author contends that spirituality can best be fostered in programs that stress integration, synthesis, the mystery of things, and transcendence. (GEA)

Discusses ways in which Catholic schools can reflect on the Catholic vision and identity within the institution. Reminds Catholic educators that the Catholic vision includes personal and societal transformation in the light of the Gospel. Suggests particular consideration is due the areas of leadership training, social justice, and spiritual life.…

In every faith community, worship and education should be conceived and practiced as interdependent, interpenetrating dimensions of ecclesial life. Too often, however, worship and education are separated and compartmentalized to the detriment of both. This article explores a way to understand the inherent unity of worship and education and…

OFSTED and schools are largely agreed on what is meant by "spiritual development" for schools though debate continues at the theoretical level on the broader question of what might be meant by a spiritual education. In this article, it is argued that cross-curricular "spiritual development" as a form of spiritual education is…

Proposes three understandings of spirituality and examines how they challenge religious educators. Stating that spirituality can be understood as a common human yearning and experience, as a developmental reality, and as a discipline involving the whole person, the author concludes that people cannot ignore their relationship to nature and to the…

Discusses adolescent spiritual development using the three traditional stages in Catholic spiritual heritage (the purgative, illuminative, and unitive). Suggests specific strategies for helping young people "progress" or move to higher levels in their spirituality. (GEA)

Considers the nobility of children's work, its relationship to human psychological health and peacefulness, its purposefulness, and its revelation of God's cosmic plan. Links Maria Montessori's cosmic view to the Catechists of the Good Shepherd and the Montessori community at large. (Author/KB)

Examines eschatology as the heart of Christian faith, suggesting that an appreciation of an eschatological interpretation of the cosmos enables acceptance of nature's transience and a grounding for an ecological ethic. Maintains that recent scientific developments present a promising, rather than pessimistic, picture of the universe. Holds that…

In religious and nonreligious private schools, as well as public schools across the U.S., the philosophy, "God is everyone", is known as holistic education. Holistic education asserts that everything is connected; everything is in relationship. Holistic educators, in the words of Parker J. Palmer, author of the book "The Courage to Teach:…

This article revisits the pedagogical dilemma of maintaining neutrality in the religious studies/theology classroom. I argue that if the boundary between teaching about religion and actually teaching spirituality seems to be vanishing, it is because the boundary was inappropriately constructed in the first place. To the extent that the religious…