Spirituality And Adult Education

Abstract

A colleague and one of us exchanges knowing glances when a student declares an interest in spirituality. It makes us a little uneasy although we are both church attached and appreciative of spirituality: We wonder what we will have to deal with? Is there an altar call or, worse yet, a smudging ceremony in the works? At issue for us, and we imagine for many of our colleagues in adult education, is the extremes of belief and practice, and what some would call the flake factor. We sigh with relief when we realise the student is full of energy and is just willing to explore and seek some answers to his or her own life's existential questions. Most often the student is seeking meaning, connection and a relationship with a higher power. That is close to what we see as spirituality in our practice as adult educators.