Spirituality and Education: A Framework

Abstract

This chapter concerns two questions, “What does it mean to teach in a way consistent with a spiritual perspective? Are there principles and guidelines for teaching consistent with a variety of spiritual traditions and perspectives as well as with some current educational psychologies?” This chapter summarizes efforts to address these questions begun in 1998, and describes a tentative framework for better understanding what it means to integrate a spiritual perspective in the process of secular education. The framework consists primarily of two components: (1) Eight assumptions underlying a spiritual perspective in education, and (2) thirty-eight statements judged through a research process to be consistent with a spiritual perspective in education, as well as an attempt to integrate the two components by describing how the 38 statements clarify the eight assumptions by suggesting a comprehensive framework to explore how to integrate a spiritual perspective in the process of education. Specifically, the chapter attempts to provide guidance to educators attempting to integrate a spiritual perspective in their teaching in a significant and meaningful way, including curriculum development, teacher/student relationships, and nourishing the inner life of the student and the teacher.