Teaching and Learning > DISCOURSE
Placing Children's Spirituality on the Map in Education Studies
Author: Kate Adams
Journal Title: Discourse
ISSN: 1741-4164
ISSN-L: 1741-4164
Volume: 9
Number: 2
Start page: 49
End page: 58
Return to vol. 9 no. 2 index page
Teaching about spirituality in higher education departments outside of religion and philosophy can carry its own particular challenges, but those challenges are not necessarily ones that might be anticipated. This paper offers an overview of the creation of a module on children's spirituality in a department of education studies, describing its context, an outline of its content and students' responses to the course, together with a consideration of the issues arising from the module.
The birth of the module
Shortly after my gaining employment as a senior lecturer in education studies at Bishop Grosseteste University College Lincoln, our team was called to a meeting to discuss the 'exciting' prospect of revalidation. This was an opportunity to create a suite of optional modules for students on a three year BA/BSc (Hons) degree in Education and Subject Studies. Students spend 50% of their time in Education Studies and the other 50% studying a subject of their choice. The degree includes 15 weeks of placement which are undertaken in primary schools and a school for pupils with special educational needs, with further options in second and third years to apply for additional placements in either a primary or secondary school and/or in an alternative education setting such as a museum, art gallery or outdoor centre. The degree does not offer qualified teacher status but, after graduation, the majority move onto teacher training courses.
Revalidation provided scope to use the team's research expertise to influence teaching. As a specialist in children's spirituality, I proposed a final year module which would explore the place of children's spirituality in education. Teachers are required, by law, to promote the spiritual development of pupils in their care, introduced in the Education Reform Act 1988 and reiterated in subsequent laws including the Education Act 2002. Further, the Education (Schools) Act 1992 created the government inspection body, the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted), who were charged with the task of inspecting schools' provision for spiritual development alongside that for pupils' moral, social and cultural development.
Spiritual development thus has a natural place within England's school curriculum but despite this, initial teacher education often places little emphasis on it, leaving many teachers with an inadequate understanding of what it is and how it should be addressed in the classroom (Wright 2000). Given that the majority of our students choose to become teachers after completing this degree, the new module would also have a highly practical as well as theoretical outcome, being relevant to their future career. In their second year of the degree, students had undertaken an assessment task on the provision of spiritual, moral, social and cultural development in their placement setting, and so entered the third year with a basic understanding of the concepts.
The module was titled 'Unseen Worlds: Children's Spirituality', which refers to the hidden nature of their spiritual worlds; hidden because of society's lack of understanding and valuing of them and because children often do not share their experiences for fear of ridicule or dismissal (Hay and Nye 2006; Adams, Hyde and Woolley 2009). It was validated without being questioned (although it should be noted that some colleagues felt that it would be of little interest to students) as it sat comfortably within our remit, being closely aligned to the education curriculum in schools. Further, the university college has an Anglican foundation (although the module is not faith based) so with these two elements combined, there was overall institutional support for the module that other HEIs might not enjoy.
The structure and content of the module
The module is worth 10 credits, is timetabled for six sessions and has now run for three years, each time recruiting well in comparison with the options running alongside it (approximately 28 students per year). Across these sessions a range of teaching strategies is utilised including direct teaching, reflection, small and whole group discussion, brainstorming, debate, independent study and a practical activity. Through these strategies, theoretical and practical issues are explored. Key debates such as the definition of spirituality in the context of education are examined, and a critical approach to policy definitions is encouraged, including a deconstruction of government guidelines (SCAA 1995, Ofsted 2004). Practical issues are raised such as the lack of agreement over definition (Watson 2001) and the need to consider alternative terms to that of 'spiritual development' (Meehan 2002).
Theories relating to children's spirituality are examined alongside an investigation of children's spiritual experiences (including Hart 2003; Scott 2004; Hay and Nye 2006; Adams, Hyde and Woolley 2009). Emphasis is placed on the students developing empathy with children and of being open to different ways of understanding a reported experience. The students are supported in learning how to analyse an experience with appropriate literature. Attention is also given to the implications for educators, to enable students to link theory with practice and develop ideas about how they will interact with children with regards to their spirituality.
Embedded into the course is a practical task which aims to convey that words are often inadequate for describing the spiritual in general, and spiritual experience in particular. This links with Best's statement:
of all experiences, it is the spiritual which, it seems, is the most resistant to operational definition. At its worst, attempts to pin it down lead only to a greater awareness of its intangibility and pervasiveness. Best (2000, p.10)
Initially, for the first two years, this task was to create a piece of artwork, prose or poetry which depicted a spiritual experience—either one of their own or of one taken from the literature. A small number of students were uncomfortable doing this type of work because they felt that they did not have sufficient creative skills of this type. This potential scenario had been pre-empted and so the option to work collaboratively was given if they so chose. Nevertheless the task did not benefit all as some took a passive role, so a new initiative was introduced for the third year of the module's life which consisted of creating a multimedia project. This aligned with the university college's aim of extending the use of blended learning. The project was inspired by The National Association of Teachers of RE's (NATRE) annual Spirited Arts competition for young people aged 4-19, which is to create a project linking creativity to RE. Pupils send in entries under themes such as Mystery, Who is God, Spiritual Stories, Spiritual Space and Talking to God: where is God? (NATRE 2010).
Whilst most of the entries to NATRE's competition are in the form of drawings, paintings, or collage, recently entries have been submitted in the form of short films. Working closely with NATRE, I was able to show the undergraduates some of the pupils' movies as models which served as sources of inspiration. Students formed their own groups and managed their own project from design to presentation to the group, creating a two minute movie on a theme of their choice, themes such as 'Where is God?' and 'What is Spiritual?'.
The assessment
Rather than writing a conventional essay, students are assessed by means of a brochure aimed at school governors, written from the point of view of a headteacher at a fictional school who is offering a rationale for why their school values spiritual development. A critical analysis of literature and theory is expected, together with a theoretical analysis of a child's spiritual experience which synthesises literature from a range of sources. An awareness of the practical implications of theory and children's experience, including difficulties, is included in the brochure.
The students' marks have been relatively high in comparison to the overall cohort's academic achievement with an average over three years of 25% of those studying spirituality obtaining 70% or higher (1st) in their assignment. This compares favourably to an average of 8% of the overall cohort comprising of an average of 160 students obtaining a first in their overall degree classification. (All assignments awarded 70% or higher are second marked and moderated and are subject to exam board approval.) This success was in part due to structured nature of the assessment, and the constructive alignment of tasks and learning objectives, but was also influenced by students' deep engagement with the subject.
Student evaluations
Student evaluations are consistently high. Each year, every component has achieved a grade 1 which equates to 80% or higher of students in the group agreeing and/or strongly agreeing with a statement. These statements relate to the content, quality of the teaching, effectiveness of delivery, opportunities to contribute to class, assessment criteria being clear, assessment tasks being linked to outcomes and clear expectations of what was to be learnt in the module and the availability of library resources. The students have, almost without exception, awarded this grade with 100% agreement. The lowest score, although still achieving an overall grade 1 but with a lower level of agreement than 100%, has applied to the availability of resources in the library. This is despite efforts to engage students in accessing our e-resources, giving extensive handouts of reading and placing additional reading on the Virtual Learning Environment system which the statistics tracking facility shows were not accessed by all students in the group.
However other aspects of student evaluation need consideration, which were indicated in written comments on the evaluation sheet and in discussions. Firstly, response to the movie making task was mixed. Three written comments were offered on the evaluation sheets: one was positive, indicating that the task had helped the student clarify in their own mind what spirituality was. The other two responses were negative, indicating that the task was time consuming which they deemed problematic because it did not contribute to their assessment. Other indicators of negative feelings were implied when two groups did not have theirs ready for the group presentation (although one student in a group was ill) and did not subsequently submit them.
This negative response raises important issues for HE. It is, for example, assumed that undergraduates (perhaps excluding mature students) are digital natives (Prensky 2001) and are natural users of IT for both work and leisure. With the increased digitisation of the world, senior managers and external examiners seek to ensure higher components of virtual learning and use of e-technologies in modules. Yet there may be a conflict of interest in that many students do not utilise the VLE for straightforward purposes such as downloading reading or accessing notices from lecturers (as evidenced by the statistics tracking device). Further, there can be a mismatch in understanding of the purposes of education between lecturers and those students who have recently completed their schooling: these students have been subjected to a curriculum which is performative and focussed on results and league tables (Turner Bisset 2007) in which teaching to the test is the norm. Consequently, when in HE, many ask, 'why are we doing this? What does this have to do with our assessment?' as indeed some students asked in relation to the multimedia project. Lecturers, meanwhile, value learning per se and seek to encourage students to make broader links between the material they learn and what is used in their assessment.
Another type of learning...
The most significant finding about student responses to the module has not, however, derived from the formal evaluations but from an ongoing research project involving a questionnaire with open ended questions that students are invited to complete at the end of the module. The questionnaire was inspired by a concern that the learning objectives of the module were not necessarily capturing how students may be being affected by taking the module. The learning outcomes are academic in focus, including:
- acquire detailed knowledge of children's spirituality;
- synthesise a range of theoretical approaches to understanding children's spirituality.
Yet, during conversations in sessions during the first module it became apparent that other learning was occurring — learning that perhaps captured the very essence of spirituality — transforming, thought-provoking, and promoting reflection on matters of personal meaning and value as well as making sense of their own experiences.
Whilst the data has yet to be fully analysed, the initial finding is that a core number of students each year have benefited from engaging with the material on spirituality on a variety of levels which transcend the cognitive. Examples offered include a deep level of reflection on personal experiences, some of which had occurred in childhood and had been forgotten or had remained prominent since but had not been understood. Joshua wrote, 'I am glad of the opportunity to examine and question my beliefs in the light of more critical approaches and to further develop my own spirituality' whilst Amelia said that the course allowed her to relate more to herself and others.
Others have gained an insight into the richness of children's experiences which they had never associated with children before, and had not acknowledged how reflective some children are. For example, Carla stated 'It has made me think that children are 'deeper' thinkers than I realised' whilst Carrie commented, '[The module] made me realise how much children carry around with them under their care-free exterior'. There are frequent references to the fact that the course will positively impact on their future interaction with children, that they will listen more carefully to children and will give them more credit for being able to construct their own meaning.
Of course, these findings which impinge on the transformative do not appear in formal evaluations which are disseminated to senior management and external examiners because these are not the questions asked on formal evaluation sheets. Yes, in this case, the formal evaluations are highly positive but they do not tell the whole story of the personal and professional impact of a module on many of its students.
Closing thoughts
Given the context of my department belonging to education, together with the faith affiliation of the university college, validating a module on spirituality was not an issue as it may be for others. This module can be categorised as successful in terms of recruitment, academic results and high student evaluations, and there has clearly been value for these students who are not necessarily achieving first class grades in their other work. However, a very real benefit has emerged in the transformative and reflective impact on many of the students—factors which are not assessed, and perhaps should not be assessed, but ones which would not have been given voice had I not invited students to express their thoughts on a research questionnaire.
Interestingly the negative student evaluations relating to a non assessed task and lack of library resources did not relate to the subject matter but are generic in nature. They could have occurred in any module on any topic, and indeed do, but were not anticipated responses when designing the content. They imply underlying issues such as attitudes towards the value of learning (i.e. that only what is assessed is important) and the nature of being an independent learner.
The spiritual development of children is important for many reasons, not least in the fact that it is a legal requirement for schools to promote it. It thus has a natural place in Education Studies and teacher training courses. However, there is little doubt that this module would not have the same impact if it were a compulsory module for all 160 students, in which case much of the teaching time would have been spent presenting rationales for why the spiritual development of children is even on schools' agendas. By virtue of being an optional module, only students with a genuine interest and desire to know more elect to take it. Further, as students have a choice of modules to select from, group sizes are relatively small thus enabling a more nurturing approach and an environment which is more conducive to discussing personal thoughts and experiences. The danger, of course, with the current cuts in funding to higher education and associated reductions in staffing is that courses such as this, which are labour intensive with small numbers, may well begin to disappear.
References
Adams, Kate, Hyde, Brendan and Woolley, Richard, The Spiritual Dimension of Childhood, (London: Jessica Kingsley, 2008).
Best, Ron, Education for Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural Development, (London, Continuum, 2000).
Hart, Tobin, The Secret Spiritual World of Children, (Maui: Inner Ocean, 2003).
Hay, David and Nye, Rebecca, The Spirit of the Child, (London: Jessica Kingsley, 2006).
Meehan, Christopher, 'Resolving the Confusion in the Spiritual Development Debate', International Journal of Children's Spirituality, 7/3, 2002, pp. 291-308.
NATRE, Spirited Arts website, available at: http://www.natre.org.uk/spiritedarts/, accessed 17th February 2010.
OFSTED, Promoting and Evaluating Pupils' Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural Development, (London: Ofsted, 2004).
Prensky, Marc, 'Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants', On the Horizon, 9/5, 2001.
SCAA, Education for Adult Life: The Spiritual and Moral Development of Young People, (London: SCAA, 1996).
Scott, Daniel, 'Retrospective Spiritual Narratives: Exploring Recalled Childhood and Adolescent Spiritual Experiences', International Journal of Children's Spirituality, 9/1, 2004, pp. 67-79.
Turner-Bisset, R., 'Performativity by Stealth: a Critique of Recent Initiatives on Creativity', Education 3-13, 35/2, 2007, pp. 193-203.
Watson, Jacqueline, 'Ofsted's Spiritual Dimension: an Analytical Audit of Inspection Reports', Cambridge Journal of Education, 31/2, 2001, pp. 205-219.
Wright, Andrew, Spirituality and Education, (London: RoutledgeFalmer, 2000).
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This page was originally on the website of The Subject Centre for Philosophical and Religious Studies. It was transfered here following the closure of the Subject Centre at the end of 2011.
