Children & Spirituality
This had resonance and beauty for me as an adult and, I believe, has great application with children.
It’s about encouraging children to develop their innate spirituality…
It’s rather long and hard going in places, but profound and compelling all the same.
Here are some excerpts…
Love
Libby
http://www.farmington.ac.uk/documents/old_docs/Smith.htm
“The Roman philosopher Plutarch refers to the child’s mind as “not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled” (The Education of the Whole Child, C&J Erricker 1997). The fire having been kindled by those in a position to do so it would seem desirable that it continue to burn, albeit with varying degrees of intensity throughout the rest of life.”
“In my reading I have become more aware of the fact that spirituality is not dependent on or necessarily linked to a religious faith. It is distinguishable from religion. Indeed from many people there is a negative or angry response to religion, or matters related to it, whereas they are more likely to respond in a positive way to the idea of spirituality – two thirds of the population being prepared to admit to an awareness of a spiritual dimension to their lives.”
“Spirituality can be considered an ordinary aspect of children’s everyday experience, often present in their lives in different situations, for example: experiences in nature; solitude; celebration; fear etc. It is their raised awareness in such situations that constitutes spirituality. We must therefore find occasions to heighten their awareness to discover and develop their spiritual potential.”
“If we believe that “Spirituality is the bedrock on which rests the welfare not only of the individual but also of society, and indeed the health of our entire planetary environment” (D.Hay & R.Nye, 1998) then the care and nurturing of our nation’s spirituality is of paramount importance.
“D. Hay’s research over 20 years shows a strong connection between spiritual awareness and ethical behaviour, encouraging social cohesion. The increased spirituality of a society can be linked with increased social awareness and responsibility and a positive consideration towards others and the environment. This in turn leads to life-changing experiences and an understanding that “every entity is interwoven with the rest of the universe and individualism is an illusion”. It is no wonder then that schools are charged with the development of spirituality! What is surprising is that time, training and resources have been squeezed out by the demands of areas of the curriculum which focus on content, monitoring, assessment, attainment, examination targets to the detriment of those areas which might have greater potential for relating to the spiritual development of pupils.
“Time and attention surely need to be given to providing and exploiting the opportunities which pupils need to explore and develop their awareness of the spiritual dimension of their lives.”
“…there are areas of the curriculum in which opportunities for the growth and development of spirituality are more likely and have greater potential than others, e.g. English, Music, Art. I would suggest that R.E. is also an area in which these opportunities should be identified and exploited. ”
“…David Hay (1998) offers an explanation that the rudimentary core of children’s spirituality is “relational consciousness” – self in relation to self, others, the world and God. He states that this is a basic human feature, entirely natural and a universally human pre-disposition. He sees this in the following ways:
Child – Self consciousness - a sense of relationship with his own identity
Child – People consciousness - a sense of relationship with other people – fellowship
Child – World consciousness - a sense of relationship with the natural world /environment
Child – God consciousness a sense of relationship with God.”
“In the book “The Spirit of the Child” (D. Hay & R. Nye1998), spirituality or spiritual sensitivity is explained as “raised awareness”, falling into three categories:
Awareness sensing
- focusing on the present situation
- tuning into something in order to be more aware of feelings
- being fully involved in an activity to the exclusion of distractions
- using the senses to focus on something in order to know it
Mystery sensing
- not needing an explanation for the wonders / the state of the world, an aweful acceptance of the mystery of existence
- using imagination to explore possible situations within existence
Value sensing
- an emotional response to situations in which there is a personal reaction to something
- the search for meaning in a particular situation”