An existential framework of spirituality

Abstract

A holistic approach to spirituality indicates a spiritual development that is relevant for all students and not just for those who have a religious background. However, debates in England surrounding spirituality in education often generally locate it within the religious domain (Blake, 1996;Carr, 1995, 1999;Isherwood, 1999). Conceptualizing spirituality in such a way tends to deny access to this development for non‐religious students or students in non‐religious contexts. Alternatively the other approaches to spirituality have adopted non‐religious viewpoints (see Erricker, 2003, p. 7). Such either/or approaches work against the notion that spirituality should be conceived as intrinsic to the enterprise of education. This paper offers a brief view of a more elaborate existential framework of spirituality which has been developed in order to transcend the religious/secular divide. A short account of Existentialist philosophy is provided before an outline of the framework is discussed.