Attempting to capture the intangible: spirituality in state education

Abstract

Abstract Spirituality has quietly featured in the secular school curriculum for decades but little attention was given to it until well-being was defined and briefly discussed in the 1999 Health and Physical Education in the New Zealand Curriculum document (Ministry of Education, 1999). The definition provided in this statement, however, is so broad ranging that it provides little clarity to teachers who are required to interpret what spirituality might mean for classroom practice. This article explores the implications of spirituality for teaching and learning in Aotearoa New Zealand. It examines several teachers' narratives of classroom experiences that reveal spiritual dimensions. In attempting to capture the intangible, these narratives provide some insights to the possibilities, both conscious and unconscious, of creating a climate that fosters spirituality. Introduction At first glance some might well question the relevance of spirituality for secular schools. While this country has endorsed well-being in Health and Physical Education in the New Zealand Curriculum (Ministry of Education, 1999), the area remains somewhat amorphous and vague. Indeed, spirituality could be considered an anachronism (given that most schools are secular in nature) or a vain attempt to include an area that seems politically and culturally inclusive but may in fact cause great schisms, conflict, and dissent. What, then, is the significance of spirituality for state schools and how can teachers begin to acknowledge this area in their work? How might it influence the curriculum decisions they make and what can it mean for the students they leach? In accord with the literature on spirituality in education, there are few clear paths to follow in investigating these questions and little agreement. There appears to be much written on philosophical aspects and ontological debates, but much less on empirical studies with teachers and students in schools. This article outlines the relevance of spirituality to secular education, arguing that the divide between secularity and spirituality is a false binary. It examines the incidence of the term within the New Zealand curriculum and discusses the particular influence of Maori culture in Aotearoa. It argues for an emphasis on spiritual experience as a starting point for research and it examines some implications for classroom practice supported by evidence from New Zealand teachers' narratives of practice. The spiritual and the secular in education The shift to secular education is a relatively recent phenomenon, as education in a formal sense originated in religious or spiritual centres including ashramas, mosques, temples, and monasteries. For example, in Roman Catholic Europe and England, literacy was largely the preserve of the monasteries. The curriculum of such monasteries had a strong emphasis on philosophy and religious doctrine and education was intended for a select few. Formalised education for all is a recent phenomenon in world history (and is yet to be realised in a number of countries). While Britain combines church and state, it is more common in modern Western societies such as New Zealand to provide a secular state education. The secular nature of schools initially emphasised knowledge, facts, and skills. The pendulum swing away from anything spiritual seemed to emphasise the classical rationalist view that education was to develop the intellect and leave the emotional, moral, and spiritual needs of students to family and religion. Interestingly, the scientific community with its reputation for objective and secular modus operandi has recently shown a growing regard for the study of spirituality, with the creation of instruments for measuring it (MacDonald. Friedman & Kuentzal, 1999; MacDonald, LeClair, Holland, Alter & Friedman, 1995), the study of meditation in Buddhist monks (Stein, 2003), and the search for a genetic basis to religious and spiritual beliefs (Kluger, 2004). …