Barriers to young children’s spiritual growth – and some pointers to how these can be overcome

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article identifies three types of barrier which may inhibit young children’s spiritual growth and considers how these can be overcome. One type includes physical and emotional harm, stress and discrimination often associated with socio-cultural factors such as gender, race/ethnicity, class, disability and religion. The second result from societal expectations which commodify children and encourage material pursuit, trivialisation and immediacy and those resulting from performativity. The third are more individual stemming from how adults interact with children, including tendencies to overcontrol or overprotect and silence children’s voices and close down enquiry. The importance of strengthening children’s sense of agency and qualities such as resilience, empathy and reflectiveness is highlighted. Adults must be attuned to children’s age, backgrounds, feelings and beliefs, guiding rather than controlling. A holistic approach with inclusive environments and mutually respectful relationships is advocated but structural barriers make this difficult in schools in the current policy context.