Defining spirituality in education: A Post-Soviet perspective

Abstract

This article describes the background and context of religious challenges in the contemporary post-Soviet era, provides the theoretical framework of teachers’ understanding of spirituality as a dimension of education in Latvia, and integrates it within the perspective of international theories and models of religious and holistic education. It argues that spirituality is an essential concern of teachers’ profession and that while spirituality cannot be taught, it can be actualised in education as a learner’s inner way towards her/his own truth. This article also proposes that teachers’ wisdom regarding spirituality can contribute to reimaging and reconstructing teacher education in Latvia as well as in other post-Soviet countries.