Preparing youth for participatory civil society: A call for spiritual, communal, and pluralistic humanism in education with a focus on community of philosophical inquiry

Abstract

To prepare youth for civil society, we need to expand the modern conception of humanism to a form of spiritual, communal, and pluralistic humanism that incorporates spirituality as a core dimension of human nature. Embedding these concepts in education involves three pillars—alignment with the spiritual and authentic self; community, interconnectedness, and service; and cherishing variety and pluralism—needed to prepare youth to create and sustain a harmonious, participatory civil society. We present a conceptual model for spiritual development and a practical model that invites pluralistic spirituality into education. We focus on the community of philosophical inquiry as another crucial layer that cultivates critical, creative, caring thinking and communal dialog, which are necessary to engage in a participatory civil society.