Spirituality EDUC3522

Flinders University Jessie Jovanovic

What the? • In your small groups, share your idea or question(s)

from your readings: – What do we need to focus on particularly in this

session? – What are you keen to find out more about?

A man told his grandson: “A terrible fight is going on inside me – a fight

between two wolves. One is evil and represents hate, anger, arrogance, intolerance, and superiority. The other is good, and represents joy, peace, love tolerance, understanding, humility, kindness, empathy, generosity and compassion. This same fight is going on inside you, inside every other person too.”

The grandson then asked: “Which wolf will win?” The old man simply replied: “The one you feed.”

(Thomas & Lockwood, 2009, p. 1)

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs • The needs of the warrior, feeding

into our lived realities, is driven more by our essential body needs, & seeking of physical safety, etc.

• The needs of the mystic, on the other hand, our fostered more by our drive for love & closeness, our desire to be valued & accepted & the pursuit of our own potential

True crime: The value of nurturing the mystic Colin Wilson (1984) applied Maslow’s Motivation Theory to historical periods of crime. Level 1: Crimes committed for survival (Burke and Hare) Level 2: “domestic crime” – crime to safeguard security (Dr. Crippen) Level 3: Sex crimes (Jack the Ripper) Level 4: Crimes of resentment (Manson Family) Level 5: Crimes of mysticism/spirituality (Jonestown, Waco)

Spiritual development? [C]hildren from early ages constitute, perpetuate and negotiate normalising

discourses around their identities, and are actively regulating not only their own behaviour accordingly, but also that of others around them.’

(Robinson & Jones Diaz, 2006, p. 5 cited in Turner, 2010, p. 222)

• Plato (Greek philosopher) held that human nature had a dual aspect of body & soul … adults thus needed to pay close attention to expressions of the soul in young infants, a forerunner of modern attachment theory

• In 20th Century research into children’s spiritual development was sidelined to make it more ‘scientific’ in hope that people could be understood through rules of the physical sciences

• Baumgartner & Buchanan (2010) argue that spirituality is an important child development construct just like cognition or language

• Contemporary work is now beginning to acknowledge an inner aspect to human beings – restricted to the child’s ability to reason through language

(Lawrence & Coady, 2002; Tregenza, 2008)

Contemporary thoughts on spirituality • Spirituality should not be confused with ‘the religious’ even if it shares

elements of sacredness, morality, humility & reflection … as educators we do have a duty, however, to accept the spiritual & religious beliefs of children & families in our setting (Dowling, 2010)

• Children’s rights for being: not every moment of the child’s life has to be organised & dictated by adults. Children need daily ‘spirit and soul time’; stillness, slowness & relaxation (Thomas & Lockwood, 2009)

• Need for us to look inward: we are bombarded with stimuli & sophisticated experience from an early age – it can lead us to always look for answers outside of ourselves rather than using our own resources & intuition! (Turner, 2000; Wolf, 2000)

So what is spirituality? • The value of being – living in the

moment, stopping to smell the flowers

• Feeding our need to connect & relate

• The cultivator of empathy & compassion

• A return to the natural world • The following of routines &

rituals that have significance to ourselves, our beliefs & our lives

Definition: Spirituality is a way of

understanding what it means to be human which recognises the rich, complex and mystical aspects of sharing space with other humans, animals, plants and minerals in the world and in the cosmos.’

(Lawrence & Coady, 2002, p. 18)

Spiritual development?

Can you see a progression of understanding about death at 2, 4 & 6 years of age in these

clips?

For young children, spirituality involves … • Joy: seen often in children’s play (when deeply engaged in an activity they have

self-selected) & in the challenges they’ve faced & succeeded with … Frobel saw play as the most spiritual activity in which a child can engage in

• Contemplation: time to think or just sit, concentrating intensely, where time disappears, children are in total control of the experience without outside influence

• Love: according to Montenaro (1999) this is an essential part of a person because our soul is in danger of starvation without it

• Compassion: as children learn to become aware of the feelings of their peers • Wonder: by taking the time to sit & watch ‘everyday’, ‘minute’ things (Montessori

saw this as a sensitive period for noticing minute details adults miss) • Observation: drawing attention to natural details • Reflection & appreciation: exploring the intriguing & beautiful (objects,

movements, ideas) (Giesenberg, 2009, pp. 12-13; Roberts. 2006, p. 12)

– What do the children in this case seems interested in, in relation to spirituality?

– What do I know about spirituality myself? In my role as an educator?

– Keeping the case in mind: • How can we prepare to work with individuals, small or whole

groups in ways that will nurture their spirit? • How can we create & sustain learning environments that support

the spirit?

If playing at home, please see the 4 cases at the end of these slides

Case studies

Spirituality in the everyday … “Very often the inclusion of spirituality in early childhood

education is seen as a question of recognising festivals, accommodating different religious beliefs or doing something special on birthdays. Often the spotlight is on difference. The concept of everyday spirituality challenges this perspective and this article proposes that recognition of the spiritual in

everyday life is equitable and inclusive practice.” (Bone, Cullen & Loveridge, 2007, p. 352)

Resources/texts which provide further information on

spirituality are highlighted in black in the reference list

Spirituality is important because … 1. There is a strong & growing emphasis on consumerism … but material

wealth does not feed the soul 2. The priorities of our education systems have good intentions of

preparing children for their futures … but we soon get caught up in achieving more & more earlier & earlier

3. There is a rush to move children into the adult world, in part because of an increasing culture of individualism … but this can lead to the loss of childhood & the sexualisation & exploitation of young children

(Dowling, 2010, p. 139; Mason, 2000)

1. Please log on to flinders.edu.au/setup 2. Enter your FAN & Password 3. Complete the SET survey for this topic 4. Summary results of this SET will be available for you to view in FLO (View Past Evaluations link) when the survey has closed.

The primary purpose of the Student Evaluation of Teaching is to provide staff with valid and reliable information with which

to make informed decisions about improving student

learning outcomes.

References • Baumgartner, J., & Buchanan, T. (2010). Supporting each child’s spirit. Young Children, 65(2): 90-95. • Bone, J., Cullen, J., & Loveridge, J. (2007). Everyday spirituality: An aspect of the holistic curriculum in action. Contemporary Issues in

Early Childhood, 8(4): 344-354. • Dowling, M. (2010). Young Children's Personal, Social & Emotional Development (3rd ed.). London: SAGE Publications. • Giesenberg, A. (2009). The importance of spirituality. Every Child, 15(2),: 12-13. • Lawrence, H., & Coady, M. (2002). Development of spirituality acknowledgement in education and early childhood thinking. Every

Child, 8(4): 18-19. • Maslow, A.H. (1970). Motivation and personality. New York: Harper & Row. • Mason, M. (2000). Spirituality: What on earth is it? Paper presented at International Convention of Children’s Spirituality. Roehampton

Institute, Summer, 2000. • Roberts, M. (2006). Spirituality with a broad brush. Every Child, 12(4): 12-13. • Thomas, P., & Lockwood, V. (2009). Nurturing the spiritual child: Compassion, connection and a sense of self. Canberra: Early

Childhood Australia. • Tregenza, V. (2008). Looking back to the future: The current relevant of Maria Montessori's ideas about the spiritual wellbeing of

young children. Journal of Student Wellbeing, 2(2): 1-15. • Turner, S. (2010). 'But you don't look like a Jew'. In M. Giugni & K. Mundine (Eds.), Talkin' up and speakin' out: Aboriginal and

multicultural voices in early childhood (pp. 218-226). Castle Hill, NSW: Pademelon Press. • Turner, S. (2000). Caretaking of children’s souls – Teaching the deep song. Young children, 55(1): 31-33. • Wolf, A. (2000). How to nurture the spirit in non-sectarian classrooms. Young children, 55(1): 34-36. • Wilson, C. (1984). A criminal history of mankind. London: Granada Publishing. • .

Case 1: The class pet is dead “We are taught that everything that lives also dies. This is the way of nature. Only the rocks live forever.” (Red Cloud, Oglala Sioux) Rosie the Rabbit was a treasured pet at a local childcare centre. Some of the children sought Rosie out on their arrival in the morning as a part of their separation “rituals” from Mum or Dad. They would “Look for Rosie”, or go to feed her in the mornings together with an educator. She was also cared for by families, heading home to spend time with individual families over weekends and the summer closure. However, one morning, the educator opening for the morning discovered that Rosie had died in her sleep overnight.

• How do we talk to children about death? What should the educators at this centre say as children/families arrive?

• Rituals are important, as are honesty and clarity. So what should the educators do next? How could they commemorate a pet’s death?

Case 2: Bogdan’s birthday celebration? Bogdan is about to turn two. Usually parents can put in a request to the centre’s cook for a healthy choc-zucchini or carrot-cake to be made for afternoon tea on the day of their child’s birthday. The idea is to mark the child’s birthday in a way that they can celebrate with their peers. However, Bogdan’s parents are Jehovah Witnesses and do not believe in celebrating birthdays. One of Bogdan’s educators remarks that his birthday is coming up soon and that they’ll all be having cake to celebrate, as she looks through the enrolment list. Bogdan loves cake, and gets quite excited when he overhears this. That afternoon, when his Dad arrives to pick him up, he asks for his cake. When his Dad laughs, and says maybe on the weekend, Bogdan begins to cry inconsolably.

• What can we do in this situation to console Bogdan and clear up the situation?

• What should the centre’s policy be on birthday celebrations? • How do we explain to Bogdan and his peers that not everyone

celebrates their birthday?

Case 3: Why do birds do that? Alex and his friends usually like to tear around the outdoor play equipment in their preschool. As a part of their game of pirates, they climbed up an old fig tree which had a ladder up to a platform. Standing on the platform, Alex noticed that there was a nest with 3 young birds in a tree about 3 metres away. Climbing down quickly, Alex summoned two of his ‘pirate’ friends back up to the platform. Telling them “Shhhh”, he pointed to the nest. The boys sat watching the 3 young birds tweeting, and watched in even further awe as the mother bird returned and began to gastro-feed her young. Intrigued, Alex scrambled back down the ladder, and ran to his teacher asking her to stop the mum-bird from “chucking-up in the baby birds’ mouths.”

• How should the teacher respond to Alex? • What could she do next to support their thinking? • What dimension of spirituality do you think Alex and his friends have been

working on? How could it be developed further, in the long-term?

Case 4: Day-dreamer Sally is a frequent day-dreamer. Her class-teacher often catches the five-year-old staring out the window or into space. Sally is highly creative; her art works are more abstract and well-developed than her peers while her problem-solving skills are second-to-none as she often sees solutions which are ‘outside the square’. With parent-teacher interviews coming up, and the intensity of her school work likely to increase when she moves onto first grade, Sally’s class-teacher is worried that she won’t have the attention-span to be able to really succeed at school.

• Is it an issue to be a day-dreamer? • What do you think Sally’s teacher should be worried about in the short-

term? And in the long-term?