This article explores the concept of embodied spirituality from early Celtic traditions through the British medieval mystic Julian of Norwich to the present day. A "high theology" of the body in early Christianity and early Christian understandings of the relation among body, soul and spirit gave way to the influences of Greek thought with its…

In the discussion of children's spirituality and education, David Hay and Brendan Hyde place emphasis on the felt-sense. Originally identified by the psychotherapist Eugene Gendlin, the felt-sense is a way of knowing that involves attentiveness to the body and body wisdom. Although emphasised by Hay and Hyde, the felt-sense does not feature…

The benefits of sport and physical activity are endorsed by a number of professionals as a means of improving children's health and their sense of well-being, and their unity with the natural world, other people and the Transcendent. For children, sport is a spiritual source of joy and wonder. Using Champagne's "spiritual modes of…

This paper aims at showing the dimensions of spirituality in childhood education by suggesting a new analysis of the concept of "pure life" used in the Qur'an. Putting spirituality in the framework of the pure life provides us with a rich framework in dealing with spirituality as the latter will be extended to all dimensions of a life. In the…

This paper takes a philosophical view of the spiritual concept "relational consciousness" first proposed by Rebecca Nye in 1998. I will consider the "relational" aspect of spirituality through the ontology of Heidegger and the dialogical relationship "I and Thou" of Martin Buber, examining the problems that contingency and mediation within…

Quietly, ever so tentatively, science and spirituality are beginning to take a closer look at one another. Though this new relationship is a tenuous one at best, further research may produce a systemic change in the way we educate our children. If educators acknowledge that a holistic approach to teaching is most beneficial to students, it is…

Resilience is described by Richardson as "the motivational force within everyone that drives them to pursue wisdom, self-actualisation, and altruism and to be in harmony with a spiritual source of strength". The author discusses this view from a Christian theological perspective and in reference to the debate concerning the self-actualisation…

Rather than presenting an academic paper, I wanted to simply examine my own perspective as a physical educator and classroom teacher and the importance of creating relationships with children. As a relatively new physical educator and recent Masters of Education graduate of the University of Toronto at OISE, but experienced classroom teacher…

Against a backdrop of the debates on religious education in public or state schools, we argue for the introduction of "spiritual ideals" into the public school curriculum. We distinguish our notion of spiritual ideals from "religious ideals" as conceptualised by De Ruyter and Merry. While we agree with De Ruyter and Merry that…

Children's spirituality is a rising area of importance in research within other helping disciplines, which social work should attend to. Epistemology is an important element of research that is often difficult to discern. This article discusses the different epistemological paradigms and identifies pertinent theories in relation to some of the…

The spiritual well-being of children is often thought to be an important goal and outcome of education. Such spiritual well-being is also implicitly assumed by the Human Rights Act, which includes the right to "freedom of thought, conscience and religion" [Article 18]. I argue that such freedom requires an education that fosters development of…

This article is based on the presentation Anna Lubelska made at the 12th International Conference on Children's Spirituality. Anna is Director of Spiritual England which is a not for profit organisation set up in 2009. Its aim is to promote the importance of spirituality and to help increase access to opportunities for spiritual development. Its…

In the UK and across Europe, rising concern about religion has impacted on religious education (RE), with a new emphasis being placed on dialogue for developing community cohesion. In this article it is suggested that the new emphasis on dialogue for community cohesion in RE also presents an opportunity to improve dialogic pedagogy for spiritual…

If spirituality is, among other things, a matter of "connectedness", then how do we nurture spirituality in adolescents with developmental disabilities who seem largely disconnected? This article advocates the practice of friendship as one important Christian model of spiritual connectedness that finds its origins in the initiative of God and…

Children need to sense that their way of being spiritual is honoured within learning environments that nurture the human spirit. This assertion rests on two assumptions: that children have different ways to express a desire to make the world a better place and that there are patterns to these ways that can be identified, understood and involved in…