This research addressed the question of how the spiritual experience of young children might be supported in early childhood educational settings. Qualitative case study research took place in three different contexts: a Montessori casa, a Rudolf Steiner kindergarten and a private preschool. Children aged 2 1/2-6 years, their parents and teachers…

This year-long study explored how adult church members experienced the phenomenon of spirit and the relationship between their experience and peace. Four themes emerged from the analysis of personal journal entries and transcripts of individual and group interviews: depth in the encounter with spirit, soul as the locus of spiritual growth,…

Are emerging student affairs professionals prepared to respond to undergraduates' growing interest in spirituality? This study explored that question through interviews with 32 graduate students in three college student personnel programs, one at a state university and two at religiously affiliated institutions. Students reported that…

The Buddhist practice of mindfulness is being used more often both to help clients and to facilitate counselor effectiveness. A growing body of research supports these uses of mindfulness. Most authors also emphasize that those who teach mindfulness must also apply it themselves. However, little is known about how counselors and counselor…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the influences of spirituality on decisions made by African American women principals at the elementary school level in schools where children of color and poverty exist in significant numbers and to gain an understanding of how African moral virtues were evidenced in the day to day professional…

Through in-depth interviews with nine adult Jewish nonbelievers, this study explored the onset of their nonbelief and the degree of their spiritual well-being, and compares these results with nine Jewish believers. Findings indicate a need to revise current theories of religious development and also suggest the potential value of counseling…

The authors examined the structure and content of adults' sense of spiritual identity by analyzing semistructured interviews with 13 spiritually devout men and 15 devout women, ages 22 to 72. "Individuals' responses to the Role-Related Identity Interview" (G. T. Sorell, M. J. Montgomery, & N. A. Busch-Rossnagel, 1997b) were…

The purpose of this study was to explore community college president and chancellor perceptions of the phenomenon of spirituality and the role of spirituality in their leadership style. A hermeneutic phenomenological research design guided this study. A total of 14 community college presidents and chancellors were purposely selected and…

This qualitative study explores the religious development and spiritual formation of African American gay men living with AIDS. In response to an in-depth interviewing approach, 10 men described their experiences of church participation. The participants' data reveal their religious initiation and participation as well as their need to extinguish…

Religious symbol systems have the capacity to bring into place superordinate constructions of reality. One interesting construction of reality has been developed by the Unity School of Christianity, organized in the second half of the nineteenth century and perhaps the most successful of organized groups within the American New…

This article explores the relationship between human attachment and God attachment, particularly in Christian women's experiences of faith. It is based on the attachment perspective as a conceptual framework. The main aim was to evolve an attachment-theoretical approach to women's faith development and to offer a complementary path to interpret…

This study examined how eight adult education practitioners understand spirituality. The investigation defined and grounded the notion of spirituality within a specific religious/theological tradition, Christianity broadly defined. Data were collected via informal, conversational, taped interviews, and several themes emerged. The study used these…

In this age of technological change and innovation which has had a major impact upon schools, together with the continuing demands of an assessment driven curriculum, are schools providing opportunities which will develop and enhance children's creative, aesthetic and spiritual experiences? It is the contention of this paper that learning through…

The purpose of this study was to gain insight into the perspective of individuals with congenital disabilities about spirituality as a coping mechanism during crucial times in their lives, Qualitative analysis of interviews assessing turning points in the lives of 15 adults (6 women and 9 men; M = 37 years) with spina bifida, cerebral palsy, or…

The present phenomenological case study examined the experiences of 21 faculty members at a Christian university regarding anonymous student evaluations that include destructive criticism that tear down rather than edify their professor and use unnecessarily harsh words. The study revealed that most student criticism of teaching is instructive in…