Spirituality and religion are not synonymous and, in fact, require not only different definitions but also appropriate vocabulary. A deeper discussion of the issues concerning spirituality ensues in several sections: 1) fundamental differences between spirituality and religion; 2) brain operations relative to transcendent states; 3) a definition…

Gifted learners in one rural middle school have shown signs of underachievement, with 31% failing one or more subject areas. Due to 100% of these students meeting all standards on the Criterion Reference Competency Test (CRCT), a disparity exists between their classroom achievement scores and standardized test scores. The purpose of this…

This article introduces the idea of Africentric schools to the Toronto School Board as a counter alternative to promote the idea of including the myriad identities of students in the learning process. The sociological and philosophical tenets of Africentric schooling are presented under the headings of: The Afrocentric Idea; Groundedness in the…

This paper introduces the context for young people in the United Kingdom today, identifies some of the key factors associated with well-being, and then focuses on ways spiritual well-being can be promoted through informal education. Informal education is the widely acknowledged primary pedagogical approach for professional youth workers. Using…

Developing competency in diversity and assessment are key educational priorities. With Native American clients a spiritual assessment is typically required because spirituality is often instrumental to health and wellness in Native cultures. In keeping with the movement toward competency-based education, this qualitative study sought to answer the…

"Godly Play", an approach to Religious Education in early childhood devised by Jerome W. Berryman, has been utilized by many Christian denominations in Sunday school contexts and it is currently influencing the design of early years' Religious Education curricula in many Catholic dioceses. One of the appealing qualities of the Godly Play process…

Values-inspired issues remain an important part of the British school curriculum. Avoiding moral relativism while fostering enthusiasm for spiritual values and applying them to non-curricular learning such as school ethos or children's home lives are challenges where spiritual, moral, social and cultural (SMSC) development might benefit from…

This article offers one approach to exploring the question of in what sense music educators can speak of music and its moving power as spiritual by inquiring into what might count as a "musical spiritual experience" in emotional terms. The essay's analytic framework employs the distinction between two related concepts which I call the "shiver" and…

There is scant research literature on the interconnection between spirituality and the practices of faculty of color teaching social justice in the higher education classroom. This paper is based on a qualitative study that examined 15 spiritually minded activist scholars (who are all racially minoritized) in Canadian universities. The analysis…

Women of color, especially Black women, are underrepresented in the extant literature and research of adult development and mind, body, spirit leadership. This in-depth qualitative portraiture study explored the lives of three Black women who have been leading their communities as adult educators of mind, body, spirit practices. This examination…

The realisation to integrate science, ethics and morality is recognised with growing impetus in recent years (as noted with introducing the Australian Curriculum "Science as a Human Endeavour" strand), to develop sophisticated epistemologies of science, which includes an appreciation of the social context including ethical thinking. To…

Jesus's blessing of the "poor in spirit," who recognize their dependence on God, suggests that an awareness of human limitation is necessary for wise living. How can the Christian educator teach for spiritual poverty? Both Parker Palmer and Richard Kearney, from their different disciplinary and denominational perspectives, argue for the central…

Of all the individuals that we call Transcendentalists, Bronson Alcott was the most devoted to education and nourishing children's spirituality in that context. At the Temple school in Boston he held conversations with children on spiritual questions that drew forth the children's inner wisdom. This paper describes his work as an educator and…

Bonhoeffer's "Life Together" describes disciplines for Christian formation. Based on communal life, these disciplines assist Christians to take seriously Christ's call to discipleship. This article describes the disciplines of dispersion and community, reading Scripture, prayer, solitude, discernment, service and confession. Disconnected from…

In using developmentally appropriate practices, teachers should intentionally address all aspects of a child's being, the spiritual along with the physical and the cognitive. Because spirituality is a vital part of human nature, a whole-child teaching approach must include the part of the child some call spirituality. Many have attempted to…