Introduces the faith development paradigm of James Fowler, describing six stages of faith development: intuitive-projective faith, mythic-literal faith, synthetic-conventional faith, individuating-reflective faith, conjunctive faith, and universalizing faith. Reviews one research project in which Fowler's paradigm was applied to older adults.…

Presents a history, since its founding, of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, a training association devoted to spiritual preparation of adults so they can meet the spiritual needs of children in the Christian tradition. Focuses on the efficacy of the parable of the Good Shepherd and the future of the Catechesis in parishes and as an…

Presents a typology of approaches to spiritual development based on spiritual path type (mystical, personal, ritual, group-participative, ecstatic). Includes a classroom exercise that enables students to identify their spiritual path and learn how to learn about spirituality. (SK)

Evidently, there are similarities between pictures and diagrams but essential features present in the former are conspicuously absent from the latter. The current obsession with effectiveness in teaching has reduced that which should be aesthetic and inspired to the wholly rational, diagrammatic and instrumental. Heidegger's ontology (theory of…

Whereas questions about meaning and purpose are appropriate and perhaps essential in the classroom, teachers should integrate them with caution.

The importance of spiritual leadership that enables educators to build inner strength for effective management is discussed. Even though developing a spiritual approach may not eliminate all the stress, it can help educators to stay focused on the aim of improving education for students.

Thirty years ago this summer "Religious Education" published its first article on faith development theory, entitled "Agenda Toward a Developmental Perspective on Faith," published in "Religious Education" in volume LXIX, March-April 1974, pp. 209-219. At the request of the editors of this journal, it is a privilege to offer an account of some of…

The author provides career counselors with an overview of the trend toward spirituality in the workplace and examines its potential pros and cons for workers. The growing openness in organizations to explore work from a spiritual perspective provides a new tool to the career practitioner. Career counselors can help clients draw on their…

Leaders' Spirit is multifaceted and multidimensional. It has many functions, which perhaps explains why it has so many names. At one level, their Spirit is what connects them to the divine. They can think of it like an Internet connection between their innate PC and the divine. It is also the gateway with potential connections to all of humanity…

In this article, the author discusses how teachers and students can find opportunities in aligning their purposes to raise the curriculum from the mundane to the spiritual. The author believes that curriculum workers have the opportunity to facilitate and enhance the spiritual dimensions of the curriculum if they can facilitate liberating…

This article, reporting on research in progress on the nature of tragedy, falls into three sections. The first explores the concept of awe and relates it to contemporary thinking about spiritual education. The second identifies tragedy as an artistic form that evokes awe in response to the vision of the human condition that it presents. The…

The Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan Buddhist leader was invited to speak at the Society for Neuroscience meeting in November 2005 to promote the idea that through meditation, an emerging meeting point for science and religion in contemporary culture can be reached. However, some members of the association were offended at the implied endorsement…

This article is a report of a qualitative research study into the aesthetic and spiritual dimensions of the lifelong learning practices of eight experienced educators. The research is grounded in a narrative tradition of research on teacher development where teacher learning is viewed as a creative, holistic, relational endeavour in which the…

A localized ethnography of African Christian students revealed consistently robust Christian faith across all respondents, the core elements of which were rooted in an explicit Afrocentric worldview. These findings support multicultural critiques of classic student spiritual development theory, and point toward further research from a…

Despite its considerable intellectual interest and great social relevance, religion has been neglected by contemporary developmental psychologists. But in the last few years, there has been an emerging body of research exploring children's grasp of certain universal religious ideas. Some recent findings suggest that two foundational aspects of…