ERIC Number: EJ904205
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2010-Oct
Pages: 15
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0034-4087
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Godly Play Nourishing Children's Spirituality: A Case Study
Hyde, Brendan
Religious Education, v105 n5 p504-518 Oct 2010
"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 is that it is understood to nurture the spiritual dimension of children's lives. But how exactly does it do this? In drawing on the author's own research, this exploratory article examines, through a case study, the way in which four particular characteristics of children's spirituality--the felt sense, integrating awareness, weaving the threads of meaning, and spiritual questing--are brought to the fore and are nurtured during the Godly Play process. In this way, the article attempts to demonstrate "how", in a practical sense, the Godly Play process may nurture the spirituality of children who engage in this process.
Descriptors: Play, Religious Factors, Foster Care, Religious Education, Case Studies, Early Childhood Education, Christianity, Curriculum Design, Spiritual Development, Teaching Methods
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 325 Chestnut Street Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Fax: 215-625-2940; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Early Childhood Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A