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This article was downloaded by: [University of Newcastle (Australia)] On: 06 October 2014, At: 01:09 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK International Journal of Children's Spirituality Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/cijc20 Initial Primary Teacher Education Students and Spirituality Geoff Rogers & Doug Hill Published online: 21 Jul 2010. To cite this article: Geoff Rogers & Doug Hill (2002) Initial Primary Teacher Education Students and Spirituality, International Journal of Children's Spirituality, 7:3, 273-289, DOI: 10.1080/1364436022000023194 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1364436022000023194 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content. This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub- licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http:// www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

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Page 1: Initial Primary Teacher Education Students and Spirituality

This article was downloaded by: [University of Newcastle (Australia)]On: 06 October 2014, At: 01:09Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK

International Journal of Children'sSpiritualityPublication details, including instructions for authors andsubscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/cijc20

Initial Primary Teacher EducationStudents and SpiritualityGeoff Rogers & Doug HillPublished online: 21 Jul 2010.

To cite this article: Geoff Rogers & Doug Hill (2002) Initial Primary Teacher EducationStudents and Spirituality, International Journal of Children's Spirituality, 7:3, 273-289, DOI:10.1080/1364436022000023194

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1364436022000023194

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information(the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor& Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warrantieswhatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of theContent. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions andviews of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. Theaccuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independentlyverified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liablefor any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages,and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectlyin connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content.

This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes.Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expresslyforbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

Page 2: Initial Primary Teacher Education Students and Spirituality

International Journal of Children’s SpiritualityVol. 7, No. 3, 2002

Initial Primary Teacher EducationStudents and SpiritualityGEOFF ROGERSSchool of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, Queensland University ofTechnology, Kelvin Grove, Qld. 4059, Australia. E-Mail: [email protected]

DOUG HILLSchool of Education, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, N.S.W. 2650,Australia. E-Mail: dm [email protected]

ABSTRACT In recent years there has begun to be a resurgence of interest in educating thewhole child in response to an over emphasis on basic skills teaching. In the study reportedin this article, initial primary teacher education students at a regional Australian universitywere asked to explore and discuss their beliefs about the notion of spirituality. A survey wasone of the instruments used and the responses obtained were placed into one of � ve categoriesor dimensions of spirituality. These included spirituality and self (re� ection); religion;nature (environment/universe); relationships; and major life events (birth/marriage/death).Each of these categories are discussed in relation to a similar study conducted in the UnitedKingdom. Some implications for teacher educators and their initial primary teachereducation students are discussed. These implications are able to help both groups worktowards a more spiritually sensitive curriculum which seeks to recognise spiritual develop-ment as integral and central for providing a holistic education for all children.

Introduction

In recent years many Australian educators have become disenchanted with a primaryschool curriculum that focuses on relatively narrow outcomes. This dissatisfactionhas resulted in a movement towards a more liberal approach to curriculum that goesbeyond basic skills and concepts and seeks to help children make sense of the worldaround them. Such an approach involves helping children to answer their ownquestions, explore interconnections and consider values and spiritual issues.

If teachers are to employ such an approach in their classrooms then they need anappropriate background. This is particularly important in the area of spiritualitywhich has only gradually begun to be recognised as an identi� ed aspect of curricu-lum by most Australian states in the last few years.

ISSN 1364-436X print; 1469-8455 online/02/030273-17 Ó 2002 Taylor & Francis LtdDOI: 10.1080/1364436022000023194

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The study reported in this article had three main purposes. It sought to:

1. investigate the understanding of trainee student teacher’s notions of spirituality;2. explore ways in which a spiritual dimension could be incorporated across the key

learning areas of the primary curriculum; and3. identify cognate implications for the professional development of teacher educa-

tors and their trainee student teachers.

Literature Review

This review has as its prime focus some of the literature that directly relates to thepurposes of the study. It does not purport to re� ect the current diversity of views onspirituality and its place in the curriculum or to comprehensively cover both childand adult development.

Australian society appears to have reduced the focus on community and responsi-bility for others to a major concentration on the individual by seeking to maximiseoutcomes for one’s self. Making money, career advancement and material posses-sions seem to be a few of the obvious motivators for behaviour in our current society(Hard, 1999). Rarely is attention given to an education that includes an emphasis onthe whole child’s social, emotional, physical and spiritual development (Miller,2000). Lewis (2000) cites Crompton’s (1992) ancient Hindu view that our bodiescan be considered to be a four roomed house in which each of the rooms representsour physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual aspects of who we are. Thisanalogy suggests that the spiritual dimension is equally important in the overallhealth and well-being of adults and children.

In contrast to Australia, United Kingdom governments seem to have shown agreater willingness to give some attention to children’s spiritual development duringtheir schooling (Halstead, 1999; Kendall, 1999). For example, British legislationrequires that the compulsory OFSTED school inspections include some attention tochildren’s spiritual development (SCAA, 1996).

Miller (2000) even contends that in the last few years there has been an increasedinterest in spirituality and that there is a new awakening to a sense of the sacred andto the interconnectedness of life. In Australia, for example, the word spirituality isfrequently being used in the media in a variety of contexts that are not justassociated with religions. This can range from New Age alternative subculturesthrough to the widely accepted and used term of Aboriginal Spirituality. An ongoingdebate on spirituality has been reported in a variety of Australian journals concernedwith religion and religious education (for example, see Hill, 2000).

Before attempting to de� ne spirituality, it is helpful to � rst explore what is meantby the terms culture, beliefs and belief system. Brief comments will be made about eachof these concepts as each is closely linked to notions of spirituality. An appreciationand understanding of these terms will assist the discussion that follows where theauthors attempt to offer some insights into what they understand by the termspirituality.

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Students and Spirituality 275

Culture

In everyday terms culture refers to a way of life and includes such aspects aslanguage, traditions, customs, religion, and technologies. The essential feature ofany culture is that it allows people to make sense of life by providing a system ofshared meanings. These shared meanings are what we have in common and whatbinds us together as a nation. Teachers thus need to understand the nature of theprevailing culture and its common ideas, values and beliefs and recognise that forindividuals this involves multiple personal and social meanings, relationships, prac-tices and values (Kalantzis and Cope, 2000). This can be a very demanding task ina society which has a diversity of cultures.

Language is a key element in cultural identity, as the passage below reveals.

… language is the primary means by which people build up the sharedunderstanding that makes a culture reality … analysis [of language] canreveal much about the way people conceive of their lives and their experi-ences. People usually have words for the things that are most important forthem. Classroom activity is a cultural activity. In modern Western societyit is the main context in which the younger generation undergoes itsapprenticeship for participation in our culture. What teachers see as thestandards and norms of their culture in� uences what they teach and howthey teach it. (Shopen, 1993, p. 1)

For the above reasons it would seem important to include a spiritual dimension tothe curriculum.

Our beliefs are in� uenced by our development. Donaldson (1996) tried tointegrate both affective and cognitive aspects into a mode of processing model ofdevelopment which is appropriate for considering human growth in an holistic way.Essentially her position is that individuals need to develop a range of ways fordealing with the complexity of lived experience. Each of these modes contributes tothe development of a fuller understanding and appreciation of the world around us.She described four modes of functioning:

· point mode—where the locus of concern is here and now.· line mode—where the concern is with speci� c events recalled from the past or

anticipated in the future.· construct mode—where the concern has shifted from the speci� c to the general.· transcendent mode—in which concern is no longer with things and happenings in

space-time at all. (p. 329)

The � nal mode seems similar to the later stages in many models of adult develop-ment (for example, see Kegan, 1994), as does her notion of control of the repertoire.She describes the latter as the development of the skill that enables us to determinefrom moment to moment how to use the mental capacities we possess. Beliefs maydiffer according to the modes of processing available at the critical time of theirdevelopment. This explains why some of an individual’s beliefs may not be inkeeping with the rest of his or her thinking.

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Beliefs

Beliefs are among the most important personal constructs or schema (Spencer andRossmanith, 1997). They are relatively stable convictions about the truth or realityof something. For example, most Australian Aboriginals see themselves as part ofthe land where they were born and therefore perceive that what threatens it threatensthem. It appears in many cases that such beliefs:

· are implicit or unconscious;· have evolved slowly over time as part of the process of making sense of the world

and form an important part of a culture;· are not always been subject to critical examination;· are often based on insuf� cient evidence to establish certainty;· are accepted on faith;· differ in the ease with which they may be changed.

Slavin (2000) has argued that individuals behave as if the beliefs they have con-structed of themselves, and the socio-cultural environment around them, constitutereality and behave accordingly.

Belief Systems

Our belief systems involve both declarative and procedural knowledge. Just how thebelief system develops and operates is somewhat less clear. Long (2000) argues thatour experiences get analysed, categorised and generalised and represented in seman-tic memory. For example, a person’s experiences of individual Christmases becomegeneralised so that a few days after a particular Christmas, the speci� c events are stillfresh in memory, but a few years later all Christmases can seem much the same andare represented in long term memory as a single schema. Long goes on to claim thatsuch knowledge of meaning becomes integrated into procedural knowledge whichguides behaviour at Christmas time. The nature of the schema depends on our levelof development at the time and the modes of processing used. Once a Christmasschema has become part of procedural knowledge this knowledge functions in a wayas if the conditions associated with Christmas exist, then that individual proceeds tofeel or act in certain predictable ways.

Spirituality

At this stage it may be fruitful to consider what is meant by the term spirituality. Aswith any complex concept, spirituality means different things to each individual.There are numerous de� nitions of spirituality and the task of trying to sift throughthem all is potentially a challenging task. Ashley (2000) has suggested that it mightbe useful to classify them into kingdoms in a similar way scientists have done forliving things. He maintained that spirituality can be divided into humanistic/secularand the divine/supernatural kingdoms in which life in the fullest sense of the wordwould be the unifying characteristic.

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It has been argued from an holistic viewpoint that spirituality should not beconsidered to be a separate category, but rather a characteristic of all phenomena(Lewis, 2000). Such a conceptualisation considers spirituality in education as beingprimarily concerned with the cultivation of the heart and mind. Such an approachneeds to be utilised in all areas of learning.

In an Australian study (Fisher, 1999), the views of 98 teachers were sought toformulate a de� nition of what constitutes spiritual health. According to Fisher,spirituality can be considered to involve four sets of relationships. These fourrelationships are of a person with themselves; others; the environment; and with a higherorder. Fisher went on to describe spiritual well-being as being a dynamic state ofbeing in which people live in harmony within their relationships in these fourdomains which he also referred to as:

· Personal—wherein one intra-relates with oneself with regards to meaning, purposeand values in life. The human spirit creates self-awareness, relating to self-esteemand identity.

· Communal—as expressed in the quality and depth of interpersonal relationships,between self and others, relating to morality, culture and religion. This includeslove, justice, hope and faith in humanity.

· Environmental—past care and nurture for the physical and biological, to a sense ofawe and wonder; for some, the notion of unity with the environment.

· Global—relationship of self with something or someone beyond the human level(i.e. ultimate concern; cosmic force; transcendent reality; or God). This involvesfaith toward, adoration and worship of, the source of Mystery of the universe.(Fisher, 1999, p. 31)

When Bainbridge (2000) analysed the responses obtained from his study of 1195intending teachers in the United Kingdom, he used � ve categories of spirituality.Four of these were similar to those used by Fisher and were the notions of � ndingoneself (Personal); the spiritual and religion (Global); hints of transcendence(Environmental); and the spiritual as found in relationships (Communal). Bain-bridge’s other category was the spiritual and morality and this did not appear to bea distinct part of Fisher’s categories. It was also interesting that the notion oftranscendent other/reality appeared to be present in Fisher’s Global domain ofsomething/someone beyond the human level. This notion of transcendence whichfeatured prominently in Bainbridge’s work, has also been picked up by Myers andMyers (1999). They contend that spirituality refers to a quality of being fully humanthat enables us to transcend or move beyond what is known to what we do not yetfully comprehend. Thus the use of the term spirituality enables us to engage inmeaning making that informs the way we participate in the process of transcen-dence.

A slightly different approach on spirituality has been taken by Peck (1990) in hisbest selling book The Road Less Travelled. Peck has made no differentiation betweenthe mind and the spirit. He maintained that there is no distinction between theprocess of achieving spiritual growth and achieving mental growth. They are one andthe same. Similar sentiments have been expressed by Clarke (1995), and cited inKendall (1999), who viewed spirituality as being linked to both the mental and

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physical aspects of a person’s being. It is problematic whether spiritual developmentis dependent on cognitive development or is independent and can contribute to suchdevelopment.

This notion of equating spiritual development with human development has beenchallenged by Wintersgill (2000). She maintained that real spiritual developmentcan only take place as a result of challenges, questioning, struggles, pain anduncertainty. According to her there is a danger that fostering spiritual developmentcan create an unhealthy dualism between spirit and mind. In order to be trulyeducational, spiritual development should be seen as a union with intellectualdevelopment.

For many people, the term spirituality has been closely associated with religion. Inreviewing two books on spiritual literacy, Bosacki (1999) came to the conclusionthat schools must realise that spirituality and religion are not necessarily synony-mous. Instead, she argues that schools need to endorse holistic curriculum programsthat focus on the development of the whole child and the interconnectedness betweenmind, body and soul.

In her study of spirituality, Kendall (1999) found that cross-curricular activitieshave a powerful potential for spiritual development in primary school children.Similar sentiments have been expressed by Iannone and Obenauf (1999) whoclaimed that an integrated/thematic curriculum is the most viable for assistingteachers and children to address the interconnectedness of life inherent in spiritual-ity. Such a curriculum needs to re� ect the interests and questions of the children.

Bainbridge (2000) concluded that the challenge for teacher educators was toprovide opportunities for their student teachers to develop and re� ect upon thenotion of spirituality. If the inclusion of a spiritual dimension in the curriculum is animportant component of providing a holistic education, then how do teachereducators best ensure that it occurs? What do Initial Primary Teacher EducationStudents (henceforth referred to as trainee teachers) think spirituality means andhave they had personal spiritual experiences in their own lives? The authors believethat this is a necessary precursor for these trainee teachers to enable them toincorporate a spiritual dimension into their future pedagogy. The remainder of thisarticle will explore these questions by reporting on a study which was conductedwith second year undergraduate trainee teachers attending a university in regionalAustralia. First, the method used will be explained and then some of the � ndings willbe considered and discussed by presenting them as a series of � ve key categories ofspirituality. The article concludes with a discussion about some of the implicationsfor teacher educators and trainee teachers which can be drawn from these � ndings.

Methodology

As part of the second of two Science and Technology subjects, the topic ofSpirituality was set for one of the tutorial classes. All of the undergraduate traineeteachers taking this subject were in the second year of their four year Bachelor ofEducation course. Each cohort contained approximately 60 students per year ofwhich there were approximately 20% male 80% female and 25% mature age

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Students and Spirituality 279

students and 75% school leavers—that is, students who entered the course straightafter leaving high school. The majority of these students came from and will later beemployed in government schools that have little religious education and whichis usually taught by community volunteers. Thus in terms of their own schooleducation these students have relatively secularised roots.

Before the trainee teachers came to the tutorial class, they were all required toread a discussion article which had been posted on the subject’s on-line forum. Thisarticle was written by the � rst author and explored the term spirituality by presentinga range of interpretations from the literature. In this article the � rst author shared hisown spiritual awakenings and examples of spirituality associated with the environ-ment/universe were provided as well as mention of links to science. The main aimof having the trainee teachers read this article before the tutorial class, was toprovide them with basic background information about the topic and allow themtime to re� ect upon the ideas presented. It was felt that it was important to ensurethat they came to the class with at least some preparation in order for it to be moremeaningful and instructive.

A student survey (Table 1) that contained open-ended questions was adminis-tered to all of the trainee teachers. This main survey sought to examine the traineeteachers’ current understanding of the term spirituality and whether or not theythought there was a possible link between the teaching of the six Key Learning Areas(KLAs) and spirituality. After the trainee teachers had � nished � lling out the survey,they were invited to orally expand and share what they had written. A number chosenot to participate. In addition, � eld notes were made after each of the tutorialclasses. Towards the end of the study some of the trainee teachers’ oral discussionof their responses to the survey were audio-taped and later transcribed for more

Table 1. Student Survey 1

Clari� cation Exercise

Please tick: Female Male School leaver Mature age entrant

Many leading educationalists believe that it is important to educate the whole child, and that it isnot suf� cient to just equip children with the basic academic skills. Education needs to be fullyrounded and have an academic, social, emotional and spiritual dimension. This exercise is designedto clarify your own ideas and understandings about spirituality. Please note that this is not a test.There are no right or wrong answers—there are just different perspectives, some of which may re� ectyour own culture and background.

· Spirituality is a notion of which we all have some understanding. However, we all express itdifferently and � nd different examples within our lives. Think of some situation or episode thatyou think has spiritual aspects in your own life (or someone you know well) and describe it.

· Explain what is spiritual about that situation.

· Which of the 6 Key Learning Areas do you think might be a vehicle in which teachers can helpto develop a spiritual sense in children? Can you brie� y give reasons for your answer.

· If you as a teacher decided to introduce a spiritual dimension in primary science and technology,what are the sort of things you would consider doing?

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Table 2. Student Survey 2

Which one of the following pairs of statements best re� ects your view about why we should teachscience and Technology to primary children?

1 (a) S/T is able to investigate natural phenomena and built environmentsusing appropriate scienceprocess skills.

1 (b) Children are curious and set out to investigate their environment themselves to discover thetwo faces of wonder—curiosity and doubt meeting surprise and rapt attention.

2 (a) Children need to appreciate good design in the built environment in which they live.

2 (b) Children can design, make and appraise products to meet speci� c needs.

3 (a) Children need to be able to describe the nature of earth and its surroundings.

3 (b) Children will become aware of and wonder about the earth, planets and the stars.

4 (a) Children will appreciate the diversity of living things and the need to preserve and live inharmony with them.

4 (b) Children will develop their knowledge and understanding of living things.

5 (a) Children will be aware of the way in which technology has changed our society and needs tobe used wisely.

5 (b) Children will be able to select and use a range of technology.

6 (a) Living things interact with each other and effect their environments in complex ways.

6 (b) Children need to recognise the fragility of the earth’s eco—systems and the need to usestrategies for ecological sustainability.

7 (a) Children need to work cooperatively with others in groups on S/T tasks and challenges.

7 (b) Children need to be aware of and appreciate individual differences in values and beliefs andbe able to share together within this environment of diversity.

8 (a) Children will delight in thinking about the beauty, complexityand mystery of the world aroundus.

8 (b) Children will acquire positive and informed values and attitudes towards S/T.

detailed analysis. The � rst author of this article also had a number of informaldiscussions with individual students following the tutorial classes.

Another instrument was constructed (Table 2) for use with the followingyear’s cohort of trainee teachers. This instrument contained pairs of statementswith one of the statments taken directly from the current state Science and Tech-nology syllabus document, while the other was parallel but had a more spiritualovertone.

Over the three years that the survey instruments were administered, each of thecohorts of trainee teachers was told that there were no right or wrong answers. Theywere familiar with this approach as in all their Science and Technology classes aconstructivist approach to learning was used. As part of their science and technologylearning they were always encouraged to take risks and offer explanations forscienti� c phenomena. At one of their school visits each of the trainee teachers had

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to interview a � ve year old child and gently probe to discover the child’s conceptsthe child’s concepts of living and nonliving. In this exercise too, trainee teachers hadto stress to the child that there were no right or wrong answers.

In order to protect the interests of participants, informed consent was obtainedfrom all of the trainee teachers after the nature and purpose of the study had beenclearly explained to them. They were also informed that anonymity would be usedto protect their con� dentiality. They were given the option of not participating inaspects of the data collection and a few chose this option. As the research processmoves from the � eld site (data collection) to � eld texts (data analysis) and then toresearch texts (reports), Clandinin and Connelly (1994) pointed out that contactwith the participants invariably reduces and the researchers become less concernedwith accurate description and more concerned with theorising. In this circumstanceinformed consent becomes practically and intellectually much more dif� cult and theresearchers need to seek other guiding ethical principles. We found this to beapplicable to this study.

In this study it was necessary to use multiple data sources to ensure appropriateinterpretation. It was also important to reconsider earlier interpretations in the lightof evidence gained at a later date. The procedures advocated by Bogdan and Biklen(1998), Denzin and Lincoln (2000) and Weisma (1991) were used to inform theresearch process in this study.

Results

The student survey 2 was administered at the beginning of tutorial classes (Table 2).The results obtained from this preliminary task for the most recent cohort, arepresented in Table 3. This shows that in all but one of the pairs of statements, themajority of students chose statements which contained overtones or notions ofspirituality. This could suggest that these trainee teachers may unconsciously favoura more spiritually-oriented curriculum. On closer examination of the second pair ofstatements, the authors felt that maybe the wording of statement 2A may have been

Table 3. Responses to Student Survey 2N 5 69

Question A B Did not know

1 17* 522 16 53*3 13* 55 14 36 32* 15 38 30* 16 25* 447 12* 578 40 27* 2

* Statements from syllabus document.

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reworded to—‘Children’s lives will be enriched by being able to appreciate gooddesign in the built environment in which they live’. This would then more aptlyre� ect a richer spiritual dimension.

Following the introductory tasks at the beginning of the tutorials, the discussionarticle was brie� y discussed in order to clarify for the trainee teachers some of theissues raised. Even after completing the introductory tasks and the discussion article,many of the trainee teachers still found it very dif� cult to � ll in the � rst two boxesof the main survey (Table 1) (this was where the trainee teachers were asked to writeabout a spiritual experience in their own lives or about someone they knew). A totalof 17% of the respondents either did not answer the � rst two tasks or, in a few cases,responded in a way in which there was no obvious spiritual dimension. Thefollowing comments made by a female school leaver, were fairly typical of those whofound it a dif� cult task.

I found it really hard to grasp the whole concept of spirituality. I go tochurch quite regularly and apart from seeing the spiritual side of being aChristian, I � nd it hard to see other forms of spirituality. I think thatcoming straight from school has something to do with this too, because Ihaven’t had a chance to really experience the world around me.

Many of the trainee teachers who found these � rst two tasks very dif� cult wereschool leavers and a number of them chose not to � ll them in at all. Some ofthose school leavers who did complete the task commented afterwards on thedif� culty they had experienced. An additional problem experienced by a fewwas due to the fact that they had forgotten to do the necessary preparation byreading and re� ecting on the posted discussion article. These particular studentsfound it very dif� cult to � nd common ground with their peers when discussingspirituality.

A total of 147 trainee teachers participated in this study which involved threesecond year cohorts. From both the data collection and analysis stages no detectablegender differences to the responses were found. Differences were noticeable betweeneach of the year cohorts with some cohorts much more reticent to engage in thetasks. This may be related to the fact that entrance scores which are required toenter the course, varied each year. The responses made by the trainee teachers to themain survey (Table 1) were analysed and a number of recurring themes emerged.From these it was possible to develop � ve main categories for which most of theresponses to the � rst two tasks could be placed. The categories selected included allfour that were used by Fisher (1999) and also included an additional category whichis referred to as Spirituality and Major Life Events. For this category trainee teachersrelated either a birth, marriage or death experience which they felt constituted aspiritual episode in their own life (or in the life of someone who they knew well).

The percentage of responses in each category are found in Table 4. In a few casesthe responses of students could have been included in more than one category. Inthese cases the authors subjectively decided the main category in which to placethem.

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Table 4. Percentage of responses to each category of spirituality

Categories—Spirituality and Percentage of responses

1. Self 7%2. Religion 13%3. Nature 38%4. Relationships 9%5. Major Life Events 16%No obvious Spiritual dimension 17%

Spirituality/Self (Re� ection)

This category refers to that aspect of spirituality which is linked to self-re� ection andoverall received the lowest response rate (Table 4). Here the trainee teachers wroteabout themselves and the meaning, purpose and values they have in life. The traineeteachers wrote about � nding themselves and this was related to their self-esteem andidentity. This category can be illustrated by the mature age female student whostated that:

Coming to university and when I learn about something I never knewabout, I have an exciting feeling inside me and then I feel good aboutmyself and feel that I am missing out on a lot of knowledge. I feel happyinside myself and also feel good and want to � nd out more knowledge.

Another female student who was a school leaver was working with a group ofchildren on a practicum placement and had asked them to write down ten thingsthat were very important to them. After the lesson she was reading through themand found that one had listed her high on his list. She then wrote:

I was shocked and amazed that my spending time with this child andshowing attention in just a few short weeks of knowing him had had thismuch attention. It caused me to really consider how much our everydayactions/behaviour can impact on the lives of other people.

Spirituality/Religion

A number of the trainee teachers who associated the notion of spirituality withreligion had a Catholic upbringing. A mature age male student shared his beliefsabout spirituality and religion by claiming that:

The last year or so has been tough for me and I have become closer to myCatholic faith which has given me much strength. I had always beeneducated within the Catholic system but never really practised myfaith … Hardships make us better people.

Although God was often not mentioned directly, the term higher force/power wassometimes used as in the following example written by a mature age female student.

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I know if I have a lot of work on or am worried about something, I will prayabout it and ask for help or guidance. Most of the time I come through thesituation achieving my outcome.

The frequency of responses attributed to this category (13%) was rather low,especially in comparison to Bainbridge’s (2000) cohort of intending student teachersin the United Kingdom where 40.3% and 57.3% mentioned religion in theiranswers. No doubt a possible reason for this was because the trainee teachers in thiscurrent study had been provided (prior to the tutorial in which the survey wasadministered) with literature which introduced a more broadly-based de� nition ofspirituality. It could also, to a lesser extent, re� ect the prevailing Australian culturein which the prominence and importance of organised Christian religions appears tobe steadily decreasing as measured by declining denominational church af� liationsas recorded in the Australian census data.

Spirituality/Nature (Environment/Universe)

This category was by far the most frequently cited example of the trainee teachers’notion of a spiritual episode from their lives (or from someone they knew well). Inthe discussion article which the trainee teachers were asked to read before thetutorial, examples of spirituality that had direct links to the natural environmentwere provided. This may have contributed to the higher percentage of responses(38%) that associated the natural environment with spiritual experience in their ownlives. Bainbridge (2000) incorporated this aspect of spirituality into his hints oftranscendence category. As was the case in his study, no mention of the wordtranscendence was found in this current study.

The responses about spirituality/nature in this category were basically concernedwith places in our environment or � ora and fauna. Two examples of places thatevoked spiritual feelings that were written by female school leavers appear below.

Another type of spirituality I have felt is when I went to Fraser Island. Iremember seeing my � rst fresh water lake, standing on its edge and staring.It was so pure and I was overcome with a feeling that I can’t explain.

And

There’s a high hill on our farm. On a sunny, blue-skied day it’s the mostamazing view. Every time I go up the hill I’m � lled with a sense of wonderabout nature—so beautiful and so vast. It makes me realise what a tinyspeck I am in the vast scheme of things. I also feel amazed and privilegedto be part of this. It happens every time!

Another female school leaver wrote about watching ants.

On the weekend I was at a friend’s place watching an ant struggling alongwith a giant piece of popcorn. The ant would move a little bit and then � ipover under the weight. Its sense of purpose and strength were amazing for

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a thing so small. It was spiritual because it provided me with a sense ofwonderment about the environment.

Spirituality/Relationships

In this category the trainee teachers’ responses referred to signi� cant interpersonalrelationships which they perceived to be spiritual situations or episodes in their lives.The depth and richness of their responses are evident in the following examples.This � rst example was written by a male school leaver.

When you are in love with someone, you may feel that you are connectedin a way that is more than just physical. The situation may be spiritual inthe sense that the feelings you have are more than physical and they seemto come from something greater.

The following was written by a female mature age student.

In year 11, a friend was hit by a car while walking to town from theboarding school. He was comatose for several months and although he wasstable his conditions were critical and life threatening. The next year hereturned to us for a few days during our retreat. When the accidentoccurred, several of us students were � rst on the scene. Although this wasa very emotional experience I also found it spiritual as how we all cametogether and supported each other through the experience.

Spirituality/Major Life Events (Birth/Marriage/Death)

Approximately 16% of the responses were directly related to either birth, marriageor death which were subsequently termed Major Life Events. Such a category wasnot used by either Bainbridge (2000) or Fisher (1999) in their studies. Althoughthese Major Life Events no doubt could be incorporated in some of the othercategories, it was felt that they needed to be considered separately because theystood out as quite distinct in terms of the depth of feelings and language involved.They can best be illustrated by the following response written by a female matureage student.

The birth of my child. I guess most mothers feel that enormous bond witha child, but the weeks and even months following I felt this thing that ishard to explain but I felt my life was complete—this is what life is all about.

Another female mature age student wrote the following about her marriage which toher was a signi� cant spiritual experience.

… the most moving and spiritual experience in my life would be standingoutside the church door, on my father’s arm waiting to marry my husband.To be � lled with such joy and pride and see that re� ected in my dad’s eyesmoved both of us to tears. Knowing this huge decision that my boyfriend

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and I made at the age of 21 and 22 was so completely right and perfect andfeeling so much joy and love that you felt like you could simply burst.

And � nally another female mature age student shared her early experience withdeath and considered it to be a life changing experience.

The death of my brother … made me wonder about the shortness of life. Itwas spiritual because it made me look deep inside myself and question myexistence and what I was going to do with the rest of my life.

Spirituality and Miscellaneous Dimensions

One of the dangers of trying to classify responses into a small number of categoriesis that some do not � t neatly anywhere. The authors found this with some of theresponses obtained. For example three trainee teachers associated sport with spiritu-ality. One of these mentioned attending last year’s Olympics while the other twowrote about the experience and atmosphere of attending sporting events at theMelbourne Cricket Ground. The authors did contemplate placing these in theMajor Life Events category. Other trainee teachers wrote about dreams; workingwith a disabled student; studying at university; participating in a multiculturalcelebration; helping the poor; a deja vu experience; and having psychic powers.These were dif� cult to place in a category.

Discussion and Implications

From the conduct of this study the authors have gained an insight into traineeteachers’ notions of spirituality which has enabled some tentative comparisons withthe � ndings of other studies. It was interesting to compare the responses made bythis cohort of Australian undergraduate trainee teachers with those of their counter-parts in the United Kingdom that were studied by Bainbridge (2000). However, itis likely that these two groups not only differ in terms of the relative emphasis onspirituality in the school curriculum and the type of teacher preparation programundertaken but also in other ways which may reduce the legitimacy of any suchcomparisons. It would appear from the report that the students from the UnitedKingdom seemed to be much more articulate in the area of spirituality than thosefrom Australia. A sizeable proportion of the Australian trainee teachers chose not toanswer the questions about spirituality and for many of those who did, theirresponses often tended to be either very limited or sketchy. It has been arguedby Hay and Nye (1998), that the fact spirituality has been ignored in the curriculummay have unconsciously led us to believe that this aspect of our being is lessimportant than other aspects. This hidden and subtly reinforced message may haveresulted in us being self conscious about our own spiritual experiences, and make usfeel uncomfortable in discussing such issues openly.

Even though it could be argued that Australian trainee teachers do have a certainlevel of spiritual awareness, (as illustrated by their ability to identify seven out of theeight more ‘spiritually’ worded statements about science and technology), many

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would appear to lack the necessary language to express themselves. This lack of asuitable shared language inhibits our ability to promote the growth of spirituality(Hay, 2000). According to Bosacki (1999) we need a language other than atraditional religious language to foster spirituality in children and our study suggeststhat this is also true of trainee teachers.

The notion of spirituality is a dif� cult concept to de� ne and when it is used at allin everyday contexts it is used both variously and vaguely. For these reasons it canbe extremely hard for students to be comfortable with accepting that they under-stand spirituality and are able to use it appropriately in a variety of contexts. Wheretrainee teachers did demonstrate that they possessed an understanding of spiritual-ity, then it usually was a relatively narrow one. This same sense of dif� culty inexpressing meaning was evident in the environment in which the early ChristianCreeds were formulated. The early Christian Church attempted to codify whatspirituality meant through the Creeds so that others could understand.

It would appear that people often do not have an audience other than themselvesfor much of their re� ective thoughts about incidents of spirituality and for exploringthe various dimensions of this experience. This is linked to the fact that we do notseem to have a language to talk about such notions of spirituality as it is not normallypart of our mainstream materialist culture. As a result there tend to be fewopportunities to share these experiences with others. Providing undergraduatetrainee student teachers with tasks such as used in this study may help to addressthis dilemma.

It seemed to the authors that many of the trainee teachers in our study found itdif� cult to change or build on their current notions of spirituality. This is where aconstructivist approach to teaching and learning about spirituality can be so valu-able. In tutorials the � rst author tried to use constructivist principles by allowing thetrainee teachers to recall their prior knowledge and understandings of spiritualityand then to share with and learn from other students. In this way some were ableto construct new and richer understandings of what spirituality can mean.

The authors maintain that if one is prepared to work at it, it is possible to createa teaching and learning environment that encourages students to become moreaware of the spiritual dimensions in everyday life. Once students have developedcon� dence in their capacity to describe some spiritual aspects in their environment,then it is likely that they will go on to identify further examples. Teacher educatorsneed to value the outcomes of such exploratory processes that allow students tocome to appreciate life from a new perspective. The inclusion of such a spiritualdimension can add greatly to the richness of one’s life which, in turn, leads tofeelings of inner peace and the very celebration of life itself.

Conclusions

In this study it could be said that trainee teachers were struggling with the notionsof spirituality as much as the researchers were struggling to draw out and capturetheir understandings. In order to explore the trainee teachers’ notions of spiritualitythe authors used a number of different strategies. From informal comments made by

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the trainee teachers following their tutorials on spirituality, it would appear thatmany did enjoy doing the various tasks and found it to be both stimulating anddifferent. The authors maintain that topics such as spirituality should be included asan integral part of the curriculum for undergraduate teacher education students.The authors claim that by engaging in this study the trainee teachers now have aheightened awareness of spirituality. They also have a developing appreciation of theneed to include spirituality as part of a more holistic education that seeks to givemore attention to the development of the whole child and the dynamic interconnect-edness of life. Such a dimension could enrich contemporary Australian culture andhelp individuals in establishing their identity in a multicultural society which hasrecently exhibited signs of tension among its people in areas such as tolerance ofdifference.

Note

[1] This article is based on a paper presented at the 33rd Annual Australasian Science EducationResearch Association Conference, Townsville, Queensland, 11–14 July 2002.

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