Redefining Religious Education. Spirituality For Human Flourishing PDF

Redefining Religious Education
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Redefining Religious Education
Spirituality for Human Flourishing
Edited by Scherto Gill and Garrett Thomson
redefining religious education
Copyright © Scherto Gill and Garrett Thomson, 2014.
All rights reserved.
First published in 2014 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN® in the United

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York, NY 10010.
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Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of
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States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.
ISBN 978-1-137-37814-9 ISBN 978-1-137-37389-2 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9781137373892
Redefining religious education : spirituality for human flourishing /
edited by Scherto R. Gill and Garrett Thomson.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references.
1. Education—Religious aspects. 2. Religious education. 3.

Spirituality—Study and teaching. 4. Education, Humanistic. I. Gill,
Scherto. II. Thomson, Garrett.
LB1027.2.R45 2014
379.2'8—dc23 2013049373
A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library.
Design by Scribe Inc.
First edition: June 2014
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
List of Figures and Tables vii

Acknowledgments ix
Foreword xi
General Introduction 1
Part I: Theoretical Framework
Introduction 13
1 Is Religious Education Possible? 17
Richard Pring
2 Educating Persons: The Role of Religious Education 29
Marius C. Felderhof
3 Human Flourishing and a “Right to Education” 43
Katherine Marshall
4 Spirituality, Education, and Religion for a
Human World 59
Sharif István Horthy
5 A Framework for a Religious Life 71
Garrett Thomson
Part II: Spiritual Education in Different Traditions
Introduction 87
6 Seven Indigenous Spiritual Principles for
Guiding All Students toward Survival, Peace,
Health, and Happiness 91
Four Arrows (a.k.a. Don Trent Jacobs)
vi O Contents
7 Religion, Spirituality, and Education for Human

Flourishing: A Brahma Kumaris Perspective 103
Maureen Goodman
8 Religious Education, Spirituality, and Human Flourishing:
Perspectives from the Sikh Dharam 117
Bhai Sahib Mohinder Singh
9 Religious Education, Spirituality, and Flourishing:
A Seon Practitioner’s Perspective 131
Jinwol Y. H. Lee
10 An Interreligious Approach to Religious Education 145
Scherto Gill
Part III: Pedagogical Case Studies
Introduction 159
11 Spirituality and Education about Religion:
A New Topic for Public High Schools in
New Zealand 163
Jocelyn Armstrong
12 Fathoming, Engaging, Abiding: The Story
of the Wisdom Project 177
John Breadon
13 Learning to Live Together 193
Agneta Ucko
14 The Purpose Project: Fostering Adolescent
Spiritual Growth and Flourishing 207
David Streight
15 Taking Life into Consideration: Challenges for
Religious Education and Spirituality as Human
Flourishing in the European School Context 221
Bert Roebben
Conclusion 233
About the Contributors 239
Index 245
Figures and Tables
Figure 13.1 The learning process 197

Table 14.1 Factors in well-being by author 209
Table 15.1 Learning about, from, and in/through religion 226
Acknowledgments
The proposal for this book was originally put forward at an international sym-
posium on the theme of “Religion, Spirituality and Education for Human
Flourishing” held on February 24–26, 2012, in Marrakech, Morocco. This vol-
ume is a collection of selected articles presented at the symposium.
We first want to thank each of the contributors of this volume who were
also participants and discussants at the Marrakech Symposium. We are grate-
ful for the invaluable insights they shared into the challenges and complexities
confronting religious education today.
We are most indebted to Simon Xavier Guerrand-Hermès, the Chairman of
the Guerrand-Hermès Foundation for Peace, for his great generosity and hospi-
tality in hosting the symposium at his personal home in Marrakech.
We are equally thankful for the Guerrand-Hermès Foundation for Peace
for its financial sponsorship, which had made the symposium possible. We
thank, in particular, the trustees of the foundation, without whose support
we wouldn’t have been able to put together this collection.
We also thank the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations for its partnership
in helping draw together religious leaders, spiritual practitioners, policy makers,
and educationalists from around the world to participate in the dialogue and
conversation at the symposium. The leaders of the Alliance—in particular, its
High Representative, H.E. Mr. Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser—have been excep-
tionally supportive of us in the process of editing this unique volume, which
is also an expression of the Alliance’s dedication and commitment to religious
education for spiritual growth.
We owe a special note of thanks to Laura Hobson at the Guerrand-Hermès
Foundation for Peace for her invaluable administrative support, as well as to
the team at the Palgrave Macmillan for their assistance during the final produc-
tion phase.
Last, but not least, we are thankful for all other support, input, and help
from our families, friends, and colleagues.
We dedicate this book to the children and young people today who have
made this work worthwhile.
Scherto Gill and Garrett Thomson
Foreword
H.E. Mr. Nassir Abdul Aziz Al-Nasser

UN High Representative for the Alliance of Civilizations
It is my great pleasure as High Representative for the United Nations Alliance

of Civilizations (UNAOC) to contribute the foreword of this book, which is
the fruit of the symposium on Religion, Spirituality, and Education for Human
Flourishing held in 2012 in partnership with the Guerrand-Hermès Founda-
tion for Peace (GHFP) at Dar Moulay Boubkhar.
This partnership is part of a longstanding and close collaboration between
our respective organizations. I’m very grateful to Mr. Simon Xavier Guerrand-
Hermès for his vision, his leadership, his gracious hospitality, and his continu-
ous effort to promote peace, respect among people and faiths, and the spiritual
dimensions of our lives.
This symposium and the publication of this book are timely, as the words
from these authors help highlight the crucial importance of religious education
in creating a peaceful culture in the world.
Since its creation in 2006, the UN Alliance of Civilizations has played a
pivotal role in countering the forces fueling polarization and extremism during
a particularly turbulent era in world affairs. For as long as we can see into the
future, identity politics based on religion, culture, and civilization will remain
central to the prospects for peace.
Growing turmoil exists in a number of countries around the world. While
the locations differ, there is a common thread connecting them. Radical notions
embodying a distorted perspective of religion often fuel acts of violence. No
religion calls for harm or incitement to hatred.
Whether you follow a certain faith or are not practicing any at all, there is
no set of beliefs that endorses violence, destruction, and harm. In fact, as the
authors illustrate in this book, every major religion and philosophy is based on
the idea of doing unto others as you would have them do to you.
xii O Foreword
So what does this mean for us? We must promote views that are open-
minded, not restricted. We must reject intolerance and encourage a culture of
acceptance and understanding. This can be done primarily through education,
communication, and sound policies. We need to start addressing the issue of
radicalization not just as a question of religion but as a problem rooted in edu-
cation and having economic, social, political, and humanitarian dimensions.
To live in peace, we must embrace our diversity, a task that must be taken up
by all elements of society, including nongovernmental organizations, religious
leaders, and other civil society groups, including business.
At the Alliance of Civilizations, we strongly believe that education plays a
tremendous role in preparing people to cope with diversity, whether religious or
cultural. That is why we were keen to join forces with the GHFP in organizing
this symposium to explore the role that religious education can play in culti-
vating virtues and spirituality and to redefine religious education aimed at the
spiritual and moral growth of the individual.
The UNAOC Fellowship Program, developed in partnership with the
GHFP, is also an educational initiative aimed at exposing world’s emerging
leaders to religion, media, culture, politics, and civil society. It is a platform for
sharing knowledge and ideas and inspiring partnerships across faiths, borders,
and cultures. The UNAOC Summer School Program extends the themes of
interfaith dialogue and multiculturalism. It is based on the idea that people
have more in common than what divides them.
I hope that through the theories and case studies captured in this book and
the different educative endeavors of both our organizations, the following mes-
sage is clear: Though we were born to different faiths, though we may speak in
separate tongues, we all live on this same earth as a part of one human family.
Thus it is our duty and our right to transcend our differences and build peace
across our communities.
General Introduction
T
his volume is dedicated to the proposition that religious education
should be directed primarily (but not exclusively) toward the spiri-
tual insofar as it is part of a flourishing human life. This proposal was
originally put forward at an international symposium on the theme “Religion,
Spirituality and Education for Human Flourishing.” Convened jointly by the
Guerrand-Hermès Foundation for Peace and the United Nations Alliance of
Civilizations on February 24–26, 2012, in Marrakech, Morocco, the sym-
posium drew together religious leaders, spiritual practitioners, policy mak-
ers, and educationalists in an attempt to redefine religious education in the
way described. This volume is a collection of selected articles presented at
the symposium.
In this introduction, we explain the initial plausibility of this proposal and,
in so doing, provide an overview of some of the obstacles that such a project
needs to overcome and some of the opportunities that it affords.
It is widely accepted that spirituality represents a core dimension of human
experience. Today’s world is facing unprecedented challenges, and this suggests
a pressing need for education to develop a deeper awareness of the spiritual
dimensions of our lives.
Most of the major world religions claim that their core teachings aim at cul-
tivating spirituality. In fact, some religions claim that the essence of the religious
life is spiritual. Despite the differences in their beliefs, practices, and concep-
tions of the divine or of ultimate reality, religions tend to promote values and
virtues that belong to all humans regardless of their tradition. Thus one might
presume that religion can play an important contributing role in cultivating
spirituality in education and schooling.
Given this perspective, there is renewed interest in exploring the part that
religious education might play in cultivating virtues and spirituality. Under
various names, such as “education about religion,” “faith education,” “reli-
gious studies,” and “religious education,” the teaching of religious beliefs has
already been integrated into the national curriculum of many countries. How-
ever, often the main focus of such religious education is to impart knowledge
2 O Redefining Religious Education
about religions and perhaps to develop some interreligious understanding. This

approach to religious education tends to regard religion mainly as an academic
subject at arm’s length.
In sharp contrast, in many parts of the world, governments are looking toward
religious education to provide for the moral and spiritual development of stu-
dents. We see this, for example, in the United Kingdom, where the Education Act
of 1944 mandated compulsory religious education and the 1998 Education
Act charged state schools with promoting the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental,
and physical development of pupils. In many countries, there is a similar gap
between this kind of policy ambition and the day-to-day educational practice
in schools. Therefore, the core question here is, how can one pass from educa-
tion about religion—that is, teaching religion merely as an academic subject
from external points of view—to education from religion, which regards reli-
gion as part of human experience, involving spiritual and moral development?
This challenge is made all the more difficult by the social factors that make
it important. In the past, religious education could readily be understood as
presenting the dominant religious tradition of the society. However, today,
in increasingly secular and multireligious societies, religious education shouldn’t
inculcate the beliefs and practices of a specific tradition. Consequently, in reac-
tion to this danger, schools often tend to view religious education as neutral,
and hence bland, with a focus on imparting of information about religions, as
we described earlier.
Neither of these two options seems satisfactory. The first sectarian option
threatens to offend our conception of public reason: what a society offers edu-
cationally should be reasonably acceptable by anyone in the society. The sec-
ond neutral option ignores young people’s need for meaning and for a deeper
understanding of ethical values that the first option may have provided. Given
that neither of the two options is entirely satisfactory, we must create a set of
alternatives that can function and be accepted in societies that are paradoxically
increasingly secular and multireligious at the same time.
In such a social and political climate, the conception of religion as spiritu-
ality faces challenges from several directions. From one side, modern secular
theorists tend to hold that religions are authoritarian social institutions that try
to indoctrinate people into a closed metaphysical view. They also regard reli-
gion as an imposition of a set of rigid moral rules that can be harmful in their
insistence on an exclusive loyalty that rejects other traditions and thereby results
in intolerance and segregation. Furthermore, religious views cannot be sup-
ported scientifically and are usually superstitious. From another side, postmod-
ern theorists critique the idea of religion as spirituality, claiming that religion is
no longer necessary in the postmodern era, in which the coherent meaning and
human values promoted by religions are mere illusions. From this point of view,
General Introduction O 3
religions promote ready-made solutions as certainties when societies should be

embracing uncertainty and change.
In addition, even if it were to be acknowledged that spirituality is an impor-
tant dimension of human life, nevertheless the concept appears to be too vague
and too contested to build a consensus around it sufficient for educational pur-
poses. We are left with the question, how can people who have no particular
religious affiliation and people from very different religions come to an agreed-
on understanding of what spirituality is?
This Volume
In the context of these challenges, there is a need for a new and reframed
inquiry and debate about these important issues. The chapters in this volume
address many aspects of this challenge from theoretical, religious, and educa-
tional points of view. We asked the contributors to answer the question, “How
can religious education aim to cultivate the spiritual development of the indi-
vidual?” We looked for a multidisciplinary approach that would address the
issues and challenges outlined in this introduction.
We considered an explicit focus on human flourishing as important and
innovative. Many interreligious dialogues tend to center their exploration on
pluralism, interreligious understanding, intercultural learning, and social cohe-
sion to the exclusion of the relevance of spirituality. Because of this, such dia-
logues often ignore the value of human life and sometimes instrumentalize
human ethics for political and social ends, such as social cohesion and intercul-
tural and interreligious harmony.
We were excited to ask representatives of different religions to share how,
within their traditions, individuals understand the spiritual life and its relevance
for education. We invited, in particular, traditions that are not often included
in mainstream dialogues, such as those of the Brahma Kumaris, Sikhs, Zen
Buddhists, and Indigenous traditions. We encouraged them to address thorny
value questions, such as “What is spirituality?” “How is spirituality relevant for
human flourishing?” and “How are religions relevant to spirituality?”
At the same time, we wanted the chapters to have both theoretical depth
and practical insight. For this reason, we included contributions from philoso-
phers and religious thinkers, as well as educational practitioners. We asked the
thinkers to develop theoretical frameworks for the spiritual life and to explain
how religious education can help enhance spirituality. We asked the educational
practitioners in the field to describe and explain their pedagogical strategies
and practices that tackle the dilemmas and challenges of education for spiri-
tuality. These case studies are drawn from different countries, including New
Zealand, the United Kingdom, other European countries, the United States,
Israel, India, and South Africa. We hope that they help make this scholarly book
accessible and practically illuminating for readers.
Religious Education
Why should religion be studied in schools? Some of the answers that seemed
obvious in many countries fifty years ago no longer look so convincing. For
example, in the United Kingdom, the Plowden Report, published in 1967,
claimed that the aim of religious education was to introduce faith, the love of
God, and moral virtues (Central Advisory Council for Education 1967). At
that time, teaching Christianity from within a Christian perspective seemed
very reasonable in a largely Christian society. Today, in more pluralistic and
secular societies, these once apparent certainties have dissolved.
It is important to ask why religion should be taught in schools. The answer
will determine how the religious education curriculum should be shaped and
what the tone of its pedagogy should be. Broadly speaking, we can classify the
possible answers as follows:
1. To impart an understanding of religion from within a particular religious

tradition
2. To study religion in general as an academic pursuit valuable in itself
3. To foster an understanding of various religious traditions in order to help
young people live better in a pluralistic society
4. To foster an understanding of religious traditions to help young people
cultivate moral attitudes, ethical virtues, and moral sensibilities
5. To foster an understanding of various religious traditions and religion in
general to help young people cultivate the spiritual aspects of their lives
Needless to say, these answers are not mutually exclusive. However, any course
of study requires one to have focused aims and cannot be overbroad, and in this
sense, we need to make some choices.
As we said at the beginning, this volume is dedicated to the idea that reli-
gious education should be directed primarily toward spirituality as a part of
human flourishing. Thus this book can be regarded as an attempt to articu-
late the reasons this fifth aim should be primary, though not exclusive. Conse-
quently, we will return to this theme in the conclusion to the book after hearing
from the contributors.
What Is Spirituality?
One of the fundamental challenges confronting any project like this one is to
define the notions of spirituality, spiritual development, and a spiritual life,
which are notoriously vague. If such concepts are to provide some direction and
content to religious education in schools, they need to be made more precise.
In this introduction, we will identify some of the main issues involved in such
a process.
Structure
The spiritual is supposed to be something good. Any account of the concept
must explain what is desirable about being spiritual. Part of this explanation will
include the causal benefits of being or living spiritually; for instance, it might be
good for one’s emotional health or for one’s mental abilities, such as concentra-
tion. Conceived in this way, these benefits only posit the spiritual as a means to
an end. However, to define the concept, we need to specify what is directly and
primarily or noninstrumentally valuable about being spiritual. Such a specifica-
tion would be central to any account of the concept of the spiritual.
This idea constitutes one way to structure different conceptions of the spiri-
tual. For example, states that are indirectly and noninstrumentally valuable may
relate in different ways to the central core of the concept of the spiritual. For
instance, there are psychologically, morally, and socially beneficial consequences
that flow from a state of being spiritual, such as good health. There are other
valuable states that are preparations or necessary conditions for being spiritual,
such as tranquility. There are yet others that are valuable as expressions of the
spiritual, such as generosity of feeling. The recognition that the concept usually
has a structure enables us to avoid defining “spirituality” as an unconnected list
of qualities.
Category
The valuable core of the spiritual might be characterized in terms of quite dif-
ferent categories. For example, it might consist of an experience, a set of activi-
ties or processes, a state of consciousness, a way of life, or a state of being (or
a combination of these). Furthermore, it might be conceived as a goal to be
attained or as a process without a defined end state. So, for instance, in many
versions of the Buddhist tradition, there is an end state that one works toward,
whereas in many versions of the Islamic tradition, the spiritual consists in a
process of a continuing submission to God rather than an end state that is to
be attained.
Thin and Thick

We might contrast thinner and richer/thicker conceptions of the concept along
a continuum. The thinnest conceptions involve psychological ideas, such as
creativity, self-understanding, and certain emotions, as part of a process of
self-development. Richer conceptions will include ethical and moral concepts,
which involve one’s relationship to other people. Richer still are those that
involve a right relationship with nature or the universe as a whole. The richest
notions involve a relationship with God or with the divine or some transcen-
dent reality. In short, thick or rich accounts embrace metaphysical and religious
concepts, which the thinner accounts eschew.
The thicker conceptions of the spiritual will usually include the thinner
ones. In other words, for example, a person who regards union with God as the
core spiritual state will usually have views about the psychological, ethical, and
ecological qualities that express such a union and that are needed to attain it.
In making this distinction, we are not saying that richer descriptions are
necessarily better. A purely psychological account might have great depth in
the way that it is structured around a unifying core. For example, some psy-
chotherapeutic theories have very detailed and profound accounts of human
development. Likewise, each religious tradition has many deep accounts of the
spiritual life and its stages.
However, we need the distinction because thinner and thicker accounts have
different advantages and drawbacks. Writers often employ thinner accounts
because such conceptions are more readily acceptable by people of varying
backgrounds. Also, the thinner ones are more easily operationalized. Both of
these advantages are important in an educational context.
However, in contrast, the downside is that thinner conceptions may omit
the distinctive features of the spiritual. For example, if being spiritual consists
in being close to God, then a purely psychological or moral definition of the
spiritual will omit the heart of the notion. To see this, consider the following:
it might be possible for a person to have a life that is creative, emotionally full,
morally oriented, and ecologically aware but that is nevertheless not spiritual. If
so, such qualities might be necessary for spirituality, but they are not sufficient.
Bracketed
Should a definition of “spiritual” bracket the reality of the phenomenon in
question? Many definitions include feelings such as awe, love, and worship.
One might take those to be experiences of something real (that exists indepen-
dently of one’s experiences). Religious traditions tend to do that. In contrast,
psychologists of religion will bracket or suspend this assumption. They will
investigate the experience without assuming that it answers to something real.
The idea that religious or spiritual experiences are sensibilities of something

real need not be confined to religious traditions. For example, suppose one
defines the spiritual in terms of a search for meaning or purpose. This definition
might be given with or without the presupposition that there are some such
meanings to be discovered. Here’s another example: suppose one defines the
spiritual in terms of feelings of transcendence. This definition might be given
with or without the presupposition that there really is something transcenden-
tal to be experienced. Without the assumption, the conception can be called
“bracketed.”
Generally, bracketed conceptions of the spiritual are more widely acceptable.
Furthermore, by bracketing a conception of the spiritual life, one may avoid
epistemological and metaphysical problems. On the other hand, a bracketed
conception of the spiritual life might not make sense. For example, suppose that
love of God is central to the spiritual life. Such a conception would not make
much sense if God did not exist (at least in some way).
In conclusion, we have identified four dimensions of conceptions of the spir-
itual: (1) the structure of the concept, (2) the central category, (3) the thickness
or thinness of the conception, and (4) what is or is not bracketed. We can con-
trast two extreme approaches to these dimensions: the subjective and the abso-
lutist. The subjectivist claims that there are no better or worse answers to any
of these points: each person, culture, or religious tradition can take their own
opinion on these issues, and there is no question of better or worse. In contrast,
the absolutist maintains that there is a single correct answer or true definition
of “spiritual.” In the face of these two extreme approaches, we might remind
ourselves that there are intermediate positions between them. For instance, the
question of the nature of spirituality might be neither subjective nor absolute.
This means that there are better or worse answers without it being the case
that there is a single correct one. What counts as better or worse might depend
on the context, and some definitions will be better in one way and others better
in another way.
Flourishing
How does spirituality relate to flourishing and well-being? Why is this ques-
tion important? The question is ultimately important for three reasons. First,
in some sense, human flourishing is a primary and fundamental value. Most of
our endeavors and activities make sense ultimately only as contributors to or
constituents of a happy life. For example, we don’t pursue economic wealth for
its own sake but rather because it helps ameliorate a lived life.
Second, our understanding of well-being improves when we see spirituality
included as part of it. The idea of the spiritual can help us deepen our view
of human happiness and flourishing. Recent studies have stressed that having
friends, family, good work, and reasonable material life conditions are essential
to living well. They have also emphasized the importance of psychological fac-
tors such as a sense of identity and a sense of purpose. Yet one might think that
even these psychological aspects of human flourishing are still superficial and
hence reserve the term “spiritual” to indicate factors that have been left out.
In other words, the idea of spirituality might help us form a more complete,
integrated, and profound view of flourishing and well-being. Of course, this
requires us to indicate what is left out of the standard psychological picture.
Third, the notion of a flourishing life can help us better understand the
idea of the spiritual. When spirituality is seen as a part of our lives, it is a more
engaging idea than when it is conceived abstractly and metaphysically. One
might argue that spirituality is valuable insofar as it partly constitutes and con-
tributes to human flourishing. This doesn’t mean that the spiritual should be
regarded only in psychological or therapeutic terms. It means that it should
be conceived as living spiritually.
While there is an ongoing multidisciplinary debate about the nature of well-
being and flourishing, we don’t need an overview of the whole field. For the
purposes of this volume, we can identify some issues relevant to spirituality in
religious education. A couple of preliminary points need to be made. There are
differences among the concepts “flourishing,” “well-being,” and “happiness.”
For this volume, we chose the former over the other two in order to emphasize
the dynamic and more objective aspects of what makes a life go well. Neverthe-
less, it seems reasonable to assume that flourishing and well-being will contain
both “subjective” and “objective” elements.
Obviously, the issue of how spirituality is relevant for flourishing depends
on how thickly or thinly we define “spirituality.” There ought to be no special
problem in showing how spirituality conceived thinly would be a constitutive
aspect of human flourishing. Having an openness of feeling, creativity, a sense
of oneself or of one’s identity that is self-loving, and a strong connection to
other people—all these aspects of a thin conception of spirituality are clearly
important features of a flourishing life.
Special problems arise mainly insofar as we define “spirituality” in richer
terms, for this requires explaining how the relevant set of phenomena con-
stitutes an aspect of flourishing. Suppose, for example, that the spiritual life
requires the worship of God. Given this, one would need to explain how such
worship is an important part of a flourishing life. Perhaps such a characteriza-
tion of spirituality is too specific; in which case, we might want to characterize
it richly but less specifically as something like transcendence, for example.
Even if they are hard to define, nevertheless, the spiritual dimensions of
flourishing might be considered as especially important. This is because they
are supposed to be closer to the core of a person’s life. For example, if spiritual-
ity pertains to the way in which one attends to things or to the quality of one’s
consciousness or awareness, then that touches all aspects of one’s life. Likewise,
if spirituality pertains to the extent to which one is open to others, then this
influences all aspects of one’s life.
The Conception of Holistic Educational Practices

Contemporary educational theory tends to embrace a holistic view of the aims
of education. According to this idea, educational institutions should be think-
ing of their objectives in terms of the development of the whole person rather
than only in terms of the acquisition of knowledge and skills. The holistic vision
is based on the acceptance that ignorance is more like a deficiency of character
than merely a lack of knowledge. It recognizes that as information becomes
available to more people through electronic means, young people will increas-
ingly need the cognitive abilities and noncognitive attitudes that enable them
to use that information well. This recognition underpins the acknowledgment
that education is fundamentally about the development of the whole person.
This holistic or human-centered vision lends some support to the idea that
religious education should be directed primarily toward spiritual develop-
ment as part of the flourishing life. This is because such education recognizes
the primacy of human well-being as a value: education should serve primary
values, and the good life shouldn’t be subservient to academic values or eco-
nomic growth. Therefore, education shouldn’t serve these subsidiary ends at the
expense of human well-being.
Spirituality within Religious Education for Flourishing

We have sketched some preliminary points toward the idea that it might be
appropriate to regard religious education as aiming to facilitate spirituality inter
alia. To bring these points together, we need to assume that religious traditions
in varying ways have spiritual content or direction and that human spirituality
is not confined to religious traditions.
Religious education for spirituality might be justified on the grounds that,
when possible, education should be more holistic and centered on the develop-
ment of the person as a whole. We should not miss the opportunities to help
young people develop as whole selves. Religious education presents such a pros-
pect that is not easily duplicated or addressed in other parts of the curriculum or
school life. This is because religious traditions are typically directed toward the
cultivation of spiritual qualities and states of being. Thus, given that spirituality
constitutes an important dimension of human flourishing, we need to address
it as part of religious education.
PART I
Theoretical Framework
Introduction
P
art I sets out a theoretical framework, and each chapter of this part is
dedicated to the philosophical articulation of the relationship among
spirituality, human flourishing, and religious education.
In many countries, school curricula already have a component dedicated to
religious education. This suggests that if education should include spiritual-
ity, then it might be most practical and opportune to fit it into the content of
religious education. If religions also have a spiritual content, then this sugges-
tion is also fitting and appropriate. However, schools tend to regard the aim
of religious education to be to simply impart knowledge about religions. Fur-
thermore, as we saw in the main introduction, the suggestion that religious
education should go beyond that and be directed primarily toward the spiritual
development of young people faces some serious challenges.
First, it might be claimed that this proposal is not desirable in a secular soci-
ety because religious views and practices are supposedly private and shouldn’t
be introduced into public, state-funded education. Even people who are sympa-
thetic to the idea that humans have a spiritual life might argue reasonably that,
as something personal, spirituality is best left out of the state school curriculum.
If religion is to be taught in state schools, then it should be as more neutral or
impartial, as social sciences.
Second, it might be argued that religious beliefs per se do not form part of
the commonly acknowledged body of human knowledge because they are not
acquired through reliable or scientific methods. We don’t want our students to
be subject to dogma and superstition.
Third, different religious traditions have understood spirituality in their own
terms, and in multireligious or pluralistic societies, young people should not be
exposed to a one-sided presentation of religious life. This suggests that if moral
and ethical values are to be taught in schools, then this should be part of civic
education or philosophy.
Fourth, the notion of spirituality is hopelessly vague. Furthermore, it is con-
tested. Even if it is acknowledged that the spiritual is an important dimension of
human life, it is not an idea that is clear enough to form the basis of educational
programs in schools.
Three chapters in Part I have made an attempt to address the first three
challenges, though in quite different ways. In answer to the first challenge, in
Chapter 1, Richard Pring appeals to Dewey’s notion of a common school. The
common school doesn’t react to the public/private distinction in a general lib-
eral fashion. Typically, liberals appeal only to a minimum or procedural concep-
tion of public rationality and try to avoid disputes regarding the good life for
humans. Such substantive questions are issues that must be dealt with privately
and not in the public sphere. Through Dewey’s notion of the common school,
Pring offers an alternative to the liberal conception. We must construct an edu-
cational vision that relies on the common characteristics of being human in
ways that transcend cultural and religious differences.
In answer to the second challenge, Pring points out that education inescap-
ably involves reference to values that define what counts as educationally better
or worse. This point defeats the claim that education should be confined to the
scientifically verifiable: there are other forms of knowledge that concern mean-
ing and value, presupposed by educational practice, and that don’t fit into a
scientific paradigm.
In a similar fashion, in Chapter 2, Marius Felderhof directs his attention
primarily to the first three challenges. He also claims that a society cannot be
neutral to value questions. Even the simple act of communication involves a
commitment to truth. This places teachers in a dilemma: should they be truth-
ful about their own religious beliefs? This question addresses the issue raised
in the general introduction: can definitions of the spiritual bracket the ques-
tions of reality? Felderhof ’s answer is nuanced. On the one hand, one cannot
systematically evade the issue of whether religious claims are true, but on the
other hand, asserting one’s own particular beliefs in a pluralistic society would
be unfair. The middle path is to find a broad consensus about religious truth
and values, as was achieved in the Birmingham project, which we will describe
in a moment.
Felderhof also challenges the possibility of neutral communication about
religion because classroom exchanges require the engagement of both the stu-
dent and teacher. The ideal of neutrality comes from mistaken ideas about the
secular state. A purely secular worldview isn’t neutral, and in any case, it is
overly simplistic to think of a society as secular when the majority of people
believe in God.
Katherine Marshall raises similar questions from a different angle in Chap-
ter 3. She discusses the perceived clash between the rights paradigm for interna-
tional development with the faith paradigm for human flourishing. These two
paradigms suggest quite different approaches to education, among other things.
Part I: Introduction O 15
On the one hand, the notion of human rights motivates and shapes a view of
international development based on equality, justice, and liberty. On the other
hand, flourishing presents a view of development more focused on the substan-
tive ends that constitute a good life for the individual.
Marshall seeks to show how the two paradigms can be reconciled and why
this is important. She advocates an urgent need for a rapprochement of these
two approaches. She highlights the positive and often unnoticed role that
religious institutions do (and can) play toward providing “education for all,”
and toward the rights-based Millennium Development Goals in general. She
also highlights the religious illiteracy in many pluralistic societies today, which
results in social tensions. She draws our attention to the need for policy mak-
ers and society in general to be more sensitive to religious issues. Given these
points, education must go beyond the functional role of preparing young peo-
ple for the labor market. It must include the sensibilities that are necessary for
a flourishing society.
The next chapters set out some responses to the fourth challenge. In Chap-
ter 4, Sharif István Horthy aims to characterize the spiritual through some
descriptions of his own personal experiences. From these, he emphasizes the
importance of a spiritual attitude, which can help one integrate the worldly
ego and the otherworldly soul. This attitude consists in being attentive to the
inner and outer worlds and their felt qualities: some experiences have width and
make us feel more alive and aware of value; others make us contract and feel less
alive and more numb to value. Horthy argues that the cultivation of this atti-
tude should be the ethos of a school. It would make the school a human-centered
learning community and would involve teaching from the child’s point of view.
In Chapter 5, Garrett Thomson sketches an argument for the claim that
religious education can help young people in their spiritual development in a
way that is conducive to their flourishing. In the first step, he outlines a simple
framework for a religious life. This framework can be employed to describe the
practices of different religious traditions in a way that would help people from
outside those traditions make sense of them and in ways that would allow
young people to connect them meaningfully to their own lives. As a second
step, Thomson uses this framework to describe spirituality as a central part of a
religious life. In the third step, he characterizes the concept of flourishing and
shows the different ways in which the spiritual might be considered integral to
a flourishing life. Finally, he attempts to show how this overall framework helps
reconceptualize religious education in a more human-centered way.
Together, these five chapters in Part I establish a conceptual basis, allowing
the chapters in the other two parts of the book to explore, from diverse perspec-
tives, how religious education can help cultivate the spiritual as part of a young
person’s flourishing.
CHAPTER 1
Is Religious Education Possible?

Richard Pring
Senior Research Fellow, University of Oxford
“T
eaching to be human” is an essential aim of education. Different
religious traditions embody different, though related, narratives
of what it means to be human, hence the importance attached to
the initiation of young people into their respective narratives. But here are dif-
ficulties: the accusation of indoctrination, the prevalence of a secular culture,
and the need for a common culture to overcome the divisions within society.
This chapter tries to reconcile these different positions by seeking dignity in, yet
reciprocal learning from, difference.
Introduction
Religious beliefs and practices provide the background to many people’s lives
and permeate the culture through which they see the world, their relations to
other people, and indeed what it means to be human. They embody a moral
and spiritual dimension. Such beliefs and practices, therefore, are not peripheral
to human life.
The central focus of education, so it will be argued, is to enable the next
generation to acquire the knowledge, understandings, feelings, values, and dis-
positions that make us distinctively human. Where a spiritual tradition charac-
terizes what it means to be human, then a deepening of the understanding of
that tradition—of its practices and underpinning beliefs—would necessarily be
part of that educational experience, both informally through participation in
the practices and formally through instruction.
There are, however, three difficulties that have to be faced. The first is the
accusation of indoctrination. Can an initiation into beliefs and practices that
18 O Richard Pring
articulate a particular form of spirituality be defensible where the basis of those

beliefs seems to be beyond verification? The second is the prevailing context
in many cultures of “a secular age,” where the default position of a growing
number of people is no longer (as it used to be) religion. The third difficulty
is the need, if we are to live together in harmony, not for schools segregated
along religious lines, but for the “common school,” where young people come
to respect differences.
This chapter addresses these difficulties and explores how far religious edu-
cation as a basis for spiritual life is defensible.
Teaching to Be Human
In a visit to a US high school some years ago, I met a school principal. The
school was very large, and inevitably there was a substantial turnover of teachers
each year. Therefore, the principal wrote the following letter to the incoming
teachers, explaining what she expected of them (published in Strom 1981):
Dear Teacher
I am the survivor of a concentration camp. My eyes saw what no man
should witness:
Gas chambers built by learned engineers.
Children poisoned by educated physicians.
Infants killed by trained nurses.
Women and children shot and burned by high school and college
graduates.
So, I am suspicious of education.
My request is: Help your students become human.
Your efforts must never produce learned monsters, skilled psycho-
paths, educated Eichmans.
Reading, writing, arithmetic are important but only if they serve to
make our children more human.
There is a sense of irony in the reference to learned engineers, educated physi-

cians, trained nurses, and college graduates. Surely, people who use the knowl-
edge and skills gained from their high school and college “education” to gas,
poison, kill, and burn women and children can hardly be called “educated.”
Something was missing.
Of course, there is a double meaning to the word “education” or “edu-
cated.” There is the descriptive meaning—namely, its reference to whatever
learning goes on in establishments set up for “learning”: schools, colleges and
universities. When one asks, “Where were you educated?” people know what
Is Religious Education Possible? O 19
is meant. The answer will give the name of the school or college. Nothing
controversial there.
But there is a second meaning—namely, one that evaluates the learning that
takes place as somehow transforming a person for the better. In that respect, edu-
cation is like reform. To say a person has been reformed is to imply that he or she
has a changed and improved character. There is an implicit reference to standards
and values that are thought proper to being a person. Education is like that. It is
not merely descriptive of learning that takes place or of institutions where it does
take place. It is also evaluative of that learning. An educated person is one who,
as a result of learning, has acquired certain desirable qualities and capabilities. In
that sense, education in the evaluative sense is logically prior to education in the
descriptive sense. One might wish to say to a person that, despite his five years
at High School X, he was not educated there, even though he learned a lot. One
might question, too, the graduate status of some courses, despite their meeting
the college’s criteria for graduation. What is learned might lack certain ingredients
that one would expect of an educated college person—where, for example, the
so-called graduate lacks critical capacity.
Education, therefore, is in part a branch of ethics. What are the values, what
is the worthwhile form of life, one seeks to bring about through the formal sys-
tem of learning? Thus the high school principal made it clear that what makes
the learning educational is that it promotes those qualities that make us distinc-
tively human.
What, then, counts as an educated person in this day and age? There will
inevitably be different answers to that question. People, coming from different
traditions, will spell out different ways in which they perceive “being human,”
“human fulfillment,” and “human dignity.” There is a social, including reli-
gious, backdrop to our ethical appraisal of personal development. And such an
appraisal is never static, for it is part of a wider ethical debate and deliberation
between the generations and between the different social and religious tradi-
tions. Indeed, UK Chief Rabbi Dr. Jonathan Sacks speaks of “the dignity of
difference”—the value to be attributed to deep traditions through which we
separately understand humanity and from each of which we can learn:
I believe that globalisation is summoning the world’s great faiths to a supreme

challenge . . . Can we find in the human other, a trace of the Divine Other? Can
we recognise God’s image in one who is not in my image? There are times when
God meets us in the face of a stranger . . . That is not a threat to faith but a call
to a faith larger and more demanding than what we had sometimes supposed it
to be. Can I, a Jew, hear the echoes of God’s voice in that of a Hindu or Sikh or
Christian or Muslim? Can I do so and feel not diminished but enlarged? (Sacks
2002, 17)
20 O Richard Pring
Despite differences, there is much in common between traditions both as

they are theorized in theology or philosophy and as they are practiced in dif-
ferent forms of life. Hence it is important to identify common threads to what
it means “to become human,” within which we can understand differences,
maybe areas of dispute, but learn from them.
Aims of Education
It would be contradictory to speak of someone being educated and yet
extremely ignorant. To be educated entails the development of knowledge and
understanding—what John Dewey (1916) referred to as the wherewithal for
“the intelligent management of life,” hence the importance attached to the sub-
ject matter that appears to provide the conceptual equipment for the intelligent
management of life—the knowledge through which one comes to understand
what it means to be human, what one might aspire to, and what are the physical
and social contexts in which that humanity might be achieved.
Philip Phenix (1964) referred to these as the “realms of meaning” and edu-
cation as “the means of perpetuating culture from generation to generation”
(270), thereby widening one’s view of life and counteracting the provincialism
of customary existence. Those inherited realms of meaning provide the ways in
which we have come to understand the physical, social, and moral worlds we
inhabit. These ways embody the concepts or ideas through which we organize
experience and the well-tried modes of enquiry through which we examine and
pursue our understandings of those worlds. They do, in other words, make
meaningful what otherwise would be disconnected experiences.
Therefore, how we understand the world and find it meaningful is not
imprinted on us at birth but is acquired through the participation in a cul-
ture—or indeed in different cultural achievements. Such cultural achievements
evolve through experience, reflection, critical appraisal, enquiry, research, and
social interaction. They are what the philosopher Michael Oakeshott (1962)
referred to as “the conversation between the generations of mankind,” in which,
through education, the next generation comes to understand and appreciate
the voice of poetry, the voice of religion, the voice of science, or the voice of
philosophy. These are called “voices” because each is characterized by its own
distinctive concepts and approaches to enquiry, identified and extended by
philosophical argument and analysis within the separate disciplines.
However, one might distinguish between the “theoretical and propositional
knowledge” (through which people come to understand the physical, social, and
economic worlds they inhabit) and the “practical and activity based knowledge”
through which they come to understand the material world in which they live,
create, and make things work—the techne as opposed to the theoria.
One needs, of course, to be careful here, for otherwise, as in so many edu-
cational systems, the practical becomes entirely divorced from the theoretical.
There grows a division between the so-called academic and the so-called voca-
tional. And those who concentrate on the latter are deemed less worthy than
those who engage with the former. But to live a fully human life, one needs
both this practical and this theoretical knowledge, and indeed the former is
integrated with the latter. Beneath practices are, if you like, theoretical under-
standings, often implicit but open to critical exposure and examination.
One might usefully take the example of religious practices. The child who
learns to genuflect, to make the sign of the cross, and to light candles before
shrines is learning not only how to behave in particular circumstances but also
how to understand the sacredness of the place and the theological understand-
ings within the community into which he is being initiated. Learning to be
human requires both a practical and a conceptual grasp of the world in which
one is to manage life intelligently.
But there is a third kind of knowledge—one that is often only implicit but
real nonetheless. That is achieved through reflection, communication with oth-
ers, the arts, religion, and initiation into communities and their values. It puts
the other kinds of knowledge into perspective and into some sort of moral
order. It comes through narratives of various kinds—in literature, in religious
scriptures, through example and tradition. It is that moral understanding that
gives a sense of purpose and a critical exposure to values and that evaluates cer-
tain practices as worth pursuing. Aristotle called it phronesis, and it is embedded
in particular virtues—particular conceptions of the “good life.”
Therefore, what is distinctively human is this capacity to think intelligently
in the various and relevant ways through which we understand the physical,
social, and moral universe we inhabit, to be intelligently practical and creative
within it, and to shape one’s thoughts and practices by the values one has inter-
nalized. To be human is to live by values. And to educate is to introduce young
people into these different forms of knowledge, into the conversation between
the generations of mankind, for it is through such “conversations” that one
learns what it is to be human—the ideals that can be pursued, the physical
universe that can be mastered, the feelings that engage one with others, and the
emotions that can be refined.
Implicit in such learning is the importance of the wider community and
relationships. To be human is to be part of a wider social context from which
one inherits language, moral traditions, friendships, and support. No one is an
island. There are limits to autonomy. That distinctively human form of life is
22 O Richard Pring
embedded in rules of reciprocal obligations and rights and in the commitments

to and the interdependence within communities of various kinds.
To learn to be human, therefore, is to acquire these understandings and
capabilities, a sense of responsibility and moral purpose, and the social skills
and virtues for living harmoniously together. Such an education is pursued
through communities that manifest and teach these values and understandings
and through entrance into what Phenix referred to as the different realms of
meaning.
But are there not different conversations, different ways in which these
realms of meaning have evolved, different insights arising from different narra-
tives, and therefore, within this more general analysis, different ideas as to what
it means to be, and thereby to grow as, a human being?
Religious Traditions and Learning to Be Human

The account so far given, in answer to the high school principal’s plea to teach
our children to be human, is a highly general one, albeit one that is deeply
important for education. Those studies that open up young minds to the differ-
ent realms of meaning should be part of the general education for all. Through
literature and the arts, human nature in all its strengths and weaknesses is
explored. Through science, one comes to see the complexity and wonder of
the natural world. Through history, one comes to see the evolution of political
institutions, the different modes of political control, and both the depravity to
which humanity can sink and the sublime heights to which it can rise.
However, behind these understandings, and no doubt providing distinctive
syntheses of them, are implicit philosophical, religious, and moral traditions—
what Charles Taylor (1991) referred to as peoples’ “horizons of significance”—
“the understanding that, independent of my will, there is something noble,
courageous, and hence significant in giving shape to my own life” (35–36). Such
“horizons” are embedded in words that have particular cultural significance—
such as “equality of opportunity,” “human rights,” and “freedom of choice.”
Their meaning evolves through criticism over time—part of the moral and
political voices in “the conversation between the generations.” The “Enlight-
enment” of the seventeenth century, for example, challenged old conceptions
and created new horizons that worked themselves out in moral and political
dialogue—and that are reflected in philosophical treatises on such major con-
cepts as “liberty,” “justice,” or “autonomy.”
Among these are, of course, the great religious traditions such as Christi-
anity, which provide a narrative of creation, of the human place within cre-
ation, of the human fall from grace and of ultimate redemption, of human
destiny, and of the significance of social togetherness and support—what in the
Jewish tradition is called the covenant. Such narratives enter into every aspect of
life—highlighting the virtues through which we live fully human lives and our
reciprocal rights and obligations. Furthermore, the way of life—its distinctive
“horizons of significance,” its virtues and obligations, its implicit beliefs—is
embodied concretely in rituals and practices, in gestures and words, in rela-
tionships and hierarchies. Such a way of life is signified in practices, and it is
through these that the young neophyte comes to learn all about it. One learns
here, as well as in other practices, through practicing.
This is illustrated by the Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks’s (2002) account of his
early childhood memory of celebrating Passover, the Jewish festival of freedom,
which reenacts the formative experience of the Jewish people. He asks, “What
was happening in this ritual?”: “I was being inducted into an identity and a
series of moral commitments. I was becoming part of a people, its shared expe-
riences and hopes . . . this was not history but memory. It was in the process
of becoming my story. As the narrative began, and as my grandfather lifted the
matzah and declared: ‘this is the bread of affliction which our ancestors ate in
the land of Egypt,’ all of us were making the leap across more than three millen-
nia and turning ancient events into our own” (125).
Within religious traditions, there is the importance of telling a story that
explains to us what we are as moral beings—recognizing human weakness
but with the opportunity for redemption and forgiveness, showing the virtues
that are to be gained and internalized, delineating the form of life to be cher-
ished, emphasizing the ideals to be striven after. This, in its totality, can only
be described as the spiritual life that sustains the moral life of those within the
tradition. It is spiritual in the sense that the rituals and the practices, the sacred
texts and the narratives surrounding them, “breathe” life into what otherwise
would be seen as a purely material world with material ends. The word spiritual
derives from the Latin word for “breath” or “gentle air.” As such, it is invis-
ible to the eye and yet it is the source of life and transforms that which would
otherwise be lifeless. Religious traditions, therefore, embody a spiritual life—
transforming how we see the physical world and indeed other human beings.
They affect how we see the high school principal’s instruction to “help your
students become human.”
Take, for example, the words of the eighth psalm:
When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers

The moon and the stars which you have established
What is man that you are mindful of him
And the son of man that you care for him?
Yet you have made him little less than the angels
And you have crowned him with glory and honour
24 O Richard Pring
You have given him dominion over the works of your

hands
You have put all things under his feet.
These words convey the importance of humanity in relation to God, despite

human weakness and frailty. They assert a dignity so easily overlooked in
the mere physical appearance and feeble character. Mankind is ennobled, and
those words and the accompanying practices and rituals enable the appropriate
sentiments to be internalized—to become the “breath” transforming the per-
sonal and social lives of the community. It is important here to see the impor-
tance of community—the shared practices, rituals, traditions, and relationships.
All these together incorporate the particular vision of humanity.
However, that vision, and the way of life it inspires, needs to be sustained
deliberately, systematically, lest it succumb to other less-demanding visions. In
the words of Jacob Neusner (1993) in his book Conservative, American and
Jewish, “Civilisation hangs suspended, from generation to generation, by the
gossamer thread of memory. If only one cohort of mothers and fathers fails
to convey to its children what it has learnt from its parents, then the great
chain of learning and wisdom snaps. If the guardians of human knowledge
stumble only one time, in their fall collapses the whole edifice of knowledge and
understanding” (35).
Different narratives will be reflected in the prominence of different virtues—
the dispositions that define the good and morally upright life. It is interesting to
reflect how “the list of virtues” has changed over time, reflecting these changing
“horizons of significance.” The virtue of “obedience,” with the implication of a
more significant place for authority in our lives, has diminished within a gen-
eration, no doubt with the greater emphasis on autonomy and choice. “Greed”
becomes “enterprise” under the primacy given to economic aims of education.
On the other hand, there is a greater recognition of the dignity of all human
beings as racism is increasingly seen for the vice that it is.
Therefore, it follows that if the aim of education is to serve to help our chil-
dren become human and if, within significant traditions, becoming human is
understood and defined within distinctive practices and narratives, then these
must be embraced within the system of education. Do there not need, there-
fore, to be Jewish, Muslim, and Christian schools?
Counter Claims
There are three significant counterclaims to this basis for distinctive faith
schools: a secular society, the need to avoid indoctrination, and the idea that a
common culture needs a common school.
Secular Society
Until recently, most societies were shaped by religious traditions, the nature
of which permeated almost every aspect of life. The medieval guilds were sur-
rounded by and infiltrated with religious symbols and practices. The exercise
of justice appealed to religious authority. The head of state was there by divine
right. Religious occasions were the basis of state holidays—at Christmas, say,
and Easter. Businesses closed on key religious celebrations. Certain days of the
week, having religious significance, were national days of rest. The “default
position” was religious.
That in many countries is no longer the case. The “default position” is decid-
edly secular. In Britain, for example, “Good Friday” and “Easter Sunday” are
meaningless to many people, and shops remain open. Christmas is seen as a day
for eating and drinking and exchanging presents, but without religious signifi-
cance. That is reflected in the nonreligious nature of so many Christmas cards.
The “default position” is decidedly secular.
By secular, here I do not mean hostility toward religion or indeed the lack of
religious believers. In many respects, the United States is a religious country—it
has a large number of churchgoers. But in its state rituals and its societal norms,
religious practices and traditions have no place. Faith and state are quite sepa-
rate. A secular, nonreligious mode of living becomes the norm and the back-
drop against which society is developed, education promoted, and laws enacted.
No doubt those who promote such a society would see publicly funded reli-
gious schools to be a thing of the past, harking back to a time when religious
forms of life (and with them the authority of church, mosque, synagogue, or
other sites) governed morals, beliefs, tastes, and key events in life and death.
Now there is freedom from such constraints. Individual autonomy, self-
regulation, and choice of lifestyle have replaced them, and with them a different
form of life that needs to be promoted in schools.
The Need to Avoid Indoctrination

The more active secularists would even demand the abolition of schools that
aim to promote a religious tradition and an understanding of what it means
to be human, which leans on religious beliefs. Surely, the “Enlightenment”
overcame such religious dependence, replacing religious authority with reason.
Education should promote reason in its different forms, accepting only those
beliefs (in science, history, sociology, mathematics) that are open to empirical
enquiry and verification, for it is the capacity to reason that makes us distinc-
tively human—not only in its exercise but also in the knowledge it provides in
what it means to be human and to act in a human way. Religious beliefs are not
26 O Richard Pring
open to verification or falsification, and hence their promotion as true is, so it

is argued, a matter of indoctrination.
Common Culture Needs Common School

A third argument, and one that is closely connected to the notion of a secular
society, is that if we are to live in harmony and respect the humanity of others,
then we must create the conditions for a cohesive and mutually supporting
citizenship. That requires a common school, not a school system segregated
into different and sometimes warring religious groups. Would the troubles in
Northern Ireland have lasted so long had Catholic and Protestant children not
been separated? Would some Sunni and Shi’a Muslims be at loggerheads if they
had been educated together and come to understand and appreciate the differ-
ences between them?
Such a common school was the dream of the American philosopher John
Dewey. Dewey was writing at a time when immigrants were arriving in the
United States from all over the world—poor, persecuted, illiterate, and of
diverse religious and ethnic backgrounds. How could a cohesive society be cre-
ated out of such diversity?
Dewey (1916) saw that beneath such diversity were the common charac-
teristics of what it means to be human; men and women “live in community
in virtue of the things which they have in common. What they must have in
common in order to form a community or society are aims, beliefs, aspira-
tions, knowledge—a common understanding—likemindedness as the soci-
ologists say” (4).
Living in the community of the common school, where diversity is seen as
an enrichment of, rather than a barrier to, learning and development, would be,
for Dewey, the best preparation for citizenship. The understanding of one’s own
faith, whether religious or secular, would be enhanced by the need to explain
to others and by an appreciation of the beliefs of students from other faiths and
backgrounds. Here would be, under the skills of the good teacher, not only tol-
erance of the other but a growing respect and appreciation. Democracy requires
such understanding and appreciation of differences.
Conclusion
Is religious education possible—that is, not teaching about religions (the spec-
tator view, standing outside) but initiating students into a religious tradition
(the participant view, standing on the inside)?
It is true that we now live in secular societies and that we cannot take for
granted previous assumptions about the religious foundations of our social
institutions and practices. The secular vision, with a distinctive nonreligious
view of what it means to be human, prevails. It constitutes its own tradition

with its own assumptions and core values. And in many respects, there have
been moral advances as a result—the focus on certain human rights, the open-
ness to differences, the espousal of greater personal autonomy. On the other
hand, the secular vision has coincided with less of a sense of community—
the shared narrative that had been protected through the religious story and
reflected in shared practices and reference points.
Indoctrination is, of course, an issue of which one needs constantly to
beware. But “indoctrination” is a “boo word” (or a term of disapproval) rarely
examined. If we were to teach only truths that could be clearly verified, then
we could not teach children to be moral. What evidence verifies that stealing is
wrong? Yet to be human is to exercise responsibility for one’s actions and one’s
future in light of values that one has internalized and that are inherited, thought
about, and examined critically. They are gained from participating in a moral
community. They are the product of generations of reflection on the proper way
of acting toward others and toward oneself. They depend on particular narra-
tives concerning what it means to be human, and such narratives are part of an
evolving way of thinking, acting, and relating to others.
One needs to distinguish between the state and communities within
the state—indeed, the modern state is a relatively new phenomenon. The mod-
ern state therefore is constituted of different communities with their own dis-
tinctive traditions and narratives through which members acquire their identity
and sense of respect. Such communities, for the most part with their own reli-
gious identity, understandably seek the educational provision that respects their
own cultural and religious traditions. And what right has the state to take over
and blur such differences?
On the other hand, does not the common school seek, not so much to
smooth out difference or to destroy traditions, but to enable all to gain from
exposure to such differences? The Christian might be enriched by the devotions
of the Muslim. The Muslim might be enriched by the exercise of the Christian
beatitudes.
Surely these different positions can be reconciled without undermining the
engagement of some in the practices of their own distinctive spiritual tradi-
tions and community. That could be attained either through special arrange-
ments within the common school or through the creation of networks or
federations of schools embracing different religious and secular traditions.
References
Dewey, John. 1916. Democracy and Education. New York: Free Press.
Neusner, Jacob. 1993. Conservative, American and Jewish. Lafayette: Huntingdon House.
28 O Richard Pring
Oakeshott, Michael. 1962. Voice of Poetry in the Conversation of Mankind. London:

Methuen.
Phenix, Philip. 1964. Realms of Meaning. New York: McGraw Hill.
Sacks, Jonathan. 2002. The Dignity of Difference. London: Continuum.
Strom, Margot Stern. 1981. “Facing History and Ourselves: Integrating a Holocaust
Unit into the Curriculum.” Moral Education Forum, Summer.
Taylor, Charles. 1991. The Ethics of Authenticity. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University
Press.
CHAPTER 2
Educating Persons
The Role of Religious Education
Marius C. Felderhof
Hon. Senior Research Fellow
Departments of Theology and Religion
The University of Birmingham
A
ll teaching is a form of communication that has four basic elements: the
speaker/teacher, the hearer/pupil,1 the medium of “language,” and
the subject matter. Each of these elements makes a significant con-
tribution to the act of educating, and each can be the source of significant
distortions, especially when we forget we are educating persons. The notion of
educating persons sets certain constraints and makes certain demands. Some
of these will be examined to characterize the most appropriate form of religious
education and more particularly to distinguish it from some proposed expec-
tations that currently pass for the ideal form of religious education in Eng-
land. There will be an attempt to explain why and how, in a globalized world
and in religiously divided societies, the religious education in our schools must
change from what is frequently envisioned. The argument will draw specifically
from the examples set by the Non-Statutory National Framework for Religious
Education (Qualifications and Curriculum Authority 2004) and by the 2007
Birmingham Agreed Syllabus. The former was devised in 2004 under the aus-
pices of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority and central government’s
Department for Education and Skills; the latter was created in 2007 under the
authority of Birmingham City Council. Birmingham is Britain’s first ethnic-
minority majority city and is thus truly representative of the global situation.
30 O Marius C. Felderhof
Introduction
The British Education Act of 1944 required that all state-maintained schools
provide religious education for all registered pupils. These provisions have been
included in all subsequent education statutes until the 2010 Academies Act.
From time to time, people have speculated on the reasons politicians have
felt the need to legislate on the matter and to demand “religious instruction”2
for the young. One suggestion is that religious education was the norm going
back to the time when the churches were the main providers of education in
Britain. Legislation was needed to regulate a practice that could otherwise prove
to be too controversial and divisive when the state became the main provider
of education. Another reason may have been that World War II was seen as
a major ideological conflict. With this background, religious life and values
were deemed to be a major bulwark against fascism and a necessary support
for democracy. An examination of literature at the time does show discussions
(e.g., T. S. Eliot 1939) presuming the importance of Christianity to civilized
culture and democracy in Britain. Both reasons show that the effective purpose
of religious education was to induct the young into religious life and its values.
So, at the outset, the intention and hope of providing religious education
(RE) in schools were that young people might substantially embrace religious
life. Underpinning religious education, therefore, is the belief that faith contrib-
utes positively to the development of the young. Children study history to give
them a sense of the past; in the case of religious education, it is to share religious
faith. It was inconceivable then to be “neutral” about religious faith. Later RE
theorists referred disparagingly to the RE of this period as “confessional” (Jack-
son 1997, 9). And “confessional” RE was simply dismissed as dogmatic and
“indoctrinatory” (Jackson 2004, 2). From the perspective of a more secular,
religiously plural society, the benefits of Christian life could not be taken for
granted.
The question has now become, is it ever reasonable to seek to nurture values
in young people that the older generation treasures and regards as of overrid-
ing importance? If in recent times RE theorists (e.g., Wright 1999, 2007) have
thought it necessary to defend nurturing children with faith and values, it is
because implicitly others no longer believe the communication of religious life
in state schools is publicly sustainable. The default position of a secular culture
is that it is educationally questionable to nurture children with religious faith.
Curiously, this turn of events did not lead to the abolition of RE but trans-
formed it into a descriptive exercise that adopted the secular methods, aims,
and assumptions of religious studies commonly found in tertiary education.
No one asked whether this was appropriate for young children—whether, for
example, they could adopt a distancing strategy without it becoming religiously
Educating Persons O 31
alienating. While university subjects such as religious studies (Smart 1973),

phenomenology, comparative religion (Sharpe 1975), sociology of religion
(Hull 2001), philosophy of religion (Hick 2004), or the interpretative methods
of ethnography (Jackson 1997) may all look attractively “neutral,” their effect
on young people may not be. It may simply leave them at a loss as to what to
live for and live by.
The task for RE has become one of finding a new form that takes seriously
the secularity and religious pluralism of society while positively communicating
spirituality and values within school education. If faith is what we live for and
live by, then one cannot be neutral about having a faith. One must be willing
to nurture it, remembering that the true opposite of faith is not unbelief but a
despair that sees no overarching sense or meaning in life. Where the intention
is to nurture, the context of global religious plurality requires an exercise of
gaining agreement on what that faith or set of values might be, because there
are many different options. One would surely wish to rule out offering children
the option of embracing despair, cynicism, and nihilism. Similarly, one would
wish to rule out any of the dark human commitments from the past, such as fas-
cism or apartheid. Instead, these should be taught as something pupils should
actively seek to avoid and resist. In this sense, the curriculum is never truly
open, but there is a need to fix on those values that teachers can recognize as the
essence of human flourishing.
The Act of Communication

Rhetoric
Communicating to, and nurturing core values in, the young is no easy matter.
We might consider some of the key factors. First, the discipline of rhetoric sets
out the many skills any communicator might use to write and speak effectively.
It is clear that in effective communication, it is not just a case of the subject
matter being true, or for it to be believed to be true, that counts. Truth may
be, as Plato (1994) supposed, a necessary condition for effective communica-
tion, but it is not a sufficient condition. Plato, through Socrates, attacked the
sophists—for example, in the Gorgias—who appeared to have abandoned con-
siderations of truthfulness, as they taught the young only the skills of speaking
in their pursuit of power, wealth, and success. But Plato was not above using
rhetorical flourishes and devices to make his points. There was a place for
closely reasoned arguments or dialectics, but there was also a place, for exam-
ple, for myths and narratives in Plato’s art of philosophical persuasion. As any
university student will testify, it is not enough for the lecturer to plod through
a concatenation of accurate information if his or her lecture is to be truly inter-
esting or engaging. The difference between a tedious lecture and an interesting
lecture seldom depends solely on the truthfulness of the communication but on

providing good examples and fresh insights, establishing a relationship with the
audience, creating the right mood, engaging the right emotions, and stimulat-
ing the will of students to embark on a journey of intellectual discovery.
The point is not to denigrate “truth” as a part of the art of good commu-
nication only to claim that there are other factors that must be considered—
namely, the affections, the will, pupil skills, and the wider community. The place
of truthfulness in the eyes of some outstanding communicators was sometimes
put on the second rank, as Oscar Wilde (1913) claimed in “The Decay of
Lying: An Observation”: those who do not “love beauty more than truth will
never know the inmost shrine of art.” In this dialogue, Vivian, one of the char-
acters, bemoans the lost art of lying and deceit. Quite simply, good art does not
depend on truthfulness; communication requires “art”: “Lying, the telling of
beautiful untrue things, is the proper aim of Art.” Søren Kierkegaard (1998)
also spoke of deceiving his reader into the truth. In brief, if we are to teach
well, we need to reexamine the rhetorical skills the sophists cultivated when
they educated the young in ancient Athens—that is, those skills that addressed
human affections and will.
Despite ironic protests from Wilde and Kierkegaard against a narrow atten-
tion to truthfulness, we might nevertheless consider what happens to commu-
nication that takes place in the RE classroom when the communicator/teacher
loses confidence in the “truth” and in the value of his or her communication.
Such a loss of confidence on the part of teachers may occur due to a prevail-
ing state of intellectual relativism in society, where truth no longer matters, or
because claimed truth (or truths) is no longer believed to be publicly defensible
(even though it is held privately). Such a loss of confidence may also occur
methodologically if the teacher believes that the issue of the truthfulness of
what is taught ought to be postponed or possibly suppressed because of polite-
ness, social cohesion, or some other personal or social benefit. The young, for
whom normally the truth still matters, quickly sniff out such ambivalence
toward truth in classroom communication. They will dismiss the commu-
nication as unworthy of their attention if they suspect they are being served
a mess of ambiguity. They know the difference in RE between, for example,
(1) believing in God and (2) the information that some (Other) people happen
to believe that God exists. From the perspective of existential engagement, they
will rightly see that the latter is relatively trivial but the former is potentially life
changing. Where truth is deemed uncertain, the teacher may try to preserve
his or her integrity by shifting the subject of the truth claims through carefully
crafted circumlocutions. For example, he or she may switch from talking about
God to discussing what people believe about God. However, in all honesty, as
in this case, the topic has effectively been changed.
The teacher’s commitment to whatever she or he regards as truthful and of

value matters to the state of the communication in the classroom, but so do
society’s commitments. The state of education in any society reflects its com-
mitment to sharing with the young what is true and of value. An educational
obsession with competitiveness and the transference of skills can obscure soci-
ety’s loss of confidence about what is true and of value. Thus schools will gladly
teach the skills of studying history but go to some lengths to avoid specifying
what historical knowledge is essential in order to have a good sense of the past.
In a secular society, it is evident to many that one might teach a “retrospec-
tive” account of the different religious traditions as human beliefs and phenom-
ena that have had an impact on human history, but it is much less evident to
them that RE might be delivered in a form in which religious truthfulness and
values drive the communication—that is, to convey religious life and spiritual-
ity as a form of life that pupils should strive to embrace and embody.
Secularity in its aggressive form can simply deny the attribution of truth and
value to all religious traditions, or in its more benign form, it can insist that no
position be taken, with the possible exception of the truth and value of making
a secular study of religious phenomena. A more acceptable face of secularity to
religiously minded people is a secularity that maintains a fair and free market-
place of ideas (and practices) that allows religious truthfulness and values to be
presented as such and as having a proper claim on a pupil’s affections, will, and
loyalty. The conclusion to be drawn is that society and its legal provisions mat-
ter very much to the possible communication of religious truths and values in
the classroom. Either through its unspoken antagonisms or through its avowed
“neutrality,” society can subvert all serious engagement of young people with
religious matters.
The teacher’s commitments have traditionally been raised as an issue within
the RE classroom. Should the teacher be honest about his or her own reli-
gious commitments or the lack of them? Should the teacher seek to engage the
pupils’ affections and wills? Or should the RE teacher espouse a strict “neutral-
ity” about all religious truths and values, possibly through a secular study of
religion? If what has been argued here has any merit, then one should note that
“neutrality” subverts effective communication of religious truths and values.
A counterargument appears to be that the option of honesty unfairly prejudices
communication with the vulnerable young.
Avoiding the ascription of truth and values to all religions on the part of
teachers would certainly raise the question of why they should bother to teach
the young about religion. There is a fundamental dilemma. The policy of
“evasive” teaching may be done purposefully because teachers believe that by
inducting pupils into secularity and by avoiding ascriptions of value to reli-
gious life, they are providing the only basis for religious harmony in society (or
perhaps that they are saving the pupils from falling into error). The pedagogical
policy with these clear ends in mind has the merit of being the kind of purpose-
ful teaching that could constitute effective communication. However, it would
fail to address the concerns of all those parents who do see truth and value
in religious traditions. On the other hand, the teacher’s affirmation of particular
religious truths and values could also constitute part of effective communica-
tion, but in a plural society, this will be deemed unfair by those who come from
a different religious tradition and by those who espouse no religious convic-
tions. From the perspective of rhetoric, where truthfulness and values matter
and where the affections and will matter, the teacher is faced with the dilemma
of either subverting effective communication in the classroom or teaching in a
manner that many in society would find unacceptable. A possible solution to
this dilemma is to find a consensus about religious truthfulness and values that
most, if not all, could agree on and allow the minority who cannot agree to
opt out. This was the option explored in the Education Act of 1944, and later,
in a different social context, this was the option explored by the Birmingham
Agreed Syllabus Conference from 2005 to 2007.
Hermeneutics
Second, effective communication not only requires good rhetorical skills on
the part of the communicator; it also requires good hermeneutical skills on the
part of the recipient of the communication. How can the recipient understand
the communication of another, particularly when that communication issues
from another culture or another age, or more important, a communication
that purports to say something new and something deep or from on high? The
Christian theologian and educationalist F. D. E. Schleiermacher (1977) was one
of the thinkers who, in the early nineteenth century, gave this task some sys-
tematic thought in his writings on hermeneutics. He recognized, first, that
communication takes place at different levels. There is the everyday commu-
nication of the marketplace, where people normally understand each other.
In accepting this capacity for understanding, Schleiermacher had not yet lost
trust in communication per se, as some contemporary writers have. But he
also saw that there are other forms of communication in which understand-
ing is more problematic and that one had to attend more closely to the use
of language. At his time of writing, some thought had been given to the rules
that might govern (1) the interpretation and translation of Greek and Latin
classical texts from the ancient world, and (2) the interpretation of legislation
(How does the law created in one context apply to this new situation; what
did the legislators mean?), and (3) most importantly for him, the understand-
ing of Holy Writ. The temptation of offering utterly fanciful interpretations
is one extreme and literal, wooden, and lifeless translations another. He tried
to present some general guidance for understanding all types of communica-

tion, particularly where something new and deep was being said. The German
philosopher Wilhelm Dilthey consequently called Schleiermacher the father of
modern hermeneutics.
The interpretation of religious texts (whether written or spoken) provides
particular challenges. The thought world and practices of religious faith invite
their own vocabulary and their own (logical) grammar; this point is reflected in
the works of Wittgenstein (1966; e.g., Philosophical Investigations). As religious
discourse attempts to convey a sense of the transcendent, the holy, or the eternal
that permeates a religious life lived in the everyday world, strange things happen
to everyday language. Going higher and farther up or going inward never quite
means higher, farther, or inward in any normal senses of the words. Each reli-
gious tradition devises its own concepts and vocabulary, so a gap in understand-
ing is almost inevitable. Schleiermacher highlighted not only the importance
of having a grasp of the universal use of language but also the distinctiveness of
every individual and tradition and hence the particularity of words used in a
specific context.
Generally, the importance of logical grammar and the peculiarity of religious
discourse are well recognized in twentieth- and twenty-first-century philosophy
of religion (e.g., Flew 1955, Ramsey 1957), but the implications of these for
RE are not always seen. Through an exclusive reliance on secular disciplines and
their discourses, one may simply not be conveying the sense of religious life.
Even describing the use of religious discourse, as happens in the philosophy of
religion, is not quite the same as actually using it as a form of communication.
To illustrate, to articulate honestly and make public through confession (mani-
festing what compels one to live as one does as part of a religious requirement)
are not quite the same as the word confession, which is taken to describe the
intentional communication inducing others (perhaps dishonestly) to think and
live as you do. The latter appears to be implicit in the description of “confes-
sional” religious education. The question is, should one rule out as a part of RE
the encouragement to articulate honestly and make public what compels one
to live as one does? Are change and human development possible without any
such articulation? No doubt there are some matters that should not be aired
in public, but to never do so—to never share what we live for and live by—is
to deny the young access to some of the things that matter most to us. With-
out public expression and educational, religious conversations, the risk is that
young people will fail to think about these matters reasonably, to feel deeply, or
to act appropriately. In other words, we risk extremisms of all kinds.
Persons
Apart from language, a second feature of Schleiermacher’s hermeneutical theory
was his interest in people. This was the reason Dilthey described his theory as a
psychological one. But Dilthey’s description is anachronistic, since one might as
easily describe it as a sociological theory. Schleiermacher’s hermeneutical theory
predates the development of psychology and sociology. He took the common-
sensical view that to understand what people say and write, one must come
to understand people in general and the author of the text as an individual.
The implication of this for RE is that if one is to understand religious people
rightly, one must be willing to engage with them religiously—that is, in full
recognition of the faith (and values) that has their loyalty and that, as such,
might also claim one’s own loyalty. Implicit in this is the further assumption
that people are accountable and free; in other words, to be free must mean that
one could reject his or her claim to loyalty or that one could alter the import of
that claim in some significant way. Accountability suggests that one should be
able to provide some justification for one’s loyalties, reasons for one’s actions,
and explanations for one’s feelings. In the context of RE, the intrinsic freedom
of persons rules out bullying or unfair manipulation of the young, but it does
not rule out teachers and pupils sharing the claims on a person’s understanding,
emotion, and will.
My reference here to understanding, emotion, and will is deliberate, because
in the Christian West, it is often assumed that religious claims are essentially
claims made on one’s understanding/intellect or that they are no more than the
beliefs anyone might assert in the face of limited evidence. In reality, human
beings are much more complex than that. The triad of understanding, emotion,
and will are interrelated “faculties” and are probably, strictly speaking, insepa-
rable, except possibly in the sense that a human failure might be located essen-
tially in one or other of the traditional three faculties. But when this happens,
there are usually ramifications for the other two. Thus a failure to understand
others intellectually may lead to a lack of sympathy (feeling) or to a failure to
act (will). An incapacity to sympathize, or hardheartedness, will lead to a lack of
understanding and action. A weakness of will may well lead to corrupt feelings
and perceptions. Religious communication cannot help but relate to all three
faculties and will require appropriately comprehensive rhetorical skills on the
part of the educator and hermeneutical skills on the part of the learner. It will
also inevitably involve the wider community, since we are never isolated selves
but persons in relation to others.
From a good deal of RE literature in Britain, including the Non-Statutory
National Framework (Qualifications and Curriculum Authority 2004), one
gains the impression that a teacher has simply to present the information about
some nine different religions and about some nonreligious “worldviews” (12)
and then he or she can send the pupils away to reflect and to make up “their
own minds” (e.g., 21, 24, 26, 30, etc., of the Non-Statutory National Frame-
work for Religious Education). Perhaps in their private world, pupils will decide
on one “worldview” or none; perhaps they will come to think that it does not
matter much, since the “worldviews” are all “equally valid.” They may even
come to regard one worldview as intellectually preferable but then regard it
without emotion and with no impact on what they will choose to do in life. The
attitudes additionally commended in the Non-Statutory National Framework
have no intrinsic connection to the worldviews studied in the classroom. The
attitudes derive from a prior perception of what education is supposed to be in
our secular society.
One reason for the perceived detachment in RE teaching is that theoreti-
cally the teachers’ and pupils’ own engagement is never put into the frame of
“educational” communication except in the privacy of their “own” minds. Their
feelings and wills are ignored when dealing with religious content. And as such,
there is no genuine religious communication, which by its very nature addresses
the whole person. This detachment in the classroom is adopted for two very
different reasons: the first is the thought that a secular society and state cannot
admit a “religious” communication—that is, RE must be fundamentally secular
and “neutral” as it regards people’s life commitments. The second is the thought
that (in a religiously plural society) genuine religious communication is believed
to be impossible with a religiously plural class.
Both stated grounds are, in my view, open to challenge. First, secular com-
munication is not neutral as many have observed; it simply provides a secular
worldview, which is sometimes explicitly at variance with a religious under-
standing and more often implicitly at variance with religious life. A truly secular
state should encourage a free market in communication in which the religious
voice is expressed and heard on its own terms (Felderhof 2008). This free mar-
ket does not exist where religious communication is ruled out on principle in
school. Further, it is not self-evident that British society (or indeed many other
societies) is presently, historically, or constitutionally secular in the sense so
often supposed. For example, in Britain, the existence of an established church
whose bishops are appointed by the government belies its supposed secularity.
The census—which reveals that the vast majority of people believe in God, even
if their participation in organized religion is low—also shows that society is not
truly secular in the sense of lacking religious belief (Davie 1994). The overall
picture of the state of society is very mixed.
Second, why should one assume that a religiously plural society is incapable
of agreeing on the kind of religious communications that would be acceptable
to most religious communities? One obvious reason for potential agreement
is that there are strong family resemblances among the various religious tra-
ditions; they have much in common. They invariably pray, contemplate, and
worship. They invariably seek to order life. They encourage faith. They share
key values—for example, concern for those in need or for the natural environ-
ment. They do not normally accept that the values embraced are simply what
they happen to choose, but they normally suppose that values are authorita-
tively given. In the face of such common ground, it is worth exploring how the
different religious traditions come to give these commonalities substantive form
through their historical experiences and revelations.
The current Birmingham approach to religious education is different from
a secular and supposedly neutral study of religions. The focus is on what pupils
are expected to learn from faith; pupils are treated as agents looking forward
to what they shall become, and hence the syllabus’s concentration is on the
formation of dispositions. Describing religions and learning about religious
traditions are subordinate to what pupils might learn from them by engaging
seriously with the burden of what these religious traditions authoritatively
seek to convey and where they differ. Of course, in a religiously plural city, the
aims, objectives, and methods of RE require serious negotiation and agreement
because of the differences, but this agreement was not as difficult as secularists
might believe.
Actually, the whole process from 2005 to 2007 proved to be remarkably
easy after the difficult step had been taken to abandon the legacy of reducing
RE to a secular study of religions. In comparison, in recent history, the 1975
Birmingham Agreed Syllabus, which paved the way for such a “phenomeno-
logical” study of religions and incorporated the secular “worldviews” of Marx-
ism and secular humanism, took five years and a referral to legal counsel to
agree on. The supposedly “value-free” 1995 Birmingham Agreed Syllabus was
despairingly accepted by the committee representing the different faiths because
there was little prospect, after three years of discussion, of a more satisfactory
conclusion. The final result issued from weariness rather than being embraced
with enthusiasm.
The 2007 syllabus, with its focus on the promotion of 24 dispositions in
pupils and society, using the treasury of world faiths, had few dissenting voices,
and those that had existed initially soon vanished with time and work. In the
end, the Agreed Syllabus Conference concurred wholeheartedly. The syllabus
was adopted unanimously and without abstentions by the City Council and
all its political parties. It has had a warm reception from teachers and head
teachers in schools. Initial indicators show that pupils are happier, too (see Fel-
derhof and Thompson 2015, appendix). The Faith Leaders Group of the city
has sprung to its defense in the face of the central government’s attempts in
2009–10 to impose, through its (draft) “Guidance,” the 2004 Non-Statutory
National Framework as the basis for all Agreed Syllabuses. With this reception
from politicians, pupils, parents, schools, and faith communities in the city,
one must ask, why does this Birmingham syllabus evoke such a warm response?
The answer is not difficult to discern: the syllabus is prospective and pur-
poseful in seeking to nurture identified virtues and dispositions that are widely
shared, though differently supported, in the various traditions. Nurturing is
not the same as imposing or being coercive, but it acknowledges the freedom
of pupils as agents. The syllabus values the moral and spiritual insights of dif-
ferent religious traditions and the contributions these traditions offer to the
common agenda of developing the character of the young. The syllabus seeks to
address the whole person: the cognitive, affective, and conative dimensions of
human beings. It recognizes the need for pupils to acquire interpretative skills,
makes room for teachers’ professionalism and rhetorical skills, and recognizes
the importance of community life.
Conclusions
In a religiously plural world, a process of agreement about the essential out-
comes of formal education is a key to effective teaching. Such teaching must
be based on the agreed on ideal outcomes. Such teaching must be truthful,
engage the affections and wills of pupils, develop their skills, and acknowledge
the importance of the communities in which they live. The 2007 Birmingham
Agreed Syllabus is utterly positive about the desirable nature of pupils’ charac-
ter development and the values that underwrite a collective life lived together
before God or the transcendent. The teacher must note carefully the audience
in the classroom, the family background of pupils, the nature of society, and
what it means to teach developing persons. Pupils must develop the hermeneu-
tical skills to perceive the demands on their intellect, affections, and will in reli-
gious communication. The subject matter of RE must be essentially religious in
seeking to guide people authoritatively to live well and develop their character
responsively to themselves, to others, and the God (or Transcendent). It will
overtly use religious language in all its complexity. It will deploy a range of
religious resources: its revelations, its sacred texts, its teachings, its arts (music,
literature, dance, drama, art, sculpture, architecture, etc.), its celebrations,
and its practices. RE’s communications will be essentially moral, cultural, and
spiritual in their intent to develop pupils and society. It will not be neutral,
but it will be fundamentally positive about the intended outcomes. This will
worry some secularists because it subverts a secular methodology, and they
will worry that pupils are not expected to be noncommittal about religious
communications. Other secularists will welcome this approach to RE because
they share the vision of the outcomes of such teaching in terms of the character
of pupils and society, and they will accept that the religious voice should be
heard in achieving such outcomes. They may also recognize that their own chil-
dren need not attend such teaching but accept that other parents and the wider
community will value it.
Notes
1. There is no intention here to suggest that religious education should not be
conversational and that the pupil should not also learn to contribute. However,
conventionally the teacher provides the main input. It is a deceit to claim that
teachers only “manage” learning, as if the pupils are the main or only “active
agents” in the classroom.
2. This is the term used in the act, and it was not changed to “religious education”
until the 1988 Education Reform Act.
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A Global Perspective.” In Religious Education in Schools: Ideas and Experiences from
around the World, edited by IARF, 1–8. Oxford: IARF.
Jackson, Robert. 1997. Religious Education: An Interpretative Approach. London: Hodder
and Stoughton.
———. 2004. Rethinking Religious Education and Plurality: Issues in Diversity and Peda-
gogy. London: RoutledgeFalmer.
Kierkegaard, Søren. 1998. The Point of View. Edited and translated with introduction
and notes by Howard V. Hong and Edna H. Hong. Princeton: Princeton University
Press.
Plato. 1994. Gorgias, trans. Robin Waterfield. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (with the Department for Education and
Skills). 2004. Religious Education: The Non-Statutory National Framework. London:
Qualifications and Curriculum Authority.
Ramsey, Ian T. 1957. Religious Language: An Empirical Placing of Theological Phrases.
London: SCM Press.
Schleiermacher, Friederich D. E. 1977. Hermeneutics, the Handwritten Manuscripts.
Edited by Heinrich Kimmerle, translated by James Duke and Jack Forstman. Atlanta:
Scholars Press for the American Academy of Religion.
Sharpe, Eric. 1975. Comparative Religion, a History. London: Duckworth.
Smart, Ninian. 1973. The Phenomenon of Religion. London: Macmillan.
Wilde, Oscar. 1913. “The Decay of Lying: An Observation.” In Intentions (David Price
edition). http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext97/ntntn10h.htm.
Wittgenstein, Ludwig. 1966. Lectures and Conversations on Aesthetics, Psychology and
Religious Belief. Edited by Cyril Barrett. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
Wright, Andrew. 1999. Discerning the Spirit, Teaching Spirituality in the Religious Educa-
tion Classroom. Abingdon: Culham College Institute.
———. 2007. “Religious Education and Liberal Nurture.” In Inspiring Faith in Schools,
edited by Marius C. Felderhof with Penelope Thompson and David Torevell. Alder-
shot: Ashgate.
CHAPTER 3
Human Flourishing and a

“Right to Education”
Katherine Marshall
Berkley Center, Georgetown University
and World Faiths Development Dialogue
Faith-Based versus Rights-Based Approaches
A
renowned religious leader recently contrasted “the faith paradigm for
human flourishing” with the “rights-based development paradigm.”
He suggested that the contrast between the two accounts, inter alia,
for misunderstandings, barriers in use of language, and broader social tensions.1
The comment invites debate about the differences between the two sug-
gested paradigms, how and why the differences (and similarities) matter, and
what might be done to bridge the divides. Such debates turn, in large measure,
on values. They are therefore related to the ways in which values are embedded
in fundamental approaches to education. They pose the challenge of how we
understand what inspires human happiness and creativity.
After exploring the suggested divide, this chapter briefly sketches the ground-
ing of global goals for education for all, which represents in many respects the
rights-based approach. It then highlights the ways in which religious insti-
tutions (as opposed to religious ideas or people committed to religion) are
involved in educating citizens in the contemporary world and some shortfalls
in understanding and engaging the roles of these institutions. The chapter thus
explores some contemporary debates about the significance of values and the
types of dialogue and partnerships that might help to bridge polarizing perspec-
tives. This polarized environment, I argue, impedes both the vision of human
flourishing and our hopes for a world in which rights translate into justice and
above all a fair chance for every human being to thrive.
44 O Katherine Marshall
Rights-Based Approaches
The values and goals that are at the true heart of international development
are, to my mind, grounded in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Conceived in the midst of World War II and born in a euphoric period that
savored the taste of peace, the Declaration was inspired by Enlightenment
thinking, the finest values of the great world religions, and the tumultuous
revolutions that erupted in the eighteenth century, which toppled the very
foundations that had for so long legitimized autocratic regimes. The process
through which the Declaration was forged owed much to the notion of four
core freedoms that Franklin D. Roosevelt articulated in 1942: freedom of
speech, freedom to worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear.2 Many
agree today that now, with our world so deeply polarized, a Declaration of such
universality, with such extraordinarily bold aspirations, would have no hope of
passage. It stands as something of a miracle.
At the United Nations, the language of rights is a lingua franca, a rubric
against which actions are to be judged. Some even term human rights a religion,
suggesting both a coherent set of interlocking beliefs (positive) and a rigidity
and utopian aura (generally negative). Those who hammered out the Universal
Declaration harbored few illusions. They knew that a Declaration (as opposed
to covenants) lacked legal teeth and that the ideals were all far from realization.
The cold winds of the Cold War were becoming clear as negotiators debated
each phrase. The ideal of “freedom from want” seemed a noble aspiration in a
world where poverty was accepted as the inevitable lot for many, if not most,
people and where schools for all and decent health, much less decent work, were
more a dream than a goal.
Article 26 of the Universal Declaration asserts the right to education for all,
guaranteed by states as free and open to all. Thus education is viewed as a core
element of human rights, and it seems intricately linked to equality and dignity.
So what has cast “human rights”—for so many a vision of equal hope and
opportunity—in such a dim light that a religious leader today could contrast it
unfavorably with an alternative called “human flourishing”?
The rights doubters have a significant following, and a good share of them
can be found in religious circles. Many are thoughtful and concerned, while
others would seem to have less noble motives. They advance various explana-
tions. Most visible today is a reaction against what is seen as a redefinition and
expansion of human rights that includes sexual identity, gay marriage, and a
wider set of freedoms to act without the restrictions of traditional norms. On
websites and in United Nations debates, the push for “new” rights is described
as a conspiracy by determined groups and an assault on the family (see Marshall
2011b). Equality for women might require that women be allowed to be priests,
Human Flourishing and a “Right to Education” O 45
rights for children might encourage them to defy teachers and parents (Marshall
2011a), and broader definitions of gender identity are thought to erode core
moral values. Rights are viewed as akin to entitlement, to demands that are
not “earned.” Human rights are seen as favoring individuals over communities.
This complex of general unease about rights has underpinned a long-
standing effort to elaborate a Universal Declaration of Human Responsibilities
(InterAction Council 1997). This has involved both the InterAction Council
and the Parliament of the World’s Religions. While this document has no for-
mal status, it reflects the sense that more balance is needed. The 2009 papal
encyclical Caritas in Veritate reflects some of this thinking, as it speaks far more
of responsibilities than rights (Benedict XVI 2009).
Another set of reservations about human rights presents them as a Western,
secular, colonial, or Christian framework that is scarcely universal in its for-
mulation. True, most of today’s nations were not independent when the Uni-
versal Declaration was debated and signed between 1946 and 1948. The key
framers were American, British, French, and Australian. The United Nations
Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) did undertake
a consultation that involved a concerted effort to seek views of philosophers,
theologians, and other thinkers from different cultures and religions (Mahatma
Gandhi included), and Lebanese and Brazilians were among leaders in the
thinking process. But the nagging doubts continue, as illustrated by several
alternative approaches to framing rights that have emerged over the years.3
What are the main differences between human rights and human flourishing,
and how do they matter as we look to questions such as the meaning of the right
to education? Perhaps most striking are the qualifications on women’s rights.
This is a vital issue and difference that underpins much of the tension between
secular and religious and “Western” and “non-Western” discourse. The bald fact
is that there are still significant doubts in various quarters about true equality
between men and women, justified on the grounds of “difference.” Another
frequently expressed concern is that human rights are framed as belonging to
the individual and therefore downplay or ignore the community and the col-
lective culture. At an extreme, human freedom through human rights is seen
as allowing—even encouraging—rampant competition and greedy capitalism.
A Paradigm of Human Flourishing

So how are alternatives or different paradigms framed? The notion of human
flourishing encapsulates a set of important ideas that focus on human dignity
and the development of human capacity as a foundation for true freedom.
These notions have both secular and religious advocates. Amartya Sen (1999)
and Martha Nussbaum (2011) have elaborated a philosophical approach they
term human capabilities. Providing education and health are central and, if
the services are universally available, allow each individual to develop what
some call their “God-given gifts.” The United Nations (through the United
Nations Development Program, or UNDP) has elaborated this framework
into detailed human development indicators and explored dimensions through
annual human development reports.
Those who argue that a paradigm of human flourishing offers a stronger,
deeper foundation for an ethical basis for contemporary times than a reliance
on human rights see the former as far more directed toward ends than means.
A paradigm of human flourishing takes into account what makes people happy
and allows them the give and take that is part of successful communities. It
balances justice and “rights” with compassion and responsibility. It recognizes
that unbridled freedom often does not bring satisfaction, and it holds that for
societies as well as individuals to flourish, there need to be shared values that
cannot be fully conveyed by the notions of rights.
A Balance?
Many international development institutions aim to follow a rights-based
approach. This is a worthy goal. A rights-based approach implies respect for
everyone, no matter how poor. It suggests that people should be judged and
supported on an equal basis, stripping away the layers of prejudice that are the
legacy of caste, religious prejudice, racial discrimination, and views of women as
chattel or inferior. A rights-based approach posits that partnerships should have
a balance that reflects a true valuing of the contribution each party brings and
that is not driven by who has more money or who comes from a more powerful
nation. It reflects a determination to carry into practice the notion that no mat-
ter where someone is born, no matter how poor their parents, no matter their
race or gender, they have a right to an opportunity to succeed and to choose
the path they take.
A rights-based approach to education would assert that every person has
the right to a good education: one that draws out his or her distinctive tal-
ents and aspirations. A proper rights-based approach to education would take
into account decent values, the duties of citizenship, and the glories of culture.
Viewed from a religious perspective, development of the human person is in
many scriptures and faith traditions the very core of belief and action. Educa-
tion should be a central means to that end.
The counterarguments? Rights-based approaches homogenize, downplay
cultural distinctions, and strip away true considerations of values. They are
seen—claims of equity to the contrary—as infused with a colonial mentality
or an underlying goal of furthering commercial interests or even destroying
traditional cultures. Education presented primarily as preparation for jobs fits
this stereotype.
These differing perspectives are relevant to the challenge of probing contem-

porary questions about how indeed to provide quality, transformative education
for all; how to bring values into education in meaningful ways; and how to
engage religion in education and teach about religion in ways that can ensure
peaceful plural societies. How can education policies and practices, internation-
ally and nationally, contribute to an end that surely all would support? Does a
“paradigm of human flourishing” offer such a path?
In short, the hopeful answer to my opening question is that the juxtaposi-
tion of human flourishing and a rights-based approach is not a choice between
“either-or” but a challenge to ensure “both-and.”
“Education for All”

Education is not only an agreed-on basic human right. It is also a critical prereq-
uisite for successful contemporary democracy and thriving societies. Advocates
of both human rights and development thus point to education as probably
the highest single priority for action on the global development agenda. Educa-
tion is fundamental to developing human capabilities (seen today as a primary
means and end of development work). It weighs heavily in UNDP’s Human
Development Index, which ranks country performance, and in the philosophi-
cal and economic reasoning that underlies it.4
The UN’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)5 put a strong spotlight
on education. They seek to give teeth to agreements by constructing mecha-
nisms designed to ensure accountability: the goals, targets, numbers, and dead-
lines built into the MDGs. It is clear that education, and especially quality of
education, will figure centrally.
The MDGs for education reflect far more than an ephemeral, turn-of-the-
century idealism. They grew out of a decades-old international movement
that called for a serious global effort to ensure “Education for All” (EFA): the
commitment that was exemplified and formally launched at the 1990 World
Conference on EFA in Jomtien, Thailand. Again, plans to enhance the quality
of education, to address inequities in education, to extend the reach of much-
needed early childhood education, and to increase access to secondary and
higher education all figure on the agendas of various international development
fora. A range of financing mechanisms seek to ensure reliable and sustainable
support (for fast-track education programs, notably).
Despite extraordinary progress in extending education systems worldwide,
there is far to go. Some 67 million children are still not in school (UNESCO
2011b), and about 793 million adults are illiterate (UNESCO 2011a). Although
gaps in enrolment between boys and girls are diminishing quite quickly, girls’
education is still far from the ideal. Quality of education in many countries
and systems is so poor that outcomes fall far short of goals. Education offered
is often not adapted to either the economic or social needs of societies, leaving
graduates unemployed and unemployable. Disparities in the education that is
available and in achievements across communities and nations are enormous, so
increasing inequities in the future are nigh inevitable.
Thus the worthy education goals (ethical, economic, social, and political)
are far from being achieved.6 Most worrisome is evidence—for example, in
insufficient budget allocations at national levels and sputtering attention to
issues—that the consensus that education is a global imperative may be more
fragile, less robust, than speeches by world leaders would suggest.7 Even so,
education as a right and as a central link in the development chain ranks high
on most global agendas.
Where Does Religion Enter This Global Picture?8

An important set of partners are little engaged at a global, systemic level in fur-
thering the goals and removing impediments in their paths: faith institutions.
Yet faith institutions play vital roles in at least five dimensions of these global
educational challenges:
1. Faith institutions and leaders can be powerful advocates for action to

achieve social justice, with education a prime example. This is true at
global, regional, national, and community levels.
2. Faith institutions run large education systems that provide a significant,
if very poorly measured, share of education. These include models of
excellence and exemplars of what can be achieved, as well as other sys-
tems that fall near the bottom of the heap in terms of quality and social
benefit. Capabilities for innovation, especially for access in poor commu-
nities, have special importance. Faith leaders and institutions can under-
mine commitment and implementation (e.g., in educating girls) if they
are not engaged.
3. Faith institutions often do and certainly should contribute to defining
what is taught in education systems overall about values and religion—
across curricula. Increasing general understanding about religions deserves
high priority9 because it is a fundamental part of identity and culture for
many world citizens; understanding is critical to peace and social cohe-
sion in pluralistic societies.
4. Faith institutions provide training of religious leaders for today’s era of
globalization. Such training should involve heightened attention to liv-
ing within dynamic and pluralistic societies and understanding social-
change-cum-development issues (e.g., HIV/AIDS).
5. Faith institutions can help prepare young people to be informed and

proactive global citizens. This takes on heightened importance in light
of the challenges facing pluralistic societies. Faith institutions have key
parts to play in building social cohesion. These global citizenship chal-
lenges come back at a fundamental level to ancient and broad questions
of how educational approaches and systems promote values.
It is too often forgotten that many religious traditions have longstanding

commitments to education that are fundamental to their beliefs, as well as vast
experience with schooling at all levels. Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and Bud-
dhism all celebrate and value education in important ways. This experience
and the moral underpinning that religious institutions bring to bear in their
support for education are important for education policy. Systems developed
by Jesuits (Fe y Alegría and Cristo Rey) are examples of bold approaches to
both poor communities and ethical challenges for disadvantaged students. The
Turkish Islam-born Gulen movement and varying Islamic systems in Indonesia,
Malaysia, Pakistan, and India illustrate the constructive roles faith institutions
can play in meeting educational access challenges at many levels, including elite
education and schooling for poor and disabled children. As faith institutions
bring significant experience in addressing important, often thorny issues for
education policy, it makes sense that they should be constructively engaged in
relevant dialogue. Topics at issue include discussion of standards and mecha-
nisms to enhance religious literacy, addressing values challenges for contempo-
rary pluralistic societies, responding to concerns about inflammatory teaching
that divide communities, and shifting expectations and norms on church-state
relations. In short, faith institutions can be more significant players than they
are today in achieving global education goals.
One reason that players in education systems are so segmented is that the
MDGs and associated goals and targets, with their elaborate indicators and
global, regional, and national monitoring systems, have been led almost exclu-
sively through public institutions—governments and international organiza-
tions, above all. However, a progressive expansion in understanding why broader
partnerships are needed is altering that picture. Today’s discourse assumes that
civil society and private-sector support for development generally and MDG
targets more specifically is essential. Dialogue on global education challenges
and policies to achieve them takes in a widening range of actors outside official
institutions.
Advocacy and Mobilization

Faith-inspired institutions came fairly late to the global mobilization for the
MDGs, but as in the case of civil society, activism is increasing. This heightened
interest is evident in various settings, ranging from global interfaith institutions

to specific initiatives within denominations or at the local level. The World
Conference of Religions for Peace (WCRP) focus on the MDGs, the ambitious
poverty agenda of the Parliament of the World’s Religions, and the Micah Chal-
lenge (an evangelical church–initiated advocacy campaign) illustrate an explicit
commitment to mobilizing public support for action on the goals. Many reli-
gious leaders make the cause of the MDGs a central plank in their ministries.
In countless congregations, however, few have even heard of the MDGs,
much less reflected on their importance and what their community might do to
advance them. Some reasons are pretty straightforward. The MDGs are not an
easy “sell.” Finding effective tools to translate goodwill and intentions into prac-
tice is difficult, and for many faith leaders, the path toward meaningful action
on global issues is far from clear. More significant are subtle but substantial bar-
riers to dialogue and engagement. The dominant paradigm of focusing on pub-
lic provision of education discourages active engagement in the policy arenas by
institutions that tend to focus on private education. History comes into play in
some situations, especially where the spread of modern education is closely tied
to missionary efforts. Boko Haram in Nigeria is a particularly extreme illustra-
tion, with its very slogan and raison d’être centered on a rejection of Western
education. Ambivalence about faith roles in public education systems that are
built on secular principles dampens fervor both in acknowledging direct reli-
gious roles in running schools and in posing questions about how religion can
and should be taught (witness France). In some communities, commitment to
equity goals—for example, closing the gap in enrolment of girls—may not rank
high among change priorities for religious communities.
Looking more specifically from an MDG and EFA perspective, the somewhat
patchy and sometimes tepid support for global education goals that emerges in
some faith and interfaith settings is a concern and something of a puzzle. Part
of the solution lies in the addressing the perils of generalization: noble goals
may appear self-evident, so tangible action steps are needed to mobilize ener-
gies and channel them to achieve results. Focusing on obstacles to progress and
on genuine areas of concern can help. Increasing transparency and clarity in
international and national commitments and disbursements for education help
advocates press for action more effectively, since they can see where shortfalls
are taking place. The MDGs do provide a good scaffolding to explore practical
ways to engage faith energies and to address latent concerns through dialogue.
Hopefully their successors will be still more successful.
The most difficult challenge ahead is access to education in hard-to-serve
regions and communities, including countries in conflict. There, faith com-
munities provide much of the education10. The two most challenging countries
today for education goals are Nigeria and Pakistan, and in both cases, religion
is at the forefront of policy debates. Serving excluded communities and the dis-
abled are major areas where experience, ideas, leadership, and commitment are
vitally needed. Faith institutions already play critical roles and have extensive
networks of leaders, community groups, and media channels.
Faith Service Delivery

Limited attention to faith communities as education service providers stems
in part from the current common assumption that governments are directly
responsible for education, down to running most or all schools. Thus many take
for granted that, especially in poor communities, private education has little
relevance.11 Faith-run systems fall into similar traps.
The enormous complexity of development assistance today makes clear
focus difficult. The development community recognizes the dysfunctional pat-
tern of numerous, uncoordinated actors, many with differing objectives and
approaches, individual monitoring systems, and their own reporting require-
ments. Intensive efforts to harmonize aid have been under way for some time,
with agreements reflected in the Paris, Rome, Accra, and Busan Declarations.12
Many aid programs have moved from a “project” approach to program- or
sector-wide efforts involving multiple donors under a single umbrella, with a
clear focus on government leadership and ownership for the respective coun-
tries. Efforts at harmonization include education, but results are mixed at best.
Available data about elements of the global systems are appallingly weak, and
knowledge gaps are a significant reason for the lack of attention to these impor-
tant systems. The extraordinary diversity of religiously run education and a gen-
eral lack of mutual contact contribute to gaps in dialogue and understanding.
The systems vary in size, approach, and significance from region to region and
also within countries. This author is aware of no effort to estimate their aggre-
gate role in any systematic fashion and, still less, to engage in any comprehen-
sive assessment of relative quality and impact. The situation is well mapped in a
few places—for example, Catholic Church systems. The Catholic school system
is the world’s largest faith-based educational network, with 120,000 schools and
more than 1,000 colleges and universities.13 Data about Muslim schools run the
gamut from fairly detailed and reliable (Indonesia; India) to patchy and uncer-
tain (Pakistan; West Africa). Buddhist education and the enormous social move-
ments with a religious impetus in South Asia are barely mapped, yet many run
schools and other education programs (e.g., adult literacy). “Hybrid” systems
(school systems that fall somewhere between the public and private) complicate
the picture in several places—for example, in Cambodia, both Buddhist- and
Christian-run schools may receive some public support yet rely primarily on
private funding, volunteer teachers, and community resources. The Fe y Alegría
system comprises primarily schools that are part of the public education system
but that count on extensive support from other sources (church, community,
business, and international organizations). Pinpointing the roles of faith actors
is difficult.14 Where the roles are ambiguous or informal, faith leaders may elect
not to draw attention to their roles.
Faith-run education and school networks play important roles in addressing
the critical issues in failing and poorly performing states: the “bottom billion.”15
The irony is that these countries and their people most need assistance, yet
governance and conflict make that assistance hard to use well. Conflict and cor-
ruption together impede most programs, and education almost always suffers.
Faith institutions are often the major providers of services, including education,
a force of continuity and a support to communities. Practical steps to carry the
recognition of faith roles and their on-the-ground experience into broader and
more active dialogues and partnerships are limited.
The upshot of the fractured analysis and dialogue is that much of the rich
knowledge and experience gained in faith-run systems are poorly reflected in
policy analysis and decision making. Three transnational educational programs
with strong faith links highlight both the variety and potential roles that faith-
inspired institutions play and their pertinence to global educational challenges.16
The Fe y Alegría system and Gulen movement schools are quite well known.
A third is the Aga Khan Development Network.17 To cite just one example,
the network of madrasa preschools in East Africa represents a sensitive effort
to build on community initiatives, to engage with local faith communities, to
work actively with women, and to engage local ideas and meet local needs while
maintaining the highest quality standards.
Understanding Religion, Understanding the Other

Many public education systems around the world—prominently including
those in the United States, France, and China—have seen a dramatic shift in
curriculum away from one where even the primers used for the youngest chil-
dren were imbued with religion to one where religion is almost totally invis-
ible in the curriculum. Other countries where religion is part of the official
public curriculum are dominated by a single perspective. The results are a
“religious illiteracy” that is of serious concern because pluralistic societies are
the norm today and will surely increase in significance, yet relations among
communities are impaired by lack of understanding across different communi-
ties. Social tensions are an almost inevitable result. Many people today lack even
a basic knowledge of their own cultural heritage, so they are unable to appreci-
ate literary references and other elements of culture and identity.
Teaching about different religious traditions is sensitive—easier said than
done—and there can be no single formula or curriculum. Even so, there is an
emerging consensus that more purposeful efforts to develop sound curricula,
particularly at the secondary level, are needed. The United World Colleges
(UWC) system offers an interesting example of an effort to address the issues
as it works to develop a world religions curriculum. The UWC system includes
13 schools, most offering a two-year program leading to the International Bac-
calaureate, draws students from some 120 countries, and is inspired by a phi-
losophy to achieve international peace and understanding by educating future
leaders together. The UWC is one among many examples of pilot efforts to
find effective and appropriate ways to develop curricula that ensure a level of
religious literacy that modern plural societies need. Similar efforts are needed,
with some exemplary efforts, in higher education (e.g., the Henry R. Luce Ini-
tiative on Religion and International Affairs) and in professional organizations
such as diplomatic services and United Nations institutions. Ignorance about
religion can represent a serious obstacle in many fields, ranging from education
to business to public affairs, and redressing the situation plainly should engage
religious leaders and institutions.
Training Future Religious Leaders

Jewish, Muslim, and Christian theological education in the past often included
important segments designed to teach about other faith traditions. This is far
less the norm today, and many religious leaders emerge from their advanced
training programs with quite limited understandings of other faiths, much
less the kind of personal contact that would contribute to real understanding.
Given the importance of interfaith relations in plural societies, this is an impor-
tant lacuna. Thus an area for action in education is theological training institu-
tions of many kinds. Promoting exchange programs among institutions and
faiths is another area with significant potential.
Gaps in understanding among communities and between religious and sec-
ular leadership extend beyond theology: religious leaders pride themselves in
their engagement in virtually every aspect of community life, from sex educa-
tion and trade policy through housing, water, and agriculture. Ignorance mat-
ters: for example, priests who preach against genetically modified organisms
(GMOs) can exacerbate tensions around this technical and ethical issue, while
religious leadership on conservation of natural resources or sensible water use
can make an enormous difference for good.
Broadening theological education to address development issues can both
enhance the effectiveness of dialogue and, in some instances, provide a founda-
tion for interfaith cooperation that can have important spillover effects. Prepar-
ing faith leaders to address some contemporary issues such as sex education and
use of social media might well offer wide benefits.
Thorny Values, Questions, and Social Cohesion

Consider this vignette: a priest engaged in interfaith dialogue, a World Bank
education specialist, and I meet to discuss a forthcoming report on educa-
tion in the Middle East. The priest speaks, in a somewhat discursive fashion,
about a small theological exchange program that is, a gleam in his eye, involv-
ing advanced students from a Christian and a Muslim institution. The World
Bank specialist’s eyes glaze over, his unspoken question: “What on earth does
this have to do with the subject at hand?” To turn the subject, I ask how the
forthcoming report deals with values in curriculum reform, a subject of keen
interest to the priest. Brightly, the specialist says, “Oh, what we want is values-
free education.” The priest blanches. They have reached an impasse.
What the specialist had in mind was that, in his view, education systems
should be value neutral and impartial; they should teach students to think for
themselves. To him, a curriculum or system structured around a particular set
of values is, by implication, biased and excludes ideas and people. The priest
blanched because, to his mind, nothing is more important in education than
imparting basic values, a sense of right and wrong, preferably in conjunction
with a grounding in teachings from one or possibly more faith traditions that
include rich ethical frameworks. This, he believes, allows an individual to con-
tribute to society.
The exchange offers a glimpse of underlying debates that explain why the
role of faith perspectives and institutions in education is often contentious.
Whereas one hundred years ago religious institutions dominated education sys-
tems in many places and religion was taught without compunction, today the
situation is far more mixed. Faith as part of education today is embroiled in
broader debates about the respective roles and responsibilities of public and
private actors in education and about how public education systems address the
pluralism that is a central characteristic of modern societies. The questions are
“Whose values?” and “How can values best be taught?”
Education is sometimes seen and approached as a largely technical matter,
with schooling geared essentially to preparing students for the labor market.
That is plainly a vital function, but undue focus on markets and utilitarian goals
can obscure other functions of education—for example, social cohesion and
the civic understanding and attitudes that are vital to a flourishing society. In a
negative sense, school systems, public or private, can teach in ways that either
ease or exacerbate ethnic and religious tensions. Here religious leaders and com-
munities have a major stake and can play positive or negative roles.
Such debates echo in the history of framing the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights. Eleanor Roosevelt (1949) commented that, in retrospect, she
understood the reasons for but nonetheless regretted agreeing to the provision
in the Declaration that specified that “parents have a prior right to choose the
kind of education that shall be given to their children” (25). The insistence on
including this provision, she said, came from Catholic countries and was driven
particularly by the fresh memories of totalitarian brainwashing of students
before and during World War II. What she saw as the tension was between
parents’ rights and the rights of both children and society.
Education scholar Stephen Heyneman (2008) emphasizes that fear of reli-
gious and ethnic extremism can be so great that it can influence policy on
school choice: “In the end, whether in Turkey or in Britain, schools should all
teach the same thing—that citizens of all kinds are welcome, that all religions
are welcome; that all ethnic groups are welcome; that in addition to the national
language all languages are welcome. But they should also teach that the obliga-
tions on minorities are exactly the same as the obligations on majorities—that
is, to conform to social norms. In this way schools can effectively add to every
nation’s social cohesion.”
In an ideal world, schools are indeed neutral—perhaps not “value free” but
teaching students to think on their own, to respect difference in views and
backgrounds, and to work to create new and better societies. Ignoring the ten-
sions around differences in values, pretending that differences are unimport-
ant, cannot serve these ends. So addressing the strong beacons of concern is as
important as it ever has been.
Toward Conclusions
The Aga Khan offers an inspired framing of the central challenges facing con-
temporary education. In our contemporary age, the forces of interconnect-
edness that flow from globalization and the increasingly pluralistic nature of
today’s societies take on growing importance. The challenge is “quantitative,” as
exemplified in the MDGs and EFA, but even more so it is qualitative, complex,
and nuanced in its multiple dimensions. Those dimensions indeed flow from a
paradigm of human flourishing.
In the final analysis, the great problem of humankind in a global age will
be to balance and reconcile two impulses: the quest for a distinctive identity
and the search for global coherence. What this challenge will ultimately require
of us is a deep sense of personal and intellectual humility, an understanding
that diversity itself is a gift of the divine, and an understanding that embrac-
ing diversity is a way to learn and to grow—not to dilute our identities but to
enrich our self-knowledge. What is required goes beyond mere tolerance or
sympathy or sensitivity—emotions that can often be willed into existence by a
generous soul. True cultural sensitivity is something far more rigorous and even
more intellectual than that. It implies a readiness to study and to learn across
cultural barriers and an ability to see others as they see themselves. This is a
challenging task, but if we do that, then we will discover that the universal and
the particular can indeed be reconciled. As the Quran states, “God created male
and female and made you into communities and tribes, so that you may know
one another” (49.13). It is our differences that both define us and connect us
(Aga Khan 2008).
Faith leaders belong at the policy tables where global and national educa-
tional issues are discussed, and this is happening slowly. As Swedish diplomat
Jan Henningsson observes, “Politicians are now talking and listening to reli-
gious leaders, and the language of urgency and problem solving is meeting the
language of continuity and values. Gradually, committed persons on each side
are discovering that there need not be irreconcilable disagreements on issues
of human rights and human dignity, nor are the ideals of social cohesion and
value-based communities necessarily in contradiction to the ideals of individual
emancipation and socio-economic progress.”18
Notes
1. The context was a questionnaire from the United Nations Alliance of
Civilizations.
2. A wonderful description of the process, including the UNESCO review led by
Jacques Maritain that reached out to religious leaders, is in Glendon (2002).
3. See Council of the League of Arab States (1994) and Nineteenth Islamic Confer-
ence of Foreign Ministers (1990).
4. See the United Nations Development Programme, Human Development
Reports, http://hdr.undp.org/en.
5. See the United Nations Millennium Development Goals: http://www.un.org/
millenniumgoals.
6. For general progress on MDGs, see the elaborate systems reflected in materi-
als at the MDG Monitor: http://www.mdgmonitor.org. On education, see the
EFA monitoring reports: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/
leading-the-international-agenda/efareport.
7. Heyneman (2008) has a thoughtful critique of the framework and performance
of education for all. Also see Lewin (1993).
8. For more detail on this topic, see Marshall (2010).
9. Two recent books underscore the dearth of general knowledge about religion
and its negative consequences particularly well: see Prothero (2008) and Albright
(2007).
10. Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sierra Leone, and South Sudan are promi-
nent examples.
11. There is a mounting recognition that these assumptions are deeply flawed.
Several researchers, including James Tooley, have documented an explosion of
private schools serving poor populations. Tooley’s (2009) research (inter alia)
has highlighted the blinders that public policy makers have worn where private
education is concerned, contributing to poor understanding and data gaps.
12. For background and relevant texts, see http://www.aidharmonization.org.

13. See, for example, Grace (2007).
14. Magis Americas (a US nonprofit organization supporting Jesuit social endeavors)
describes the Federation of Fe y Alegría, which serves 1.3 million students, as
“the largest and most successful education provider in Latin America and the
Caribbean outside of public education systems” (Magis Americas n.d.). The Har-
vard Business School has an interesting case study on the system (see Gonzalez
2008).
15. The latter refers to the paradigm-shifting work of Paul Collier (2007).
16. For more detail, see Marshall (2010).
17. The Aga Khan Development Network does not consider itself religious, although
its leader and founder, the Aga Khan, is the spiritual leader and imam of the
Ismaili community.
18. Comments by Jan Henningsson, Swedish foreign minister, cited in Marshall’s
report to UNAOC Platform, “Bridging the Divide,” February 2012.
References
Aga Khan. 2008. “The Peterson Lecture.” Presented at the annual meeting of the Inter-
national Baccalaureate, Atlanta, Georgia, April 18.
Albright, Madeleine. 2007. The Mighty and the Almighty: Reflections on America, God,
and World Affairs. New York: Harper Perennial.
Benedict XVI. 2009. Caritas in Veritate. Encyclical Letter, June 29. http://www.vatican
.va /holy _father /benedict _xvi /encyclicals /documents /hf _ben-xvi _enc _20090629
_caritas-in-veritate_en.html.
Collier, Paul. 2007. The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries Are Failing and What
Can Be Done about It. New York: Oxford University Press.
Council of the League of Arab States. 1994. The Arab Charter on Human Rights.
University of Minnesota Human Rights Library, http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/
instree/arabhrcharter.html.
Glendon, Mary Ann. 2002. A World Made New: Eleanor Roosevelt and the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights. New York: Random House.
Gonzalez, Rosa Amelia. 2008, March 1. Fe y Alegría: One or Many? Harvard Business
Review Case Discussion. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
Grace, Gerald (ed.). 2007. International Handbook of Catholic Education: Challenges for
School Systems in the 21st Century. Dordrecht: Springer.
Heyneman, Stephen P. 2008. “The Failure of Education-for-All as Political Strategy.”
Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Comparative and International Educa-
tion Society, Columbia University Teachers College, New York City, March 20.
InterAction Council. 1997. A Universal Declaration of Human Responsibilities. Septem-
ber 1. http://interactioncouncil.org/universal-declaration-human-responsibilities.
Lewin, Keith. 1993. “Education and Development: The Issues and the Evidence.” Edu-
cation Research Paper no. 06, prepared for DFID. http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/
bitstream/12875/1/er930006.pdf.
Magis Americas. n.d. “Best Practices: Documenting Fe y Alegría Venezuela’s

Best Practices to Share with Others.” http://www.magisamericas.org/donate/
feyalegriabestpracticesvenezuela.pdf.
Marshall, Katherine. 2010. “Education for All: Where Does Religion Come In?” Com-
parative Education 46 (3): 273–87.
———. 2011a. “The Conflicted Role of Religion in the ‘Rights’ of Children.” Huff-
ington Post, June, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/katherine-marshall/the-rights-of
-children_b_885759.html.
———. 2011b. “Family Watch International Mangles Families and Rights.” Huffington
Post, November, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/katherine-marshall/family-watch
-international_b_1091222.html.
———. 2012. “Bridging the Divide in the Field of Humanitarianism and Develop-
ment.” United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC). Washington DC:
Georgetown University.
Nineteenth Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers. 1990. The Cairo Declaration on
Human Rights in Islam. University of Minnesota Human Rights Library. http://
www1.umn.edu/humanrts/instree/cairodeclaration.html.
Nussbaum, Martha. 2011. Creating Capabilities: The Human Development Approach.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Prothero, Stephen. 2008. Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know about
Religion (and Doesn’t). New York: HarperOne.
Roosevelt, Eleanor. 1949. “Making Human Rights Come Alive.” Phi Delta Kappan 31
(September): 23–33.
Sen, Amartya. 1999. Development as Freedom. New York: Oxford University Press.
http://hdr.undp.org/en.
Tooley, James. 2009. The Beautiful Tree: A Personal Journey into How the World’s Poorest
People Are Educating Themselves. Washington, DC: Cato Institute.
UNESCO. 2011a. “Adult and Youth Literacy.” UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
9/8/2011. http://www.uis.unesco.org/literacy/Pages/Literacy-adult-youth-2011.aspx.
———. 2011b. “Out-of-School Children: New Data Reveal Persistent Challenges.”
UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://www.uis.unesco.org/Education/Pages/out
-of-school-children-data-release.aspx.
CHAPTER 4
Spirituality, Education, and

Religion for a Human World
Sharif István Horthy
Guerrand-Hermès Foundation for Peace
Challenges and Opportunities
T
his book’s call for chapters referred to the challenges and opportuni-
ties facing humanity, and I want to take these as the starting point in
considering the role of spirituality and religion in education. It is clear
that the human community is facing unprecedented crises as a result of our
accelerating knowledge about the material world.
There is a crisis in managing resources. The rapid increase in human pop-
ulations, resulting from advances in public health and agriculture, is putting
ever-increasing pressure on resources and threatening to overwhelm our planet’s
life-support systems. However, the rate of population growth is slowing and
appears to be heading for equilibrium at around nine billion people. While
there is reason to believe that there are strategies available to us that would
enable the earth to sustain this population,1 unfortunately, it is far from clear
that human societies could summon up the degree of cooperation and generos-
ity needed to implement these strategies before disaster strikes.
There is a crisis in governance. This inability to cooperate is part of the more
general problem that human societies have not so far found a way of govern-
ing themselves to optimize human well-being. This is not new: cycles of war,
economic instability, oppression, and violent revolution have been repeated
throughout history, but now the consequences are amplified by greater inter-
connectedness and technological prowess. It is true that people’s access to infor-
mation on an unprecedented scale has begun to undermine the most oppressive
forms of government, but it is also clear that the traditional mechanisms of
60 O Sharif István Horthy
democracy do not always work for the public good. As ideologies have come
and gone, it is not clear what forms of governance will satisfy the complex needs
of human communities in the future.
There is a crisis in the quality of life. While a vast number of people still
live in appalling poverty, an increasing majority are acquiring a level of material
affluence, comfort, and security that our ancestors could scarcely have imag-
ined. Unfortunately, it is becoming apparent that this affluence does not of
itself lead to well-being. It mostly leads to restlessness, loss of direction, and
many kinds of addictive behaviors.
These are just three examples from among many unsolved conundrums that
threaten our future. Clearly, our power over the material world has outstripped
the collective wisdom required to reap its benefits.
It is my intention here not to delve more deeply into these much discussed
concerns but to pose the following questions: what new qualities will future
generations need if they are to solve the problems facing the human race rather
than make them worse, and what kind of education would it take to help them
acquire these qualities?
Certainly, they will need a high level of intellectual accomplishment, but
based on the evidence of recent times, that is not the main requirement for solv-
ing these problems. What is missing is on the level of what motivates people:
they will need a radically new understanding of the meaning and purpose of
human life. They will need to sense the unity and interconnectedness of all life
and be able to experience the compassion that knows for sure that happiness
cannot be obtained at the expense of others, because on a deeper level, they are
part of us. In other words, this new generation must be capable of loving not
just themselves, their own families, and their own tribes but all human beings
and the great world of life that sustains them.
Such a change implies an expansion of consciousness, a spiritual transforma-
tion of human nature and human society. That is not a fanciful idea: many indi-
viduals have demonstrated and documented such a possibility. The question is
how more of us can follow them.
I wanted to add a note here: having spoken about challenges, we should
not ignore the opportunities. What if the fruits of science and technology were
put at the service of human flourishing and the energy wasted on fear and mis-
trust were instead redirected toward creative ends? What if a large part of the
$1.74 trillion a year (SIPRI 2011) currently spent on armaments and defense
were spent on supporting the environment, improving society, and enabling
human beings to reach their potential?
Spirituality, Education, and Religion for a Human World O 61
Spirituality and Human Flourishing

The word spirituality is used to mean many things. Religious people use it to
indicate a search for direction, meaning, wholeness, and transcendence. Those
who do not profess a religion use it to mean a pursuit of a hidden dimension in
a materialistic world: a search for meaning and purpose in life, often without
any religious connection (Ursula King, quoted in Hinells 1996, 667).
The Latin root, spiritus, means “breath,” from which we have the word
inspire, meaning “to breathe into.” Who is breathing into us when we are
inspired? Christians might say it is the “Holy Spirit,” described in the Acts of
the Apostles as coming in tongues of flame and transforming a fearful group
of Jesus’s followers into powerful agents of change. In our mostly secular cul-
ture, there is some awkwardness and vagueness surrounding the concept of
spirituality that may be due to this religious pedigree. For many people, it is
tied to religious belief and perplexing ontological issues. I am proposing that it
is profoundly experiential—the exploration and awareness of who we really are
(Rawson 2013).
To make this clearer, I am going to use my own experiences as a sort of
case study to provide the flesh and blood for the comments on spirituality and
education that I want to make. My experiences are not special—indeed, I have
spoken to hundreds of people who have had experiences of a similar kind—but
for me, they are real, and they are the only source on this elusive subject from
which I can argue with any confidence.
The first experience that made me aware of a spiritual dimension in my life
seemed to come out of nowhere, at a time when I was living with my family
in Portugal. I was about nine years old, trudging home from school in the late
afternoon after a tiring day, traversing a park not far from our house, when I
suddenly woke up. I felt an intense energy spreading from the top of my head
through my whole body. My senses came alive, and I became aware of the
light—the extraordinary beauty of the flowers, the grasses, the sun, the blue
sky, and the trees. I felt totally present. I also became aware of my whole life up
to that point, realizing, to my surprise, that in my earliest memories of our first
home in Hungary—when I must have been two or three years old—my state of
consciousness was like the state I was experiencing at that moment.
Being a youthful cinemagoer, I thought of the experience as having been
catapulted from a black-and-white world into a “Technicolor” one. After the
initial moment of wonder when time seemed to stand still, the first thought
that came into my mind was that, if this was indeed my normal state as a small
child, then what had happened in between, or—more to the point—where was
I in the moment before this awakening happened? I realized that at some point
during my growing up, I must have lost whatever it was that enabled me to live
in this beautiful “Technicolor” world, and as a result, I had been living a dreary
“black-and-white” life for a long time. This filled me with an overwhelming
sense of loss and sadness.
My “Technicolor” consciousness did not last long, but its effect on me was
profound. I knew that the brief moment of light I had experienced had to do
with the core of life, and there could be nothing more important for me than
to learn how to return to this different state of being and, if possible, live in it.
A long search followed that lasted through the remainder of my primary and
secondary education. In parallel with the normal business of surviving school
and passing exams, philosophical, religious, and esoteric literature became my
default reading. I soon realized that I was exploring the possibility of different
or “higher” states of consciousness and that these were the aim of various spiri-
tual paths and techniques. In my youthful enthusiasm, I put a lot of energy into
trying those I thought most promising, but they did not seem to work, and this
eventually led me to the reluctant conclusion that such efforts of my (rather
puny) will were not taking me in the right direction. They were all on the level
of the “black-and-white” world in which I was trapped, not of the glorious
experience I had tasted.
In the end, my explorations did pay off, but in an entirely unpredictable way.
When I was 17, in an effort to join a group studying the system of G. I. Gurd-
jieff near London, I came into contact with a spiritual practice called Subud,
of which I had been unaware. It involved no effort—simply surrendering to a
force or power that could be passed on from person to person, with no teaching
or belief system involved. I was attracted to it because nobody seemed to know
how it worked, but the people who had tried it had had real experiences that
sounded positive.
I decided to give it a try, and it did indeed bring me back to the “Tech-
nicolor” state I had tasted when I was nine—with the difference that this time
I became aware of an inner Presence that proceeded to show me the sequence
of events that had led me from the time I was a small child to that moment. It
seemed to communicate with me through words that just appeared in my mind,
and it asked me, “Is this what you wanted?”
I am calling this an inner Presence because it was certainly not external, but
it was also not part of “me.” It felt more like some kind of superintelligence
that was watching over me and knew much more about me than I did—hence
the capital P—and had in fact been guiding me all my life without my being
aware of it.
From that time on, it also sometimes communicated directly through my
mind. These communications, which have become an infrequent but crucial
part of my life, were initially in the form of voiceless sentences that appeared
spontaneously in my mind. Later they became more like ordinary thoughts, but
they are always unexpected and have a particular quality that I have learned to
recognize: there is a sort of neutrality about them, a complete lack of emotional
“charge” or flavor. They have a sense of “Hey, this might be interesting, but it’s
up to you.” I believe I often miss them because they are so unobtrusive.
Is this Presence God, my soul, the Holy Spirit, or the Universal Mind, or is
it an artifact of the collective unconscious or of my limbic brain? I have to say
that I do not know and also that the question is in a profound way meaning-
less, since these terms are all embedded in belief systems that are intellectual
constructs and therefore exist in a different world from the actual experience.
Having said that, I need a word to use in this discussion, so I am going to use
the word soul, because the experience has a quality of being personal and yet also
has the taste of connecting me to something infinitely greater.
“Something infinitely greater” seems to me a better description than “God,”
which for many people, including me, carries a traditional sense of “someone
out there but not here in me” and is therefore vaguely threatening. What it
really feels like is “something that embraces everything from the deepest inside
to the furthest outside.” It is so completely beyond my faculties that the only
attitude I can have toward it is awe and total surrender. What comes from that
attitude is a deep love, where it is impossible to tell whether I am loving or
being loved.
I now want to summarize my conclusions, after more than half a century of
following this practice, as they relate to spirituality. I am convinced that we all
have a soul that is, in some way I cannot explain, outside time. When we are
born, we are living through our soul, which we experience as that “Technicolor”
world. As we grow up, we begin to be influenced by our parents and our sur-
roundings; our minds and desires develop, forming our “egos,” and we lose
touch with the “Technicolor” world.
What I am going to call the ego is the vehicle that carries our sense of “I” in
this world, without which we could not live here. This is firmly embedded in
time, generating our ordinary consciousness, or the “black-and-white” world
that seems like a state of sleep viewed from the world of the soul. In the
world of the ego, we are all separate and subject to a succession of appetites and
fears. Because our experience of time is such that past and future are paramount,
we are nearly always under pressure, driven by memories and regrets about the
past and desires and fears of the future. If we experience the present at all, it is
generally colored by the past and the future, by fear of what is coming or impa-
tience to get something we want.
Another characteristic of this state, particularly in the modern culture that is
enveloping the world, is that we live mostly in our minds. The center of gravity
of our experience is in our brain, and it becomes hard to distinguish between
our mental models of external reality—what we have learned or imagined about
things and people around us—and what actually exists. So we are subject to
constant shocks as reality—including the life of our body, feelings, and senses—
diverges from our mental models, prejudices, and preoccupations. It is also
inevitable that, in this state, we are almost entirely preoccupied with our own
self-interest, since our awareness is limited to our mind and therefore separate
from everything and everyone else.
If our soul breaks through this dream state, as it did for me in the park when
I was nine, this self-interest dissolves as our consciousness expands, and we
become aware of a connection with everyone and everything around us. It is
not that we lose our sense of self; there is just a bigger self, with more interesting
interests that are closer to reality.
Another quality of the “Technicolor” consciousness is a different perception
of time. As we move from the lower level of consciousness to the higher one,
it feels as though a crack opens between the past and the future and we drop
through it into another world: the here and now. This is not a matter of degree
but a discontinuous change.
Finally, we become much more aware of our body and the feelings of our
body, while the mind becomes less obtrusive. It continues to think, but we are
aware of the thoughts as our thoughts, distinct from our true self.
This brings me to another attribute of such spontaneous breakthroughs of
our soul, which is that the intellect is keen to steal them. It does this by playing
them down, saying, “It was just this or just that.” This is important, because I
am inclined to believe that most people have experiences of their soul at some
time or other as they are growing up, but they ignore or forget them, over-
whelmed by our culture’s emphasis on the external and the idea that our inner
life is not real, which is constantly reinforced by family, teachers, and the pres-
sures of everyday life.
When I was young I naïvely thought the goal was to live our lives in a con-
tinuous state of inspiration, but it seems to me that what actually happens, if
we are blessed, is that we learn little by little to live in both worlds, and our soul
gradually becomes more present in our senses and in what we do, like inter-
weaving a golden thread into the fabric of our lives.
I have tried to describe what I mean by the word spirituality. Does spiritual-
ity lead to human flourishing? If I have described it accurately, then spirituality
is human flourishing, because it is the development of our true human self and
living with greater awareness.
A question follows from this: is there a way to live one’s life that can help
bring about this integration between our ego and our soul? Of course, there
are many kinds of spiritual practices—different kinds of meditation or ascetic
practice—but there is also a “spiritual attitude,” a kind of inner and outer atten-
tiveness, without which I don’t think the practices really help much. I see this
as a need and a willingness to be aware of the world in which we live and its
wonderful multiplicity of forms and entities, all of which have characteristics and
needs that must be understood and respected. And there is a similar need
and willingness to be aware of our inner world, which is also populated by
forms and entities that are the source of the myriad reactions and impulses that
make up our lives from moment to moment. These, too, have their characteris-
tics and needs that must be respected and understood.
This kind of awareness of the multiplicity of encounters that make up our
inner and outer worlds leads to a perception of their different qualities. There
is a sense of being wider and narrower—there are those that help us stay con-
nected with our soul and those that tend to pull us away from it, to a state
where we are less conscious. In other words, some of these inner and outer
encounters make our world feel bigger and others make it smaller. This order-
ing of our inner and outer experience is like a measuring scale—the “spiritual
dimension”—that gives every element of our life a sense of direction. Awareness
of these qualities is analogous to conscience, a spontaneous scale of values that,
if we wish it, can guide our lives so that we are less at the mercy of the destruc-
tive forces in the world and in our selves.
Education That Supports Spirituality

That brings us back to the central question: if spiritual awareness and human
flourishing are one and the same, how can the education of our children help
them move toward it?
Let us start from my assumption that all children are born with spiritual
awareness but then gradually lose it as the ego forms and they develop their
hearts and minds for living in the world. Then the educational quest is to avoid
the loss of spiritual awareness as families and schools engage in the legitimate
and necessary activity of developing our children’s intellectual, emotional, and
physical skills.
It should be clear from all I have said that spirituality cannot be manipu-
lated or reduced to a subject in the curriculum. We cannot be in charge of
it—if we are, it is no longer spirituality but something opposite. It cannot be
an add-on to education: if it is taken seriously, it needs to be a fundamental
part of a school’s ethos. The purpose of the school needs to be to help develop
human beings who are in touch with their souls. All the teachers—and as far as
possible, parents—would need to be part of the project and understand it and
participate in it, because it is about cultivating and supporting the spiritual lives
of the children through empathy, receptiveness, and acknowledgement as they
work to provide the children with the courage to be themselves.
At the core of the school’s ethos would be a deep love and respect for the
individual child, encouraging children to be themselves and to pursue their
interests. An important element of this would be the teachers’ positive attitude
toward spontaneity. They would be receptive toward a child speaking about

a strange experience or expressing a mood, a flash of inspiration, or a need to
stop and reflect or be alone. With younger children, a degree of mirroring is
important in validating their inner receptiveness and making them feel safe
with unexpected manifestations of their souls.
Authenticity is key to such an approach, so it will require teachers for whom
spirituality is real, enabling them to form deep human relationships with their
pupils. The point is to create trust and a safe psychological space where learning
and exploration can take place without any fear and free from the traditional
“carrot-and-stick” approach of praise and “put-downs.”
Many of the principles of the kind of educational establishment I am envi-
sioning have been described in the literature on person-centered (Rogers 1979)
and human-centered (Gill and Thomson 2012) education—particularly the
idea of a human-centered learning community (ibid. 264–75), in which chil-
dren, parents, and teachers relate to each other as persons, not role occupants
(Fielding 2000), sharing a culture of care and encouragement. While not spe-
cifically aimed at supporting spirituality, the common thread running through
all these ideas is to put the child or the teenager at the center of the educa-
tional process, supporting their journey of development and self-discovery. This
seems to me like a minimum requirement for giving children the courage to be
themselves.
An important part of self-discovery is to remove, as far as possible, the
pressure of the ego from the learning process. The ego is dependent on out-
side approval, which leads to conformity and competitiveness, both of which
involve measuring ourselves against others. These impulses of the ego are often
encouraged in traditional educational approaches because they make it easier to
herd children through predetermined educational channels. The more children
are freed from this, the easier it becomes for them to discover their real interests
and abilities, which are usually indications of innate talents.
The fact that such talents are often most discernible at a young age indicates,
I believe, that they are part of a person’s spiritual makeup. Therefore supporting
the identification and development of innate talents needs to be an essential
part of the educational process, since work that is congenial to a person’s soul
is the key to a happy and fulfilling life. Teachers need to encourage children
to pursue things they are deeply interested in and—especially when the time
approaches to investigate career choices—put them in touch with people who
can help them see exactly how the kinds of work they are interested in play out
in practice. This is particularly important in today’s world, where the nature of
work is changing rapidly and the education system is often preparing people for
yesterday’s jobs. Many young people come to the end of their education deeply
confused and unable to find satisfying work or even work at all.
Giving children the courage to face the world is important in a spiritually

motivated school. This means fostering an entrepreneurial attitude—teaching
children to think for themselves, take risks, and realize that failure is an impor-
tant element of learning. This means encouraging them to venture into the
unknown, to try things that might not work. This is where the “spiritual atti-
tude” outlined earlier needs to inform pedagogical practice: rather than pre-
senting “knowledge” in neat, prepackaged units leading to “right answers” to
predefined questions, it would mean giving children the skills to interrogate the
realities of life, including the realities of their own psyches. The result might be
a curriculum coconstructed by teachers and pupils that would ideally com-
bine knowledge required by the state with knowledge that is currently ignored
but that every adolescent human being needs.
This is what I would call teaching from the child’s point of view. I believe
that even the traditional subjects can be taught more effectively—and therefore
in less time—if children are told from the beginning what a “subject” is really
about. Apart from that, children should also be encouraged to tackle open-
ended problems that may baffle them and may turn out not have intellectual
solutions, keeping open their conduit to an inner awareness beyond the mind.
I have mentioned the need for more efficient methods of teaching intellec-
tual subjects because it is necessary to some extent to redress the very lopsided
balance between the intellect on the one hand and the body and feeling on the
other, making room for more art, music, dance, athletics, and so on.
There must also be regular opportunities in the timetable for quiet and even
for solitude, not letting constant activity drown out the children’s inner feeling.
To give children the courage to be with themselves, teachers need to send the
message that they are loved when they are being, not only when they are doing
and getting As.
I believe a school that is a real learning community would always be evolv-
ing and discovering itself anew. So I am thinking of what I have written here as
initial ideas to get the process started.
Religion and Religious Education

I have saved the discussion of religion for last because, in thinking about educa-
tion, I wanted to focus on a purely experiential understanding of spirituality.
But let us now look at the relationship between religion and spirituality and see
in what way religious education might contribute to keeping spiritual awareness
alive as children grow up.
Spirituality is not the product of religions but their origin, because all the
religions that have persisted seem to have started with inspired individuals,
often when their societies were in turmoil. Zarathustra, Gautama Buddha, the
prophets of Israel, Jesus Christ, Prophet Muhammad, and Guru Nanak all went
through transformative spiritual experiences that gave them the impulse and
the power to rebel against inhuman aspects of the society into which they had
been born. In each case, their core teachings aimed at a way of life that was
intended, in one way or another, to free people from the domination of the ego
and to create a more humane society.
At the start, their teachings did not have the form of a religion in the modern
sense of the word. All the traditions, beliefs, and rules that we think of when
we say the word religion developed later, as the founder’s message was received
by his or her followers, merged with their local culture and traditions, and later
codified, with organizations emerging to defend the teachings and followers
against their enemies. The transformation into belief systems probably took
place when it became important to establish clear rules about who belonged and
who did not belong to the religious community.
Of course, such processes have not operated in the same way in all religions,
but it is clear that at certain times a teaching that starts as a universal path
to spiritual transformation and love can change into its opposite: an oppres-
sive religious authority that is egocentric; promotes conformism, superiority,
exclusiveness; and even pursues its aims through violence. So it can happen
that something that originates as an impulse to make people free ends up
oppressing them.
Although such bad examples have often brought religion into disrepute, we
need to remember that religions are also the repositories of the spiritual history
of the human race, since, in parallel with the worldly developments, the origi-
nal spiritual impulse keeps reappearing. In Judaism, Christianity, and Islam,
and also the various Eastern religions—Hinduism, Buddhism, Daoism, and so
on—this history exists largely in the form of biographies and autobiographies of
innumerable saints and mystics who have left a rich testimony to the workings
of the human soul.
Out of their legacy have grown traditions of spirituality, such as Christian
mysticism and Sufism, occasionally in opposition to the mainstream religion.
In both Western and Eastern religions, they have also resulted in traditional
spiritual and mystical techniques (referred to in an earlier section) aimed at
attaining higher spiritual states or a deeper union with God.
In considering how the great storehouse of religious experiences might help
or hinder our educational project, we need to ask two questions: “Would it
help if some of these traditional mystical techniques were taught to children?”
and “How should we teach children about religion in general?”
To answer the first question, I think it is important to understand that the
field of mystical techniques is vast and complex.2 It ranges from many kinds of
meditation and deep prayer aimed at emptying the mind and “making space”
for something higher, all the way to ascetic practices, some of which serve to
strengthen the will and obtain unusual psychic powers and so on. However,
they all share two important attributes: they are learned from somebody else
and doing them is an act of the ego, even if it is the ego trying to become
perfect or to reach God. They therefore undermine for me the most important
aspect of spiritual experience: that it is unexpected and not sought, hence free of
the ego.
In the same way, teaching children about spirituality and getting them to
think about it are not ways to keep them aware of the promptings of their souls.
Their minds should remain engaged in acquiring knowledge and skills for the
world they will live in. That is why some traditions bar children from embark-
ing on such spiritual paths until their adult selves have formed.
Regarding the second question, when it comes to teaching about religion, of
course one can go by the conventional anthropological route of trying to convey
understanding about the dogmas, beliefs, and rituals of organized religions in the
hope of eliciting a modicum of tolerance. But it would be much better to try to
convey the human values that are shared by their core teachings, as, for example,
in the 24 dispositions of the UK religious education syllabus in Birmingham.3 A
more intimate way of conveying such human values to children could be through
stories—perhaps stories of the lives of prophets and saints from all the religions.
These stories are amazing but also gritty enough to be real.
Conclusion
To close, I would like to come back to what I called the “spiritual attitude.” It is
sometimes called mindfulness and encompasses abilities like standing aside from
thoughts, impartial watchfulness, awareness without ego (patience and accep-
tance), awareness of change (willingness to let go), and so on. I believe these
abilities can be practiced, even with young children, for they make it harder for
the ego and the intellect to crowd out the voice of the soul.
Inasmuch as this “spiritual attitude” is courage in facing and seeking to
understand the world outside, it leads us toward the development of science
and a respect and love for all the beings who make up the earth and the cosmos.
Inasmuch as it is courage in facing and seeking to understand what is within, it
leads us to wisdom and the ability to integrate our own selves. So, in a very real
sense, spirituality, once experienced, is the driving force of education.
Notes
1. See, for example, Pacala and Solkolow (2004, 968–72).
2. See, for example, Weightman (2000).
3. See, for example, Faith Makes a Difference (n.d.).
References
Faith Makes a Difference. n.d. “The 24 Dispositions.” http://faithmakesadifference.co.uk/
dispositions.
Fielding, Michael. 2000. “The Person Centred School.” Forum 42 (2): 51–54.
Gill, Scherto, and Garrett Thomson. 2012. Rethinking Secondary Education: A Human-
Centred Approach. London: Pearson Education.
Hinells, John R., ed. 1996. Handbook of Living Religions. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell.
Pacala, S., and R. Solkolow. 2004, August 13. “Stabilization Wedges: Solving the Cli-
mate Problem for the Next 50 Years with Current Technologies.” Science 305 (5686):
968–72.
Rawson, Jonathan. 2013. “The Brains behind Spirituality.” RSA Journal, Summer.
Rogers, Carl. 1979. “The Foundations of the Person-Centered Approach.” Education
100 (2): 98–107.
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). 2011. SIPRI Yearbook 2011.
Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Weightman, S. C. R. 2000. “Mysticism and the Metaphor of Energies.” 24th Louis
Jordan Lectures in Comparative Religion. London: SOAS University of London.
CHAPTER 5
A Framework for a Religious Life

Garrett Thomson
The College of Wooster
T
he main question posed by this book is “How can the education of
religion help young people cultivate a spiritual life that is meaningful
in terms of their own flourishing?” This is a bit of a mouthful. We need
to address the query as a whole, as well as the different parts of it. The main
assumptions inherent in the question are as follows:
1. Spirituality is an indispensable aspect of human flourishing.

2. Religious traditions, at their core, advocate a religious life, which cen-
trally includes the spiritual.
3. Religious education can help young people cultivate such a religious life.
Bring these three propositions together, and we have the following conclusion:
4. Religious education can help young people cultivate an important part

of their own flourishing.
There is another proposition buried in the question, which is that a reli-

gious education might contribute, in some special way, to the flourishing of the
individual in ways that a similar but purely secular course of study might not.
There are some important religious/spiritual aspects to flourishing that a purely
secular education wouldn’t bring out or nourish. That’s the assumption implied
by the question. Whether it is right or not is one of the issues to explore.
72 O Garrett Thomson
A Religious Life
The question faces a dilemma, and this is our starting point. The dilemma
offers two alternatives, neither of which is satisfactory from the point of view
of the question. On the one hand, religious education consists in imparting
knowledge about different religious traditions. This would be the study of reli-
gion from an external point of view—as a sociological and historical phenom-
enon. On the other hand, we can teach religion from within a specific tradition.
This constitutes the inside point of view—from within a particular tradition.
The starting question requires an alternative beyond this dilemma. Neither
horn of the dilemma is satisfactory given the request to revise our conception
of religious education. The first horn implies regarding religious education as
a social science, like the study of any social phenomena or history. From this,
young people are not going to see the potential relevance of a religious life for
their own futures or flourishing, except perhaps incidentally or accidentally.
The second horn is also unsatisfactory from the point of view of the original
question. It would not do justice to the cultural mixture of our schools, nor to
the challenges of increasingly secular societies. State schools need to embrace a
more pluralistic view. Furthermore, part of the sense of the original question is
this: how can we help young people make more sense of a religious life given the
strongly secular culture of our society? The second horn of the dilemma does
not take that idea seriously.
To overcome the dilemma, we need something that is richer than a purely
external view of religion but thinner than a view from within or inside a spe-
cific tradition. If we are to articulate the aims of religious education in a way
that goes beyond merely imparting knowledge about religion as an academic
subject, then we need a conception of a religious life that somehow sits on the
borderline between the external and the internal of any specific tradition.
Here are some quick comments to help explain this idea. First, the adjective
religious can be used to pick out a complex family of characteristics and, in this
sense, is preferable to employing religion as a reifying noun that refers to a sup-
posed entity (Smith 2012). Like science, religion does not exist as an objectified
thing. Second, the adjective religious should be understood as qualifying more
centrally a person’s life rather than, say, buildings, rituals, beliefs, or practices.
Compare this to what Aristotle says about healthy. He examines the different ways
in which something can be called healthy. Sports, athletes, and diets are all said to
be healthy, but they are so in different ways, notes Aristotle. In the Metaphysics, he
writes, “Everything healthy is so-called with reference to health—some things by
preserving it, some by producing it, some by being signs of health, some because
they are receptive of it” (Barnes 1984, Ȟ2,1003a34). These different ways of being
healthy are connected. Diets, sports, and complexions are healthy in a secondary
or derivative way. The primary way of being healthy is to have a body in excellent
A Framework for a Religious Life O 73
functioning shape. Likewise, we can assert that religious is a term that applies
principally to lives. The notion of a religious life is primary compared to religious
institutions, beliefs, buildings, artifacts, and practices.
To return to the dilemma, we need a border position, neither external nor
internal. How is this possible? It is conceivable because we can abstract sig-
nificant and relevant similarities among religions. We can construct a minimal
conception of the religious life that is understandable to people of different
religions and of no religion. So while the full conception of a religious life (its
content) would need to be expressed from within a particular tradition, we
require something more minimal and structural: a framework for understand-
ing a religious life. Such a framework must meet several conditions.
First, it has to be one that most of the major religions can share or at least
not reject. We need a framework for the religious life that would not reasonably
offend the major religious traditions or, more positively, one that they could
recognize as part of a common framework that respects their traditions.
Second, this framework might appeal or be understandable to persons of no
religion who would not be unsympathetic to the idea of human spirituality if
such a concept could be explained well.
Third, this conception of the religious life should make some appropriate
sense of religious practices in a meaningful way. By “meaningful way,” we mean
that it should not make such activities purely instrumental. For example, we
learn that meditation is good for our health or that quiet prayer reduces stress
levels; these indicate purely instrumental values. A meaningful account of spiri-
tuality would make it part of a meaningful human life and not just a disposable
tool for peace, health, and wealth.
Fourth, it needs to have the kind of educational significance outlined at the
beginning of the chapter. In other words, we are trying to construct a frame-
work that one could employ to show how religious education can help young
people cultivate the spiritual as an important part of their own flourishing.
In short, taking these points into consideration, we are looking for a frame-
work that makes sense of the religious life in various ways and that can hold
together a broad consensus. We can characterize the required framework for a
religious life with the following points:
1. The existence of something divine, sacred, or transcendental

2. The idea of being connected appropriately to the divine, sacred, or
transcendental
3. The development of the individual as a person constituted through this
contact or connection (i.e., the connection must have fruits)
4. The acquisition of some ethical values by the individual as a part of point
3 (i.e., the fruits will include the ethical)
Please note that this framework does not constitute a definition. It is a

schema for providing more substantive and tradition-specific accounts of the
spiritual life. Nevertheless, I claim that the four components are jointly suf-
ficient to serve as a framework for conceptualizing the religious life. In other
words, a person who put 1–4 into practice could be said to be living or embody-
ing a religious life.
This view that I have outlined does not presuppose that all religions have
a set of defining characteristics or aims in common. It does not assume an
essentialist view of religion: that there is some common essence that all reli-
gions share. Also, it does not mean that we have to think that there is some
“thing” or “entity” referred to as “religion” (Smith 1991). Rather, it means that
it is possible to make generalizations about living religiously from the various
religious traditions. Such generalizations should be relevant for our educational
project—namely, to show how religious education might help young people
cultivate the spiritual aspects of their flourishing.
Therefore, perhaps surprisingly, this conception is compatible with the fol-
lowing claims. A priest might declare that his or her religion has very little to
do with human flourishing but is rather about obeying the commands of God
(or about glorifying God). A monk might affirm that religion does not serve
human ends at all; instead, it is an expression of divine will and is beyond
the fleeting purposes of mortals. Here our project of articulating a view from the
border does not contradict such views. If I am picking flowers from the garden
for a purpose, I don’t have to claim that the flowers are defined by my purpose,
only that they fit it.
Thus the aforementioned four criteria need not be part of a definition of
religion. They constitute a schema for understanding the religious life, but
without being necessary for defining religion. Indeed, the criteria ignore many
features of the major religions. Furthermore, they are too wide to define reli-
gion: they include belief systems, such as Kant’s philosophy, that we would not
call “a religion.”
Nevertheless, religious education needs to transcend the false dichotomy
of either teaching external facts about the major religions or being limited to
teaching from within a particular religious tradition. To transcend this dichot-
omy, it is necessary that we make sense of the idea of a religious life along the
lines that I have suggested.
The Elements of the Framework

Let us examine more closely the elements of this framework for a religious life,
bearing in mind that we are trying to define a general structure for understand-
ing the idea of a religious life (rather than its content) and that, ultimately,
we need this framework to show later on how religious education might help
young people cultivate a religious life in a way that contributes to their well-
being or flourishing.
Element 1: The Divine, Sacred, or Transcendent

A religious life has to involve a connection to something divine, sacred, or
transcendental. Otherwise, it is secular. Belief in the existence of God as tradi-
tionally defined (as an all-perfect creator) in the theistic religions satisfies this
condition. But so too would beliefs that are much less specific and that are
almost nontheistic. For example, one does not need to assume that the divine
is a nonmaterial spirit or a morally perfect person or even a being or an entity.
For example, Harvard philosopher Robert Nozick (1981) tries to explain the
concept of the unlimited or Absolute as that which has no limits at all, or
the all-encompassing and all-inclusive (600–603). But to be is to be limited.
Thus Nozick notes that, given this view of existence, the Absolute “would tran-
scend the pair ‘existent’/‘non-existent,’ not satisfying its presuppositions” (601).
Nozick means that the Absolute transcends the term existence. Alternatively,
the divine might be more like a characteristic or aspect of reality; Spinoza has
such an idea. One might think that there is something about the nature of
being or existence or the universe that is divine or holy or sacred or worthy
of worship or dedication. This too would satisfy the first criterion. There are
many views that would fit this first criterion. For our purposes, we don’t need to
evaluate them.
Element 2: Being Appropriately Connected

to the Divine, Sacred, or Transcendent
What counts as an appropriate connection to the divine, sacred, or transcendent
in this context? Everything is connected to everything else in some way or other.
We need to explain what counts as relevant and irrelevant connections to the
divine, sacred, or transcendent.
John Hick (1993) asserts, “Our very different religious traditions constitute
alternative human contexts of response to the one ultimate transcendent divine
Reality” (141). Perhaps this unifying view is true. However, we do not need to
assume that all religions have a common essence through a connection to the
divine. Such a claim would be too strong an interpretation of “appropriate.”
In contrast, the idea of an appropriate connection could be interpreted in
too weak a manner. As an example, suppose one wants to say that the existence
of God is important because it helps people feel less insecure (substitute any
appropriate feeling terms here, such as “more peaceful” or “more generous”). It is
easy to state the point misleadingly; for instance, one might claim that belief
in God helps one feel more secure (or peaceful). The problem with this idea
is that it fails to specify a connection to God (or rather the divine, sacred, or
transcendent aspects of reality). Instead, it only connects to one’s belief in God.
According to this misleading idea, it is not God’s actual existence that has an
important psychological function but rather the individual’s belief in God. In
this way, the misleading idea misses the main point—namely, how it matters for
one’s life that one is really connected to the divine.
What kinds of connections with the divine might be more appropriate? The
broad idea is that different religious and spiritual practices involve one being
connected to the divine, the sacred, or the transcendent in appropriate ways,
such as through ways of life and through particular acts of prayer, meditation,
rituals, sacrifice, artistic creation, enquiry, charity, purification, and worship.
The connection can be in one’s feelings or in the mood of one’s life: a person
may carry stillness or peace or joy or generosity or openness through his or
her connection. For example, if God exists, then one might be justified in an
attitude of feeling safe or in feeling at home in the universe. This doesn’t pro-
vide a reason for thinking that God really does exist, but it is an example of an
appropriate connection to the divine (Thomson 2001). Then there is also the
idea of a more direct experiential or mystical contact with the divine, sacred, or
transcendent.
The idea of the connection to the divine is that these experiences, practices,
and feelings somehow track aspects of the divine, sacred, or transcendent in a
way that is analogous to the way reliable beliefs track truths.1 The disanalogy is
that reliable beliefs track truth only cognitively, whereas we are referring to ways
of life, practices, feelings, and moods tracking aspects of the divine, which are
not merely cognitive. They involve the whole person and his or her way of life.
Elements 3 and 4: The Fruits of Connection and the Ethical

The outlined framework requires that a person is appropriately connected to
the divine or transcendent reality. The idea now is that this connection must
constitute and be a part of an individual’s development as a person in such a
way as to include the ethical. The connection must bear the relevant kind of
fruit to count as part of the religious life.
The general idea is that closeness to the divine or connection to the transcen-
dent has noninstrumental value for a person’s life and is directly linked to his or
her capacity to live ethically. A simple example: being close to God makes one a
better person. Each religious tradition will explain this general idea in different
ways. In order to count toward the religious life, such explanations should be
noninstrumental. They should show how such connections to the divine con-
stitute the development of the individual toward the ethical. How they do this
will depend crucially on how they characterize the divine or transcendent and
how they spell out what is important in our relationship to this other reality.
At the end of this section, we haven’t defined the religious life. Instead,
hopefully, we have achieved the more modest aim of outlining a framework
for understanding the religious life that satisfies the criteria put forward earlier
(i.e., being acceptable to the major religions, being understandable to persons
of no religion, making sense of religious practices, and having significance for
showing how religious education can help young people cultivate the spiritual).
Each tradition will fill out this framework differently. It is not our job to advo-
cate or defend particular ways of filling out the framework. It is rather our aim
to show how this framework can help answer the main question that motivates
this volume.
The Spiritual
In the United Kingdom, the Education Act of 1944 included “spiritual devel-
opment” as a statutory requirement in the education of children: “The Act
explicitly required that public education ‘contribute towards the spiritual,
moral, mental and physical development of the community’ (HMSO, 1944,
Pt. 2, section 7)” (Rawle 2009). This requirement remains today (e.g., Educa-
tion Act 2002 [UK Government 2002], sections 78 and 99).
How should we define spiritual? We are back to the same kind of dilemma
that we started with. A purely secular definition looks too broad: “The spiritual
area is concerned with the awareness a person has of those elements in existence
and experience which may be defined in terms of inner feelings and beliefs”
(Department for Education and Science 1977). In contrast, a definition from
within a religious tradition seems too narrow: “The spiritual area is concerned
with everything in human knowledge or experience that is connected with or
derives from a sense of God or of gods” (Department for Education and Sci-
ence 1977).
The first kind of definition is too wide. It makes spiritual roughly equivalent
to anything important for the moral and value characteristics of a person’s life.
This would mean that any view about the meaning of life and almost any view
about the nature of morality would constitute a spiritual view. In opposition to
this broad claim, a person does not have to be spiritual to be moral (although
a spiritual person does need to be ethical). Secular morality is possible. In con-
trast, the second definition is too narrow; it rules out any conception of spiri-
tuality that is not theistic.
Furthermore, one should not define spirituality in terms of the actions of a
nonmaterial soul. Such a definition looks too tradition-specific; there are reli-
gious traditions that don’t believe that there is a personal soul. Additionally,
such a definition does not get to the right point. If the essence of a soul is con-
sciousness, then all conscious thoughts and feelings would count as spiritual,
even the most mundane or banal ones. Being nonmaterial does not guarantee
spirituality.
As an alternative, one might argue that spirituality signifies a special kind of
connection to God or the divine, sacred, or transcendent. Not all connections
need to be spiritual. For example, some ritualistic connections need not be. As I
said earlier, the spiritual is best conceived as an integral aspect or core part of the
religious life. This means that it should be understood as a type of connection
to the transcendent or divine. It is to make the transcendent or divine a part of
one’s life in an especially intimate way. For example, if that connection becomes
part of one’s self-identity, then this would count as a spiritual connection. If the
nature of one’s consciousness were altered by contact with the divine, then this
would count as a spiritual connection. Or if the way that one loves and cares for
other people were transformed by such a connection, then it would count as a
spiritual connection. Or if it transforms the how one works, then this may also
count as a spiritual connection.
Let us take stock by briefly reviewing the overall argument of this chapter.
The central idea that we are examining consists of three propositions:
1. Spirituality is an indispensable aspect of human flourishing.

2. Religious traditions advocate a religious life, which centrally includes the
spiritual.
3. Religious education can help young people cultivate such a religious life.
I take it that I have explained why the second of these propositions is reason-
able. We have tried to characterize a framework for understanding the religious
life, and we have showed why this will include the spiritual. Given this, we must
now provide an account of flourishing that shows why the first proposition is
plausible.
Flourishing2
Flourishing requires the appropriate appreciation of lived values.3 How should
we conceive the value of living for the person who is living that life? We cannot
answer that question adequately simply by showing how useful a person’s life
is. Although it is an important dimension of life, what we contribute to our
family, friends, and society is instrumentally valuable. We need to understand
better first how to conceive of the noninstrumentally valuable aspects of our
lives—life for living’s sake.
The concept of flourishing belongs to this group of values. Often writers
employ the term happiness in this context. This, however, wrongly suggests that
what is valuable in life is purely hedonic, such as subjective pleasures or feelings
of gladness. Though feeling happy is an important part of human life, it is not

the only relevant value, because it can matter what causes happiness. Another
word that is used for this kind of evaluation of our lives is well-being. The term
flourishing has an advantage over well-being. It is more dynamic. It carries the
idea that when a person’s life is going well, the various parts work together in
a mutually supportive way or symbiotically, such as a plant that is flowering.
What does it mean for a human person to flourish or to live a flourishing
life? I will outline briefly four ingredients of the concept. Please note that this
is supposed to be an analysis of what constitutes flourishing and not a set of
empirical claims about what causes such a life.
Valuable Kinds of Activities

The first is our baseline, which indicates the kinds of processes, activities, and
experiences that are noninstrumentally valuable for a human person. These
constitute parts of a person’s life. An account of flourishing must include a
specification of the kinds of activities and processes that are noninstrumentally
valuable in a human life.
Valuable kinds of activities and processes are defined by the structure of
that person’s desires or wants. This idea is not as complicated as it may sound.
Often people want very specific things. However, beyond the specifics of what
is desired, we can give a general description of what is desirable about what we
want and thereby describe the structure of our wants accordingly (Thomson
1987; 2005).
Of course, there will be many similarities among the kinds of activities that
different individuals find valuable, but for a person’s life to flourish, the activi-
ties, experiences, and processes have to be tailor-made to fit the nature of the
individual as well as to be appropriate for the social context in which he or
she lives. For instance, there might be some important individual variation in
what counts as a good friendship. Some people are more expressive; some are
more intimate; others require extraordinary frankness of their friends. So the
experience of friendship has to be well suited to the nature of the individual.
Furthermore, intimacy, expressiveness, and frankness have different social
expressions in different cultures. In this sense, the activities and experiences
have to be appropriate to the social context in a way that the person can appreci-
ate. Despite these social and individual differences, as a matter of fact, the most
general descriptions of the web of desires of different people will be similar.
Most of the kinds of activities that are valuable for humans involve other
people. Even many apparently solitary pursuits, such as painting, computer
programming, or composing, are creative activities whose products serve
or are used by others. This suggests an important point—namely, that the
noninstrumental value of such activities consists in part in how we connect to

other people. This brings us to the need for appropriate appreciation.
Appreciation
In order for a person’s life to be valuable in the living of it, he or she has to
have experiences and perform activities with the appropriate kind of apprecia-
tion of their value in each case. For example, one enjoys lying on the beach by
finding it relaxing; one appreciates a serious debate by becoming engaged with
the issue. Appreciation requires perceiving the value of an activity under the
relevant descriptions. It is not enough to perform a valuable activity. One has to
engage with it or appreciate it.
Proper appreciation can be difficult to attain: one can be distracted by
desires, clouded by anxieties, and dulled by sadness. Negative emotions are neg-
ative not only because they make one feel bad but also because they prevent the
person from appreciating the valuable aspects and components of his or her life,
including other people. For example, worry can destroy the joy of being with
a friend, and resentment can embitter even the most pleasant work. Positive
emotions such as joy are so not only because of how they make one feel but also
because they enable an appreciation of the valuable aspects of activities. Aware-
ness has to be clear, clean, and focused for one to appreciate fully the value of
what one is doing.
For many activities, the relevant appreciation may involve connecting
to the valuable aspects of the other people involved. For example, one can bring
the value of another person’s happiness or enjoyment into one’s own activity by
properly appreciating that enjoyment. In this way, one can enhance the nonin-
strumental value of the activity for oneself. The important idea here is that one
is connecting directly to things of value beyond oneself.
Self-Perception
A flourishing life requires the appropriate kinds of evaluative self-perception.
This pertains to time. With regard to the present, the life of a person has a pri-
mary value. For a person’s life to flourish, he or she has to perceive or appreciate
that value in an appropriate way. I have to perceive and feel that I am valuable.
This is a fundamental form of self-respect that does not depend on what one
does or has done. In a similar vein regarding the past, for a person’s life to flour-
ish, she needs an appropriate sense of her identity, broadly conceived. In other
words, the person needs to have a sense of her past activities and experience
constituting her life up to now as something valuable and worthwhile. Like-
wise, with regard to the future, in order to flourish, one needs to have the sense
of one’s future life as something with worthwhile possibilities.
Other-Perception
Typically, perhaps the most important aspect of a person’s life is his or her rela-
tionship with other people. There is a paradox here. On the one side, we are
referring to the values in the living of one’s own life. These are values that con-
cern the self. On the other, the valuable aspect of friendship and love is the
other person: the friend or loved one. This kind of value must point outward; it
is essentially not a self-regarding value. The paradox can be resolved as follows.
In loving someone, one becomes connected to the valuable aspects of the other
person. Part of the beauty and wonder of our relationships with other people is
that we can realize and feel the value of others and thereby participate in it and
enrich and expand our own lives. Connecting to others makes our own lives
wider or bigger.
We can connect to other people in three fundamental ways; caring for and
loving others are usually a combination of these three elements. First, we appre-
ciate them through our own perceptions, feelings, and emotions. Second, we
connect to others through our own goals and desires, by making their interests
or concerns our own. The third way we connect involves what one might call
a “we” consciousness. To understand a relationship of love and friendship, one
must substitute the means/ends relation with the part/whole relation. In other
words, you can become part of my life and its meaning rather than just being
a means to my having a fulfilled life. For someone else’s life to be part of one’s
own requires this “we” awareness—an awareness not of “you and I” but of “us”
as a collective (Thomson 2001).
How does this account of flourishing help us understand better what it
means to claim that the spiritual is an indispensable aspect of a flourishing
life? Please note that in the previous section, we didn’t provide a definition of
the spiritual but only a schematic account of it as part of a wider framework.
It is not appropriate to commit ourselves to a specific account of the spiritual
because we are trying to define a framework for consensus building. Also, it is
important to remember that we are trying to explain what it means to say that
the spiritual is part of the flourishing life and not simply that it contributes
causally to such a life.
We can explain how the spiritual might be an indispensable aspect of a flour-
ishing life by following the four features of the concept of flourishing. First,
it would be such an aspect if spiritual activities or processes were among the
activities and processes that are noninstrumentally valuable in a human life.
Such a view might assert, for example, that worship or meditation is such an
activity.4 Aristotle and Aquinas advocate this kind of view when they claim that
contemplation of the divine is a part of human flourishing. If a view claims
that connection to the divine is an integral part of the good life, quite apart
from the benefits that such a connection brings, then it would qualify under
this first category. That is, it would qualify as affirming that the spiritual is an
indispensable aspect of flourishing.
Second, the spiritual would be part of human flourishing if it pertains
directly to our capacity to appreciate the valuable aspects of the experiences,
activities, and processes that compose our lives. An instance of such a view
might affirm that the term spiritual qualifies the nature of our consciousness: a
spiritual state of consciousness is one that is connected to or aware of the divine
or to the transcendent. Given this, such a view would affirm that, by their very
nature, spiritual states of consciousness allow us to appreciate fully the valuable
aspects of our lives. For instance, some traditions claim that spiritual awareness
is much wider and much more alive than normal waking consciousness.
Third, the spiritual would be an aspect of human flourishing if it were part
of what defines appropriate evaluative self-awareness. So, for example, views
that hold that spirituality necessarily involves being in touch with the dignity of
the self would qualify under this heading.
The fourth component of flourishing is being appropriately open in one’s
relationships with others. This stresses the relational nature of the self as essen-
tial to a flourishing life. Some conceptions of the spiritual do the same. For
example, the claim that a spiritual state of being is one in which a person is able
to radiate love to others fits into this category.
The purpose of the discussion is to illustrate how different conceptions of
the spiritual might plausibly imply that the spiritual is an indispensable part of a
flourishing life. It is crucial to this purpose that it is insufficient to show that the
spiritual is merely beneficial. It is not enough to show that prayer, meditation,
love of God, and other spiritual activities are good for one’s health and state of
mind. This only demonstrates that they contribute to happiness and not that
they constitute it.
Religious Education
The general proposal is that religious education can be redirected toward
helping young people cultivate the spiritual as an important aspect of their
flourishing or well-being. As I remind my children daily, adolescence is a strange
period of life! As well as being a time of heightened self-awareness, it is also
a period in which young people begin to open up more fully to the world and
transcend a more childish egocentric perspective (Gill and Thomson 2012).
We have already seen that appreciation of others is an important ingredient of
human flourishing. This implies that self-centered egoism constitutes a failure
to appreciate and connect to things of values beyond oneself, primarily other
people. Egoism is a way to deprive oneself of meaning (Thomson 2001). It is a

systematic failure to track certain kinds of value.
This last point is key to understanding human development, especially in
adolescence, when personal development includes centrally the opening up and
connecting of the self to values beyond oneself. This is part and parcel of find-
ing a direction in life. The educative process at this period requires the cultiva-
tion of a huge and varied set of sensitivities and sensibilities, many of which are
partly constitutive of an ethical life.
How does religious education fit in here? We proposed that a religious edu-
cation could be structured around a framework of a religious life similar to
the one outlined in this chapter. We tried to elaborate this idea by examining
how such a life would pertain to one’s flourishing through the concept of the
spiritual.
I suggest that one would need to construct a curriculum around experiential
activities, discussions, and studies in reverse order to the framework. In other
words, it is better to start from the outside and work inward: from the ethical,
to one’s development as a person, then to living connections to the divine, and
finally to the divine itself. It is better to start from what makes sense to one as a
human being, apart from one’s religion, and work step by step toward religious
significance from the more secular to the more religious. In this fashion, jump-
ing to the very last step, one might think of the divine as the appropriate object
of worship, the sacred as the appropriate object of reverence, and the transcen-
dent as the object of mindful emptiness. We understand the relevant activities
and their potential meanings in human life, and from this, their object. For
example, as a pedagogical approach, we can try to understand the role that wor-
ship can play in human life, and from that, we can better understand the idea
of the divine (rather than the other way around).
In conclusion, the proposed framework allows for secular and transreligious
explorations of the meanings of religious traditions that would help young peo-
ple relate those traditions to their own development as persons and as ethical
beings. It permits young people to explore the meanings of different religious
traditions without having to be committed exclusively to any one of them. This
educational process can include experiences, activities, discourse, and more aca-
demic components. The aim is to make the religious life more real.
Notes
1. The idea that a reliable belief tracks truth can be explained as follows. If the rel-
evant proposition weren’t true then the person wouldn’t believe it and if it is true
then the person would believe it (Nozick 1981).
2. This section is a modified version of Gill and Thomson (2012, chapter 6) and
Thomson (2001).
3. More precisely, it is the appropriate appreciation of the noninstrumentally valu-

able nature of experiences, activities, and processes that constitute one’s life.
4. It would need to do so on the basis of some interpretation of the structure of
human desire (see Thomson 1987).
References
Barnes, Jonathan. 1984. The Complete Works of Aristotle Volume 1. Princeton, NJ: Prince-
ton University Press.
Department for Education and Science: Her Majesty’s Inspectorate. 1977. Supplement to
Curriculum 11–16. London: HMSO.
Hick, John. 1993. Disputed Questions. London: Macmillan.
Nozick, Robert. 1981. Philosophical Explanations. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University
Press.
Rawle, Martin. 2009. “Perceptions of Spirituality and Spiritual Development Held by
Teachers and Students on Teacher Education Courses.” PhD diss., University of
Wales, Cardiff.
Smith, Huston. 2012. The World’s Religions: Our Great Wisdom Traditions. New York:
HarperCollins.
Smith, Wilfred. 1991. The Meaning and End of Religion. Minneapolis: Fortress Press.
Thomson, Garrett. 1987. Needs. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
———. 2001. On the Meaning of Life. Belmont: Wadsworth.
———. 2005. “Fundamental Needs.” In The Philosophy of Need, edited by Soran Reeder,
175–86. Cambridge: Royal Institute of Philosophy, Cambridge University Press.
UK Government. 2002. Education Act 2002. London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office.
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2002/32/contents.
PART II
Spiritual Education in Different Traditions
Introduction
T
he second part of the book is written from the perspectives of religious
or spiritual traditions and practices and attempts to show how each tra-
dition contributes to the cultivation of spirituality and the enabling of
individuals to live a flourishing life. This part was conceived with the idea that
each tradition has valuable insights to share about this topic.
We had to make some difficult choices about which religions or traditions
to include in this volume, since all traditions are important and distinctive. We
decided to choose those that are unlike the three Abrahamic faiths (Christianity,
Islam, and Judaism) and to concentrate on those less well represented in discus-
sions. Thus we opted for the Brahma Kumaris, North American Indigenous,
Seon (Zen), and Sikh perspectives. We also added an interreligious perspective.
Due to the limited scope of the volume, we couldn’t include more and can only
apologize for what we left out.
The intention was for each representative of these religions/faiths to explain
what aspects of his or her own tradition might illuminate the central problem of
this volume: how can religious education help young people to develop spiritu-
ally in a way that contributes to their flourishing in societies that are multireli-
gious and increasingly secular?
The contributors are quite aware that key words such as spirituality and
flourishing have contested meanings that vary among traditions. For this reason,
each writer has been careful to make his or her own understanding of these
terms explicit. It is refreshing to see how direct the authors are in expressing
the content of their own traditions and their views of the spiritual life. It is
also uplifting to see how each does so without being polemic and with a wide
appreciation of the value of the contributions of other traditions. Above all, it
is heartening that each author expresses explicitly the kind of concern for the
problems and development of young people that drives good education.
Indeed, we might say that each author expresses an openness to the insights
and practices of other religions, without abandoning and compromising his or
her own understandings and tradition. Reading through these articles with care,
we can see how the authors maintain such precarious balance so effortlessly.
Each writer articulates his or her own comprehension and message thoroughly
in terms of his or her tradition, but in each case, this comprehension is put
across in a set of religious and moral practices that is open to anyone—that
is, anyone can serve and care for others, meditate, and celebrate life. There is
a recognition that people from other traditions might explain the meaning of
such practices differently, but there is also an implicit acceptance of this. The
authors seem to share the attitude that belief without practice is incomplete.
Religious education for spiritual development would need to be infused with
this attitude.
In this introduction, we will highlight very briefly some of the answers to the
central questions of this volume. In Chapter 6, the North American Indigenous
writer Four Arrows stresses the idea that Indigenous religion involves accep-
tance of the great mysteries of life and the appreciation of the interconnected-
ness of everything in the universe, including the sacredness of natural places
such as ponds and parks. Four Arrows stresses above all the importance of a
life of balance between opposing qualities and energies, which are traditionally
thought of as solar and lunar.
From the Brahma Kumaris perspective, the main aspect of the spiritual jour-
ney is to find one’s deeper identity, writes Maureen Goodman in Chapter 7.
We tend to identify with external features of our lives that are “easily eroded
or threatened by others or by circumstances.” In contrast, if we find our spiri-
tual or inner identity, we will have more secure foundation for living, one that
acknowledges our own inherent goodness and those of the people around us.
This will enable us to find peace. Goodman describes how religious education
can include practices of structured reflections that help young people come to
this deeper sense of their own identities.
From a Sikh perspective, the main purpose of education is closely bound
up with the meaning of human life, which is to live in communion with God,
who is the source of the spirit and the spiritual virtues. In Chapter 8, Mohinder
Singh says that within a Sikh community, this communion with the divine
requires the practice of meditation in the gurudwara, selfless service, and the
singing of scripture. These practices are themselves part of communal learning
that can be an analogy for what could happen in a school. Using the example of
a Sikh school integrating the 24 dispositions (spiritual and moral virtues) that
various religious communities in Birmingham have constructed, Singh illus-
trates the possibility of engaging with secular approaches and the importance of
religious education in human development.
In Chapter 9, Jinwol Lee explores Seon (Zen) Buddhism’s history and prac-
tices including the stories of a Zen master and his own personal experiences of
Zen meditation and other practices. In particular, he describes a breakthrough
when he felt the “suchness” of the moment when his mind was like limitless
Part II: Introduction O 89
space, peace, and freedom: it was as if he had awakened from a dream and seen
everything as one. From these individual stories, he expands his discussion of
how religious education can offer young people an engaged experience through
the practice of meditation and mindfulness. He argues that we need to help
young people pay more attention to their internal world and less to external
things. This cultivation of consciousness requires the inclusion of meditation
in school curriculum.
Scherto Gill approaches the same issues from an interreligious perspective.
In Chapter 10, she argues that religious diversity requires that education for
spirituality be interreligious. Such an approach is also necessary insofar as edu-
cation is to be holistically human-centered. Indeed, the ultimate aim of educa-
tion is the development of the whole person. Such an aim demands that the
hermeneutical principles of interreligious dialogue become a core of a school’s
ethos. These principles show us how encountering the unfamiliar can change
our own horizons and challenge our own assumptions. The chapter also stresses
the importance of sharing narratives (sacred, mystical, literal, and personal) in the
process of coming to understand others that in turn changes oneself. Seen in this
way, interreligious education will not be one curriculum subject; instead, it is
integral to the vision of the school as a learning community.
From various perspectives, these religious practitioners and thinkers have
explained how aspects of their own traditions might help young people to be
more spiritual in a way that is relevant to their lives. Following from the discus-
sions in Part I, these ideas are appropriate for secular and multireligious societ-
ies. Yet it still remains to be seen how these different ideas can be combined
meaningfully within a framework that makes sense to young people. Further-
more, it remains to be seen how such ideas can be put into practice as educa-
tional programs within schools.
Nevertheless, the authors do give us some indications as to how this might
be done. For example, Four Arrows says that openness toward the mysterious
nature of life requires challenging the idea that our knowledge is absolute and
completely objective. Schools can offer children experiences with other animals
in order to help overcome our anthropomorphism.
Part II recommends space in the curriculum and time in the day for collec-
tive, value-based self-reflection. All five chapters in this part emphasize this idea
in different, but ultimately similar, ways. For instance, Four Arrows stresses the
need for honest reflection based on lived experience; Goodman outlines some
of the principles and questions that shape a facilitated workshop; Singh con-
ceives of such reflection as following from service to others; and Lee proposes
calm, inward-looking reflection as integral to a young person’s spiritual growth.
Equally, most of the contributors emphasize the need for solitary exercises
to deepen consciousness. Goodman says that young people need the direct
experience of prayer, meditation, and contemplation, which are the heart of

their spiritual experience. This is echoed by Lee, who says students need time
to meditate on their own. Singh also underlines the need for silent meditation.
Each writer stresses the importance of working in a group. For example,
Gill sees the fusion of horizons in confronting, and at the same time engaging
with, the Otherness of different religious traditions as essential to transform-
ing an understanding of oneself. This is central to interreligious dialogue, and
this point helps explain the importance of such dialogue for personal spiritual
development.
One of the most explicit common themes in Part II is that of value. Each of
the authors emphasizes that spiritual development or living in balance requires
a shift in what and how we value. It requires valuing less egoistically and in a
more committed way. It requires valuing what matters most in our lives, such as
our family and friends. In terms of educational practice directed toward value,
Goodman stresses the importance of self-awareness and the formation of self-
identity. Four Arrows highlights the balance of qualities. These two points are
symbiotic: to form our self-identity in a better way, we need to understand bet-
ter the qualities that we tend to ignore or overlook. For example, in a culture
dominated by ambition, people may forget how ambition can drive out appre-
ciation. The combination of these two points provides a fruitful framework and
criterion for educational practices, which is the topic of Part III.
CHAPTER 6
Seven Indigenous Spiritual Principles

for Guiding All Students toward
Survival, Peace, Health, and Happiness
Four Arrows (a.k.a. Don Trent Jacobs)
Fielding Graduate University
A
lthough Indigenous Peoples consider the principles described herein
not as “spiritual” but rather as simply the way to live life in balance,
I have placed quotation marks around the word but nonetheless will
continue to use it to describe this way of living life that is not mandated per se
via an organized collection of precepts. With this in mind, I think of Indigenous
spirituality as representing the sacred sense of being significantly interconnected
with all things in the universe, both seen and unseen. I contend that such a sen-
sibility can contribute to survival, peace, health, and happiness as it did for tens
of thousands of years for precontact Indigenous Peoples. Surely, it makes sense
to bring such spirituality into the classroom. For organized religions, doing this
can be a challenging endeavor owing to laws and ethics related to the separa-
tion of church and state. However, since Indigenous spirituality is generally not
considered a religion, teachers may have a less difficult task of incorporating it
into their teaching and curricula.
Or maybe not. The Indigenous spiritual perspective has long been dismissed,
rejected, or ridiculed. Ignoring the church-state separation entirely, the govern-
ments of Canada, the United States, Australia, and elsewhere forced the teaching
of Christian religions to “Indian” students as a way to destroy their ways of life.
Even when the boarding school phenomenon ended, educators continued to
scoff at or entirely dismiss “primitive superstitions.” Throughout his university
teaching career, famed religious studies scholar Huston Smith did not include
Indigenous spiritual traditions in his classes or publications. When I was a
92 O Four Arrows (a.k.a. Don Trent Jacobs)
young man, I heard a presentation by Dr. Smith in which he offered a heart-

rending apology for this and explained how in the first edition of his bestselling
text, The Religions of Man, he did not mention them, but in his second edition
he added a chapter on “Primal Religions.” (He changed the title of his second
edition to The World’s Religions. Perhaps he also became conscious of the femi-
nist movement.) Of course, all this was in the 1950s and 1960s, when American
Indian spiritual practices were still illegal and had been since 1892, and codified
punishments of six months in jail for participating in ceremonial events and
dances were regularly enforced (Prucha 1990, 187–88). Most American Indian
ceremonies remained unlawful until the American Indian Religious Freedom
Act of 1972. The Sun Dance ceremony, one of the most sacred spiritual tradi-
tions for a number of First Nations, was illegal. As a Lakota Sun Dancer myself,
I met an elder who had been imprisoned for Sun Dancing in 1971.
Fortunately, the editors of this volume remembered to include “primal reli-
gions” and asked me to write about how the traditions of Indigenous Peoples
might be infused into schooling to help young people “flourish.” I am especially
honored to do this because it comes on the heels of having just published a
text designed to bring Indigenous perspectives and curricula into mainstream
schools (Four Arrows 2013). In it, I present teaching and learning strategies
for specific courses that can be used to counterbalance mainstream hegemonic
teaching standards and pedagogies. For this chapter, however, I have a different
opportunity, one that allows me to more directly refer to Indigenous spiritual
principles and how they can help students move toward developing abilities to
thrive in the world, be healthy, work toward maintaining peaceful relationships,
and be truly happy: basic aspects of what it means to flourish. I give thanks for
this opportunity.
I have chosen seven principles from my own sense of the most important
mandates common to most Indigenous Peoples I have studied over the years.
I do not generally validate my claims here by citing others, as I have done for
decades in other publications, not because these seven principles and what I
have to say about them are all original, but rather because I doubt if any of them
are. My words are the fruits of many years of reflection on all that I have learned
about the Indigenous worldview, both from others and from my experiences
and reflections. At this point in my career, attempting to give an attribution for
my conclusions would be nearly impossible.
It is typical for an Indigenous writer to give attribution to himself and his
clan, however. This may be because our only real “authority” comes from who
we are and from our honest reflections on our lived experiences. As for myself,
my fully assimilated, part-Cherokee mother raised me without giving merit
to my ancestry in order to protect me from that which she and her family suf-
fered. Eventually being chagrinned with things told to me after Vietnam and
Seven Indigenous Spiritual Principles O 93
a stint in the Marines, I had a special encounter with a remote group of Rara-
muri Indians in Mexico and wrote a doctoral dissertation about differences in
worldviews between their perspectives and typical Western ones (Jacobs 1998).
Immediately after earning the doctorate, I went to live and work on the Pine
Ridge Indian Reservation as the dean of Oglala Lakota College’s Education
Department. There I completed my four Sun Dance vows with the Medicine
Horse group, led by Rick Two Dogs. Later, I had close relationships with Navajo
and Seri people as well and continued to write numerous books and articles
about contemporary applications of the “Indigenous perspective.” None of this
biographical introduction proves that what I generalize about vastly different
tribal cultures is true, and I make no claim that my brothers and sisters will
agree with my seven choices. I am confident, however, that most would recog-
nize something true in each of my Declarations. For the remainder of the chap-
ter, I describe each of the seven principles as succinctly as I can so that teachers
will seriously consider bringing them into their classrooms, one way or another.
The Seven Indigenous Spiritual Principles

1. Life and acceptance of its mysteries define “Indigenous religion.”
2. Everything is connected and equal in significance and in deserving
respect.
3. Ceremony is vital for internalizing the most important values.
4. Place and its inhabitants are sacred.
5. Complementarity is essential for a balanced life.
6. Generosity and courage are preeminent virtues.
7. The highest authority comes from honest reflection on lived experience.
Life and Acceptance of Its Mysteries Define “Indigenous Religion”

Most people see Indigenous prayers, ceremonies, and beliefs about the invis-
ible world as a form of spirituality according to their own definitions, and I
have mentioned that Indigenous Peoples themselves generally do not think of
these things as being other than pathways to a balanced life. They certainly
do not see them as being “religious.” And although it is true that devotees of
some religions live each day in accordance with their religion, it is the religion’s
authority that drives behaviors. Indigenous spirituality, however, is so inter-
woven into every aspect of life that the only possible inference to the idea of
following mandates from some organizing set of rules would be if we were to
project Nature herself as the religion and the manifestations of Nature in the
living and breathing world as the “Bible.” This is why traditionally minded
Indigenous Peoples do not think of their spirituality as “spirituality” or “reli-
gion” per se. I’ve studied Raramuri, Navajo, Lakota, and Seri languages a bit,
and as far as I know, there is no word in them for “religion” or “spiritual.” There
are no supplications to a deity, although there is respect for a multitude of
“gods” in various cultures. A threatening, fear-based reference to punishments
or rewards in the afterlife does not hold sway. Even though the people have a
number of beliefs about the afterlife, such as possibly of returning as a ghost
until one rectifies misdeeds, these ideas remain tied to a respect for the mystery
of it all that precludes getting too excited about any of it. Judgments about life
relate to how well one lives in balance, practicing those virtues that support all
relations and serve the greater good.
Indigenous Peoples who still adhere to the old ways do routinely make sac-
rificial offerings. For example, before taking berries from a bush, giving the
bush a strand of one’s hair or some tobacco gives recognition to the exchange as
being sacred and serves as a reminder of the delicate balance involved in such
exchanges. Similarly, prayers are offered regularly as well, but not as a vehicle
for asking some entity for assistance with some matter of extreme urgency or
unusual importance. Rather, prayers are understood as the vibratory exchange
of words, thoughts, or songs with the normal relationships of everyday living.
If a man is to go fishing, prayers that recognize the possible gift of a fish to
the man are sent out to the fish, not to a supreme being, and not so much
to ensure success in the venture (as this is understood more as a matter of
skill and fate) but to honor the importance of the relationship between the eater
and the eaten. If someone catches a fish, he or she offers prayers of thanks,
not in the direction of the sky, but directly to the essence of the fish itself as a
brother or sister.
This idea of life being one’s religion is thus played out with a sense of awe
about life’s daily happenings. The rising of the sun and the movement of the
stars remain a magical aspect of the great mysterious forces of the cosmos, in
the same way one might observe a baby’s laughter or an ant’s struggle to carry
away a morsel of food. So daily ceremonies in honor of the sun and stars make
sense. Similar respect for friends as well as for enemies exists as an intentional
component of living life and is regarded with the same sense of sacredness oth-
ers would attribute to their God.
A major aspect of seeing life as religion has to do with accepting that
humans cannot come close to knowing everything about the supernatural
world, themselves, or Nature. The words for what others might call “God” in
most Indigenous languages can be translated as relating to the “Great Mys-
terious,” as with the Lakota word Wakan Tanka, which represents the idea
of “The Great Mysterious All.” Using this word is rare, as it does not make
much sense to talk about such a sacred mystery. What could one possibly say?
Instead, terms like grandfather (Tunkasila) are used to refer to expressions of
this great mystery in life, whether referring to a wind, the four directions, or a
frog. One can still give homage to whatever creative spirit exists by honoring
that which connects us to it.
One last idea about this principle relates to the concept of humor. Instead of
relying on an external set of rules put forth by one who spoke directly to God
about how to ensure a place in “heaven,” Indigenous Peoples have relied on a
deep sense of humor about life for explanations and for tolerating the suffering
that is inevitably a part of life. In the face of tragedy—and certain Indigenous
Peoples have had and are having their share—finding the beauty all around is
possible when one is able to tell a joke or see the humor in it all. I won’t expand
on this here, but I felt it to be an important aspect of this principle.
Everything Is Connected and Equal in

Significance and in Deserving Respect
Without this realization, it is too easy for people to not see others as equal
in significance and in deserving respect in the same ways we may see friends
or family. This principle emerged from many generations of observing the
connectedness within the natural world. Respect for diversity and the coopera-
tion, no matter how indirect, required for maintaining healthy systems became
an obvious part of life. Astute observations of the movement of stars and related
phenomena on Earth added to this realization.
It also created a nonanthropocentric worldview, one that does not see humans
as superior to other life forms and a destined to control all life forms—a notion
that even unconsciously we may have learned from what the book of Genesis
(1:26) calls man’s “dominion over . . . everything that creepeth upon the earth.”
How often have you considered a cockroach, a mouse, a snake, or a blue jay
as being equal to an esteemed friend, close relation, or human celebrity? Yet
this idea of seeing everything—including rocks, rivers, trees, and insects—as a
“person” worthy of equal respect and significance is the bedrock of Indigenous
spirituality. It is sort of an animistic perspective that sees what others might call
“the divine” in everything. It helps us understand the role of the clan system in
Indigenous spiritual life and why clans are named for animals and plants that
serve to teach their wisdom and ensure continued respect for them.
If peace is to be achieved again on Earth (see principle 7 for more on this
idea of “again”), or even if we are to survive as a species, I believe the absence
of this anthropocentric hierarchy of superiority is essential. Once we are able to
look at one creature that is different with respect, we set into motion the abil-
ity to look at all with equal respect. Only then can we honestly respond to the
other in ways that are appropriately weighed via the great virtues and laws of
the natural world.
Ceremony Is Vital for Internalizing the Most Important Values

Ceremonies are especially important in Indigenous cultures. Costumes, dancing,
singing, and drumming allow everyone to fully, deeply participate in celebrat-
ing life’s interconnectedness. Events such as coming of age; making a relative;
healing; recognizing great and small cycles in nature; honoring stories that con-
nect past, present, and future; and so on are the subjects of such ceremonies.
Their purpose is to maintain, deepen, and pass on cultural wisdom in ways that
internalize the images so that the lessons and celebrations are reflected in daily
life. My experience over the years has led me to believe that our Indigenous
ancestors understood the trance-inducing power of ceremony to achieve this
internalization. Through dance, song, meditation, repetitive acts, and strong
imagery associated with matters of great importance, alternative conscious-
ness hypnotizes participants in a sense that allows for the ceremonial lessons to
become an automatic part of daily life. Storytelling, which I also think of as a
ceremony, also helps with this continual relearning of important values, but it
also allows for critical reflection. Coyote stories, for example, constantly reveal
how easy it is for us to fall out of balance. Interactive storytelling, truly a part of
Indigenous spirituality, involves cognitive questioning about which aspects
of the teachings are still applicable and which would, if modified, benefit the
ever-changing community, but it also allows the imagination to change brain
waves into those that allow for the transformative internalization of wisdom.
Place and Its Inhabitants Are Sacred

Since everything is intimately connected in the Indigenous way of understand-
ing the relationships among the supernatural, Nature, and humans, each of
these principles flows into one another and covers common ground as well.
However, the concept of interconnectedness alone is not sufficient for com-
prehending the importance of a particular place in the “spiritual” daily life of
traditional Indigenous cultures. The very concept, indigenous (small “i”), means
“to belong to a place.” Most First Nations’ creation stories refer to having been
in the place of one’s ancestors since time immemorial. They speak of geographic
features as having been mystically created just before or after certain animals
or mythical representations of various energies, such as thunder and lightning.
Myths describe the animal, plant, and marine life of the particular environment
in ways that make them as sacred as the mountain peaks, rivers, and valleys. The
stories of each reveal important life-giving realities that have allowed the People
(which includes all sentient beings) to survive and thrive for millennia.
As a result of such thinking about the power inherent in place, Indigenous
spiritual beliefs leave no option but to live in harmony with one’s surroundings.
It does not require an environmental ethic per se because one’s environment is
inherent in oneself. Each creature and each feature of the landscape have their
own intrinsic value and right to a healthy existence. The reciprocal relation-
ships between humans and all places make the idea of dominion absurd, and
even the idea of stewardship falls short of realizing such a perspective. It is more
like the relationship between a fish and the water: the exchange of activities is
of mutual necessity.
Complementarity Is Essential for a Balanced Life

This oneness-oriented reciprocal relationship among place, humans, and ani-
mals within an interconnected universe requires complementarity. One way I
like to describe complementarity is by referring to the twin hero myths of various
cultures. In the stories that largely form European mythological underpinnings,
twin heroes such as Prometheus and Epimetheus, Castor and Pollux, Romu-
lus and Remus, Arthur and Merlin, Faust and Mephistopheles, Hercules and
Iphicles, Cain and Abel, Jacob and Esau, and so on represent two principle
and somewhat opposing energies. One can be thought of as “solar,” meaning
direct, aggressive, logical, and so on. One is “lunar,” or indirect, passive, reflec-
tive, and so on. In the preceding examples from Western cultures, the solar twin
dominates, even sometimes kills, the lunar twin. I think we now live in a world
that is split into a solar-dominated life. However, in the Indigenous twin hero
stories from around the world, twins still represent the different forces, but
cooperation and collaboration are the primary lesson/outcome of the myth. The
twins of Indigenous mythology represent a force of complementary dynamics
between the symbolic characteristics of the sun and moon, a cosmic dialogue in
which cooperation for the benefit of all is paramount.
Such complementarity shows up in the relationships between men and
women in both worldviews. The subjugation of and violence against women is
well known in Western worldviews. In Indigenous cultures, however, women are
honored to a high degree. In Lakota inipi (purification) ceremonies, women tra-
ditionally did not participate as they do now because they already knew how to
purify, to nurture, and to transform, whereas men needed to do more work
to do these things. (This idea continues in very traditional groups and in our
Sun Dances, where women do not pierce: see “Sun Dancer Rules” 2005–6.) The
balance in life’s responsibilities was maintained by the unique albeit exchange-
able roles of men and women. An Oglala elder once told me that only men
could vote to go to war, but they would not go without new moccasins, and
the women could choose whether or not to make them. Whether or not this
was true is not as important as the understanding of how an authentic sense of
cooperation and complementarity is seen as a vital aspect of living in accordance
with the laws of Nature.
Interestingly, with dominant cultures now representing a solar dynamic

resulting in the loss of the lunar and Indigenous cultures holding on to their
lunar dynamic having lost the solar, the idea of a partnership between the
two principle worldviews may be just what the future needs for people to
flourish again.
Generosity and Courage Are Preeminent Virtues

Traditional Indigenous communities in the past and today reveal the truth
of this principle in ways that stand apart from what we typically see in more
contemporary metropolitan societies. The spiritual ideas conveyed about inter-
connectedness, respect, and complementarity, coupled with a deep realization
that living according to these is never easy, have led to the stamping of these
two virtues into the Indigenous heart and mind. Historically, our Indigenous
Peoples evolved gift economies where natural empathy and generosity alone
were enough to prevent any neighbor from falling into poverty. In battle, acts
of bravery, such as simply touching an armed enemy, were much more revered
than actions that were merely successful in killing someone. Courage has
been understood as a prerequisite for all the great virtues, including truthful-
ness, humility, patience, fortitude, and generosity—traits that are remarkably
descriptive of the character of Indigenous Peoples who have managed to hang
on to their traditional beliefs. Moreover, the highest expression of courage is a
full and unmitigated spirit of generosity. I have witnessed a Seri father teach-
ing a young child to give away her most cherished possessions to those most
benefitting, and while watching, I realized the courage it took for the youngster
to do so without resentment. Imagine giving away your most prized possession
and see if courage is not involved!
The Highest Authority Comes from Honest Reflection on Lived Experience

In spite of the kinds of tribal governments conquerors have imposed on Indig-
enous Peoples, a resistance to external authority for living life seems to be a
spiritual principle as well. Any spirituality based on superiority, dominion, rigid
rules, and punishments from on high for breaking those rules just does not
make sense in a Nature-based reality. For many generations before militarism
and colonization, basic survival was the ultimate reason to live in accord with
one’s highest potential. No authority save honest reflection on one’s engage-
ments with reality was more worthy of leading to survival, and the same logic
was applied to flourishing. Others who had relevant experiences and unique
reflections on the meaning of similar experiences were very important to heed,
but they did not dictate. “Leadership” in tribes relied on such advice, as that
from medicine people or those especially experienced in an upcoming project,
but each person was free to make his or her own choice. Ultimately, leadership
was by authentic consensus. Consensus was reached not so much when every-
one agreed but when, after long and patient dialogue, even those who disagreed
came to truly understand the other side.
In the same way, I think that not seeing humans as superior to animals,
even if unconsciously, helps mitigate violence and injustice. I think that not
giving authority to individuals also contributes to a more peaceful and just
society. Without letting a preacher, teacher, peddler, father, lawyer, scientist,
or government take the authority for directing our lives, we are likely to direct
them better in most cases if we merely listen to these authoritative perspec-
tives respectfully and honestly reflect on how the outcomes of our previous
experience might relate. Would young adults have gone to kill people in Iraq
if they had such a disposition? Would every life system on Earth now be at a
tipping point?
Such questions beg one to wonder if the Indigenous worldview was ever
able to truly achieve survival, peace, health, and happiness. Too much has been
written for me to cite the answers here, but for starters, teachers/readers might
consider that up until the beginnings of the current worldviews and religions,
around six thousand to eight thousand years ago, humanity lived in relatively
peaceful societies. Of course, this claim has continually been challenged or
ignored. According to Johan M. G. van der Dennen’s (1995) doctoral disserta-
tion and nine-hundred-page book, The Origin of War, “peaceable preindustrial
(preliterate, primitive, etc.) societies constitute a nuisance to most theories of
warfare and they are, with few exceptions, either denied or ‘explained away’” (8).
However, the evidence, in my view, is overwhelming in favor of George C.
Leavitt’s (1977) similar claim that war was absent or rare in 73 percent of
hunter-gatherer societies and in more than half of those employing agriculture.
This conclusion is also corroborated by Brian Ferguson’s (2013) in-depth sur-
vey “The Prehistory of War and Peace in Europe and the Near East,” in which
he carefully critiques the “data.”
Conclusion
In summary, I hope it is understood that my selection of these seven prin-
ciples cannot fully synthesize the multiple and deep “spiritual” assumptions of
all the world’s Indigenous peoples. However, I am convinced it fairly represents
the common understandings of people who remember that Nature is largely a
cooperative system more than it is a competitive one.
Now that the reader has learned these seven Indigenous mandates for help-
ing young people flourish, how can such belief systems be introduced into the
classroom to foster spirituality and well-being? I recently wrote a text titled
Teaching Truly: A Curriculum to Indigenize Mainstream Education that answers
this question in detail for eight mainstream courses and state standards (Four
Arrows 2013), but in brief, I offer the following general guidelines for teachers
for each principle:
1. Life and acceptance of its mysteries define “Indigenous religion.” In an edu-

cational setting, it is important to expose the myths of objectivity and
absolutism in each class and encourage children and young people to
trust their intuition and accept the humility of knowing that we cannot
know all the details about the cosmos.
2. Everything is connected and equal in significance and in deserving respect.
Where possible, the school ought to offer the opportunity for students
to study and observe other than human life forms and learn to discover
and respect their similarities to humans in more fundamental ways. Such
observation can further lead to young people’s learning to appreciate
nonhuman life forms’ special abilities. Once children and young people
learn to step outside of anthropocentrism, they can begin to remember
the natural basis for respecting all others.
3. Ceremony is vital for internalizing the most important values. In each
class, the teacher can work with the students to create their own cer-
emonies that allow the group to celebrate their learning experiences and
can enhance the importance of contents in certain lessons, activities, or
events of significance to the students. The use of ceremonies is ideal to
learn about virtues.
4. Place and its inhabitants are sacred. Make connections to place as often
as possible in all subject areas and discuss what would happen to one’s
community if sacred places such as parks and ponds were destroyed com-
pletely or if all the birds disappeared.
5. Complementarity is essential for a balanced life. Teach about right- and left-
brain hemispheric functions and about twin hero myths of Indigenous
Peoples, where solar and lunar characteristics work together in harmony
and where the partnerships of differences create powerful opportunities
for accomplishment.
6. Generosity and courage are preeminent virtues. Every course offers an
opportunity to mention fear and the opportunity to use fear as a catalyst
for practicing generosity, patience, fortitude, honesty, or humility. Look
for the teachable moments.
7. The highest authority comes from honest reflection on lived experience. Teach
students that listening to the advice of elders is respectful and helpful,
but that complete objectivity is a myth and absolute certainty in any sub-
ject is unlikely. Tell them that ultimately their honest reflections on lived
experience and a connection between their intuitive awareness and their
ability to determine the wisdom in that which is taught are the highest
authority.
From what I know of the world’s religions, it seems that recommendations

for taking care of nature, being generous and honest, staying healthy, and so on
can be found somewhere in the writings of all of them. Certainly, “the golden
rule” can be found somewhere in most of the original teachings of the founders.
Whether this is because most major religions may stem, more or less directly,
from primal beginnings or because the intuited wisdom of the founders tapped
into the great laws of Nature, I do not know. What is important is that such
teachings are based in a sense of Nature’s symbiotic, beautiful relationships and
abilities to use conflict in ways to regain lost balance. Ultimately, I wonder if it
is even necessary to attribute such wisdom to our Indigenous ancestors or to the
precepts of any particular spiritual practice. Perhaps instructions for learning
to live life in balance and harmony can only come from our deep and honest
reflections on life and our study of the natural world around us.
On the other hand, there is no doubt that we are separated from Nature. To
acknowledge Indigenous spirituality and gain an awareness of the current plight
of Indigenous Peoples, who themselves are rapidly losing their cultures, may be
just what religious education requires. To get through the challenges facing us
all, we will need the remarkable resilience of Indigenous Peoples, as well as their
enthusiasm for living, a readiness “to celebrate life it as it is, a will to survive and
pass the baton of life to the next generation” (Stockton 1995, 77–78).
References
Ferguson, Brian. 2013. “The Prehistory of War and Peace in Europe and the Near East.”
In War, Peace and Human Nature by Douglas P. Fry. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Four Arrows. 2013. Teaching Truly: A Curriculum to Indigenize Mainstream Education.
New York: Peter Lang.
Jacobs, Donald T. 1998. Primal Awareness: A True Story of Survival, Awakening and
Transformation with the Raramuri Shaman of Mexico. Rochester, VT: Inner Traditions
International.
Leavit, George C. 1977. “The Frequency of Warfare: An Evolutional Perspective.” Socio-
logical Inquiry 47: 49–58.
Prucha, Francis. 1990. Documents of United States Indian Policy. 2nd ed. Lincoln: Uni-
versity of Nebraska Press.
Stockton, Eric. 1995. The Aboriginal Gift: Spirituality for a Nation. Alexandria, NSW:
Millennium Books.
“Sun Dancer Rules.” 2005–6. The High Star–Sun Eagle International Foundation for
Peace. http://www.highstarsuneagle.org/sun_dance/sun_dancers_rules.html.
Van der Dennen, Johan M. G. 1995. The Origin of War. Groningen: Origin Press.
http://rint.rechten.rug.nl/rth/dennen/dennen6.htm.
CHAPTER 7
Religion, Spirituality, and Education

for Human Flourishing
A Brahma Kumaris Perspective
Maureen Goodman
Program Director
Brahma Kumaris
World Spiritual University, UK
Young people are the trustees of the future; they have the energy, enthusiasm and
vision to create a better world. We have faith and hope in our young people, that
they can perform the important task of being role models for a better society.
—Dadi Janki, head of the Brahma Kumaris
The Importance of Empowering Young People
Y
oung people are vulnerable, especially in an era that confronts them with
many tensions and challenges. In 1996, the International Commission
for the Twenty-First Century, in its report to UNESCO, “Learning:
The Treasure Within,” identifies several tensions facing young people. One of
these is the tension between the spiritual and the material: “Often without real-
izing it, the world has a longing, often unexpressed, for an ideal and for values
that we shall term ‘moral.’ It is thus education’s noble task to encourage each
and every one, acting in accordance with their traditions and convictions and
paying full respect to pluralism, to lift their minds and spirits to the plane of the
universal and, in some measure, to transcend themselves” (UNESCO Interna-
tional Commission on Education 1996, 18).
104 O Maureen Goodman
In 1999, the Brahma Kumaris UK worked with several national youth orga-
nizations1 to stage an intergenerational conference: “Living Values: Empow-
ering Young People in the 21st Century.” One of its aims was to move to a
deeper level the debate surrounding the challenges facing young people, so it
incorporates a spiritual and moral dimension, recognizing that although more
resources and better services are important, they are not in themselves sufficient
to provide young people with the support and encouragement needed to maxi-
mize their full potential.
In his background paper to the conference, Roger Orgill, MBE, Chairman of
the Foundation for Outdoor Adventure, critiques the overemphasis on pupils’
progression within the National Curriculum, which results in insufficient atten-
tion to other aspects of the young person’s development, such as the personal,
social, and spiritual. He points out clearly that, in addition to building confi-
dence in oneself and cultivating a strong sense of self-worth, self-esteem, and a
positive outlook on life, education ought to also nurture a sense of belonging,
empathy, and, above all, the development of values and a moral framework.
Indeed, the challenges young people are facing are increasing daily as economic
pressures grow. For instance, in the United Kingdom, nearly 1.5 million young
people are currently not in education, employment, or training: that is one in
five young people. A quarter of a million have been unemployed for more than a
year (ACEVO Commission 2011). Elsewhere in Europe, such as in Spain, youth
unemployment in 2013 reached a new high of 56.1 percent. One of the biggest
effects of this, for young people, is a diminishing of self-esteem. Compounded
with family problems, learning difficulties, and the influence of the media, many
are growing up in a cultural and moral vacuum. Consequently, many young peo-
ple lack the ability to respond in positive and creative ways to these seemingly
insurmountable challenges, which can bring hopelessness and apathy.
In response to the riots that came to Britain’s streets in August 2011, Sister
Jayanti, European Director of the Brahma Kumaris, pointed out in an interfaith
article, “The rioting is also an indication of a deeper sickness in our society.
Greed, inhumanity, and lack of integrity in the pursuit of financial or political
gain are hardly the preserve of the young rioters. Young people are particularly
susceptible to the myth peddled to them by society that happiness lies in mate-
rial gain; this has left a huge vacuum inside with nothing to fill it” (Jayanti
2011). Thus Sister Jayanti calls for society to accept its collective responsibil-
ity, strengthen its capacity to live by positive values, and thereby embody the
behavior that it wishes to see in its children and young people. She says that
this will lead to much greater effectiveness in finding the answers and solutions
society seeks.
Despite the many negative influences around them, for young people to
flourish, to continue to be inspired and committed to change, to create a better
Religion, Spirituality, and Education for Human Flourishing O 105
life for themselves and others, and to maintain hope, their sense of purpose
needs to be very clear. For this, two factors are extremely important: (1) the
right environment and atmosphere so that young people feel valued, listened
to, understood, and respected and experience a sense of belonging and (2) the
empowerment of positive values by increasing inner spiritual strength, which
allows the inherent goodness of the self to flourish. These will enable young
people to respond to challenges in a conscious way, out of choice, rather than
reacting in a way that could lead to negative consequences. The kind of empow-
erment needed is based on not only skills or even an awareness of the “correct”
values or ethics but an inner strength that will enable an individual to live his
or her values practically, despite the many pressures to do the opposite. This is
why the spiritual empowerment of young people is crucial. This is particularly
important for those young people who feel marginalized and who experience
an “inner void” “resulting from an absence of positive values, an ethical and
moral lifestyle nurtured in their earlier life, and subsequent personal and social
development”(Brahma Kumaris and Wrekin Trust 2011).
In 2004, the Brahma Kumaris were one of several organizations taking part in
an imaginative program for young leaders, the Stoneleigh Group, which aimed
to seek out young people with distinct leadership potential and to develop their
skills so as to prepare them as peer educators, role models, and community lead-
ers capable of working in support of other young people. It consisted of a series
of experiential and reflective weekends, tutorials with mentors in local commu-
nities, and a project to create a piece of dynamic and effective youth develop-
ment work. The emphasis was on nonreligious spirituality and self-discovery
to allow participants to clarify their capabilities, values, ambitions, and direc-
tion. It was an unstructured self-development course. Some of the participants,
accustomed to structured courses and instruction, debriefings, and feedback,
found the lack of structure unsettling, even unnerving, at first, but by the end of
the week, all felt that they had “got the message,” and for many it was a turning
point in their lives. A PhD study based on the Stoneleigh Group’s work states:
At a time in our society when the period of youth has extended to 25 years
and beyond, policy directs funding largely at young people as “student,” “labor”
or “problem,” they [the Stoneleigh Group] believed such policies ran the risk
of ignoring and under-resourcing the opportunities for young people to express
their citizenship through personal development and social action. They believed
youth work provides a handrail and a safety net for some young people especially
those who they believed were vulnerable. They believed there is a need for the
wider development of youth activities, volunteering, mentoring and other inter-
generational opportunities as part of this process. They claimed “informal educa-
tors can play their part by supporting active engagement in the community and
the environment in a way that helps young people to find their own directions in
social, moral and spiritual terms.” (Loynes 2012, 17)
Acknowledging young people’s vulnerability and recognizing their potential

to create a better world for humanity determines the moral imperative of the
Brahma Kumaris to support and empower young people to internalize core
human values and pursue meaningful and purposeful lives.
Values, Spirituality, and Human Flourishing

Many educational institutions have now recognized the importance of includ-
ing values education in the curriculum, but the important question is, how are
those values empowered? One can consider values to be more than a learned
set of behaviors; to be consistent and meaningful, they need to be rooted in a
deeper awareness of one’s inner being and inner goodness. In other words, spiri-
tuality empowers the expression of values in life. When someone’s life changes,
it does so because something has changed within the individual, which in turn
has had an impact on the external. Yet our societies are complex, and any young
person requires clarity about herself and her own purpose in life to be able to
understand and find a way through these complexities.
Human flourishing from the Brahma Kumaris perspective means living a
life filled with spiritual values and includes the principle of the deep connection
between inner and outer change. In her preface to Living Our Values: An “Inside-
Out” Approach to Change Your World for the Better, Dadi Janki states:
Values are our “parents”—the human soul is nurtured by the values it holds. A
sense of security and comfort comes when we know and live our values. Values are
like precious jewels; lying deep within the soul of each human being, they are the
treasure of life. They make us happy, healthy and wealthy. A life filled with values
is a life of self-respect and dignity. The soul is able to come closer to God and life
becomes real and meaningful. Values bring independence and freedom, expand
our capacity to be self sufficient and liberate us from external influences. The soul
develops the ability to discern truth and to follow the path of truth. Values offer
protection and anyone who experiences this is able to share this protection with
others . . . Values open the heart and transform human nature so that life is filled
with compassion and humility. As we develop values within the self, we share the
fragrance of those values with the world around us and move forward to a better
world. (Brahma Kumaris 2013, xiii)
In Learning: The Treasure Within, one of the four pillars of learning is identi-
fied as “learning to live together.” It states: “If one is to understand others, one
must first know oneself. To give children and young people an accurate view of
the world, education, whether in the family, the community or at school, must
first help them discover who they are. Only then will they genuinely be able to
put themselves in other people’s shoes and understand their reactions. Develop-
ing such empathy at school bears fruit in terms of social behavior throughout
life” (Delors 1996, 93). Thus living in self-respect and dignity requires knowing
oneself, which is an inner journey, a spiritual journey.
What is spirituality? Can it be defined or only experienced? Sister Jayanti
(2000) defines spirituality succinctly as “that non-material energy, which actu-
ally empowers and governs my life and my every action” (7), whereas for Neil
Hawkes, one of the pioneers of values-based education in the United Kingdom,
“spirituality is ‘the aspiration/wish for transcendence,’ which ‘is within all of us
and can be sought in houses of religion and many other places . . . It comes from
the basic longing to be transported or elevated’” (quoted in Farrer 2000, 11).
Self-understanding is the start of the spiritual journey that progresses to the
integration of spirituality in daily life through living by one’s values, which has
a positive and transformative effect on one’s family, community, and society as
whole. This is the spiritual trajectory of awareness, attitude, vision, action, and
the world.2
Spirituality and Religion

Only in recent times has a separation been made between spirituality and reli-
gion. Spirituality can be found at the heart of every religious tradition. Religion
without spirituality becomes meaningless. True spirituality means living by the
highest principles of divinity in life. Our manifold religious rituals and practices
can help uphold those principles, but they are not an end in themselves. Explor-
ing the depth of religious teaching can be a means for deepening spirituality and
an awareness of the values and virtues we all share.
From a Brahma Kumaris perspective, Sister Jayanti (2000) explains, “Spiri-
tuality is not the same as religion. There cannot be religion without spirituality,
and spirituality can bring a sense of sacredness that is common to many reli-
gions and yet need not be expressed through any of them. But to many people,
the word ‘religion’ has become merely a label, referring to a ritual or fundamen-
talism with little or no spirituality. Yes, the root meaning of religion is ‘to join
together or to re-connect’ suggesting a re-uniting of the self with its source” (6).
From a religious perspective, Dr. Robert Runcie, the Archbishop of Canter-
bury, expressed this:
From the perspective of faith, different world religions can be seen as different
gifts of the spirit to humanity. Without losing our respective identities and the
precious heritage and roots of our own faith, we can learn to see in a new way
the message and insights of our faith in the light of that of others. By relating
our respective visions of the Divine to each other, we can discover a still greater
splendour of divine life and grace . . . The way is to penetrate into the depths of
one’s own religion, in devotion, thought and action. In the depth of every living
religion there is a point at which religion itself loses its importance, and that to
which it points breaks through its particularity, elevating it to spiritual freedom
and to a vision of the spiritual presence in other expressions of the ultimate mean-
ing of man’s existence. (1996 address to the World Congress of Faiths, quoted in
Braybrooke 1996, 114 and 115)
This expression of the ultimate meaning of our human existence, which is

found in spirituality, can indeed transcend the division and differences between
religions.
In living the true spirit of a religious life, one lives in peace, as Dadi Janki
(2003)3 explains:
I used to say, “I am a Hindu, you are a Christian”; I could never say that any
more, my attitude has changed. Now I would say, “whether you are standing
before a statue of Christ or worshipping the image of Krishna, God is still the one
Parent of all and we are all children of the one Parent.” Religion no longer exists
in the world in a true form. When merely ritualistic it is superficial and without
power. Where there is real understanding and where there is truth in words, there
is also power. Power would not be received from God in order for us to fight each
other; power is received for us to become peaceful. True religion says, “Peace.”
True religion teaches peace. (63)
From this, it is clear that spirituality is not an intellectual pursuit, but it is about
experiencing something more than one’s mundane existence, and it has a pro-
found impact on one’s life.
Nurturing Young People through Cultivating Spiritual Identity

It is now clear that the first, fundamental step toward human flourishing, a
human life lived to its fullest potential, is self-understanding or self-knowledge.
For young people, this expresses itself in a constant search for identity. The
development of the child as a “whole person” involves enabling the child to
recognize that identity is not solely dependent on external factors. There is an
inner being that needs to be understood and nurtured, through which a young
person can become more self-reliant, gain greater stability, and therefore con-
sciously make more positive choices in life.
From the Brahma Kumaris perspective, the search for self-identity has to
take us beyond what we do to what we are. Too often young people (and indeed
adults, too) base their sense of identity on the values of the society in which they
live, the way they would like to be seen by others, or the way they think others
see them. Identity becomes centered on factors such as gender, race, culture,
fashion, or wealth. Much energy goes into defending this identity, and any
threat can lead to anger and eventually violent behavior.
An awareness of one’s “inner” or “spiritual” identity is a much more secure
foundation for living. It is an identity that cannot be so easily eroded or threat-
ened by others or by circumstances, and it has its basis in the positive qualities
inherent in each and every individual. This innate goodness and the natural
capacity to love and to serve make up our spiritual identity. Qualities such as
love, peace, wisdom, strength, and joy are at the core of our inner selves. The
outer expression of these qualities involves spiritual values such as compassion,
care, tolerance, respect, honesty, humility, and cooperation.
Between 1989 and 1991, the Brahma Kumaris embarked on a project
called “Global Co-operation for Better World.” During that time, people in
129 countries were asked, “What is your vision of a better world?” The project
involved professionals, academics, and civic leaders in discussing their views of
the future. In answering the questions, they were asked to abide by a “golden
rule”—to couch their replies in positive terms. The Global Vision Statement is
a synthesis of the hopes and aspirations expressed by people of all backgrounds
and all continents. Dr. James O. C. Jonah (then) Under-Secretary-General of
the United Nations, writes, “Despite the uniqueness of personal visions and
statements, there is a commonality of ideals and values that makes for an amaz-
ing unity cutting across all boundaries of nationality, race and creed. Together,
these visions make clear the vital core of our shared humanity, the immutable
basis for a world at peace” (quoted in Brahma Kumaris 1993, 4). Projects such as
this indicate that positive spiritual values are universally desired by humanity
and are universally acceptable as basic tenets of a just and peaceful society. The
absence of a real sense of self leads to material significance in which status, posi-
tion, and wealth become more valuable than human life.
An education for human flourishing meets the growing developmental
needs of the child in body, mind, and spirit, enabling him or her to live with
meaning and purpose. Central to the Brahma Kumaris teachings is the concept
that each human being has inherent goodness. This is echoed by several reli-
gious and spiritual traditions. In Buddhism, the belief in the inherent goodness of
people is called our “inherent Buddha nature” or bodhichitta (compassion for
all beings); in Judaism, the Torah tells Jews to do teshuva (literally, to “return” to
our original state of goodness); St. Augustine affirmed the inherent goodness of
God’s creation; Swami Vivekananda, the greatest exponent of the philosophy
of the Vedas, stressed man’s divinity.
Yet society still struggles with this concept. The denial of our inherent good-
ness can be considered a form of violence toward the self, and it is at the root of
so many of our social problems. Inherent goodness gives rise to true self-worth,
and denial of our true worth leads to a lack of self-esteem, the seeds of which are
thoughts that denigrate the self (e.g., thoughts of failure or self-hatred). Violent
behavior is used either as an expression of that self-hatred or as a defense against
further threats to self-esteem.
When inherent goodness is acknowledged and allowed to flourish, it becomes
the seed of expression through the spiritual trajectory mentioned earlier—that
is, awareness, attitude, vision, action, and the world. With such an awareness, a
young person becomes much more resilient to peer pressure, as he or she now
has a source of good feelings about himself or herself from within.
In 2009, the Brahma Kumaris developed a program for young people to
enhance and offer tools to strengthen their inner spiritual identity. “Choose,
Change and Become” is an ongoing program of the Brahma Kumaris Inter-
national Youth Forum, supported in the United Kingdom by the “Campaign
for Adventure.” The program focuses on (1) cultivating in young people an
awareness of their spiritual identity and their innate purpose, power, and value;
(2) supporting young people in living authentically from the inside out; and
(3) inspiring young people to become examples of balance and truth by equip-
ping them with practical spiritual tools, stressing the expression of their poten-
tial for world benefit. The basis of the program is reflective questioning that
encourages the development of spiritual principles and moral values in strength-
ening the capacity of young people to participate with integrity and self-worth
as key players in society and as emerging leaders for the future.
In “Choose, Change and Become,” there are central guiding principles that
are explored by both the facilitator and the participant, creating an authentic
and shared learning journey. These principles are as follows.
There is a spiritual potential inherent in every individual. Each person car-
ries many “identities,” some acquired and others innate. Empowerment occurs
when the individual exercises real choice—that is to understand and discern
between what is true and what is false in themselves, what is innate and what is
acquired, and what will bring lasting benefit or short-term relief. The recogni-
tion and acknowledgment of the inner spiritual potential create a safe space,
allowing what is latent to blossom.
The continual connection with spiritual potential is the most sustainable source
of power. Finding time to contemplate and focus on my spiritual potential allows
me to draw on an unending reserve of positive qualities and positive energy.
This act of ’meditating’ empowers me to let go of past mistakes, to implement
changes and to remain positively focused regardless of external pressures.
Application of spiritual potential is the responsibility of the individual. Real-

izing and experimenting with my spiritual potential through thoughts, words
and actions, makes it a reality in daily life. Everything I do has an impact, and
“checking in” with myself regularly helps me integrate new understanding
and experiences into my life.
The highest example of leadership is that which is informed by spiritual poten-
tial. Leading by example is true service. An authentic expression of self, free
from selfish motives, enables true spiritual potential to express itself. This cre-
ates a presence and atmosphere in which others are naturally inspired to grow.
Reflective questioning takes young people on a journey to conscious inner
empowerment. There are three steps in this process:
1. Reflect and understand. Where am I now? Who am I really? Under-

standing myself by reflecting on the influences and learning in my life’s
journey that shape my current identity or identities and exploring my
spiritual identity and potential.
2. Acknowledge and appreciate. What am I here for? Identifying my innate
drive to express my spiritual potential by contemplating and appreciat-
ing my unique qualities, considering my innate purpose and recognizing
the values that guide my character and actions.
3. Express and share. How am I expressing this? Sustain my spiritual, moral
compass for living by: visioning the highest state of my potential, recog-
nizing what undermines or weakens my innate power and the expression
of my potential, and creating an action plan to sustain energy, commit-
ment, and enthusiasm to live my potential and give my best to society.
For many young people, going through this process becomes a life changing
experience. Here is the experience of one 2010 New York participant, graduate
student Manoj Harpalani: “During this powerful weekend I deeply realised that
when there is a will there is a way and if you don’t see one . . . dig it out. I learned
a lot about the patience required for inner transformation. Many of us know our
weaknesses but we need to overcome them, which is the biggest challenge; retreats
such as this can help us to discover the tools to do just that.”
Enhancing Young People’s Spiritual Development

through Religious Education
Spiritual development is defined by the UK Department of Education as to
“develop the knowledge, skills, understanding, qualities and attitudes they need
to foster their own inner lives and non-material wellbeing.” There is obviously
a need to encourage young people to embark on their own inner or spiritual
journey to equip them for life. Therefore, a knowledge-centered approach to

teaching religion does not necessarily provide an opportunity for a life trans-
forming experience. Religious teaching that enables the recognition of the spiri-
tual nature of oneself and others enables a young person to take responsibility
for their life and their choices. A deeper exploration of one’s relationship with
the Divine brings inner strength, wisdom, and happiness.
When teaching about faith traditions, of key importance is making this rele-
vant to the lives of young people. Marisa Crawford and Graham Rossiter (1996)
state: “The secular patterns to young people’s spirituality are often so different
from what those responsible for religion curricula seem to presume about youth
spirituality, that what is done to promote its development may miss the mark”
(133–43).
They explore the need for a more issues-based approach with less emphasis
on the description of religious systems. They go on to say:
If religious education acknowledges the ways youth perceive religion and find
meaning, then it will be more likely to make constructive connections with the
spiritual processes that are most prominent for them at that stage of their lives.
This is just as important for those who will not have any association with organ-
ised religion as it is for those who will . . . If the teaching of religion in state or
church schools does not make some connections with what young people see
spirituality to be about, there is a greater likelihood that they will look at the
material in a type of clinical anthropological way—interesting, because it exists
and has some pattern to it, but the overall impression is that it has no compelling
links with what they themselves experience as important issues for life. (Crawford
and Rossiter 1996, 133–43)
Writers on the subject of spiritual development and spirituality in religious

education have referred to it being rooted in a creative and dynamic process
that is life-giving through attention being paid to “thinking, creating, imagin-
ing, becoming” (Priestley 1997, 29) and for the need for the subject to concern
itself with direct experience through “prayer, meditation and contemplation
[becoming] the foci of religious education because they are ‘the heartland of
faith’” (Hay 1985, 143).
The direct experience of prayer, meditation, and contemplation is at the
heart of the spiritual experience. Without this, there is the strong possibility
that religious education will remain dry and seemingly irrelevant to the young
person. However, would including this in our religious teaching be seen as pros-
elytizing a particular faith or spiritual tradition? This is a question that will
be answered differently in different cultures, but nonetheless we must not shy
away from this important dimension. If we do, then we will be failing our
young people.
Religious education can have an important role in enabling a “spiritual expe-
rience.” Sister Jayanti (2006) describes it as the following: “My mind can go
beyond the distractions of the physical world and into the realm of infinite
light that is the spiritual dimension . . . I encounter a mind that is an ocean of
peace and of love. There is also intelligence, holding all wisdom, with an infi-
nite capacity for understanding, and a complete benevolence, never demand-
ing, only bestowing (77).
Such experiences can be achieved not so much by words, but more effec-
tively by reflective silence.
In the United Kingdom, Europe, and America, and possibly in other regions,
there is an increasing awareness of the effectiveness of inner silence and stillness
in spiritual development and also for learning. Marie de Hennezel (2011) writes
of the importance of learning to be quiet and alone during childhood: “Nobody
teaches us how to be alone, and that is the case from childhood upwards. The
aim of all our education, whether it is dispensed by the family or school, is never
to leave the child in silence, alone with him or herself. So it is hardly a surprise
that the adult individual is so dependent on others, that he has never learned
self-reliance, self-knowledge, or how to trust himself ” (159).
A recent newsletter of Justthisday, a project that promotes silence and still-
ness, explored the subject of silence in schools. It suggests that making space
for silence offers everybody, regardless of age or faith, a chance to become fully
present. It can “recharge batteries,” allow emotions to settle, and remind us
of who we really are. Offering such experience and developing this ability in
children can help them cope with the world they live in and find a safe and
settled space that is consistent as they grow up. For some, this could simply
be something that happens at school, for others it may develop into a lifelong
practice or part of their way of being. Indeed, recent research shows that stress,
illness, pain, and old age are easier to cope with if the ability to be still has been
established, it gives access to a place where we may encounter that which doesn’t
change (see Just This Day 2011).
The importance of incorporating silence into school life is echoed by Lees
(2012); she postulates that silence should be linked to the ethos of a school and
that schools that listen to the voices of their students will probably be better able
to use and benefit from silent practices. Thus she proposes that silent practices
in some way should be an integral part of a child’s education.
Transforming the teaching of religion into cultivating deeper understanding
and lived practice will enable young people to discover more of their spiritual
selves, their purpose in life, and their place in the world and will also enable a
deeper exploration of their relationship with the Divine. This is not something
that can be “taught” but can be enabled through deeper discussion and the
experience of practices such as silence. Every faith tradition has teachings and
practices that can enable this to happen.
However, it is important to give young people tools by which they can
enhance their ability to deeply reflect and connect with their inner selves. In
the “Choose, Change and Become” program, five main spiritual tools are used:
1. Meditation: Learning the basic method of contemplation; turning inward

and concentrating attention on the inner qualities of the self; connecting
with spiritual potential and with the Divine.
2. “Detached observer” state: Reflecting as an observer and detaching from
inner or outer turmoil; discerning the best choice in any given moment.
3. Regular “full-stop” moments: Using pauses of silence as part of a simple,
regular practice of experiencing inner calm and realigning with one’s true
self; strengthening this is a regular, sustainable practice in any situation.
4. Reflective inquiry: Accessing intuitive wisdom.
5. Appreciative inquiry: Reframing life’s challenges positively; strengthening
positivity.
Through these tools young people come to appreciate the power and appli-
cation of thoughtful reflection in every area of their lives. Silence is no longer
a threatening space waiting to be filled, but a chance to pause, to be calm, and
to experience something more profound within the routine of everyday life
and its challenges.
The practice of silence is a very important part of the Brahma Kumaris way
of life. The practice of silence or meditation is filled with deep feelings of the
original qualities of the self and the Divine. Simple teachings about the soul and
the Divine are the basis for the practice of silent meditation, so that the mind is
nourished by elevated thoughts. These can be summarized as follows:
• Consciousness and Self-Realization: the self, the soul, is envisaged as a

being of light, a point of light, located in the center of the forehead. The
soul interacts with the world through the senses. Every soul has inherent
original qualities—peace, love, truth, purity, and happiness.
• Relationship with God: God is also understood to be an infinitesimal
point of light, yet is an unlimited source of love, peace, truth, happiness.
Our relationship with God provides everything needed to nourish the
soul. (Goodman 2007/2008, 19)
A concept of connecting with the Divine as a source of energy, love, peace,

happiness, and wisdom is something that can bring comfort and nourishment
to the individual and may encourage a deeper exploration into a particular faith
tradition. Many young people see religion as divisive and along with that may
reject a concept of God. A more universal concept can help open them to the
possibility of God as a benevolent being from whom we can receive many spiri-
tual treasures. For many young people this opens up new possibilities of inner
change and an enthusiasm to achieve in life in a way that is unselfish and takes
into account the good of all.
Conclusion
Dadi Janki (2010) shares her vision for young people: “I say to young people
everywhere, be courageous, have a big heart, be tolerant, be non-violent; work
with friendship and love; be forgiving and truthful in your relationships. In liv-
ing with spiritual values and vision, we can fulfill the hopes that God has in us
to create a world free from conflict and suffering; a world at peace.”4
In the spiritual development of young people and education for human
flourishing, religious education can play an important part in encouraging open
discussion in a safe environment on issues directly relevant to young people’s
lives and in enabling a spiritual experience through exploring the spirituality at
the heart of faith, our connection with the Divine and the practice of silence.
Such education presents the possibility of a happy and fulfilled life and a better
society and a better world.
Notes
1. English Council for Outdoor Education, Training and Recreation; John Muir
Trust; Rank Foundation; Foundation for Outdoor Adventure; and World Voices
and Youth Clubs UK.
2. Brahma Kumaris at the United Nations booklet, p. 5.
3. Dadi Janki, the head of the Brahma Kumaris, is now 97 years old, a yogi for 77
years.
4. Dadi Janki’s speech given at the Brahma Kumaris International Youth Forum
held in 2010.
References
ACEVO Commission on Youth Unemployment. 2011. Youth Unemployment: The Crisis
We Cannot Afford. London: ACEVO.
Brahma Kumaris. 1993. Visions of a Better World. London: Brahma Kumaris Informa-
tion Services Ltd.
———. 2007. Brahma Kumaris at the United Nations. London: Brahma Kumaris Infor-
mation Services Ltd.
———. 2013. Living Our Values: An “Inside-Out” Approach to Change Your World for the
Better. London: Brahma Kumaris Information Services Ltd.
Brahma Kumaris and Wrekin Trust. 2011. Filling the Void Consultation. London:
Brahma Kumaris and Wrekin Trust.
Braybrooke, Marcus. 1996. A Wider Vision: A History of the World Congress of Faiths.
Oxford: Oneworld.
Crawford, Maria, and Graham Rossiter. 1996. “The Secular Spirituality of Youth: Impli-
cations for Religious Education.” British Journal of Religious Education 18:3.
de Hennezel, Marie. 2011. The Warmth of Your Heart Prevents Your Body from Rusting:
Ageing without Growing Old. Edited by Judy McFarland and Laura McFarland. Lon-
don: Palgrave Macmillan.
Delors, Jacques. 1996 Learning: The Treasure Within. Report of UNESCO Interna-
tional Commission on Education for the Twenty-First Century. Paris: UNESCO
Publishing.
Farrer, Frances. 2000 A Quiet Revolution: Encouraging Positive Values in Our Children.
London: Rider.
Goodman, Maureen. 2007/2008. “Diversity and Distinctiveness: Recognising the Rich
Diversity of Religious Traditions Present in Britain.” Shap Journal 30: 18–19.
Hay, David. 1985. “Suspicion of the Spiritual: Teaching Religion in a World of Secular
Experience.” British Journal of Religious Education 7 (1): 140–47.
Janki, Dadi. 2003. Companion of God. London: Brahma Kumaris Information Services
Ltd.
———. 2010.
Jayanti, BK. 2000. Spirituality in Daily Life. London: Brahma Kumaris Information
Services Ltd.
———. 2006. God’s Healing Power. New York: Sterling.
———. 2011. Experience the Healing Power of Silence. London: Brahma Kumaris World
Spiritual University.
Just This Day. 2011. http://www.justthisday.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/newsletter
_13.pdf.
Lees, Helen. 2012. Silence in Schools. Stoke on Trent: Trentham Books.
Loynes, Chris. 2012. “The Stoneleigh Project: A Case Study of Outdoor Youth Work
and Its Impact on Personal and Social Transformation.” PhD diss., Threshold Con-
sulting, the Stoneleigh Group and the Stoneleigh Project.
Priestley, Hilary A. 1997. Introduction to Integration. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
CHAPTER 8
Religious Education, Spirituality,

and Human Flourishing
Perspectives from the Sikh Dharam
Bhai Sahib Mohinder Singh

Chairman of the Guru Nanak Nishkam Sewak Jatha
T
his chapter introduces the idea that humanity has long shared a view
that our birth and existence in the world is a journey, and a drama,
whose mystery has baffled us. It shows how the Sikh dharam, or faith,
conceives of life as a journey, with an origin, a purpose, and a destination rooted
in the existence of God, whose presence is latent in all creation and can be man-
ifested in human beings through the cultivation of spiritual virtues. Outlining
Sikh teachings about the human condition, the challenge of the ego, and the
nature of the mind and spirit reframes and enlarges our vision of the purpose of
education. It introduces the concept of dharam as an ethos and practice for ful-
filling human life and describes its facets in the Sikh tradition, which recognizes
the interdependence of spiritual, secular, and social dimensions of human life.
This translates into a vision for education that acknowledges our multidimen-
sional needs, identities, and allegiances but also sees religion as integral to ask-
ing and responding to the deeper questions and broader visions and impulses
of human life. By presenting new perspectives and models for interpreting the
Sikh dharam from a practitioner’s perspective (while acknowledging the identi-
ties of those who associate with the faith from diverse standpoints), this chapter
suggests reframing religious education to make better sense of how the “parts”
(i.e., details of religious practice) fit into a comprehensive “whole” (i.e., the
overall purpose and vision). This can be extended to the need to enlarge our
118 O Bhai Sahib Mohinder Singh
vision of education as a whole, which can be missed when attending to curricu-

lar details. This chapter also suggests that “human fulfilment” should be seen
as the fruit of “human flourishing,” where educational success is defined in
terms of rising to the best in ourselves, living a worthy life, and departing from
this world with the richness that comes from the sustained practice of virtue.
Preamble
As humans, where have we come from?
What are we to do here in this life?
And what is our destination?
—Sri Guru Granth Sahib (1193)
Prosperous are those who travel this life as merchants of

naam;
Partner with them and earn this priceless wealth,
By reflecting on the Guru’s teachings.
Across the globe and the millennia, people have been enthralled by stories of
travel, dramatized by the challenges, pitfalls, wise choices, and good fortune
encountered along the way. Historical figures such as Marco Polo—the son of
jewel merchants, whose Eastern adventures lit up the imagination of medieval
Europe—loom large. Long before globalization, trading routes such as the Silk
Road had set the scene for commercial and cultural exchange between faraway
places. Pondering the mystery of our existence, we humans have long seen life
as a journey and a drama that, for everybody, must one day come to an end. Its
fleeting nature was epitomized by Shakespeare, whose verses I still recall from
my colonial schooling (as the son of Indian Sikh settlers in British East Africa,
in yet another story of human migration over the ages):
Out, out, brief candle!

Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more.
—Macbeth, act 5
I also grew up hearing, singing, reciting, and listening to the verses of Sri
Guru Granth Sahib. This is the voluminous sacred text that we Sikhs revere as
our eternal Guru or enlightener, a lifelong voice of wise counsel and encouraging
Religious Education, Spirituality, and Human Flourishing O 119
hope. If life is a journey, it prompts us to ask the big questions about our origin,
our destination, and—for the time we appear on life’s stage—our purpose. It
urges us to see our temporary stay as a golden opportunity: we arrive on and
depart from this planet as spiritual travelers, as traders whose business here is
to kindle the spark of the sacred inside us by dealing in the priceless jewel of
naam. For Sikhs, this means actively remembering the “divine name” and living
in communion with God, who is acknowledged as the source of the spirit and of
all virtues that characterize it.
Life’s challenge is to bring the selfish ego, which is part and parcel of our
chemistry, into control and to kindle, ignite, and augment our latent virtues.
This is what will uplift and enrich our individual and collective human lives.
The practice of virtue, as a living and working reality, is what counts as our
kamaai, or spiritual “earnings”; this is the only “wealth” that will accompany us
at the end of our sojourn. Instead of journeying aimlessly through life, with-
out agency or purpose, we can choose to orient ourselves in directions that
empower us to flourish rather than live as phantoms of our potential self. This
is our birthright and sacred responsibility. It is not a solitary pursuit but requires
partnership and association with others, communities of learning and practice,
in the midst of everyday life.
This preamble opens the scene for understanding education for human
flourishing from the perspective of Sikh sacred teachings. It is pertinent here to
unwrap the word Sikh, meaning “a learner,” linked to the Punjabi verb sikhna,
meaning “to learn,” and the Sanskrit term shishya, meaning “disciple.” From
the Sikh perspective, then, the purpose of education is closely bound up with
what we take to be the purpose of human life and how we learn from and
contribute to human society. The two inescapable facts of our life—birth and
death—compel us to ask, “What overarching vision of education must we have
in between?” and “What constitutes our flourishing and our success?”
This chapter offers some responses from the Sikh worldview, indicating its
key premises. It will show how the cultivation of both mind and spirit lies at the
heart of a holistic, socially engaged, God-conscious understanding of human
flourishing and fulfilment. It will, I hope, shed light on a range of pedagogical
approaches from within our heritage for keeping the focus on and working to
realize this vision. One approach in particular is the recognition we give to the
unseen and little-acknowledged power of value-rich human association, cre-
ating an atmosphere of hope and trust, optimism and possibility. I will end
with some glimpses of our recent initiatives in education from the founding of
nursery (in 2009), primary (in 2010), and secondary (in 2012) schools, where
we seek to draw on Sikh understandings of human flourishing to inform and
enrich lifelong education in secular and multifaith contexts. This process has
involved the reexamination and rearticulation of our distinctive heritage to
demonstrate the wider scope of its relevance. This has included reviewing the
uses of terminology and models of interpreting religion, an important issue that
will be aired throughout the chapter. What emerges will, I hope, suggest ways
of redefining religious education, both as a subject taught in schools and as a
religious faith nurtured in community settings. Moreover, I hope to show how
the religious perspective is integral, rather than optional, to the shaping of soci-
ety’s shared ethos for education, with the goal of living a fulfilled and worthy
human life at its center.
The Human Condition and Its Potential

Oh my mind, you embody the beauty of the divine flame
Recognize your origin and true identity.
Like the musk deer searching for the fragrant scent, not
realising it is within him,
So do we wander through life in delusion and doubt, not
realising our spiritual essence.
The idea that the spirit is integral to our being, alongside the body and mind,
is shared by a great many traditions. In Sikh teachings, the spirit is analogous
to a jyot, or flame, and is referred to as an atma (soul) dwelling in the hirda,
the innermost part of our being. As it is, this is unseen and intangible, yet
it is the most important constituent of the human being, without which we
cease to exist. Sikh teachings repeatedly underline the source of the spirit as
the infinite, all-encompassing Creator, who transcends and yet is immanent in
creation. This is evoked at the very start of Sri Guru Granth Sahib (and reiter-
ated throughout) as Ik Oankar, the eternal Oneness, whose naam, or “divine
name,” pervades and supports all that exists. To accept this is to acknowledge
that we are not strictly in control of our life—that there is a divine will and
divine grace in operation that sustain us, from the first rhythms of our heartbeat
to the last rhythms of our breath. Thus the conviction that God does exist
frames the understanding of the human spirit in the Sikh psyche. The spirit,
then, is not owned by humans or confined to their beings; its source and con-
nectivity lie beyond the mortal self. As the undying part of us, it is depicted as
youthful, green, and ever fresh.
We humans are at the same time a “cage of flesh, bones and veins” steered
in part by haumai, or the selfish ego: a necessary but challenging part of us that
serves our base instincts and needs. To be overpowered by haumai is destruc-

tive to ourselves and those around us, as it manifests itself through blind lust,
vengeance, greed, possessive ownership, arrogance, malice, deceit, and so on.
It makes us easy prey to forces that exploit our vulnerability to its power. This
leads to a loss of integrity, irresponsibility, hypocrisy, and corruption, which are
manifested in many personal and public spheres of life.
To be born as a human, according to the Sikh worldview, is to arrive at
the pinnacle of the most evolved of life forms, in the cycles of transmigration
across 8.4 million diverse species of life in whom the divine light is dormant.
Human life offers the unique opportunity to energize and mobilize the flame
of the spirit and thus live “in God’s image.” Pivotal to this is the cultivation of
the mind through our formative and lifelong social and educational exposure
in the world. The mind, or man (pronounced like “sun”), is the driver of our
thoughts, feelings, and actions. Capable of reasoning, sensing, and making
choices, it can be our worst enemy but is also potentially our best friend. It must
be touched, moved and motivated, and informed and inspired to free itself from
the reverse pull of the ego and rise up to the practice of virtue with confidence
and continuity. This engenders the lived qualities of compassion, love, humil-
ity, wisdom, courage, mercy, forgiveness, trust, and hope, along with purity of
thought, action, and deed. Thus the cultivation of the mind necessarily requires
the igniting and working of the spirit in tandem; the two are interconnected.
The Sikh sacred text draws on analogies from agriculture to describe this:
Consider your body as the field and, with your mind as the
plough, prepare the soil;
Irrigate it with the water of modesty and so do your
farming:
Sow in it the seed of naam [the evocation of God’s presence
within and without]
Make contentment the leveler and safeguard it with
humility.
With awe-inspired love directing your actions, the seed will
germinate
And you will reap a flourishing harvest in the home of your
being.
Thus the Sikh faith urges us to work toward a life that is saphal, or fruitful
(phal, meaning “fruit”), understanding that the goal of our flourishing, which
in Punjabi we call parphulat (phul, meaning “flower”), is to reap a rich har-
vest. It is an organic process based on the interplay of internal and external
conditions to enable growth and transformation. The formative stages of ger-

mination demand tender and vital attention to detail. It follows that in any
education for human flourishing, we must absolutely value our nine months in
the womb and early life experiences after birth. This requires great sensitivity
toward the child as a “traveler” into this life, bringing his or her own original-
ity, as we understand, from previous existences. It requires us to recognize the
fresh presence of innate virtue and wisdom in children. This prompts adults to
become role models by embodying the values that children can resonate with
and strengthen within themselves. Indeed, a key measure of our avasta (state or
level of spirituality) is revealed in how we nurture children and relate to those
of all ages in everyday life. Respect toward children and recognition of their
attributes are highlighted in the history of the ten Sikh Gurus through accounts
of the remarkable wisdom shown in their childhoods and the spectrum of ages
during which each served as Guru, the eighth Guru being a young child.
Dharam as an Educational Ethos and Practice

Through the course of one’s life, dharam can be seen to provide an ethos and
code of practice to nurture the best in us as humans by cultivating and harness-
ing the spiritual self as part of society and wider creation. In Punjabi, dharam
encompasses a vision and mission—a framework of values, dispositions, and
practices. The visible elements of dharmic practice can be seen as pedagogical
approaches for learning to embrace life as a divinely bequeathed responsibil-
ity. In our morning prayer of Jap Ji Sahib, the planet itself is regarded as a
dharamsal, or a school to practice dharam.
Dharam in Punjabi also identifies particular faiths. One can talk of the Sikh,
Hindu, or Buddhist dharam (which, through their overlapping history, may
be referred to as the dharmic faiths). A core principle of the Sikh ethos is to
accept the dignity of different heritages that espouse shared aims in distinctive
ways according to their evolution in the world. Interfaith dialogue is a notable
feature throughout the sacred text of Sri Guru Granth Sahib, where the Sikh
Gurus incorporated and engaged with the verse of spiritual luminaries from the
Hindu and Islamic traditions. Other verses are born out of Guru Nanak Dev
Ji’s epic journeys to the southern, northern, and eastern ends of the Indian sub-
continent and westward toward the Middle East, during which he encountered
a broad diversity of people. Crucially, the inclusion of intercultural, interfaith,
and interhuman dialogue shines a light on a shared human identity. This is
underlined in key verses such as “Aval Allah noor upaiya. . . ,” which urges that
all people have been created from the one divine light; hence no one can claim
to be better or dismiss others as worse. This was summed up by the tenth Guru,
who declared “Manas ki jaat sabhai ekai hee pehchanbo” and recognized the
human race as one family.
It is vital, I find, to employ the term dharam, rather than refer to “Sikhism”
(with its connotations of a passing trend or movement), or even “religion,” for
that matter, which is often only associated with dogma and ritual. Indeed, the
Sikh Gurus stepped outside the box of the taken-for-granted social manifesta-
tion of “religion” to throw the overall goal of living a worthy human life into
relief and, in turn, to promote purposeful religious practice. They highlighted
the risk of religion descending into superficial ritual, hypocrisy (pakhand),
oppression, and exploitation. A house (supposedly designed around functional-
ity and aesthetics) exhibiting grandeur is to no avail if it does not strictly serve
its purpose. Thus religious life, and the home of the human self, loses its worth
when divorced from pursuing its purpose. Religion requires a heart and soul to
infuse this purposefulness into its everyday mechanics—a task reflected in the
legacy of teachings and exemplary practice of the Sikh Gurus.
The word Guru means one who is capable of bringing light (ru) to a state
of spiritual darkness, fog, and confusion (gu). For Sikhs, “Guru” denotes the
ten consecutive founders of the faith, the body and word of the sacred text, as
well as an intangible guiding presence. By revealing dharam to us, the Guru
lifts us to see our condition and purpose more clearly, guiding and blessing us
to move forward. The early-morning spiritual ballad of Asa Ki Var explains that
the Guru’s capacity to “transform mortals into angels” is so cherished that even
if a hundred moons and a thousand suns were to simultaneously rise, without
the Guru’s wisdom, we would remain deep in a pit of internal darkness. Edu-
cation, it follows, must enable the illumination of the self and the lighting of
a path for self-betterment. Without this, both secular and religious scholarli-
ness are dead ends to spiritual growth: “Parhia moorakh ahkhiai, jit labh lobh
ahankar”—foolish is the person who is most learned, yet consumed by selfish
greed and arrogance.
According to the Sikh Gurus, the spiritual, secular, and social dimensions of
life are interconnected and mutually enhancing. This is reflected in the three-
fold “charter” for Sikh life, attributed to our first Guru: (1) naam japo, (2) kirat
karo, and (3) wand ke chhako. This can be summarized as “pray, work, share.” It
is not a statement of belief but a call to practical action in the context of indi-
vidual and collective life. It follows that education must (1) cultivate the spiri-
tual self; (2) support a strong work ethic enabling self-reliance and the qualities
of perseverance, productivity, and proactivity; and (3) nurture the impulse to
share and contribute, to be selfless and generous, and to value interdependence.
It must provide both aatmic giaan (spiritual wisdom) as well as duniaavi giaan
(secular knowledge) in parallel. Everyday learning in the context of family life
is also vital, hence the model exemplified by the Gurus of a grihasti jeevan, or
the “life of a householder,” as opposed to a reclusive life detached from society.
Dharmic Practices as Pedagogical Approaches

The goal of the Sikh dharam can be described as to empower one to lead a
meaningful life and to make a success of it. With this understanding, one is
better able see the dharmic practices as pedagogical approaches intended to
keep sight of and communicate its vision and work toward its fulfilment. This
requires an understanding of the role of ritual: to conserve and perpetuate the
meaningful core substance, just as the skull protects the substance of the brain,
in which the mind is located.
In this context, familiar facets of religious practice take on a new significance.
Rather than just a “place of worship,” the gurudwara becomes a dharamsal: a
kind of school for a community of learning and practice. With the scriptural
Guru as the teacher in residence, it is a place to rehearse and build confidence
in the core practices of simran (meditation), sewa (selfless service, most notably
through the tradition of langar, or the preparation and egalitarian serving of
blessed vegetarian food, to all visitors without discrimination), and kirtan (the
singing of scriptural verses). Kirtan, which is sometimes likened to “hymn sing-
ing” or “songs of praise,” should enable the building of a lifelong relationship
with the Guru’s message, allowing its meanings to unfold over time. Through
musical, rhythmic, and poetic expression, it is to be felt, as well as rationally
interpreted, as it is remembered, shared with others, and revisited. To be an ini-
tiated, or amritdhari, Sikh, is more than a status or identity; when understood
as an act of commitment to be a practitioner of the faith, it is a recognition
of growth that comes about from sustained and focused practice and humble
dedication. The Sikh identity is more than a narrow badge; it can be seen as a
personal and social signpost of values to be cherished, such as wise responsibil-
ity, leadership, and dignity (with the dastar, or turban), along with the need to
uphold ethics and foster restraint, to use power benevolently, to be at one with
the divine will, and to comb daily through our negativity (associated with the
panj kakkar, known popularly as the 5 Ks).
Significantly, in Sikh tradition, great value is given to social learning, beyond
intellectual learning in isolation. The term sangat is often translated as “con-
gregation.” It more broadly denotes the company we keep and the learning
fostered through sharing a presence with others—in particular, with those who
have spiritually cultivated the self and embody values in action. Such sharing
creates conducive environments where learning and transformation can imper-
ceptibly take place, beyond direct instruction, through models of application
and the imparting of “blessings” through positive intent for one another. Just
as one’s spiritual essence can be understood metaphorically as a fragrance,

so too is the intangible process of transformation that unfolds through the
medium of sangat:
The Lord is the philosopher’s stone and sandalwood;

I am but iron and dry wood, transformed into gold and
sandalwood
through connecting to my Creator and associating with the
enlightened ones.
Infusing a Complementary Sikh Ethos in Contemporary Education

As Sikhs, from generation to generation and through migration, we have
encountered losses and gains. Weighing them, we must ask how best to move
forward as mortals with triple allegiances: as secular citizens of our respec-
tive nations; as “spiritual citizens” of the planet (with God-granted residency
here on Earth); and as inheritors of the Sikh legacy bequeathed to us. It is perti-
nent to point out here that the Sikh faith is not a proselytizing one; hence most
Sikhs are of Punjabi origin and are born into their religious tradition.
In the first major wave of postwar migration to the United Kingdom, we
arrived mostly as economic migrants, facing some prejudices but intending to
return home to India. When it transpired, through a number of factors, that we
would stay and settle in the West, there was a movement to adopt, and some-
times ape, the culture of our newfound residency, doing as the Romans would
when in Rome, so to speak. For the most part, we interpreted and transmitted
the faith as best we could in an ad hoc way, with limited human and institu-
tional resources. Today we are at a juncture, caught between varying degrees
of losses and gains—for example, in terms of language and culture, as well as
conceptual thinking. We also have better opportunities across the Sikh diaspora
to reflect on our faith and widen the scope of its application for the purpose of
both conserving our heritage and adapting and innovating for the future in a
shared world.
It is this multidimensional vision that propels our endeavors in education
through the establishment of our first Sikh-ethos, multifaith nursery, primary,
and secondary schools. We also support lifelong education in other contexts
in the UK and overseas in India and East Africa, where lie the roots of Guru
Nanak Nishkam Sewak Jatha, the faith-based organization that I humbly serve
as a leader. Through a multitude of projects, it seeks to imbue conventional
educational and social provisioning with a Sikh ethos to serve the common
good, as well as identify and pass down knowledge and skills to make sense of
and draw learning from the Sikh heritage. The following are our educational
initiatives practiced at Nishkam Schools.
Departing from the ordinary in educational provision. In many aspects, these
initiatives have involved several departures from the ordinary. The infrastruc-
ture development has been rooted in the concept of kar sewa, or self-help
community participation through mobilizing volunteers of all ages who have
selflessly contributed their time, knowledge, goodwill, and professional skills.
This has engendered a sense of shared ownership, a passion to serve others, and
a feeling, reported by many people, of love permeating the physical structure!
This sets a tone that is very different from that of projects based on purely com-
mercial intents. We continue to resist the provision of education within office
or industrial-type buildings that perpetuate a model of education as machine-
like mass instruction.
Appreciating both value-centered heritage conservation and social innovation.
Some aspects of the education project near our headquarters in Birmingham,
England, have required some ingenuity in order to link up restored, listed heri-
tage buildings with modern, aesthetically pleasing extensions to form a school.
Beyond the conservation of bricks and mortar, our vision is to conserve virtues
and values to foster human integrity and character. This was spurred by our
participation in the revision of the locally Agreed Syllabus for Religious Educa-
tion in Birmingham, published in 2007. Developed collaboratively through the
work of the local SACRE (Standing Advisory Committee for Religious Edu-
cation), it is based on a framework of 24 faith-inspired spiritual and moral
dispositions, forming a basis for engagement with secular approaches and high-
lighting the role religious education (RE) may play in broader human devel-
opment. Building on this work, we have been mapping out the qualities or
credentials of an “exalted,” spiritually elevated human being, from a Sikh and
Punjabi language perspective, based on concepts reiterated in our sacred text
and oral traditions. We have attempted to describe them conceptually, as well
as to identify the skills of embodying them in practice, drawing on examples
from our own faith, other faiths, and the wider world. The Sikh-ethos approach
makes essential this multifaith dimension, which we seek to pursue proactively
rather than by default in reaction to the thrust of local social diversity.
Integrating national, local, and Sikh-dharmic educational frameworks. Together
with the nursery, the schools integrate a nationally agreed framework for educa-
tion, the dispositions framework extracted from the city’s locally agreed multi-
faith syllabus for RE, and our emerging framework of dharmic qualities drawn
from Sikh heritage. It is our hope that these projects demonstrate the scope
for enabling a “cohesion” of approaches to support the flourishing of children
alongside that of the community and wider society taking shared responsibility
for their upbringing and education.
The motto for the Nishkam Schools is “man neeva, mat uchi,” which frames
our endeavors in the dual aspiration of being “humble, yet wise.” Humility for
us is the first rung in the cultivation of the spirit, joined by the aspiration to be
elevated in our thinking and to excel in what we do.
Acknowledging the significance of relationships and a caring environment. The
first project of the Nishkam Nursery marked a starting point in acknowledging
the importance of environment and the quality of our human relationships and
associations to nurture both children and the adult self. In this way, values can
be cultivated through practical exposure rather than enforced through “police
rule.” As an early-years setting, it stimulated questions about the most impor-
tant needs of children at the start of life: the need for love, warmth, security,
and nourishment provided by close family relationships was brought to the
foreground, highlighting wholesome well-being and confidence as vital precur-
sors to formal education. The nursery building itself was carefully restored to
preserve its Georgian features as a former home, such as fireplaces and sash win-
dows. The addressing of staff as “Masi Ji” (mother’s sister) or “Mama Ji” (moth-
er’s brother), along with the loving preparation and serving of fresh, nutritious
vegetarian meals, reinforces the atmosphere of family, which is often missing
amid the pressures of contemporary life.
Affirming religion’s integral role in education. It has been important for us to
ground notions of the spiritual in religious heritage(s), where its centrality
to human life, learning, and transformation has long been articulated and prac-
ticed. This is why we have favored the physical proximity of the schools to the
gurudwara as a center of faith reflection and practice. Where this is not pos-
sible, we have considered incorporating dome features into the school design
as a reminder of the sacred dimension that we see underpinning all educational
endeavors.
Implications for Religious Education and Education More Widely

The view into Sikh dharam, from the vantage point of this book, resonates
with the very purpose of our faith—to foster learning (sikhya) for human flour-
ishing and fulfilment. It has provided an opportunity to examine how a reli-
gious heritage can be studied and drawn upon as a school for the cultivation
of the human mind and spirit. This process can, in turn, permeate and uplift
all areas of human endeavors. I have shared my understandings humbly, as a
practitioner of the Sikh faith with a role in religious leadership, in the hope that
they may provide insights useful to religious education scholars and teachers, as
well as those interested more broadly in educational philosophy and pedagogy.

In conclusion, I offer the following five points as the basis for further reflection.
The reshaping of our educational models to address the “whole.” It is my hope
that these reflections have highlighted the need to adjust our models for making
sense of religious traditions, to meaningfully “learn about” them, in order to
better “learn from” them, whatever our background. Invariably, the introduc-
tory categories conventional to the study of religions, such as “beliefs,” “cer-
emonies,” “festivals,” and “symbols,” foreground culturally unfamiliar details
and tend to lose the big picture. And so it is, in the case of schooling itself,
that preoccupation with fragmented elements of the curriculum risks losing the
coherence of a wider vision or purpose. At every level of life, as I often stop to
stress, we must do our best to be conscious of how any given “parts” fit into a
broader “whole.”
The paradox of religious identification. This chapter has no doubt brought
to light a paradox of the Sikh faith: at one level, our religious and other labels
are considered secondary; what counts in the end is the quality of our being.
At another, it is from a position of commitment, focus, and being “grounded”
in the world that we are able to set to the task of cultivation. Thus to speak in
terms of the spirit or of spirituality is a useful exercise, identifying the part of
us that is beyond worldly labels and transcends worldly divides. At the same
time, these terms have come to be used, in a more secular context, to disregard,
so to speak, the role of religion in such cultivation.
The dignity and nuance of nontranslated concepts. Faith is another word that
has come to the fore, which, insofar as it extends to ideas of trust and hope, is a
useful term that encapsulates the religious worldview and sensibility. As I have
sought to highlight here, in centering the chapter on the concept of dharam,
there is a need to allow for the dignity of voices and words from non-English
linguistic and cultural traditions, which carry their own nuances and contexts
of meaning. In this regard, translations are a poor substitute for the original, at
best diluting definitions and at worst distorting meanings. This is indeed a chal-
lenge for intercultural and interreligious dialogue and exchanges.
Religious self-understanding as key to interreligious dialogue. I have often
adamantly stated that interreligious and intercultural dialogue and cohesion
depend on enabling distinctive religions and cultures to reflect on, practice,
and innovate their own heritages. Without the opportunity to build secure and
healthy understandings of one’s history and “community,” there is no level play-
ing field for meaningful and constructive exchanges. Our interest lies in gener-
ating a qualitative understanding of the Sikh faith commitment as an initiated
practitioner while acknowledging that people embrace and associate with the
Sikh dharam through diverse ways of belonging.
I hope that perspectives from this chapter will contribute to the nurturing
of Sikh community-based faith, as well as the subject of religious education
in schools. These reflections hope to carry the significance of religion beyond
the confines of “Sunday school” to resonate with our deepest convictions and
aspirations about being human. As such, the gaze of the Sikh dharam is set at a
broad horizon, to seek sarbat da bhalla, or the wider well-being of all.
CHAPTER 9
Religious Education, Spirituality,

and Flourishing
A Seon Practitioner’s Perspective
Jinwol Y. H. Lee
Dongguk University, Korea
Introduction
T
oday, humanity faces unprecedented challenges as secularism and mate-
rialism dominate. Concepts such as religion and spirituality are essen-
tial, many believe, for humanity to sustain a meaningful culture for the
future. In the context of increased consumerism and growing materialistic pur-
suit, it is necessary to determine what it means for humans to truly thrive and
prosper. As we have witnessed, a purely economic view of development further
spreads a selfish, careless, and unsustainable approach to growth and to the pur-
suit of “happiness.” To counter such a breakdown of human integrity, religious
teachings and spiritual practices could offer wisdom in helping us understand
what constitutes true happiness and a flourishing life and how we can live our
lives in harmony with human nature, the natural world, and the rhythm of the
universe. Often teachings from different traditions provide guidance not only
for the individuals within their own religious communities but also for people
of other faiths, as well as people of no religion. For me, this characterizes an
education of religion.
As a Buddhist monk and a Seon (Zen) practitioner and professor, I would
like to reflect on religion and religious education and how they contribute to
the spiritual growth of human beings with the purpose of overcoming the chal-
lenges confronting humanity in our time. I will first review the key concepts
132 O Jinwol Y. H. Lee
from the perspective of Zen Buddhism, but not exclusively, and then I will sug-
gest why Seon, a form of Buddhist meditation, is a relevant practical approach
to education for enriching humanity.
Conceptual Reflection
In this book, three concepts are considered together: flourishing, spirituality,
and religious education. So I will explore their intertwinedness and intercon-
nectedness through the following conceptual tour.
Flourishing
From a Zen Buddhist perspective, the phrase “human flourishing” emphasizes
primarily the unfolding of human qualities embodied in individuals in contrast
to those of God, animals, or matter, including qualities such as self-reflection,
self-awareness, mindfulness, inner peacefulness, consideration, and good rela-
tionships with others, as well as the achievement of prosperity, fulfillment, and
happiness in life, all of which go beyond economic and materialistic concerns.
Also implied are qualities such as freedom, justice, peace, and love, not only at
the individual level but also in communal and social dimensions. When con-
ceptualizing flourishing from the angle of human qualities, both as individuals
and as members of collectives, ideas such as human rights, welfare, the cultural
environment, social conditions, and institutional structures must be taken into
account alongside political and economic considerations.
As a human being is a whole being with a body, mind, and soul or spirit, our
understanding of flourishing should include both physical and metaphysical
aspects. In this way, we should pay equal attention, if not more, to the spiritual
dimension, which is an integral part of a person and therefore part of one’s
flourishing. When considered from these perspectives, a flourishing life is free
from the domination of materialism and can contribute to a more balanced,
wholesome, and holistic human society.
Spirituality
Spirituality refers to “the nature of spirit” in Korean.1 It is the metaphysical
aspect of human nature. It can refer to an ultimate immaterial reality or an
inner path that can enable a person to discover the essence of his or her being or
the supreme values and meanings to which each person aspires in his or her life.
Spiritual practices are abundant, and meditation, contemplation, and prayer
are a few of the major practices that aim to develop an individual’s inner life
and to enable one to experience enlightenment or connection with the ultimate
reality or nature.
Religious Education, Spirituality, and Flourishing O 133
Spirituality is often perceived as a source of inspiration or orientation in life.

In general, many religions regard spirituality as central to a religious experi-
ence. I think that spirituality is linked to attitudes, virtues, and traits such as
contentment, harmony, compassion, and benevolent care for others. Spiritual
experiences can transcend materialist views of the world without necessarily
requiring belief in a divine being. Meditation and mindfulness as practiced in
Zen Buddhism can be an avenue through which people find fulfillment and
peace without any religious explanation. In this context, spirituality is consid-
ered to be the sublimation of mental activities in order to achieve clarity and
purity of thought.
The spiritual allows us to seek meaning and values in life and requires both
inner practice and outward service. Compassion is often understood as the
manifestation of spiritual attainment. It is notable that spirituality is not bound
to any particular religious tradition but pertains to all religions. As spirituality
is part of human nature, various spiritual pathways thus stress the importance
of finding or returning to one’s own nature.
Spiritual growth is also understood as the development of inner peace, the
foundations of happiness/contentment, and personal well-being. Therefore, it
can be said that without spirituality, there can be no human flourishing.
Religious Education
Religion is understood in the Korean language as “teaching of the highest level.”2
However, it also refers to a spiritual or religious community or organization, as
well as the enlightened teachings of sages. History shows that the development
of religion has taken different forms in different cultures. Thus many languages
have words that can be translated as “religion” but may be used in a very differ-
ent way, while others have no word for religion at all. For instance, Dharma, a
Sanskrit word in Buddhism, could be translated as “reality,” “law,” or “duty” as
well as “truth” and the “teachings of the Buddha” (Enlightened One). There-
fore, it is important to understand how these terms are appropriately used in
their cultural and religious contexts.3
Religion is sometimes perceived instrumentally, as it helps people deal with
the persistent and unbearable problems of human life, such as sickness and
death. Religious beliefs provide a set of ideas, including why and how the world
is “created” and how individuals should live their lives according to the “divine
design,” which in turn can allow people to find their places in the wider scheme
of things, to cope with suffering, and to manage misfortune and anxiety.
At the same time, religion can be an embodiment of goodness and virtues
through practices and rituals that can offer the individual a subjective experi-
ence of the spiritual. Often such a subjective experience of the spiritual can
result in an individual’s moral attitudes and ethical sensibilities. These further
encourage the person to pursue an ethical life, which would be seen as part of
one’s flourishing.
In addition, whether claiming to be open to all and to share universal prin-
ciples, common values, and worldviews or intending to be closed and to limit
the practices and worship to exclusive membership, religion tends to play a
proactive role in society, educating the young, comforting the sick and needy,
supporting the vulnerable, building relationships, and providing general public
services. In multireligious and pluralistic societies, interreligious dialogue and
cooperation for peace and harmony are common aspirations.
An education of and from religion can contribute to the development of a
child into a complete and mature person.4 In its broad sense, education is the
means through which the meaning, purposes, and culture of a community or
society can be carried forward from one generation to the next. Generally, this is
achieved by nurturing the individual’s potential and cultivating his or her way of
being and acting. In its narrow sense, education is the formal process by which
society deliberately transmits its accumulated culture, including knowledge,
skills, and customs, from generation to generation. Spirituality is an important
aspect of education, and the teaching of different (religious) traditions not only
helps enrich each individual’s life but also helps young people understand oth-
ers. Religious education, by initiating young people into practices and rituals,
can bring about deeper change in the individual, which through his or her
action in the world helps transform the world.
Seon Practice
As a practitioner, I think that Seon could be an important practice in religious
education and spiritual cultivation of Buddhism. Therefore, I outline its back-
ground, history, practice, and experience in order to offer the reader an idea of
what it means to achieve spiritual growth through Seon.
Background
Seon is the Korean equivalent of the Chinese word Chan, which in turn is
derived from the Sanskrit word Dhyâna, which translates as “meditation” or
“concentration.” The Japanese form of the Chinese word Chan is Zen, which
has been popular with English speakers since some Japanese first introduced it
to the West. Seon (Chan/Zen) is classified as a school of Mahayana Buddhism
from East Asia that mostly developed in China during the sixth century CE as
a meditation practice–oriented tradition.5 Traditionally, Seon emphasizes medi-
tation to attain “enlightenment,” which generates “wisdom” and “compassion”
for all sentient beings. As such, it deemphasizes theoretical knowledge in favor
of direct self-realization and knowledge through the practice of meditation. In
addition to meditation, Seon stresses asceticism, through which the individual

can maintain a mindful and simple lifestyle.
It is known that Buddhism was introduced from China to Korea in the
fourth century and was adopted as the official state religion during the Three
Kingdoms (Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla) and Unified Silla Kingdom (668–
935), which used Buddhism as the spiritual force to unite the peninsula. It
was also the driving force behind the cultural and spiritual development of
the region. Seon was introduced to Korea in the eighth century by the Vener-
able Doeui Myeongjeok, a Korean Buddhist monk known as the Patriarchal
Founder of the Jogye Order, which is the major Buddhist order in Korea today.
It is notable that Seon added another spiritual dimension to the philosophi-
cal advances led by the scholastic Buddhists: an intuitive practice. During the
Goryeo dynasty (918–1392), Buddhism became a national unifying factor
and the basis of further national and cultural flourishing. In the middle of the
Goryeo dynasty, Seon Master Bojo Jinul (1158–1210) established a Suseonsa
monastery, where he tried to integrate meditative practice with doctrinal stud-
ies to form one system. There he introduced the Hwadu meditation practice
later promoted by National Master Taego Bou (1301–82) as the main Korean
form of meditation (Cleary 1988). During the Goryeo dynasty, Buddhist orders
diversified and flourished but were eventually integrated into the Jogye Order,
which emphasizes Seon practice.
Seon Practice
Seon practice in general, and Ganhwaseon (observing Hwadu meditation) in
particular, has been recognized and performed in Korea as the best of all Bud-
dhist practices to attain enlightenment (Dongguk Institute 2010). Seon train-
ing emphasizes practicing meditation; although awakening or enlightenment is
the ultimate goal, no matter where one is, nevertheless one should always be
aware of being in the here and now.6 According to tradition, Seon originated in
India as a transcendental, nonverbal Dharma, which was transmitted directly by
the Buddha to Mahakashapa, one of his principal disciples, and then continued
to the present by transmission from a master to disciples, mind to mind.7 It
was taken to China by Bodhidharma, an Indian Buddhist master, in the sixth
century, where it was subsequently transmitted to other parts of Asia. Though
the traditions have spawned numerous lineages, they all share two elements: a
metaphysical system postulating that reality is essentially empty and a stress on
the practice of meditation. Distinct from many other Buddhist traditions, Seon
does not rely on religious texts and verbal discourse for metaphysical questions.
Seon holds that such questions can lead the practitioner to seek the direct,
intuitive perception of the nature of Buddha. Seon can be practiced anywhere
and at any time because it is dependent on a single mind or intention regardless

of any particular conditions.
Although various ways and forms of meditation are practiced throughout
the world, Ganhwaseon is most known and widely practiced in the Korean
tradition. It was originally derived from China and modified by Korean mas-
ters such as Doeui and Taego.8 Ganhwaseon is the major method of the Jogye
Order in Korea. Most Seon Buddhists practice Ganhwa not only during sitting
meditation (Jwaseon) and walking meditation (Haengseon) but also through all
the activities of daily life. A Hwadu is part of Gongan, literally meaning “public
case,” a story or dialogue generally related to Seon or other Buddhist history.
The most typical form is the anecdote involving early Seon masters in China,
which is a practical demonstration of their wisdom and skillful actions in situa-
tions and can be used to practice and assess a student’s progress in Seon. In fact,
Gongans often appear to be paradoxical or logically meaningless dialogues. For
instance, when a practitioner asked Chan Master Dongshan Shouchu (910–
90), “What is the Buddha?” the Master replied, “Three pounds of flax.” In this
case, the question-and-answer dialogue is called a Gongan; the phrase “Three
pounds of flax” is called a Hwadu, which popped out from the master’s mind.
Here, Ganhwa (observing Hwadu) means that one should question the phrase
intuitively, as in “Why did the Master say, ‘Three pounds of flax’?” when con-
centrating or contemplating in an attempt to understand or to realize directly
the intention of the Master. When a practitioner eventually arrives at the correct
answer through the Hwadu, he or she could be recognized as a Buddha, the
Enlightened One, perceiving the nature of oneself and the world.
However, to Seon practitioners, the Gongan refers to the place and the time
or the event where the truth reveals itself. It is most important that Ganhwaseon
requires a practitioner not to think conceptually and logically about a Gon-
gan but to concentrate, using intuition, on a Hwadu so that, like creativity in
art, the appropriate insight and response arise naturally and spontaneously
in the mind.
The Experience of Enlightenment

If one conquers the hwadu and is awakened, it is like waking from a dream . . .
the world, like space, is boundless and limitless. All the things that exist in it are
equal, lacking superior or inferior, valued and despised, intimate and estranged,
right and wrong. There is only a world of no oppositions or troubles, and no
strife. Moreover, all existences being united into one, to do something for another
is to do it for oneself, and to do something for oneself is to do it for another. If
one is enlightened, one is independent, autonomous, voluntary and positive, and
for one and for others there is limitless benevolence, and in all favorable and con-
trary realms, one becomes a person of great freedom who is independent. These
dynamic phenomena cannot be explained with words and cannot be expressed

in writing. It is the same principle as the person themselves having to drink the
water themselves and only then do they know if it is hot or cold. That being so,
enlightenment does not mean that there is a separate world. It is only the charac-
teristic of life that one obviously lives here and now as the enlightened correctly
handle all things ceaselessly with a mind that has nothing to do, a mind that is
at leisure.9
The preceding quote is a statement about Seon enlightenment describing what

enlightenment is and what the world of enlightenment is about, based on the
records of the Chan Masters Yuanwu (1063–1125) and Dahui (1089–1163).
As the statement reveals, “it is the same principle as the person themselves hav-
ing to drink the water themselves, and only then do they know if it is hot
or cold”: only those who have drunk the water of enlightenment can prop-
erly communicate with each other through their common experiences without
explanation. The Enlightened being is able to see reality through spiritual eyes
and enjoy limitless freedom from delusion and defilement.
Accepting the argument that “these dynamic phenomena cannot be
explained with words and cannot be expressed in writing,” it is, however, neces-
sary to consider the subject briefly in terms of common sense. The statement
“if one conquers the hwadu and is awakened, it is like waking from a dream”
indicates that the enlightened state is a return to the original nature of normal-
ity, free from ignorance and defilement. Moreover, for the Enlightened, “all
existences [are] united into one,” and the Enlightened One “becomes a person
of great freedom.” These observations indicate that the state of an enlightened
being is to become one with others and the universe without any dichotomous
discrimination in order to attain a peaceful and harmonious world where there
are no conflicts or suffering. It is worthy of further note that, as stated earlier,
enlightened beings show “the characteristic of life that one obviously lives here
and now.” It is clear that an enlightened being does not enjoy his or her state
alone but aims to share it with others in society.10 The Enlightened One could
be like a Bodhisattva (referring the enlightened being) working or living for
people through wisdom and compassion, appearing as a compassionate social
teacher or a selfless public servant. Ordinary people would not be able to see or
know the spiritual state of the enlightened being, but they could observe or feel
the action and living of that person. We cannot properly understand the state
of enlightenment of Shakyamuni (Gautama Siddartha), but we can appreci-
ate even a small part of his compassionate teaching and living for all sentient
beings.
A Story of Korean Seon Masters

As the stories of Seon masters are always an important part of Seon teachings, I
will refer to one of the stories here.
It is known that Seon Master Cheongher (1520–1604) was a reviver of Bud-
dhism, as well as of the Korean Seon tradition, in the Joseon period (1392–
1910) in Korea through his Gatha (verses) of enlightenment: “Having properly
sat for ten years and concentrated on my mind-nature, I attained generosity as
even birds of the deep forests are not frightened of me. Since the rainstorm was
impetuous at pine pond last night, the fish produced a horn and the crane cried
three times.”11
The later parts of the Gatha might seem to be unusual expressions, but they
symbolically show his state of mind after the experience of attaining enlighten-
ment. The Gatha reveal that Cheongher had practiced Seon through sitting
meditation, focusing on his mind on the mountain, where he became one with
nature, including with the birds of the deep forest and the fish in the pond.
Once he had attained enlightenment, he spent the rest of his life serving the
people of the country, including a military engagement defending his country
against a Japanese invasion, as well as teaching his disciples and practitioners
nationwide. He also left some books about Seon for practitioners, as well as
others such as Samgaguigam (The Spiritual Mirror for the Three Religions:
Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism) for religious people. It can be said that
Cheongheo’s life is an ideal example of a Seon practitioner who practiced Patri-
archal Seon, attained enlightenment, and then served the people of his country
as a Mahayana Bodhisattva.
Personal Experience
Now I recount my own Seon experience because I should not only talk about
the tradition and the experience of others but necessarily include my own story
as testimony to the subject.
I had two experiences similar to the statement cited earlier: one during
the 1970 Winter Retreat at Hain Monastery and the other during the 1976
Winter Retreat at Inwoljeongsa Hermitage on Mt. Jogye.12 The first was com-
memorating Buddha’s Enlightenment Day in 1971, and I had intensively prac-
ticed meditation for a week. I considered and resolved to follow Siddhartha,
who meditated without eating or sleeping for a week before he attained enlight-
enment under the Bodhi tree in Bodhgaya on December 8 of the lunar calen-
dar, according to the East Asian tradition. I kept my resolution for the period of
meditation. However, at the end, during the morning of Buddha’s Enlighten-
ment Day, it was snowing, and I felt the peak experience of my practice. From
the commonsense aspect, my body and mind were very tired and groggy, since
I had neither taken any food nor slept but only sat and walked, concentrating
on the Hwadu for a week, from the first to the eighth of December. Contrary
to normal conjecture, however, I was full of joy and feelings of lightness and
bodily ease—refreshed and renewed. I then visited the Most Venerable Goam,
the Supreme Patriarch of the Jogye Order, and asked him to check my state.
He said to me, “Tell me a phrase.” I replied, prostrating in front of him, “To
open the mouth would be mistaken, to move the tongue would be a lie.” Then
he positively confirmed, “You have practiced hard, great! That is as right as
Suchness.”
In the 1976 Winter Retreat, I practiced Seon at a hermitage near the top of
Mt. Jogye. In the early morning, when I saw a candle flame moving in the wind
coming through a crack in the wall, I had a breakthrough and experienced the
Suchness of the moment. It was like awakening from a dream, and my mind felt
like limitless space, peace, and freedom, while all visible objects seemed to be as
one. A Gatha came out from the state of my mind: “Having carried the ‘Three
Pounds of Flax’ for eight years, I eventually understood Dongshan Shouchu on
this morning. It was troublesome having to carry that on my back at all times,
but now I have become serene, without any worry, and joyful.”
It was about eight years after I had started to practice Hwadu. I had continu-
ously concentrated on Hwadu and felt it was so heavy to carry out everywhere
and at all times. But on that morning, suddenly, I captured and realized the
intention of Chan Master Dongshan, at the moment the candle flame moved in
the wind. It seems I encountered him in that moment, having wandered around
in search of him for eight years. It was truly wonderful, like having a bright
electric light in a dark space. I composed a Gatha to celebrate: “True Nature
is supremely mystical, beyond thinking and talking about. Moon lightens the
Dharma Realm without any hindrance. Walking around the ancient patriarchal
garden of Mt. Jogye, I’m singing joyfully the ‘Song beyond Kalpa.’”
I was awesomely moved by the reality of the teachings of the Buddha and
Patriarchs, which have no falseness or vanity but only wonderful blessings
and success—like dropping one’s load after a long and hard mountain climb.13
Seon Practice as Religious Education

As illustrated earlier, Seon practice is a pathway for spiritual development as an
inner cultivation of the mind. It is relevant as part of a curriculum for holistic
education whereby spirituality and morality are valued to counterbalance super-
ficial knowledge and skills. In fact, Dongguk University, which has more than
thirty thousand students at four campuses, including one in the United States,
offers a course titled “The Self and Meditation” to help cultivate students’ per-
sonal identities and spirituality. A basic meditation class is a requirement for all
students to graduate. “Understanding and Sitting Seon Practice” is a selective

course, and “Sitting Seon Practice” is a major course in the Department of Seon
Studies at the university. These classes are also open to anyone who wants to
take such courses, no matter what they believe and what they are majoring in.
Those classes are well known and popular with students, and they are recog-
nized by Korean society for their positive effects on young people in general.
Seon meditation programs have been offered in Buddhist temples around
Korea since 2002 and have attracted many participants from within and with-
out Korea, including both Buddhists and non-Buddhists and people of religion
and people of nonreligion. In fact, it is known that Seon is practiced by people
of various religions for their own spiritual cultivation. Nowadays, there are
many Seon or Zen centers around the world, extending beyond religious and
cultural boundaries. In many countries, meditation such as Seon practice has
been introduced in prisons for spiritual education and has had a great impact
on reforming the outlook of offenders.
Today in Korea, Seon meditation practice is favored at all levels of school-
ing, from preschool to middle and high school. Seon meditation practice helps
a young person realize his or her individual identity and responsibility. It does
not require much knowledge of religion or complicated preparation. Instead,
it only expects a simple and sincere mind to carry out the meditation practice.
Meditation helps purify and calm one’s mind, improve critical thinking and
reflection, and cultivate one’s ability or spiritual capacity for concentration and
mindfulness.
In terms of religious and spiritual education for 14- to 18-year-olds, Seon
practice is regarded as most important and indispensable for cultivating their
minds and nurturing their potential for the future. In general, young people at
adolescence are very sensitive and vulnerable, as they are not yet fully mature.
In my view, they should not be forced or pushed into a sectarian or denomina-
tional belief system. Instead, they must be offered opportunities to experience
diverse practices so that they can have a free choice.
I believe every school could offer a meditation class without the need for a
Seon master because every teacher could take time to lead students in silence
to concentrate and seek their own nature with a Hwadu, for instance. The
teacher can help by posing questions such as “Who am I?” and “What was
my original face before my mother gave birth to me?” It may be akin to what
Socrates proposed: “Know thyself.” However, Seon takes a different way: an
intuitive approach to the mind through concentration, not through acquiring
knowledge but through deep personal experience. I believe that practical train-
ing and workshops could provide an educational opportunity for students to
balance their educational development and enable them to flourish as social and
human beings.
Conclusion
In this chapter, I outlined the relationships among flourishing, spirituality, and
religious education. These set up the basis of my standpoint and argument for
Seon practice as a pathway for religious education. Using Seon practice, a Seon
master’s story, and my personal stories as illustrations, I maintain that medita-
tion practice, such as Seon, is essential to cultivating and developing humanity
or to re(dis)covering our fundamental human nature beyond any cultural, reli-
gious, or national boundaries. I think that if the mind is pure, bright, peaceful,
and happy, speech and action will be just as good, smart, and compassionate. As
an old Korean saying goes, “If the Mind is clear and pure, the land is clear and
pure.” The idea is that if we wish to change the world, we should first transform
our minds. Many people are interested in human well-being and are concerned
about the imbalance of body, mind, and spirit at a time when society seems to
be more materialistic and the world is less humane. More and more people seem
to pay less attention to their inner worlds and more attention to external things.
Thus more thoughtful consideration is necessary to help redirect people’s atten-
tion to the inner, through meditation or otherwise, in order to experience true
well-being that resides in their spiritual lives. Indeed, inner calmness and world
peace are two sides of the same coin, which can be shared and common to all.
In conclusion, religious education can have a great part to play in support-
ing the spiritual growth of individuals. I suggest that this should be achieved
through a deeper, innermost experience that is often the result of some kind of
religious experience. Seon meditation is one such example that people of all reli-
gions—or no religion or spiritual tradition—can practice in order to enlighten
their natures and enrich their internal worlds. There are, I am sure, other similar
religious and spiritual practices that can be introduced to education and school-
ing as part of a formal curriculum or as workshops and extracurricular activities.
To support the spiritual growth of students, there ought to be an association
of spiritual educators who could work together and receive support from each
other so as to provide a holistic education.
Notes
1. “Spirituality” is equivalent to Yeongseong in Korean. Yeongseong means “the
nature” (seong) of “spirit” (yeong) and refers to the highest quality of a human
being.
2. “Religion” is equivalent to Jonggyo in Korean—a compound word that originally
consisted of “jong” (top or ridge) and “gyo” (teaching), which literally means
“supreme teaching.”
3. In general, it could be said that religion is a collection of belief systems, cultural
systems, and worldviews that establishes rituals with symbols that relate spiritual
and moral values to humans. Most religions have their own histories, traditions,
symbols, and narratives that give meaning to life and the universe. They tend to
create religious rules, morality, and a preferred lifestyle from their ideas about
the cosmos and human nature. The word religion is often used interchangeably
with faith or belief system, but religion differs from private or individual belief in
that it has a public aspect. Most religions have practical regulations, including
professional hierarchies and a definition of what constitutes adherence or congre-
gations of laity.
4. The equivalent Korean word for “education” is Gyoyuk, which literally means
“teaching” (gyo) and “growing” (yuk) a child or a student into an ideal and
mature person.
5. It is known that Dhyana (Chan) was introduced to China by an Indian Buddhist
master, Bodhidharma, who has been recognized as the Twenty-eighth Patriarchal
Master in India and the First Patriarchal Master of China in Chan tradition.
6. Attaining enlightenment means to attain Buddhahood or become a Buddha
(Enlightened One). Enlightenment, or awakening, refers to knowing the real-
ity or nature of oneself and the world, as well as the completion of wisdom
and freedom from transmigration. Seon is characterized by mental and spiritual
discipline, calmness, austerity, and effort. Seon asserts, as do other schools in
Mahayana Buddhism, that all sentient beings have Buddha Nature—the univer-
sal nature of inherent wisdom and virtuous compassion—and emphasizes that
Buddha Nature is nothing other than the nature of one’s mind itself. The aim
of Seon practice is to discover this Buddha Nature within each person through
meditation and mindfulness in daily experiences. Seon practitioners believe that
this provides new perspectives and insights into existence, which ultimately lead
to enlightenment.
7. The characteristics of the Seon tradition are realized through the following four
phrases: “It is not standing on the letters. It (Mind) has been transmitted outside
the Scriptures (the Doctrinal Tradition). It is directly pointing to the human
mind. See one’s true nature as attaining Buddhahood.” These words relate to
mind transmission and teach practitioners that they should not be attached
to scripture and words but should use them as Upaya, or “skillful means.”
8. It is known that the Ganhwaseon or Hwaduseon was developed and spread
by Dahui (1089–1163) of the Linchi School in China. In Korea, Seon Master
Bojo Jinul emphasized the merits of the Ganhwaseon through his book titled
Ganhwa-gyeoleuiron (Thesis on Seeing the Hwadu and Doubting It), and his
disciple, Seon Master Jingak Hyeshim (1178–1234), promoted it through what
is called Seonmunyeomsong (Raising the Hymns in Seon Tradition). At the end of
the Goryo Period, Seon Master Taego Bou refreshed and settled the tradition.
9. Hadu-seon, see Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, http://www.koreanbuddhism
.net.
10. The traditional concept of enlightenment has three aspects: the “enlightenment
of self, enlightenment of others, and completeness of enlightenment with action.”
This means that proper enlightenment is related not only to one’s individual self
but also to others, society, and the world. Therefore, one’s enlightenment should
be concerned with and oriented toward other people, society, and the world.
11. Cheongher has been referred to by various names depending on the context. His
secular name was Choe Yeosin, and his Buddhist name was Hyujeong. His style
name was Hyeoneung, and his title was Cheongheo, used by Hyujeong himself.
Jogye Toeeun and Baekhwa-doin were other names he used as a sign or seal.
However, he was most commonly known as Seosan (Western Mountain) because
he spent most of his last years on Mt. Myohyang in the northwestern part of the
Korean peninsula.
12. In fact, I started Seon practice at Hain Monastery in 1969, when I was attendant
of the Spiritual Patriarchal Master of the monastic complex, Venerable Seong-
cheol, from whom I received a Hwadu, “Masmageun (Three Pounds of Flax).”
13. After the event, I wanted to have a new Dharma name to use the first words of
the first two lines of the Gatha: “True” Nature is supremely mystical beyond
thinking and talking about; “Moon” lightens the Dharma realm without any
hindrance. My name, “True Moon” (in Korean, Jinwol) was confirmed by my
master, the Most Venerable Supreme Patriarch Goam, after I reported the situ-
ation and asked him to check my attainment. At one time, Seon Master Goam
had been a member of the Presidential Advisory Committee for National Policy
and had taken Dharma missionary trips overseas despite being in his eighties.
In 1987, I had a spiritual transmission from him: “Dharma is changeless over
time, but ceaselessly remains luminous. Tathagata (Buddha) adjusts to situa-
tions within time and space. You should be a good spiritual leader for the world
as a master of Upaya and up-to-date.” Such a consequence of practice and the
checking process have been traditionally managed as an intimate spiritual matter
between master and disciple. I would say that the traditional way may be main-
tained forever, no matter how its dependent phenomena appear.
References
Cleary, J. C. 1988. A Buddha from Korea: The Zen Teachings of T’aego. Boston: Shambhala.
Dongguk Institute for Buddhist Studies Research. 2010. Ganhwa Seon, Illuminating the
World. Seoul: Dongguk University Press.
CHAPTER 10
An Interreligious Approach
to Religious Education
Scherto Gill
I
n this book, we argue that the spiritual life/religious life partly constitutes
human flourishing and that religious education can have an important role
to play in cultivating a spiritual way of being. We acknowledge the poten-
tial contribution that different religions and faith traditions can make toward a
young person’s spiritual growth, without asserting that spirituality is impossible
independent of a religion.
However, with the wide spread of information and communication technol-
ogy and the easy mobility and migration of people around the globe, peoples
and communities no longer live in social, cultural, and religious isolation. As
a response to such globalization, how can religious education encapsulate both
the diversity of religious teachings about the spiritual and the depth of the
distinctive understanding of spirituality and its expression that is particular to
each religion?1
In this chapter, I shall address the first part of the question by contending
that today’s religious education should be interreligious education. That is to
say, any educative endeavor that aims at helping young people understand and
engage in a more spiritual or religious life must avoid the indoctrination and
exclusivity of a particular paradigm. Instead, it must be rooted in the richness
and diversity of understandings regarding transcendent reality that are found in
all religions and faith traditions. I then tackle the second part of the question
by arguing that interreligious education cannot be content with an external
knowledge of the doctrines and practices of different religions and faith tra-
ditions. Instead, interreligious education must strive to help a young person
146 O Scherto Gill
to identify a pathway to living a spiritual or religious life. I conclude that, in

terms of school life, the aim of educating whole persons, the opportunity for
transformative encounters, the practice of dialogue, the sharing and attending
to all kinds of narratives, and the living of the spiritual dimension of life must
be integrated in day-to-day teaching and learning and ways of being within the
learning community.
Pathways to a Religious Life

There have been two major pathways to a spiritual or religious life to which
an education of and from religion can possibly make a significant contribution.
The common one is what I call an inside-out approach. A child who is born
to a religious family is often presented with the faith of a particular religion as
unquestionable. This kind of religious teaching and way of educating children
and young people is embedded in the fabric of life within a religious com-
munity. From an early age, a child participates in a system of beliefs about the
greater reality, which is often considered by others around the child to be
the only and final truth. A child receives such an education that is reinforced
either directly through the teaching of religion or faith (e.g., in nature, temples,
Sunday schools, Madrasas, or other places) or indirectly through getting the child
to partake in rituals, rites, ceremonies, symbolism, lexicons, and discourses
and to experience different artefacts, such as foods, dances, songs, music, paint-
ings, narratives, and more. The best to hope for in this kind of religious educa-
tion is that it is enriching and helps initiate a young person into a religious life
of virtues and beauty, of service and obedience, of connectedness and aspira-
tion, all in accordance to the unique teachings of the particular religion.2 I
describe it as an inside-out approach because, ultimately, the aim of such a
religious education is to enable the individual to express his or her faith in the
wider world through moral acts.
A child who is born to a nonreligious family receives a very different kind
of religious education. A religious education in this case seldom starts at an
early age. Instead, it often begins during adolescence when a young person
experiences some kind of spiritual awakening. This could be an experience of
awe and wonder that evokes questions from the young person in order to help
him or her search for the truth behind the experience. Or as a young person
matures and develops his or her self-concept, the answer to the question Who
am I? might also lead him or her to explore deeper issues, for instance, in terms
of what he or she sees as the purpose of life and how he or she might pursue it.
This is inevitably a quest for a better understanding of the vision of the greater
reality and the essence of human life within that greater reality. The young per-
son’s journeys of inquiry will no doubt at some point collide with some religion
An Interreligious Approach to Religious Education O 147
or religious teaching, depending on the environment and culture where the

young person grows up. This encounter with religion thus begins his or her
religious education. This is, for a lack of better words, an outside-in approach
to discovering religion or faith, which can serve to provide a fuller and more
convincing articulation and interpretation of the greater reality that the young
person has once experienced or a dimension of self-concept he or she is strug-
gling to explore. Through such a quest or search, he or she might develop an
understanding of the meaning(s) and the essence of the spiritual or religious
experience and how he or she might continue to have such experiences in life.
I see this as an outside-in approach, as it begins from outside of a religion or
faith tradition but later seeks from within religious traditions the way to inter-
pret and understand the transcendent experience in order to spiritually form a
young person’s life.
I am aware that this contrast between the inside-out and outside-in approaches
is simplistic, but the point is to illustrate the ways in which a young person
could receive an education of and from religion and thereby begin to embark on
a spiritual or religious life.3 By religious or spiritual life, I am talking about the
transcendental dimension of human experience—an “experience of,” which is
ostensibly transitive, and when lacking, a person cannot be said to be living the
fullness of a flourishing life.4
But there is a problem here. A couple of decades ago, which religion a child
adhered to could most likely be determined by where he or she was born. For
instance, if a child were born to Buddhist parents in Nepal or Burma, or to
Christian parents in Europe or the Americas, or to Sikh parents in India, he or
she would very likely be a Buddhist, Christian, or Sikh, respectively. Similarly,
a child born to nonreligious parents in Nepal, Europe, or India, would most
likely encounter Buddhism, Christianity, Sikhism, or Hinduism if he sought a
religious education.
However, in recent decades, these limited pathways have been regarded as far
too narrow and far too one-dimensional given the global movement and migra-
tion of human populations. In addition, the spread of information and com-
munication technology has helped break the formerly well-defined boundaries
between cultures and religions and bring forward the myriad of truth claims and
the multitudes of rites and practices. Indeed, the presence of religious diversity
will make it impossible for a young person to unquestionably accept the religion
he or she was born into, and it will not necessarily allow his or her spiritual life
to be defined by a single thread of meaning.
In brief, the contemporary phenomenon of religious diversity and our plu-
ralistic society has made religious education far more complicated with regard
to the pathways that can help a young person pursue a spiritual life. Such diver-
sity mandates an interreligious approach to religious education.
148 O Scherto Gill
Religious Diversity Demands Interreligious Education

John Hick, in his seminal book God Has Many Names, told the story of his shock
of surprise when he discovered that the same phenomenon of transcendence was
happening in all places of religious worship. As the story goes, while living in
Birmingham, England, Hick attended worship in different sacred places locally,
including mosques, synagogues, Hindu temples, and Sikh gurdwaras. What he
experienced in each of these places was what one may call a religious experience,
but what marked his “shock of surprise” was his realization that it was essen-
tially the same kind of thing: “namely, human beings opening their minds to a
higher divine Reality” (Hick 1982, 63). Employing a Kantian analysis of tran-
scendental reality, Hick draws our attention to the “phenomenological similar-
ity of worship” in all religions, concluding that the “result is the range of ways of
conceiving and experiencing the divine that is to be found within the history
of religions” (Hick 1982, 67). Yet, due to a lack of interaction between reli-
gions, history has also been marked by hostility among them, especially when
each claims exclusivity. Hick sees great potential in each of the world religions
to transform, given increased contact, better dialogue, and stronger relations
among faiths. Therefore, he predicts, in the future, “a situation in which the
different traditions no longer see themselves and each other as rival ideological
communities”; instead, they will share a “common commitment of faith in a
higher spiritual reality which demands brotherhood on earth will seem more
and more significant” (77).
As our world becomes increasingly interconnected, education from and of
religion that is geared toward the spiritual growth of young people must take an
interreligious approach, presenting beliefs, practices, and ways of worship from
a comparative perspective. Teaching faith exclusively from within a particular
religion or faith tradition is no longer desirable. In brief, religious education is
inevitably interreligious.
Furthermore, interreligious education can serve the spiritual growth of a
young person (as part of a flourishing life). First, as I have touched upon, inter-
religious education can help a young person to recognize the fundamental spiri-
tual core shared by all religions and faiths. It is this spiritual foundation that
unites the otherwise disparate religions and faith traditions and unifies them as
journeys toward experiencing the transcendental. For instance, when introduc-
ing religions to young people, a quick tour of human history and the histories
of religions will show that the cultural phenomenon of religions as forms of
received wisdom or revelations of the divine has been more or less cocurrent
in different continents on Earth, suggesting, as Hick (1982) phrases it, that
“everywhere the one Spirit has been at work, pressing in upon the human spirit”
(72). Such a recognition is key for a young person to learn to interrogate and
discern the colorful forms of religious expression in order to fully appreciate

their spiritual essence.
Second, taking an interreligious approach to religious education can allow
those young persons who were born into a particular religious environment to
learn to better understand and interpret the teachings of their own religion.
This can potentially open up a possibility for the young person to see that any
religious doctrine can mean something different from what it was originally
understood to mean when it is studied, interpreted, and comprehended in light
of other religions. For instance, through an interreligious approach, a Jewish
student might pose such a question: Are Jews the only chosen people, or are
all people chosen, as a spiritual life is very much a part of human life? Equally,
a Christian student might start considering if others can also seek salvation
without converting to Christianity, and if so, what salvation really means. Inter-
religious education can help individuals become more self-critical about their
own religions while opening them up to differences in other religions, which in
turn can enrich their understanding of the transcendent.
Third, as evidenced in today’s world, increased diversity and close contact
with differences have also increased the risk for conflict and clashes of beliefs
and worldviews. Fear of differences can result in divisiveness, which—when
combined with other factors, such as political oppression, injustice, and social
deprivation—can escalate into violence and war. Thus interreligious education
can show young people the divergence in cultural contexts, narratives, scrip-
tures, symbolism, practices, rituals, and ceremonies and the convergence in key
religious beliefs, which can further be translated into values, moral principles,
and ways of being that are divinely inspired. This celebrated transcendental
nature of the spiritual dimension of all religions can serve to unite rather than
divide, providing the ground for understanding and acceptance rather than fear
and intolerance. This can further help us develop an awareness of our common
human history (in a longer span of time) and a common human relationship to
the mysterious transcendent reality.
Lastly, interreligious education opens up opportunities for young people
to develop their self-concept and consider including the spiritual dimension
in their unfolding selves. Adolescence is a critical time when a young person
explores the meaning and purpose of his or her life and learns to formulate
ideas in terms of how to live life to the fullest. Thus an interreligious educa-
tion can help pave the path, not by direct conversion or indoctrination, but by
creating a space for a young person to explore the landscape of meanings and
perspectives. This development of individual spirit or self-transcendence is one
of the most important tasks of education in an era of explosive materialism
and consumerism. Interreligious education can indeed help young people learn
to be fully human. In this way, the religious or spiritual dimension of young
150 O Scherto Gill
people’s lives is not only inwardly experienced but also outwardly lived so that
they can proactively pursue their virtues, express their natures and dispositions,
and simultaneously engage in moral lives.
Indeed, world religions and faith traditions have a great deal to offer through
effective religious education programs at schools and informal learning within
communities. The key aim is to create a space for the young person to explore
opportunities to maintain a “genuine contact with transcendent reality” (Hick
1982, 82). The next crucial question is, what pedagogical strategies are most
desirable for interreligious education in secondary schools?
Pedagogical Strategies for Interreligious Education

Currently, in the secondary curriculum of many countries, religious education
(RE) or religious studies (RS) tends to focus on understanding religions from a
knowledge perspective. It is studied in a similar way as other subjects, such as
geography. There are different epistemological frameworks underlying the field
of study. Some use notions such as self-transcendence as an epistemological base
for interreligious education, in which case the curriculum and pedagogy aim
to provide opportunities for young people to explore and reflect on existential
issues and to take responsibility for choosing their own (religious) standpoints
and worldviews (e.g., Carmody 2003). Some take a more sociological approach
to RS and emphasize critical inquiry and critical pedagogy (e.g., John Dewey,
Paulo Freire) in order to help the young person discern the differences in values
and worldviews in religions. Others apply a hermeneutical approach to bet-
ter understanding meaning in religious texts, narratives, and so on. Within an
interpretive framework, RE or RS is often regarded in schools as part of civics
or citizenship education, with the goal to encourage acceptance, mutual under-
standing, and unity among people of different religions and faith traditions.
Taking this approach to interreligious education also makes it resemble what is
described as civics education or global citizenship education. Still others teach
religion as merely a set of beliefs and practices of worship. This portrayal of
the religious life tends to be static and self-centered, implying that a religious
or spiritual way of life is only about personal salvation.
Despite the divergent epistemological frameworks for religious education,
I believe that pedagogical strategies that concentrate merely on the knowledge
of diverse religious worldviews will not suffice in meeting the aim of educat-
ing whole persons. Knowledge is part of it, but a knowledge-based religious
education is incomplete for such an aim. Religious education must go further.
For the purpose of this book, the education of persons must be holistic, and it
ought to enable the young person to experience, understand, and appreciate
transcendent reality as part of his or her flourishing life. What follows are some
ideas along those lines.
Educating the Whole Person

According to the UK Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted), “Religious
education (RE) makes a significant contribution to pupils’ academic and per-
sonal development. It also plays a key role in promoting social cohesion and
the virtues of respect and empathy, which are important in our diverse society”
(2013). This aspiration is so great that it almost obscures the deeper aim of
religious education—or in our case, interreligious education—and the overall
aims of education. The idea of whole-person education stresses the importance
of pursuing the physical, intellectual, social, emotional, aesthetic, spiritual,
and moral aims of education and supports the young person’s journey toward
becoming a confident and caring human being who has integrity, perseverance,
and a sense of responsibility for himself or herself and others. The spiritual
dimension is integral to the growth of the whole person and therefore must not
be regarded as a means to an end, such as a means to academic achievement or
social cohesion within the community. Viewed in this way, the main objective
of interreligious education is to align itself to the overall and human-centered
aim of educating persons holistically.
The idea of the whole person can sometimes make one fall into the trap of
conceiving the whole as the sum of the parts. Under such a misunderstanding,
efforts are made to devise a school curriculum that will cover every aspect of the
person, or part, or attribute. This could mean physical education for the physi-
cal, mathematics and other conventional academic subjects for the intellectual,
social-emotional aspects of learning (SEAL) for the respective attributes, arts
classes for the aesthetic, and RE or RS for character education and the spiritual
and moral. Elsewhere, I have critiqued this sliced approach to the curriculum
(Gill and Thomson 2012).
Given this, and in light of the overall holistic aim of education, interreli-
gious education must not be treated merely as a curriculum subject (although
it can also be studied formally as part of the curriculum). Instead, it ought to
be part of the lived culture of a school. This means that it is part of an ongo-
ing, institution-wide conversation about life, goodness, meaning, learning, and
human becoming. It also means that a school includes the whole person as part
of its educational mission and that the practice of whole-person learning is
central to its ethos. Under this view, a school becomes an interreligious learning
community. I will return to this at the end of this chapter.
Educating the whole person also implies that the young person is treated
with the utmost respect. This means respect for his or her nature, disposition,
pace of growth, and interests. Such an education requires a pedagogy that
152 O Scherto Gill
centers on care and caring. This kind of pedagogy means that an interreligious
education should nurture and respond to a young person’s need for experienc-
ing the transcendent reality as part of his or her life.
Encounter- and Experience-Based Learning

Interreligious education ought to provide spaces and opportunities for young
people to encounter and engage in a variety of experiences so that they can
explore who they are, search for their own truth, seek answers to those per-
petual questions that confront them, and fully engage in the richness and
fullness of being human.
Interreligious education can begin with a deeper encounter with the young
person’s home religion (if any), which in turn can prepare him or her to sub-
sequently explore other traditions in a deeper way. A good understanding of
one’s own religion often comes through an encounter with a religious Other,
as well as other religions. Indeed, a main thrust of interreligious education is
its potential to engage us with the Other. Self is relational, and therefore we
cannot truly understand and know ourselves in isolation. An encounter with
a devout Christian, a Zen Buddhist monk, and an atheist might be a very sig-
nificant experience in a young person’s life. Such an encounter is not a meet-
ing with a stranger (religious Other or someone else) but an encounter with
the horizons from which the person draws his or her perspectives. As such, it
can enable a young person to become aware that understanding reality is also
the result of encountering differences. By confronting Otherness or what is
unfamiliar, one’s own prejudices or presumptions are challenged and subject to
critical self-consciousness. Indeed, through intense contact with other religions
and cultures, a young person can become more acutely aware of his or her own
assumptions, which otherwise he or she would have never noticed.
Interreligious education might offer the young person an experience of tran-
scendent reality through participation in a religion as something alive and lived
rather than as static, as in textbook studies. Experiences such as attending a
friend’s Bat Mitzvah, singing Handel’s Messiah in a choir, or celebrating Diwali
with a Hindu family will allow a young person to experience the religious life
firsthand. Through this, the greater reality that underlies the colorful rites and
rituals might unveil itself to the young person.
Here is a long extract from a teacher’s journal, which speaks for itself:
For an entire term, my class of 17-year-olds spend all of their Creative Arts lessons
outside in a natural reserve, in solitude. They are rid of textbooks, sketchpads,
notes or pens, and their mobile phones, music players, or any similar objects.
Each young person is outside in nature, alone, sitting drowsily by streams, climb-
ing over logs daydreaming, lying on a pile of fallen leaves staring at the sky . . .
They are not being “productive” in any sense, especially with a large amount of
coursework remaining outstanding; they are not “studying” in any sense as the
planned curriculum activities require them to sit in front a desk and fulfil a set
agenda and prepare to pass exams. But after each lesson, on returning from the
woods, with muddy shoes and messy hair, they were smiling and glowing, telling
quietly personal stories of the wonder they experienced during the hour and the
creative ideas that were passing through their minds.
The kind of experience is another good example. Solitude is practiced in many

religions and faiths, and to provide students with a flavor of solitude through
experiential learning is to affirm the importance of having a glimpse of that
transcendent reality.
Dialogue
One way to approach the hermeneutical task described earlier is through dia-
logue, which involves equality and active reciprocity. It presupposes that the
dialogue partners are concerned with a common topic or a common question,
because dialogue is always about something. Dialogic understanding is thus a
mutual and shared act. For this reason, it can be undermined if the interpreter
concentrates on the other person rather than on the subject matter. It is a matter
not of looking at the other person but of looking with the other at the thing that
the dialogue partners communicate about. In hermeneutics, a dialogue requires
that all participants are genuinely open to the meaning of what is being said
about the subject matter. This means listening to it and allowing it to assert its
own viewpoint.
The equality referred to here means that the dialogue partners are equally
concerned with the conversation subject and the questions it intends to address
and less with the other’s personality and other subjective concerns. Both part-
ners locate the questions that the conversation seeks to answer, and they are
both provoked by it to question further as the subject matter indicates. Such
questioning allows the dialogue partners to transcend each other’s horizons,
fuse them, and transform them, respectively, toward higher universality “which
overcomes not only one’s own particularity but also that of the other person”
(Gadamer 1969, 288). This active reciprocity in a hermeneutical dialogue sug-
gests that genuine understanding is intersubjective but also dialectical; a new
meaning is born out of the interplay between different horizons.
In terms of the topics for dialogue, Nel Noddings (2002) has proposed to
include “immortal conversation” about matters such as birth, death, pain, suf-
fering, love, joy, and, above all, matters concerning the good life. Dialogue
about these topics is necessarily between young people who hold different
154 O Scherto Gill
religious points of view or between young people who each take a particular
religious perspective.
Interreligious education requires the type of hermeneutical dialogue
described here, and schools must transform themselves to prepare for such
dialogue. This could mean a shift in the teacher-student relationship so that
the teacher can model dialogic pedagogy. It could also mean a change in the
classroom setting and curriculum design. Whatever the shift, it should aim to
foster genuine dialogue, and when genuine dialogue takes place between mutu-
ally caring and attentive people, it becomes an adventure into something new
for all. In this way, dialogue must be practiced and lived as part of our being
and learning together in schools so that it becomes “the dialogue, that we are”
(Gadamer 1969).
The Need for Narratives

Individual and collective narratives are important. To comprehend is to under-
stand a web of meanings, the contexts within which these meanings are made,
and the interaction through which understanding occurs. Narratives encourage
active and reflexive listening, in which the goal is not to criticize or defend but
rather simply to see what the interpretation of the story has to say to us. Stories
can bring out the Otherness and the roots of such Otherness. Attending to nar-
ratives means that we can truly bring ourselves to a state of comprehension and
openness. However, more important still is the idea that understanding through
narrative requires application. As we engage in a conversation with an interpre-
tive stance, we not only listen to what the narrative says but also apply it to our
own context. In short, we speak back to it.
In interreligious education, different kinds of narratives can be helpful for
young people to explore the transcendent reality. The narrative can be broad-
ened to include stories, myths, personal accounts, (life) histories, ways of life,
forms of art, symbolism, and more.
There is a vast treasure of such narratives. To begin, there are the sacred
stories (from scriptures), which are often the life histories of those who received
divine wisdom that then led to the founding of particular religions, such as the
stories of Jesus, Guru Nanak, Confucius, and many more. All religions and
faith traditions have inspiring sacred narratives, and they provide a wealth of
meaning and can provide answers to questions such as “What is sacred?” “What
are the meanings of the sacred stories?” and “How are these stories relevant to
us today?” By engaging in sacred narratives, young people learn to understand
that religious stories are multifaceted and subject to the interpretation of dif-
ferent communities, individuals, and historical periods. Sacred stories can often
provoke rich debate and discussion within the classroom about the spiritual.
Then there are myths and other mystical narratives. These are symbolic tales
of the distant past (often primordial times) that concern cosmology, belief sys-
tems, or rituals and can serve to guide our social actions and values. Often of
a sacred nature, they are foundational or key narratives of some religions and
are believed to be true from within the associated faith systems. Reading
and understanding mystical narratives can evoke in the young person a recogni-
tion of the presence of the transcendent, the mystical, and the sacred. It can be
spirit forming and world forming.
Furthermore, there is rich heritage of world literature that is concerned with
personal transformation, often spiritual in a broad sense of the term. From
Tagore to the Bhagavad Gita, from Milton to Dante, and from The Little Prince
to the His Dark Materials trilogy, literature can offer young people an in-depth
understanding of the spiritual and reveal that the self, others, and the divine
are the key elements within a definition of spirituality. Together with other
emerging themes—for example, meaning, hope, connectedness, and beliefs
and expressions of spirituality—literature can help young people understand
that the nature of God or transcendent reality may take many forms. By being
exposed to beautiful and artistic articulations of the transcendent in literature,
young people can begin to consolidate their own experiences of the greater real-
ity, as well as be empowered to launch their own explorations of the spiritual.
Thus interreligious education can be a container for many different individ-
ual stories to be shared with students. Where appropriate, teachers should have
the courage to share their stories, including the possible struggles, doubts, ques-
tions, and profundity of their experiences. Equally, students should be given a
space to tell their own stories.
Interreligious Education and Schools as Communities

John Macmurray (1995) proposes that religion and religious life are essentially
about action: “Religion is about action because it is concerned with the whole
man. A religion which is concerned only with the ‘spiritual life’ is a religion
which leaves action out, and in which spiritual activity has no practical refer-
ence” (65). This is connected to the current debates on spiritual development in
schools, which can take us to the heart of what it means to be human, including
relationships between people. From Macmurray’s idea of schools as communi-
ties, we understand that the spiritual must be manifested not only in the overall
aims of education and schooling, as discussed earlier, but also in the everyday
activities of people (head teachers, teachers, students, parents, and others con-
nected to the school) in the community.
In addition, in the learning community, individuals ought to be treated as
whole persons rather than objects. This perspective creates an opportunity for a
156 O Scherto Gill
fundamental shift from the dehumanizing mechanisms of current schooling to

a human-centered learning community. This is imperative if individuals are
to relate to each other in a human way, including connecting with each other
under the inspiration of the spiritual and the moral, and cocreate a culture of
care and respect. Very often in a human-centered learning community, it is the
closeness between all the people within the greater transcendent reality that
touches, changes, and transforms the individual and his or her ways of being
and living in this world.
Notes
1. There is a difference in perceiving the object of religious worship, meditation,
and practices among the so-called Eastern religions, Western religions, and
Indigenous traditions that results in theistic and nontheistic distinctions of this
reality. To acknowledge the complexity but at the same time to use a term that
cuts across the differences, in this chapter, I have chosen to use the spiritual expe-
rience to refer to the transcendent nature of living in that greater reality.
2. It is an undeniable fact that some religious education can put off many young
people, as the experience can be “a matter of infinite boredom,” as John Hick
(1982, 14) puts it.
3. More on this can be found in the General Introduction and Chapter 5.
4. Hick (1982, 79) goes on to describe the religious experience as including the
Experience of awe in the (supposed) presence of the holy; feelings of creatureliness
and dependence in relation to a (supposed) creator; attitudes of abasement and wor-
ship, of terror, exaltation, or joy in the presence of the (supposed) divine other; a
sense of being addressed, claimed, guided, commanded from beyond oneself; visions
of (supposed) divine beings and illuminations concerning (supposedly) transcen-
dent processes and realities; serenity and peace in response to a (supposed) universal
presence mediated through nature; the unitive experience of loss of the separate self
in a (supposed) infinite whole—as well as yet other, harder to characterize forms,
such as the Zen experience.
References
Carmody, B. 2003. “Religious Education and Pluralism in Zambia.” Religious Education
98 (2): 139–54.
Gadamer, Hans-Georg. 1969. Truth and Method. London: Continuum.
Hick, J. 1982. God has Many Names. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press.
Macmurray, J. 1995. Persons in Relation. London: Faber and Faber.
Noddings, Nel. 2002. Educating Moral People: A Caring Alternative to Character Educa-
tion. New York: Teachers College Press.
Ofsted. 2013. Religious Education: Realising the Potential, October 6. http://www.ofsted
.gov.uk/resources/religious-education-realising-potential.
PART III
Pedagogical Case Studies
Introduction
T
he third part of the book is a collection of case studies of religious
educative practices that have as an explicit aim to cultivate spirituality
and to enable young people to learn to pursue a flourishing life. The
aim is to gain a deeper understanding of what religious education dedicated to
spirituality might consist in by reflecting on relevant practices.
Let us start with the case of the religions curriculum developed by Jocelyn
Armstrong for New Zealand (Chapter 11). Armstrong puts forward this new
curriculum proposal in response to the increased diversity of New Zealand soci-
ety and for the sake of social harmony. The textbook Discovering Diversity: How
the Diverse Values and Beliefs Are Shaping Our Identity consists in three sections:
some groundwork exercises, the study of six world religions (Judaism, Christi-
anity, Islam and the Hindu, Buddhist and Sikh religions) and a section on how
to conduct social inquiries. Although this appears to be a curriculum about
religion for the sake of social cohesion, rather than one that aims at cultivat-
ing spirituality, Armstrong argues that it is both. The curriculum is designed
around a holistic learning experience and intends not only to develop knowl-
edge about religions and foster academic and social skills but also to facilitate
“personal qualities, values and ways of being.” Armstrong maintains that cur-
riculum features described in the chapter can indeed provide an opportunity
for young people to further expand their horizons and have some sense of the
transcendence.
We can contrast this inquiry-based approach to religious education with
an encounter-based approach proposed by the Wisdom Project in the United
Kingdom. In Chapter 12, John Breadon describes the different activities of
the Wisdom Project, which aim to bring together young people of diverse
backgrounds (religious, social, ethnic, and so on) in a deep encounter. Bre-
adon asserts that, although these workshops take various forms, the underlying
structure and approach is the same: the group discussions start with affirmation
and appreciation including recognition of the present experience of the young
people. Then the mentors or facilitators introduce some form of challenge or
Otherness, which serves as the basis for reflection, followed by sharing. Breadon
characterizes the general approach as “engaged pedagogy.” The mentors, them-

selves from different religions, are adept at building a relationship with the
participants and expressing their love for their own tradition. He also explains
the approach as midway between a postmodern approach, which assumes that
there are no ready-made truths, and a realist position, which assumes that reli-
gious traditions reflect on the true and the good. Through the Wisdom Project,
young person can have a glimpse of how education can also be located in one’s
inner world and inner life.
A third case study in Chapter 13 serves to contrast with the previous two.
Learning to Live Together is a program developed by a group of educators from
different religious and secular traditions with the main aim of nurturing values
that appreciate the Other. The basis of the program is four core ethical values:
respect, empathy, responsibility, and reconciliation. As Agneta Ucko illustrates,
the process involves coming to understand the Other and a critical reflection
about oneself, as well as practicing the art of positive relationships within a
diverse group. Furthermore, the program builds a sense of cohesion with other
participants through a course of action. Ucko gives examples of how the cur-
riculum has been applied in different settings, such as in Greece, Israel, India,
and South Africa, and to different themes including interreligious dialogue.
However, despite the fact that the program doesn’t have an explicit emphasis on
spiritual growth, Ucko argues that children are by nature spiritual beings and a
value-based program such as Learning to Live Together can provide the space for
developing the spiritual.
All three chapters stress the importance of teacher’s qualities and sensibilities
in order to facilitate processes that lead to the young people’s development spiri-
tually. Thus in Chapter 14, David Streight describes a two-year program that
specifically aims to help teachers develop pedagogical strategies for fostering
spiritual development in the young people. The case study focuses on a specific
project within this program, the Purpose Project, designed to build a sense of
purpose among young people in schools in the USA. The project introduces the
idea of one’s life purpose to young adolescents through guided reflection, and
builds toward the students making a formal presentation of their life purposes
in their final year at school. Streight emphasizes that the workshops must be
run within the context of relationships that are warm, supportive, and trustful
and in a way that stresses the autonomy of each student in discerning his or her
life’s purposes.
It is interesting to compare these four different programs. Armstrong’s cur-
riculum starts from a more standard curriculum about different religions, and
uses that as a platform to attain goals related to social cohesion and ultimately
spiritual aims. In contrast, the other three programs constitute the less formal
Part III: Introduction O 161
approaches that might compliment a more standard curriculum. They are more
direct in their focus on the personal transformation of the individual.
Another important contrast is between those programs that emphasize pri-
marily group work and those that focus more on the individual. For example,
the Purpose Project is more individualistic and Learning to Live Together is more
social in their primary objectives. Nevertheless, the two programs involve both
kinds of work: solitary and in groups. This echoes a theme from Part 2 where
the religious practitioners and thinkers also emphasized the need for both.
Bert Roebben helps tie these threads together in Chapter 15. He doesn’t
describe a specific program but rather he outlines a systematic set of consider-
ations that might shape a curriculum that includes the major points made in the
previous papers. He starts with the claim that students need and have the right
to spiritual competence. This requires the opportunity to reflect on their own
“personal religious or nonreligious position in the midst of the encounter with
others.” The aim is personal self-clarification but with others.
Although this kind of personal enquiry could be conducted within a reli-
gious education course, Roebben argues that such a curriculum must also
involve knowledge of the religions in such a way to include three elements:
learning about, from, and through religion. We can only have personal discov-
ery through the religions if we can learn from their wisdom, and this requires
learning about them. Furthermore, the process of self-clarification requires an
existential encounter with the religious Other in a performative manner, which
Roebben calls “a didactics of otherness.” This means that the student will have
some firsthand experience of religious and other beliefs that oppose his or her
own through rituals, practices, and encounters, followed by instruction and
group discussion. Religion provides the opportunities for unexpected encoun-
ters with the Other that facilitate a deeper process of self-clarification in a group
setting.
CHAPTER 11
Spirituality and Education

about Religion
A New Topic for Public High
Schools in New Zealand
Jocelyn Armstrong
A
newly multicultural New Zealand society, recognized by a new national
school curriculum and responded to by a new social studies curriculum,
gave reason to include for the first time a study of religion and religions
in New Zealand public high schools. Using the textbook Discovering Diver-
sity: How the Diverse Values and Beliefs Are Shaping Our Identity, I designed a
case study to illustrate how the study of religions can contribute to the holistic
approach when it affirms the identity and community contexts of the students
and their consequent engagement in learning and when it engages students—
those with religious commitments and those without—at a spiritual depth
when it invokes the imagination and leads to questions of faith and mystery. In
this process, I not only highlight the challenges confronting an inquiry-based
pedagogy featured in the textbook but also reflect on the initial feedback of
using the textbook. These further give rise to insights into how religious educa-
tion can support the spiritual development of young people today.
The Challenge in Aotearoa New Zealand

The 2007 revised overarching national New Zealand Curriculum recognized
the new multicultural nature of the country’s society thus: “All levels of the cur-
riculum are to reflect New Zealand’s cultural diversity and value the histories
and traditions of all its peoples” (Ministry of Education 2007, 9). It is only dur-
ing the past two decades that the new multicultural communities have become
164 O Jocelyn Armstrong
substantial and visible. The 1987 Immigration Law had widened the range of
peoples admitted to the country. The census figures for 1991 and 2006 reveal
the consequent rapid tripling and quadrupling over those 15 years of migrants
from Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, and Africa.
The new social studies subject curriculum, in line with the New Zealand
Curriculum (Ministry of Education 2007), responded to this radical new
diversity. Students would explore how cultural interaction impacts on cultures
and societies and how the ideas and actions of people in the past have had a
significant impact on people. In this context, the publisher Pearson proposed
a new textbook on World Religions. “Religion and religions” would become a
brand new and contradictory topic for study in secular New Zealand’s public
high schools.
The contradiction presents both problems and opportunities. New Zealand’s
education system had its beginnings among British missionaries and the Indig-
enous Maori people. Over the following years, this resulted in Maori people
becoming literate in English and well versed in Christian traditions, with their
own culture being skillfully adapted to Western culture. Church-supported
education served the waves of settlers until the churches could no longer finance
the increasing number of schools. A coherent nationwide system had to be State
controlled. Interchurch wrangling combined with general settler secularism
led to the state-controlled primary school system becoming free, compulsory,
and secular. Secondary schools later assumed the same position.
New Zealand, the “Christian nation,” with its British population and
Christianity dominant for 150 years, had few of the characteristics of a vibrant
religion. Many of the early settlers had not been sorry to leave behind their Vic-
torian Christianity. Some were alienated from their church. Some, influenced
by the Enlightenment, felt they had “grown out of ” their religion. Over the
years the non-Maori/Pakeha religious institutions, festivals and rituals remained
lackluster. The Maori people, on the other hand, retained their distinctive
Indigenous spirituality. In recent years, Pakeha society has come to appreciate
the Indigenous sense of the intimate relationship of people with the land and
sea. The Maori rituals of welcome and farewell are sought for public events.
Maori karakia or prayers are permitted in public places, including schools,
when English language prayer is suspect.
An even more “secular New Zealand” is revealed in the 1991 and 2006 cen-
sus figures alongside the increase in numbers of non-Christian religions. Figures
reveal a declining Christian population with the membership of the mainline
churches falling over that period from 71 percent to 54 percent of the popula-
tion. In addition, a significant third of the population declared they had “no
religion.” Over the 15 years, their percentage of the population increased from
21 percent to 34.6 percent.
Spirituality and Education about Religion O 165
It was the emergence and awareness of the new, highly visible multicultural
component in “secular” New Zealand society that offered the opportunity to
involve religions in the social studies classroom. If “cultural interaction” is
to be studied, the often conspicuous religious component must be considered.
Without some knowledge and understanding of the religions of the world, stu-
dents are not be able to recognize, respect, and appreciate religious practices,
values and beliefs different from their own, let alone understand them as factors
affecting the durable fabric of a community or society. The “ideas and actions
of the past that have shaped people today” include religious traditions. Simple
logic requires that the fulfillment of the “cultural interaction” learning objec-
tives include the religious diversity now present in New Zealand society.
Resources were few and far between. The only textbooks available to Reli-
gious Studies teachers in church schools, a small market, were published over-
seas. The new textbook needed to be useful to a great diversity of students and
teachers. Some schools might count many cultures in their midst. Others might
be almost monocultural. Many students and teachers would have no religious
background. Others belong to families with a strong commitment to a con-
servative Christianity. Others have only a vague notion of their grandparents’
religious commitment. Still others belong to vibrant religious communities and
proud of the visible evidence of this in their lives.
Social studies teachers themselves might well not have studied the subject of
religion and developed confidence in handling it. As for addressing spirituality,
the term and the reality are not easy for the majority of Pakeha New Zealanders,
most teachers among them. Perhaps, for them spirituality is still tied too closely
to a religion to which they no longer relate. These problems loomed large until
the Social Sciences philosophy and pedagogy provided a way through.
The Response: A New Textbook for a New Topic

The social studies commitment to the “inquiry approach”1 to teaching and
learning decided the shape of the new and much needed textbook (Armstrong
2009).2 The choice of approach was to prove a positive one in two ways.
First, the “inquiry process” requires the study to have an underlying chal-
lenge. In this case, the challenge is to be found in the issues raised by the dif-
ferent practices and beliefs of the diverse religions in New Zealand. The process
can be described as follows: Religions are studied. An actual or potential issue of
concern is identified. The students check as they proceed whether they need to
learn more, until finally they move to conduct their own social inquiry, whether
as an individual, a group, or a class. Such a process puts the religions to some
degree at an objective distance. They are being studied in the light of their
impact on the community and society. This is a careful exercise in observation.

It is not imposing beliefs or demanding personal commitment.
Second, the “inquiry approach” provides a holistic learning experience in
which not only the intellectual but also the social, emotional, and spiritual
dimensions of the students are given space to develop. The key New Zealand
educational documents have made clear that effective learning involves the
whole person in the setting of their own intimate community.3 The curriculum
is based on principles that include “students’ identities, languages are to be
recognized and affirmed [and] . . . the curriculum should have meaning for the
students and connect with their wider lives” (Aitken and Sinnema 2008, 9).
The study of religions cannot but help teachers and students to identify,
understand and respect one another’s religious/nonreligious and cultural iden-
tity. It also provides a way of making a connection between the students’ wider
lives and the content of their learning in other subjects. Students thus recog-
nized and appreciated will grow in confidence, feeling valued, and knowing
they belong. They will value an education that values them.
In social terms, the students are learning about the religious practices and
beliefs of their peers, of the hitherto strange people in their neighborhood. The
ignorance and fear that may have led to bullying and alienation are replaced by
knowledge and understanding.
In order to define the way in which the inquiry approach addresses the spiri-
tual as distinct from the religious dimension of students it is necessary to clarify
two matters. First, while belonging to an institutional religion is not an aspect
of the formal identity of all students, it can be convincingly argued that all stu-
dents, as whole persons, and as a community of persons, have spiritual depth4.
Second, spirituality today is no longer tied to religion. This is endorsed in the
world of Christian theology by Schneiders (2000), who asserts that spirituality
has become a term for the human capacity for self-transcendence, regardless
of whether the experience is religious or not. Hay and Nye (2006) name three
principles to encapsulate the various aspects of spiritual experience, including
awareness sensing, mystery sensing, and value sensing. In this way, spiritual
education is about supporting children and young people to launch investiga-
tion into their identity, to take pleasure in their curiosity, inquiry and meaning
making (ibid.).
Under this rubric, the development of the students’ spiritual dimension will
take priority. The curriculum advises schools to honor and encourage the values
of curiosity, inquiry, integrity, and respect (Ministry of Education 2007, 7). In
addition to knowledge and academic skills, “the affective response, the ability
to participate and the student’s awareness of identity” are included as desired
outcomes of learning (Aitken and Sinnema 2008, 37). Under the rubric of
religious study, however, learning about religions is perceived as offering the
opportunity to explore religion’s own rich tradition of spirituality. The different

religions provide a heritage of spiritual experiences, a language of spirituality, a
wealth of spiritual exercises and stories of great religious people, both mystics
and those stirred by social justice issues. To touch or glimpse a fragment of these
riches may well invoke the young person at a depth of mystery, compassion,
and wonder.
Such opportunity can be made possible through a variety of activities that
call for imagination and creativity. Students might study things of beauty in
different religions and create one in response, read or tell stories, read or write
poetry, listen to or compose music, use digital cameras. Guided meditations/
visualizations can be followed by expressing thoughts in art or poetry. Times of
stillness and quiet reflection are important. I have noted how much students
appreciated them. In such activities, students can express inner thoughts and
experience a sense of awe and wonder in a variety of ways. Becoming engrossed
or losing themselves in such creativity is an experience of self-transcendence.
This can lead to an awareness of something greater than themselves in creation,
to the mystery of the transcendent.
If a teacher is hesitant to include religions in their curriculum at this early
stage, the inquiry approach lessens the burden in one way. The teacher does not
need to be the fount of all knowledge. The Teachers’ Resource CD produced
to accompany the textbook states, “Discovering Diversity is a stepping off point
for inquiry. None of us is an expert in this field, because none of us can ‘know’
another person’s culture or religion. We have not lived it, breathed it, or known
it as the environment of our being. So any study of others’ beliefs and rituals
straight away becomes an exercise in inquiry, in the spirit of the new social stud-
ies curriculum approach” (Armstrong 2009).
On the other hand, the inquiry approach requires a radical shift in the teach-
er’s pedagogy and their ability to step out of the up-front position in the class-
room and, in the midst of the students, join them in their discussion and their
searching, and above all learn with them. The teacher will take the students’
contributions seriously and offer the kind of feedback to their questions and
comments that will provoke more questions, deeper reflection, critical thinking,
a different way of looking at a problem, a new perspective on a controversial
issue. Feedback from the teacher needs to guide the students to extend their
knowledge, and at the same time encourage their understanding, respect, and
appreciation for one another, the subjects of their study and themselves. Several
tasks appearing to be quite separate from one another are in their mature form
the one interrelated totality of holistic education.
The Textbook offers activities at every point to carry the study forward. Each
chapter opens with an activity to engage the students in discussion about an
issue that has touched their own lives and is relevant to the chapter’s material.
Vigorous discussion is intended to engage the interest and curiosity of the stu-
dents. It evokes questions and challenges that inevitably lead the students to
discover new ideas and perspectives, about others and about themselves, fully
engaging them as whole persons in community.
A variety of activities are necessary in order to contribute to the various
dimensions of holistic learning whose outcomes may not be so tangible or
assessable. As observed earlier, activities can offer opportunities to use the imag-
ination and creativity.5 Students are expected to make connections and consult
with religious faith communities and family members, to arrange visits to reli-
gious buildings and to invite visitors into the classroom.
Since religion and the practice of a religious life are completely new phenom-
ena for many students, the first part of the book includes an activity designed to
begin exploring and building an understanding of “religion.” From the analy-
sis of photographs of religious people in different settings, the students infer
what is clearly important to these people. A “think, pair, share” discussion of
the question “What is a religion?” follows. The findings of the discussions are
reported and gathered up to be added to and built on as study of the religions
proceeds. The six World Religions are then introduced in such a way as to
enlarge the concept of “a religion.” Each is introduced through one (a different
one for each) key aspect of religion. If the aspects are considered together, they
begin to build a picture of a living religion: festivals and rituals, rites of pas-
sage in a traditional community, a disciplined life of prayer, ancient stories and
images, a system of values and the use of symbols.
The textbook has three sections: (1) “Laying the Groundwork,” (2) “Six
Religions of the World,” and (3) “Preparing to Conduct a Social Inquiry.”
The first section, “Laying the Groundwork,” begins by building on students’
prior study and knowledge of New Zealand history, filling out the picture of
Maori and Settler involvement in the development of the bicultural Christian
nation. The second chapter lays out census figures for the students to analyze
and discover for themselves the development of a multicultural, multireligious
society. The third chapter provides brief notes and photographs from which the
students can elicit the origins of each religion, and some detail about its settle-
ment in New Zealand.
The second section introduces the six World Religions: Judaism, Christian-
ity, Islam and the Hindu, Buddhist and Sikh religions. As I explained, there is
not, of course, a full presentation of the phenomena, values, and beliefs of the
religions, but an account of one aspect of religion in each. The aspects selected
were such as to be familiar to or recognized by the students, thus giving them a
place to start of which they have some prior knowledge or experience. If there is
a spark lit between a former experience or familiarity and the new information
then interest and curiosity are engaged and confidence built. From the spark
grows the fire.
Since the Bar Mitzvah and Bat Mitzvah rituals and weddings are often
attended by friends of the Jewish boys and girls involved, Judaism is introduced
through the rites of passage. New Zealand’s main public holidays are Christmas
and Easter, so these festivals with their symbols and stories are the focus for
Christianity. The daily practices of young Muslims introduce Islam. The fes-
tival of Diwali, now a widely popular celebration in New Zealand cities, leads
into the fantastic stories that encapsulate the values of Hindu life. Buddhism
is focused on the Buddha and Buddhist ethics. The symbols worn by young
people lead into the stories and the values of the Sikh religion.
Again, following the ethos of the inquiry approach, each of the six chapters
in the second part of the textbook opens with an activity to engage the stu-
dents in lively discussion about an issue that has touched their own lives and
is relevant to the religion itself. For instance, “belonging, a human need” is the
theme of the opening activity and continues through the chapter on Judaism,
which focuses on belonging to the ancient Jewish tradition and to the family, a
belonging that is at the heart of Jewish rituals. The study of Christianity begins
with the question of whether Christmas is merely a commercial exercise and
should be abolished. The usefulness of routines is the issue discussed at the
beginning of the Islam chapter. Current issues could well take the place of those
presented in the book.
Various activities assist the students to engage with the informative part
of each chapter. Modern digital avatars are to be compared with the ancient
Hindu avatars. Buddhist principles are the basis of a reflection on the environ-
ment. Sketching symbols to match the reading of a Sikh story brings it alive in
its scary detail.
The information about each religion is brief but is such that it delves quickly
into the heart of that religion, where the puzzles of religious and cultural prac-
tices can be raised and the ultimate questions about the nature of divinity, of
humanity, of life and death, of suffering, happiness, love, loss, and migration,
might arise and be explored. If the classroom is a safe environment, the students
are free to splash out with their own reactions, ideas, challenges. They are able
to give voice to them and to be challenged by those of others. They can find
themselves with new understandings and new ways of seeing their enlarged
world. They and their classroom community can be touched in their inner
being, in their own spiritual depth.
A series of stories involving young people in puzzling or difficult cultural/
religious interactions runs through the book. For instance, the account of a
young Muslim girl having her veil “yanked off by the boys” helps the students
identify with the Other and share their own reactions with respect and empa-
thy. These accounts lead through to the book’s third and final section.
The third part of the book, “Preparing to Conduct a Social Inquiry,” asks
students to identify the challenges presented by a diversity of religious faiths in
schools and in communities. And to consider several responses to challenges
that have arisen in New Zealand society. Finally, the students are faced with
the questions “So what have we learnt? What does this mean to us?” and “Now
what? What are we going to do about what we have learnt?” A class might
decide to take a questionnaire out among the adherents of a particular reli-
gion in their neighborhood or decide to organize a multicultural, multireligious
event for the school community. Religions and religious followers would now
be a reality for the students, a part of their community, to be taken seriously and
respected in their distinctive differences.
The textbook attempts to offer an education about religions that is not
merely informational but aims to engage students in discussion and interactive
activities, in learning from real-life situations of others and from new encoun-
ters and experiences of their own. It aims to provide a framework for a critical
appreciation of a religion as a set of beliefs, practices and values, and as a social
phenomenon, but a framework that allows for the personal reflection and devel-
opment of the students in spiritual as well as intellectual and social terms.
Reports and Reactions: An Early Critique

of the Textbook’s Effectiveness
At the time of this writing, the introduction of the textbook Discovering Diver-
sity to schools was still at an early stage. As author, without staff or institutional
support, I did some research (mostly by interviewing teachers and students)
in order to illicit their responses and feedback in terms of their experiences of
using textbook and a small and arduous beginning has been made in a critique
of its effectiveness.
With regard to the secular suspicion of “religion in schools,” the textbook
has been introduced to members of the Ministry of Education but its subject
of religion and religions has not been officially recognized or supported. This
official resistance to “religion” is seen, for instance, in the response of a public
high school to a teacher’s request for approval of a study of religions as a senior
option subject. The school asked that the word “religion” not feature in the
title of the course, so the decision was made to give it the title of “civics.”
The teacher interpreted this reaction as “the general New Zealand fear of reli-
gion, a fear due to ignorance and misunderstanding, a fear of ‘religious people’
being seen almost as fanatics.”
None of the teachers interviewed, however, have received negative reactions
to the study of religions from parents or the wider community. Some, aware of
a community or particular families having conservative views, have written to

them ahead of beginning the course to explain its objectives and received no
adverse reactions. Teachers have been pleased to have parents expressing plea-
sure that their children are learning about the diverse religions. A teacher of year
9 reported: “Students appreciated understanding many of the religious groups
that we studied because many of them are their neighbors. Students appreciated
the reasons why Sikh men wear the turban and I noticed their language chang-
ing from ‘misunderstanding and ignorance’ to one that carried ‘acceptance and
acknowledgement of diversity.’ The class trip to visit four different religious
buildings meant that the students were able to put real life meaning to real
life people.”
With regard to religion being a new concept for many students, one student
voiced the reaction of many in response to the study: “One thing I found really
interesting was how different some of the practices that the religions do com-
pared to others, and how much it means to some people and how it’s a really
important part of people’s lives.” All the teachers have reported that the “nonre-
ligious” students showed real interest in exploring the religions.
The textbook was written as a resource for learning objectives in years 9 and
10 social studies, for 13- and 14-year-old students. But several teachers have
used it with senior students. One of these teachers found such interest in the
senior students who had so little knowledge to start with and such eagerness to
pursue difficult ethical and theological questions that she was persuaded that
learning about religions should start earlier in the school. She was about to
discuss the use of Discovering Diversity in years 9 and 10 with the head of the
Social Studies Department.
Although the inquiry approach is encouraged throughout New Zealand
schools, many teachers find it challenging. It was not surprising to find that
some teachers have used the textbook simply for the information it offers.
Some have set their students a project demanding their personal research,
used the textbook as a springboard and directed them to the Internet. Others
have shaped their study of cultural interaction so that the religions are only
one of several cultural facets to be considered. The limited class time allocated
to the study of religions did not allow for extended discussion involving the
challenges and sharing of ideas that would enable deeper exploration and
understanding.
One teacher’s inquiry approach guided her class through a full term’s study
based on the textbook. The students worked in groups, each to prepare a Pow-
erPoint presentation of one religion for the class to discuss. They then prepared
to write an individual essay. As they worked, the students came to realize that
the teacher accepted them for who and what they were, and discussions became
frank, questioning, and productive. One student had assumed the study was
“going to be boring, but it was fun and interesting.” Another student reported
to the teacher, “The discussions in class I found really cool and just getting
everyone’s opinion was really cool. Thank you for the effort you put into this
topic because I got lots out of it.”
Small group discussions give all students the chance to speak. Once they
have spoken, been heard, and been assured of their place in the class, they par-
ticipate more easily in what follows. One teacher spoke of the less able students
who were able to be articulate, to explain things they knew about to the class
because of their confidence in their Christian faith. They could stand tall and
confident—something they found impossible in other classes.
Another teacher, fully immersed in the inquiry method, reported how senior
students studying religions participated fully in their discussions, secure in the
knowledge that what was said in the classroom would not be repeated outside.
They had full trust in the process, the teacher and each other. The classroom
was one in which the climate was open, nonjudgmental and accepting. Students
became so engaged and interested that they undertook their own research and
were eager to contribute their newfound knowledge in the class. The teacher
discovered that some of the students who were confident in expressing them-
selves and sharing ideas in this way were quite silent and withdrawn in other
subject classes.
Ground rules and monitoring of discussion groups are usually required. But
the level of noise does not always point to trouble. A teacher became aware of a
loud and energetic discussion in one small group at the back of the classroom.
A quick check revealed a lively interchange of views among the students. They
were on topic, fully engaged and challenging one another with their different
views. No action on the part of the teacher was required. The students would
leave the class with new perspectives to consider.
The personal visit or encounter with the person who is “different” is the
most powerful learning experience: “That boy we met who had been given per-
mission to wear his turban to school turned out to be just like us!” One class was
fascinated to meet their regular Chemistry teacher in her capacity as a Hindu
woman. She captured their imagination as she explained her culinary knowl-
edge and the place of her kitchen in her Hindu family’s life. A class was visit-
ing a modern cathedral. One student who had never before been in a church
building was overwhelmed. Colored light filtered through the large stained glass
window that formed the Wet wall, the timber ceiling hung over a vast space.
After some minutes sitting in silence, the question was asked, “What does this
space tell you about God?” The student’s poem written after the visit revealed a
transformative spiritual experience.
With regard to social development, teachers confirmed that the discussions
arising from the textbook encouraged positive relationships both inside and
outside the classroom. Learning about religions in one multicultural school had
produced over two or three years such understanding among the students that
features such as girls wearing a head covering or senior boys wearing beards were
accepted throughout the school community with respect.
With regard to personal development, students were reported to “question
their own beliefs and many were able to view other people’s beliefs and perspec-
tives with greater understanding.” One teacher was adamant that this study of
religions, more than any other subject in the school, evoked in the students
the realization that there were different ways of seeing and understanding the
world, different perspectives to consider on current issues. He saw this as a
positive contribution to their later senior studies. He spoke of one young stu-
dent, an immigrant from the Philippines, who had a strong commitment to
her Christian faith. Only at the end of the course when she had heard from
her companions the good and inspiring things they had discovered in the non-
Christian religions could she admit to their reality. Her parents expressed their
appreciation to the teacher for her broadened attitude.
Another teacher was introducing a second unfamiliar religion to the class in
which almost all the students were committed to their conservative Christian
church. A student interrupted, “But Miss, last week we learnt what we had to
believe in another religion—now do we have to believe something else?” The
teacher was quick to explain that they were learning about what “other people”
believe. The students were forced to come to grips with the fact that there was
more than one religion to be respected in the world. Other teachers confirmed
that the students with a conservative Christian background took time to accept
what appeared to them at first to be a challenge to their own beliefs.
When a teacher commented “I did notice lots of ‘ahh’ moments,” it was clear
that the students’ learning—which involves interactions with others, perceiving
ways of life different from their own, critical thinking, and personal reflection—
had in fact touched the students at depth. I venture to claim such moments as
possible instances of a development of spirituality that “investigates identity,
delights in curiosity, inquiry, and meaning-making” (Hay and Nye 2006, 8).
I was not surprised that neither teachers nor students in these early days of
teaching about religions in public high schools in New Zealand’s secular society
would make mention of or report any discussion, new understanding, or expe-
rience of the transcendent or the divine in more religious terms.
Conclusions
Discovering Diversity darted through the opening provided by a new social stud-
ies curriculum that responded to the new multicultural, multireligious compo-
nent of New Zealand society. The secular context is slowly opening up to a more
willing recognition of the spiritual and the religious as well as secularity itself.
The time is yet to come when the topic of religions will be officially recognized,
supported by a well-designed curriculum, and provided with teachers trained in
both the content and the pedagogy. In the meantime, an increasing number of
social studies teachers are using the new textbook with positive results.
The inquiry approach provides a holistic learning pedagogy. It not only aims
for the attainment of knowledge with academic and social skills but also seeks
to develop the student’s personal qualities, values, and ways of being. It involves
a depth of human nature and human community that challenges the ignor-
ing or setting aside of any student’s religious commitment. It also involves an
awareness of the student’s spiritual dimension, not an accustomed stance for the
public school teacher. Yet the New Zealand education documents give a lead
with their focus on identity, connecting to others in the community and mean-
ing making. These are aspects of today’s “religionless” spirituality. These aspects
can be perceived in the aforementioned reports: a new confidence in a newly
appreciated identity, new relationships in and beyond the classroom, and new
ideas and perspectives gained.
A more religiously centered spirituality cannot be expected to emerge in
tangible ways in New Zealand’s present secular classrooms. I still believe that
coming to grips with the essential message of a religion, and coming face to
face with its people and traditions, may well stir the imagination, enlarge the
horizons and evoke some sense of the mystery of transcendence in the student
in ways invisible to the teacher.
The inquiry approach is a student-centered, teacher-supported pedagogy. It
is not an easy approach for many teachers; it may not be at all possible for some
to accept. Just as important as a basic knowledge of the content is the skill and
empathy required to develop a community of learning in the classroom. The
open and accepting classroom in which the students are known for who and
what they are, are at ease with themselves and with one another, is essential.
There is a need for more teacher training and workshops to deal with both the
“religious” content and the pedagogy. In the meantime, I have found that intro-
ducing the textbook and its teacher resource CD in the workshop situation gave
teachers confidence to the point of enthusiasm.
It has been encouraging to find the argument and support in New Zea-
land’s official education documents for a holistic education. Learning about
religions, delving deep into the heart of their traditions, and splashing out with
their own inquiry and reflections gives the students opportunities to develop a
spiritual depth and become, as the national curriculum envisages, confident,
resilient, connected and actively involved persons, critical and creative thinkers,
equipped to live life to the full in the face of the challenges of today’s world.
Notes
1. The inquiry-based approach has been a major feature of the reform in the teach-
ing of social studies curriculum in New Zealand.
2. See Armstrong (2009).
3. See the New Zealand Curriculum (2007) and the significant Social Sciences Best
Evidence Synthesis (BES) document by Aitken and Sinnema (2008).
4. See Wright’s (2004) survey.
5. The teacher resource CD of Discovering Diversity Armstrong (2009) notes such
ideas.
References
Aitken, Graeme, and Claire Sinnema. 2008. Effective Pedagogy in Social Sciences: Tikanga
a Iwi: Best Evidence Synthesis Iteration (BES). Wellington: Ministry of Education,
University of Auckland.
Armstrong, Jocelyn. 2009. Discovering Diversity: How the Diverse Values and Beliefs of
World Religions Are Shaping Our Identity. North Shore, New Zealand: Pearson.
Conway, David. 2010. Liberal Education and the National Curriculum. London: Civitas.
Kindle Edition.
Hay, David, and Rebecca Nye. 2006. The Spirit of the Child. Rev. ed. E-book. London:
Jessica Kingsley.
Ministry of Education Te Tahuhu o te Matauranga. 2007. The New Zealand Curriculum.
Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media Ltd.
Schneiders, Sandra. 2000. “Religions and Spirituality: Strangers, Rivals, or Partners?”
Santa Clara Lecture, presented at Santa Clara University, Berkeley, California, Febru-
ary 6. http://www.liturgy.co.nz/spirituality/reflections_assets/schneiders.pdf.
Wright, Andrew. 2004. Religion, Education and Post-Modernity. London: RoutledgeFalmer.
CHAPTER 12
Fathoming, Engaging, Abiding

The Story of the Wisdom Project
John Breadon
Eton College/Director, the Wisdom Project
But where shall wisdom be found?

And where is the place of understanding?
—Job 28:12–13
Introduction: Having Hope in Wisdom
M
uch of the time, we may feel hemmed in by cultural gloom. We grow
tired on a constant diet of terrorism, fundamentalism, consumer-
ism, debt, environmental disaster, and instrumental approaches to
education. Yet hope for the future exists in the form of young people, in schools
and colleges, hungry for ancient (and new) wisdom. Such a belief is, in part,
founded on my experience of creating and directing the Wisdom Project in
Berkshire, England, over the past three years. The project is a place where 16- to
18-year-olds can come face to face with what the Greeks called paideia, or wis-
dom education, a place where the imagination can unfold and be opened up to
all that is good, wise, and worthy of heeding in the world’s great belief systems.
This chapter tells the story of the project, why it is needed just now, how it came
about, and what it seeks to do.
Before delving into the background of the project, I will discuss a few
explanatory points—and provide a few definitions to some of the project’s key
terms. The Wisdom Project seeks to combine the two main approaches to pupil
spiritual development that exist within schools and colleges in England and
178 O John Breadon
Wales—religious education (RE) and the many initiatives grouped together

under PSHE (personal, social, health, and economic) education. In this fusion,
the project stands as a good example of what postmodernist educationalists
mean when they argue that “the distinction between religious education and
other forms of related education—spiritual education, education in the emo-
tions and values education, for example—[has] collapsed . . . The aim is to help
pupils to develop their own sets of individually constructed beliefs” (Jackson
2004, 2).
I do not greatly value the term spirituality because of vagueness and overuse,
so it makes few appearances here. Given its long-standing usage within English
education, I instead use spiritual development. This is a phrase usually bundled
with moral, social, and cultural development to form the acronym SMSC devel-
opment. For a general working definition of spiritual development, I draw on
a document produced by England’s education “quality control” agency, Ofsted
(the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services, and Skills). Accord-
ing to Ofsted, spiritual development is about “the development of a sense of
identity, self-worth, personal insight, meaning and purpose” (Ofsted 2004).
What may strike some is the lack of any obvious religious reference or com-
ponent; spiritual has been made an acceptable term to all worldviews, religious
and nonreligious. I do not think it is possible to live a flourishing life without
attending to the issues gathered up in the idea of spiritual development. For
the project, the language of wisdom fits as neatly into spiritual development as
a hand does a glove. My basic definition of wisdom is an appreciation of that
which is of deepest value in human life. Once again, as with the spiritual, clouds
of imprecision can soon gather, for wisdom is another word with an unstable
center. However, with young people, this can be a source of joy rather than
lamentation. As it is hardly an everyday word for most young people, it is a rich
source of projection and therefore exploration.
In my experience, most young people have a functioning moral compass,
an innate sense of morality. They have an instinctive sense, too, about what it
means to grow toward the light. It would be hard to conceive of anything fur-
ther from the stereotype of the average teenager as amoral and feckless. I believe
passionately that young people are “searching for deeper meaning in their lives,
looking for ways to cultivate their inner selves, seeking to be compassionate and
charitable, and determining what they feel about the many issues confront-
ing their society and the global community” (Higher Education Research Unit
2003, 22). This chapter has two discrete parts. The first provides an overview of
some important historical moments and theoretical discussions central to any
discussion of spiritual development. The second half looks in detail at the Wis-
dom Project as a direct response to many of the key issues raised by the first. In
a nutshell, the chapter seeks to build a case for why young people should have
Fathoming, Engaging, Abiding O 179
access, for the entirety of their time in full-time education, to a range of beliefs
and worldviews. Failure to deliver this core part of education is to condemn
young people to the tyranny of sameness. As the American social critic Allan
Bloom (1987) has argued that the most “successful tyranny is not one that uses
force to assure uniformity but the one that removes the awareness of other pos-
sibilities, that makes it seem inconceivable that other ways are viable” (249).
Religious Education and Spiritual, Moral, Social, and

Cultural (SMSC) Development in England: An Overview
In the United Kingdom in recent years, education policy has taken an instru-
mental turn. The debates that seem to generate the most heat are those con-
cerned with league tables, formal testing, and academic streaming. The end of
educating pupils is now to be found in the shibboleth of “employability”; teach-
ers have become “curriculum delivery specialists.”1 Alongside such language,
that of RE and SMSC development seems incorrigibly remote and romantic.
Yet a different tale has been told over the same period by those beyond the walls
of our schools. Intense debates have been conducted about the real meaning
of childhood and just how we are bringing up our young people. Interest, too,
in the place of religion in the public sphere has never been higher. But I speed
ahead; let us for a moment examine the efforts made by successive governments
to promote the spiritual development of pupils.
Toward the end of the Second World War, in the midst of destruction home
and abroad, the Conservative-led coalition government decided the time was
right to take a fresh look at the fundamental purposes of education. It was
a bold and visionary move. Clearly, it would mean grappling with complex
philosophical ideas about personhood, meaning, and purpose and the role of
religion in modern society. Out of this matrix of concerns the notion of spiri-
tual development emerged. The education mission statement in which it was
couched has vexed and irritated British educators and teachers ever since: “It
shall be the duty of the local education authority for every area . . . to contribute
towards the spiritual, moral, mental and physical development of the commu-
nity” (Education Act of 1944, quoted in Copley 1997, 28). A reaffirmation
of this duty appeared in the 1988 Education Reform Act with a few minor
alterations. Schools were now asked to promote “the spiritual, moral, social and
cultural development of learners” (Education Reform Act 1988).
The SMSC development requirement laid down by the Education Act of
1944 has worked itself out in two major ways. Let us call them the religious and
the secular. The religious is RE proper, in both its examined and its unexamined
forms. In its early days, RE mostly focused on Christianity. It also included
(and still does, technically) whole-school daily assembly. What is the current
180 O John Breadon
state of RE in England and Wales? In 2007, Ofsted revealed that 80 percent of

schools were not meeting the statutory unexamined minimum requirements for
RE provision among pupils over the age of 14 (Ofsted 2007). In 2010, Ofsted
documented widespread inadequacies in the teaching of the subject. Various
levels of noncompliance in many schools were also reported. The provision of
good RE for sixth formers was said to be in a particularly parlous state (Ofsted
2010). Another follow-up report in 2013 showed that, in the intervening years,
little had been done to address Ofsted’s earlier concerns. More than half of
schools were not providing pupils with challenging and interesting RE lessons
(Ofsted 2013a). The RE Council, a nongovernmental organization of religious
education specialists and practitioners, gave its assessment of the health of RE
in late 2013: the structures currently governing RE—the priority given to it at
a time when religion and belief are of such high profile and significance in the
world, the public understanding and purpose of RE—these all need attention.
They determine the policies that shape the recruitment of RE teachers, their
role in the classroom, and the resources they have to perform it. Why is all this
important? Religion and belief are an intrinsic part of human life, society, and
the modern world. Because children only get one chance to go to school, they
should have the best RE they can get (RE Council 2013).
These findings beg many deep questions. Does RE deserve a future? Is it
any longer an academically respectable subject? We need to dig down further
to get to the truth of the matter. Beyond the instrumental reason of fostering
basic levels of religious literacy and knowledge—a necessity for any healthy,
functioning pluralistic society—what does the study of religious and nonre-
ligious worldviews really add to a young person’s education? In his important
book Does God Make a Difference? Taking Religion Seriously in Our Schools and
Universities, American educationalist Warren Nord (2010) sets out with admi-
rable clarity, and from a secular methodological base, compelling reasons why
schools should be introducing pupils to the world of religion. Nord argues that
removing religion from education spells the end of an educational era—the era
of liberal education.2 Once this happens, the ability to engage in and imagine
alternative visions of reality becomes harder; the storehouse of the imagination
becomes an empty barn. According to philosopher Richard Kearney (2011),
the loss of religion’s voice from education deprives us all of a “rich grammar,
vocabulary, and imaginary . . . not readily available in exclusively secular dis-
course” (184). Terence Copley (2005), in Indoctrination, Education and God:
The Struggle for the Mind, pours scorn on those who would blithely reject the
wisdom of religion: “By what higher ‘wisdom’ have some Europeans dispensed
with the collective wisdom, accumulated over millennia, of the world’s great
religions? By what criteria can they be totally ignored or dismissed? . . . ‘The
wisdom’ that can afford to throw away every religion that has ever appeared
on the face of the earth without so much as a cursory examination looks more
redolent of Babel-like folly” (137).
So much for RE and its discontents. Let us turn our attention briefly to
secular approaches to SMSC development, called PSHE education. Under the
acronym many others lurk—SRE (Sex Relationship Education), SEAL (Social
Emotional Aspects of Learning), and Citizenship Education. Like RE, PSHE
education currently finds itself in considerable flux. In Ofsted’s 2013 report on
PSHE education, the title was perhaps all one really needed to read: “Not Yet
Good Enough: Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education in Schools”
(Ofsted 2013b). For our purposes, it’s important to point out that PSHE educa-
tion tails off dramatically after age 16. This is presumably because young people
are much too busy with exams and university applications to be bothered by it.
The Wisdom Project

A Brief History
The project grew out of an existing project called the Eton College–Dorney Par-
ish Project. Since its inception in the late 1960s, its aim was to bring together
Etonians (boys at Eton College) with their state peers from the East End of
London with the hope that a few bridges might be thrown across the socio-
economic divide. Actual encounters between the two groups mainly took the
shape of sports and other hearty outdoor activities. The project eventually ran
out of steam and purpose in the 1980s. Like its ancestor, the Wisdom Project
is rooted in a physical space, the Eton Dorney Centre. This is a former vicarage
and Grade II listed building. In 2007, the project’s trustees felt the time was
right to give the center a new direction that wouldn’t conflict with the original
trust deed. At this time, matters of global terrorism, religious fundamentalism,
and community were hotly debated. It was soon decided that the project’s new
modus operandi mission should focus on interfaith and intercultural dialogue.
Local geography made this a wise decision. At the heart of the Berkshire and
Buckinghamshire areas is Slough. According to the 2011 National Census,
Slough is one of the most diverse towns in England.
It is important to come clean about who is developing and guiding the Wis-
dom Project. I am a white, middle-aged, ordained Anglican chaplain who works
full-time for Eton College (but is state educated). The project steering group
is composed of three Christians and a Muslim. This monotheistic bias is offset
somewhat by the staff that delivers the project’s workshops and study days.
Here the bias is positively Dharmic, being mostly delivered by a Buddhist monk
and a female Sikh teacher. Other staff members—or teacher-mentors, as we
like to call ourselves—come from a wide range of belief traditions, including
182 O John Breadon
humanism, paganism, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism. It is to core issues of

methodology and pedagogy that we now turn.
An Emerging Structure and Methodology

The Wisdom Project is informal and extracurricular: a learning initiative
beyond traditional classroom rhetoric and behavior even when it takes place
within the traditional classroom. It offers a range of voluntary SMSC develop-
ment programs to local state and independent schools. Schools are free to send
the pupils they deem to be most suited to the program on offer (so long as they
are between the ages of 15 and 18). Before schools get involved with the project,
they are fully informed about the project’s approach to spiritual development,
its inclusive spirit, and how it goes about teaching controversial issues and han-
dling the conflict that sometimes results. As an adjunct to the basic defini-
tion of spiritual development provided in the introduction, the project makes
reference on its website and in its promotional literature to the seven human
capacities developed by educationalist Aostre Johnson. These are the capacity
for awareness, concentration, and contemplation; the capacity to internalize
and process what is personally meaningful; the ability to self-reflect; the emo-
tional capacity to experience a sense of wonder, awe, love, gratitude, and joy;
the capacity to develop ethical values that influence one’s actions and responsi-
bilities; an ecological capacity that perceives a sense of place and a connection
with nature; and the capacity for creative expression and imagination (Johnson
and Neagley 2011).
Engaged Pedagogy
The quality of the Wisdom Project’s work is closely related to the quality and
commitment of our teacher-mentors. Inspirational teaching and effective pupil
nurture are at the heart of what we do. Using a phrase of the feminist intel-
lectual bell hooks, the project seeks to embody a form of teaching and student
mentoring marked by “engaged pedagogy.” In hooks’s words, “engaged peda-
gogy begins with the assumption that we learn best when there is an interac-
tive relationship between the student and teacher” (2010, 19). A similar idea,
espoused by Sam Crowell and David Reid-Marr (2013), is that of “emergent
teaching.” This is teaching that seeks to overturn traditional teacher-led, top-
down pedagogy. It is defined by them as teaching full of “engagement, playful
discovery, deep inquiry, and creativity” (Crowell and Reid-Marr 2013, 104). For
me, engaged pedagogy is concerned with establishing a bond between teacher
and pupil sustained by openness and trust and intellectual encouragement. Our
teacher-mentors are adept at bringing to vibrant life the deep love and knowl-
edge they have for their traditions. They exhibit a passionate and fully engaged
attitude toward learning. They are people of tangible personal warmth who are
able to place the growth of pupils at the center of all they do. What I’m attempt-
ing to tease out here is modeling a way of being in the world. In my experience,
young people develop a mature and rounded sense of self when they work, play,
and think alongside adults who themselves are trying hard to live lives of integ-
rity and honesty. In staff training sessions, we often ponder bell hooks’s ques-
tion: “How can we speak of change, of hope, and love if we court death? All of
the work we do, no matter how brilliant or revolutionary in thought or action,
loses power and meaning if we lack integrity of being” (2003, 164).
Spiritual Development: A Hermeneutic Cycle

Academic debates about the purpose and scope of RE and SMSC development
tend to fall into two opposing positions.3 In one corner, there is a postmodern
approach. It is strongly pupil centered. It takes the view that there is no ready-
made truth “out there” that is simply channeled into the minds of pupils via
the teacher. The purpose of the teacher is to help pupils create an appropriate
narrative for themselves. According to Robert Jackson’s (2004) interpretation
of Clive and Jane Erricker’s thinking (the UK’s best known exponents of this
approach), “The construction of personal narratives is an artistic process, cre-
atively on-going, drawing on the rational, the emotional and the intuitive, with
no prescribed outcome” (63). Sitting in broad opposition to this view is the
Realist position. For a Critical Realist Christian such as Andrew Wright (2004),
belief traditions are in the business of reflecting on the good and the true. Belief
traditions, without destroying their dogmatic integrity, cannot be reduced to a
few ethical aphorisms, which can then be fed to children like sweets. Religions
are complex systems of thought and reference that must be experienced from
the inside over significant periods of time. The Wisdom Project seeks to pitch
its tent somewhere in the middle ground between these two views.
The project’s own hermeneutic circle is indebted to the wisdom hermeneu-
tic outlined by David Ford in his work Christian Wisdom: Desiring God and
Learning in Love. Ford describes his stages, or “cries,” as those of affirmation/
love, command, surprise, and the question (Ford 2007). Whatever the project
program, the place of departure is always the same: the present experience of the
young person (affirmation and love). Here a series of mental wisdom prompts
are given to the teacher-mentors: What knowledge of the world have these young
people brought with them today? What has informed it? Where are they in the ask-
ing of metacognitive and metaphysical questions? How much challenge and support
will they need during the session? One of the side effects of living in an always-
connected, 24/7 culture is that we have lost the ability to separate our own
thoughts and experiences from the cacophony that surrounds us. We struggle to
pay attention to our (many) internal voices. In particular, we rush past our emo-
tions and look for a quick fix to tame the maelstrom within. This is especially
184 O John Breadon
the case when emotions are deemed to be negative or painful. For these reasons,
all the project’s programs begin with a time of mindfulness meditation. The
intention here is to put young people back in touch with themselves, to get
them to feel what it is like simply to be in the present moment.
The hermeneutic cycle completes in the following way. After staying with
subjective experience for a time, we move to introduce into the group some
form of challenge or Otherness (the command stage). This can take many
forms. It may be a text, a picture, or a piece of music. It may be a personal narra-
tive offered to the group by the teacher-mentor. Space for personal reflection on
what they have just encountered follows, interspersed with peer-to-peer conver-
sation. Throughout the stage of reflection (relating to Ford’s stages of surprise
and the question), pupils are encouraged to ask such questions as the following:
What sense am I making of this? How am I being challenged by another viewpoint?
Where is the wisdom here? What is of lasting worth in this for me? At some level,
by the end of the session, no matter how slight it may seem at the time, change
has occurred. This, then, is unscripted, process- rather than content-oriented,
emergent teaching. I hope the day never comes when we jettison traditional
content-based, didactic teaching, but with Crowell and Reid-Marr, I believe
that more needs to be done to allow alternative methods of teaching to prosper.
For at the present, it seems to me “education has abandoned the inner world
and inner life of students,” and as a result we have “lost the breath, the life-
force, of what learning is meant to be” (Crowell and Reid-Marr 2013, 120).
Emergent teaching and engaged pedagogy love freedom, just as human beings
love freedom, and so pupils need free yet safe spaces where they can bring every-
thing they are and desire to be into the light.
Programs of the Wisdom Project

The Wisdom Project runs five different programs, including Dialogue with Dif-
ference Study Days, which invites pupils from other local schools to join the
Eton boys to tackle head-on the big issues of life, such as sexuality, the body,
violence, freedom and authority, ritual and narrative, care of the earth, and
death and dying; Strange Pilgrims, a guided journey on foot around Eton and
the Thames during which pupils consider the shape and story of their lives,
from birth to death and everything in between. The ultimate destination for
this pilgrimage isn’t a place—though we visit many interesting places along the
way—but greater knowledge of self; Sage in Residence, which takes place every
autumn, when we invite a learned and wise person to live for six weeks at the
Eton Dorney Centre and share his or her knowledge with young people from
local schools, colleges, and community groups; and two other programs that we
will discuss in more detail here.
Saturday Satya
This takes the form of a two-hour, classroom-based seminar at Eton College
on Saturday mornings. Around thirty students from local state schools take
part each week. The same group completes one block of five seminars together.
Satya is the Sanskrit word for “truth” or “ultimate reality.” So during the first
of the five sessions, we invite everyone to treat the two hours together and
those that follow as an open space for the discussion of some of the most vital
questions that concern us as human beings. Participants are urged, if it feels
safe, to bring their most urgent and deepest thoughts and concerns into the
group. Nothing is off limits or unworthy of the group’s time and attention.
Essentially, we are aiming for a balance between hearing and speaking, indi-
viduality and community, inner worlds of private growth and public spaces of
encounter and dialogue. For many of the young people we meet, what they lack
is not a rich inner life or coherent set of beliefs but rather practice in the art of
self-articulation—the art of speaking themselves into being. Often because
of negative experiences, their self-defense systems function too well. They feel
that unless they are always giving the “right answer,” they have no right to
express a more creative, emergent idea.
As a critique of such self-limiting, I am personally drawn to the spiritual
expressionism of the radical theologian Don Cupitt. He speaks about an adjust-
ment we all need to make, in the West at least, in how we think about the self.
For Cupitt (2011), we need to break out of an antiquated interiority: “True
religion is not to have a second secret identity like a spy, but to come out into
the open and put on a brave show” (46). We should live, according to Cupitt’s
central metaphor, like the sun: with unrestrained solar giving (Cupitt 1995).
This is a message many young people would benefit from hearing. When they
do, the effect can be transformational.
A typical Saturday Satya will begin with a period of mindfulness meditation.
Once focused and centered, the group will then be given a warm-up or ice-
breaker activity. This is usually of an interactive nature, designed to break down
either natural egoism or shyness when we are among strangers. The hope is
that we enter into a state of preparedness to meet with the Other. As the group
comprises pupils from different schools, mixing is of obvious importance. The
theme for the day is then introduced. Running through many of the project’s
programs is this key methodological principle: the move from the universal to
the particular. This is essential for maintaining the project’s inclusive focus.
For instance, a five-week Saturday Satya curriculum will look at big existen-
tial themes such as freedom and authority, creativity, the body, emotions, and
ritual. A range of resources are employed to open these issues up in an engaging
way. An average session will be made up of YouTube clips, music, pictures and
186 O John Breadon
photographs (especially metaphor cards), and the sharing of personal stories

and experiences. A final short period of mindfulness signals that the end of
the session is near. The very final act is hearing something, though it could be
a single word, from every member of the group. Since the Wisdom Project is
extracurricular, there is no examination, test, or pressure to have “gotten some-
thing” by the end.
Summer Retreat
As with Saturday Satya, the retreat is built around dialogue and encounter as
spurs to self-development. The major difference is the depth of encounter and
dialogue that can take place over four days rather than two hours. The experi-
ence of living together—eating, resting, thinking, sharing—can be transforma-
tional and for some an experience never to be forgotten. At the Eton Dorney
Centre, where the retreat takes place, there are few distractions. No shops dis-
turb the peace of the village. Retreatants watch no television or films during
the retreat, and even phone usage is (voluntarily) reduced. The young people
are told from the outset that they are on retreat, not a holiday. They are chal-
lenged to come out of themselves, to risk being as honest and open as they can
be with themselves and with others. They are asked to actively listen to each
other, to travel across known borders into unfamiliar territory, and to show
genuine hospitality to the strangers becoming friends before them. The space
created for all this work is simultaneously safe and challenging. On retreat, we
use the psychotherapeutic phrase “the safe emergency” to describe the space of
the retreat. The atmosphere can be highly charged, for it contains the electric-
ity of conflict and reconciliation, of old ideas dying and new ones coming into
being. At the heart of a retreat is diversity. At the 2013 retreat, seven young men
and ten young women came together from a plethora of national, faith, and
belief backgrounds, including Moroccan, Italian, English, Egyptian, Muslim,
Christian, atheist, Hindu, and Sikh. Retreat content and teaching at the annual
retreat are likewise varied and wide-ranging, moving from the religious to the
secular—and all points in between—at high speed. For example, those on
the 2013 retreat examined the parable of the Prodigal Son. We began with a
dramatized reading of it. Much bad acting was enjoyed by all. We then moved
to an open circle conversation to consider what the story might be saying to
us in the here and now. The outcome of such open discussion is impossible
to predict. One young man expressed his amazement at why the father didn’t
soundly beat his son for bringing shame on the family name. This intervention
instigated a lively, at times impassioned, conversation about parental corporal
punishment. Other sessions focus on more practical matters central to the joys
and pains of growing up in today’s culture. These include sessions on dealing
with stress; developing good “wisdom skills,” such as active listening; framing
constructive questions, and nurturing a more empathic mind.
Young People’s Experiences of the Wisdom Project

Over the past three years, many young people have experienced the Wisdom
Project’s pedagogy by participating in the different programs. Using the proj-
ect’s hermeneutic stages as a structuring device, what follows are just a few of the
feedback comments received from pupils who attended the 2013 retreat. These
comments were received anonymously in order to encourage open and honest
feedback from our young participants. I deliberately leave these comments as
they are under each of our single-word descriptions of the hermeneutical cycle
so that readers can engage with the participants’ experience more directly and
make their own interpretation with regard to the impact of the Wisdom Project.
Affirmation/Love
Many pupils reflected on the closeness with other people, the bond developed,
and the possibility of coming together and becoming one. Such an affirmation
of humanity and love for another human being was clearly found in these two
comments:
What resonates for me? The bond that quickly developed between all of us
together is very unique and special because of the diversity within the group. The
feeling of everyone becoming a family regardless of race, religion, gender or age.
Understanding, acceptance, the peace that comes from just closing your eyes
and breathing. People who seem to have nothing in common can have the same
issues. When we come together we become one.
No doubt, some young people were able to build a link between connec-
tions and bonding with other people as personal growth, as expressed in this
comment:
I kind of feel upset that I am leaving tomorrow because I have done so much
learning and growing from this residential. How easy it is to make friends when
you don’t put yourself down!
Command
By responding to our challenge to live adventurously and take intellectual risks,
some of the young people were able to discern within themselves the palpable
188 O John Breadon
effects of spiritual change and renewal made possible through time spent in a
supportive community:
When you speak the truth you invite others to do the same. I need to be authentic
to live. Other people’s experiences can help me to become a better person and
realize my mistakes.
I want to take away the ability to be more open and less hesitant around people
(embrace equality), to be more aware of people’s true emotions underneath the
façade they may put up.
Surprise
In a world dominated by the Internet, where it seems all the mysteries of the
universe are laid out before us, genuine surprise and wonder at our lives and
everyday experiences are still possible. For our pupils, this invariably comes as
a result of commitment to real (not virtual) face-to-face encounters, as the fol-
lowing two comments suggest:
For me, perhaps the most affecting aspect of the trip to the Dorney Centre was
the way in which it allowed people of different faiths, colors and creed etc. to
interact in a safe environment. As someone that’s lived in effectively all-white
communities for most of my life, the cultural importance of meeting people that
are different from myself cannot be exaggerated.
What has surprised me? Although people in a group may seem to have noth-
ing in common, they can have the same problems as each other, regardless of
backgrounds. People in a group can feel comfortable around each other within a
matter of days.
After the surprise of finding strangers turning into friends can come the
awakening of the self ’s capacity to envisage the future differently. For many
young people, this means greeting the future with a new sense of hopefulness:
What do I hope for? I want to be better at empathizing, and to be more comfort-

able in my own skin. I feel like I found the push to make me go on in life, without
being scared and intimidated. I’m not afraid anymore, actually I’m eager to be
active and do things about problems that have occurred in my life but I never
really confronted the way I wanted to.
The Question
For young people (as for all of us), challenging experiences cannot be easily or
immediately assimilated. We must endure times of discomfort. Sometimes we
don’t know what exactly has shifted within us—only that something has:
In these past few days I have felt annoyed, angered, restless because we are ques-
tioning so much that it becomes a room/atmosphere full of tension. It is over-
whelming to take it all in in such a short amount of time. However, I have my
best friends here and I’ve also made new friends. I can tell there is a strong con-
nection of trust and friendship between us.
Conclusion
That great source of wisdom Michel de Montaigne (1993) once wrote in an
essay on education that “the most difficult and important problem confront-
ing human knowledge seems to be that of the right rearing and education of
children” (53). The latest findings from the social sciences suggest we still find
this task a challenging one. A slew of recent reports suggest widespread dis-ease
among young people.4 Lucie Russell, director of campaigns and policy for the
UK youth charity YoungMinds, provides the following gloomy if pithy assess-
ment: “Children and young people are growing up in a toxic climate. They exist
in a 24/7 online world where they never switch off, where cyberbullying, con-
sumerism and pornography, sexting and the pressure to have the perfect body
bombard them daily, where any grade below C means failure and employment
prospects are bleak” (quoted in Burns 2013).
Increasing the quality and quantity of RE and SMSC development in schools
today will not of course provide an immediate answer to the ills that drag down
the well-being of young people. But what is surely beyond contention is that
“schooling that does not honor the needs of the spirit simply intensifies [the]
sense of being lost, of being unable to connect” (hooks 2003, 180). Without
maps for the inner life, without spiritual resources for confronting life’s chal-
lenges and interpreting its joys, we are, perhaps inadvertently, forcing our chil-
dren to follow lesser, more pernicious narratives and myths.
Notes
1. See the extensive work on contemporary education by the Nuffield Review,
http://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/14–19review. For a critique of contempo-
rary education language and jargon, see Pring (2009).
2. For a succinct analysis and defense of liberal education, see Conway (2010).
3. See Wright (2004) and Jackson (2004).
4. See UNICEF’s two reports, 2007 and 2013. Also, see the wide-ranging research
of the Children’s Society, http://www.childrenssociety.org.uk.
190 O John Breadon
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CHAPTER 13
Learning to Live Together

Agneta Ucko
Arigatou International
I
n an increasingly multicultural and multireligious world, students need
space and opportunities to learn about other cultures and beliefs, to engage
in dialogue with people from different traditions, to continue develop
their innate potential for spirituality, and to make use of their skills and
capacities to transform conflicts that can arise from the challenges posed by
increased diversity.
Education today needs to be sensitive to the demands of multicultural soci-
eties, thus providing equal opportunities for children to express their beliefs and
develop their own identities while being aware of others’ identities. Religious
education can no longer be restricted to developing only cognitive skills but
needs to include the development of emotional abilities and ethical values to
strengthen students’ sense of responsibility, solidarity, and empathy with people
from other cultural and religious backgrounds.
This chapter emphasizes the need for an interfaith ethics education that
nurtures values, gives space for young people to develop spirituality, and helps
them learn to lead a flourishing life. Its recommendations for religious educa-
tion include the need to apply dialogic pedagogical approaches; provide space
for children to develop their innate potential for spirituality; nurture values that
appreciate the Other; initiate a learning process that involves critical reflection,
a sense of cohesion, and building and practicing positive relationships; develop a
stronger sense of ethics through the learning process; and finally strengthen
continuous training for teachers with the aim of establishing a true religious
education.
194 O Agneta Ucko
Rationale for Religious Education to Focus on Ethics and Values

Religious education can mean learning about one’s own religion or spiritual
practices or learning about other religions and beliefs. It can also imply ana-
lyzing religious and moral issues through interactive methodologies that allow
students to reflect on themselves, the people around them, and the world. Mod-
els of religious education can be identified within a framework of three main
concepts.
The learning of religion approach is the study of a religion, its beliefs, and its
values, which requires the teachers to be believers of that religion in order to
pass on the values and principles of the religion. In this form of instruction, reli-
gious communities are in charge of developing the curriculum and the methods
of teaching.
Learning about religion teaches religion from a descriptive and historical per-
spective, with an emphasis on the comparison of values, beliefs, and practices
of different religions in an effort to understand how these may influence the
behavior of individuals.
Learning from religions refers to a methodological approach that encour-
ages students to reflect on and analyze the different fundamental questions and
answers major religions offer and to discuss moral issues. Students become the
center of the learning process, and the methods used are interactive and expe-
riential. Learning from religions fosters interreligious encounters through dia-
logue and allows practical interactions among people of different beliefs. The
encounter also takes place through meeting people of other faiths and cultures,
visiting religious places, discussing religious conflicts and social issues that can
be fuelled by religious beliefs, and encouraging students to reflect on their own
religious identities.
Learning from religions and interfaith learning have similar objectives and
imply a learning journey to challenge perceptions and open up to embrace the
diversity of the Other. This journey leads to an inner transformation and a
spiritual growth that helps students rethink the way they act in their daily lives
and learn how to respect those who might look different, think differently, and
act in different ways.
All religious communities consider ethics not as a cordoned-off area of life
but as applying to all of life: the individual, within the family, at work, and in
society. Given this connectedness, there is a need to nurture ethical values that
help develop a sense of community, not only with those in the immediate sur-
roundings, but across ethnic, national, racial, cultural, and religious divides.
How one chooses to relate to oneself, to others, and to the earth, which
sustains all life, is the primary manifestation of ethics and values. We can no
longer live as if each religion were an island. In today’s pluralistic world, people
Learning to Live Together O 195
of different religions and people of no religion are bound to encounter one

another. To grow and flourish, students need to be able to relate positively to
those who believe and act differently. For these reasons, the Arigatou Founda-
tion has developed Learning to Live Together, a curriculum aiming to nurture
common values and a mutual respect for different backgrounds and traditions
(Arigatou Foundation 2008). The curriculum was developed in close coop-
eration with and endorsed by UNESCO and UNICEF. It intends to foster
a sense of mutual responsibility for one another in an interdependent world.
The curriculum nurtures ethical values in children that will help them establish
constructive relationships, both with their cultural environment and with their
inner selves. It approaches ethics education in a holistic way from the perspec-
tives of intercultural and interfaith learning, human rights, and quality educa-
tion, where ethics and values are nurtured and where children are given space to
develop their innate potential for spirituality.
We considered four imperatives when developing the Learning to Live
Together program: (1) a respect for the rights of the child, (2) spirituality as part
of our being, (3) the child’s innate potential for spirituality, and (4) identity as
relational.
A Respect for the Rights of the Child

Education aimed at nurturing spiritual growth as part of human flourishing
needs to be rooted in the child’s rights, which affirms the importance of (reli-
gious) traditions and cultural values. The United Nations’ Convention on the
Rights of the Child (UNCRC) is the frame for the Learning to Live Together
curriculum.
The UNCRC preamble states, “The child should be fully prepared to live
an individual life in society, and be brought up in the spirit of the ideals pro-
claimed in the Charter of the United Nations, and in particular in the spirit of
peace, dignity, tolerance, freedom, equality and solidarity.” In article 29, which
addresses the right to quality education,1 the UNCRC affirms the importance
of traditions and cultural values and instructs states to “prepare the child for
responsible life in a free society, in the spirit of understanding, peace, tolerance,
equality of sexes, and friendship among all peoples, ethnic, national and reli-
gious groups and persons of indigenous origin.”
Therefore, the Learning to Live Together curriculum strives to be interfaith
by nature, focusing on moral ethics and promoting and protecting the child’s
rights to physical, mental, spiritual, moral, and social development. The cur-
riculum thus perceives the child’s development as holistic and addresses his or
her developmental issues at a global level, but at the same time it is grounded in
her or his local cultural and social contexts.
196 O Agneta Ucko
Spirituality as Part of Our Being

Spirituality and religion are not the same and are at times at odds with each
other. Spirituality is a posture, a way of being, a way of placing oneself in the
universe. It is something that draws us beyond what we are, beyond what we
normally experience. A spirituality of moving beyond—transcendent spiritu-
ality—is not satisfied with the immediate, but seeks to embrace the Ultimate.
Neither is it satisfied with answers—to move beyond is to question. The spiri-
tual posture cannot be satisfied with answers alone. In addition, a spirituality of
moving beyond cannot be limited by boundaries. It focuses on openness, pos-
sibilities. Spirituality is the call to move beyond where one is—from the imme-
diate to the Ultimate, from answers to questions, from boundaries to openness.
Nurturing the innate potential for spirituality enhances a flourishing life.
Spirituality is intimately connected to ethics. They are part and parcel of
the same thing. In other words, a spiritual person is also one who is ethically
upright, and an ethically upright person exhibits a spirituality that others seek
to imitate. This understanding is crucial for our development of the ethics edu-
cation curriculum of Learning to Live Together.
The Child’s Innate Potential for Spirituality

As Reverend Takeyasu Miyamoto (2002) said,
Spiritual decline and lack of attention to basic ethics is at the root of the increas-
ing violence and injustice we see all around us today. An essential step on the road
to peace is to ensure that every child grows up with full access to her innate capac-
ity for spiritual development, and this is why the implementation of interfaith
ethics education—both in schools and in many other ‘educational’ settings—is
so vital in accomplishing the goal of building a peaceful world of human dignity,
a world fit for children in the truest sense.
Here, the key phrase is enabling children to access their “innate capacity for spir-
itual development,” which means that spirituality is not something thrust upon
the child. Rather, children have significant spiritual capacities. For instance, a
child has a special sense of time and the ability to be absorbed in the moment,
something many adults spend hours seeking to relearn. This ability includes
both full awareness of the reality at hand and a sense of timelessness. Another
inherent spiritual capacity of young children is wonder: not fantasy or dreamy
disconnection from reality, but an experience of the whole self. It involves the
body and the senses as much as the mind. Trust is yet another characteristic of
young children’s spiritual ability, as giving and receiving are at the heart of every
child: sharing a favorite toy and trusting that it will be given back.
It is important to recognize that, while the child has the “innate capacity”
for spirituality, it has to be nourished and developed. Thus religious and ethics
education can empower the child to open up to the full extent of spirituality.
This growth occurs through a process involving learning, reflecting critically,
integrating, and building and practicing positive relationships.
Identity as Relational
Identity is a complex issue. It is a justified search to define oneself properly.
It is a way of asserting oneself, defining oneself by that which one is not: not
black, not male, not Jewish, not Catholic. The problem with identity is when
it becomes absolute. The French-Lebanese author Amin Maalouf (2000) warns
against an understanding of identity as a sort of fundamental truth, an essence
“determined once and for all at birth, never to change thereafter” (2).
It is also worrying when identity is narrowed down to name alone, gen-
der alone, race alone, caste alone, or religion alone. Identity is not one thing
but many and depends on relationships. I am always someone in relation to
someone else. Identity is, strictly speaking, the relationship, which always exists
between an individual and the self. Twenty years ago, someone from Yugosla-
via would have been proud to say that he was Yugoslavian. At the height of
the war, he would have asserted that he was Muslim and Bosnian. Today, he
may say he is Bosnian but, at the same time, wants his country to be affiliated
Figure 13.1. The learning process
198 O Agneta Ucko
with the European Union and also wishes to be seen as European. Identity is a
shifting composite of a great number of different, often conflicting, allegiances
and attachments; it includes allegiances to one’s family, neighborhood, village,
and country; to one’s religious, ethnic, linguistic, and racial group; to one’s
profession, favorite football team, or political movement. When we focus on
only one of our identities, we reduce ourselves. Most of the time, it is difficult
to separate out a single identity that trumps all the others. Identity is built up
and changes throughout a person’s lifetime. Identity can change with time and
political circumstances.
Our religious, spiritual, and cultural identities are formed through the vari-
ous relationships we live. Constant exposure to different religious and cultural
beliefs and customs is important for the development and shaping of each per-
son’s identity. It requires the learning from religion approach, where the edu-
cational environment is founded on mutual acceptance and equal legitimacy
and where no one belief or practice is privileged or presented as superior. The
educational environment is not that of a melting pot, where everything is mixed
together; it is a mosaic, where each cultural and religious identity has its own
significance and recognition, affirming the richness in diversity.
Pedagogical Strategies for Religious Education

That Focus on Ethics and Values
Today’s educational systems need to provide space for nurturing the child’s
innate potential for spirituality; cultivating values, including an appreciation of
the Other; fostering critical reflection, a sense of cohesion, and positive relation-
ships; and developing ethics. These characterize the pedagogical strategies of the
Learning to Live Together curriculum.
Nurturing the Child’s Innate Potential for Spirituality

For a child to grow holistically, she or he should be encouraged to develop a
sense of belonging in her or his family, community, culture, and religion while
valuing other families, communities, cultures, and religions. This requires
spaces for exchanges, interaction, encounters, discovery, critical thinking,
reflection, and action. Both traditional and modern approaches are necessary,
and the Learning to Live Together curriculum translates these approaches into
five participatory and interactive methodologies: (1) experiential learning,
(2) collaborative learning, (3) problem-based learning, (4) discussion-based
learning, and (5) introspection-based learning. Reflection is considered part of
all these methodologies to help students assess their own states of mind and
focus their attention on their learning, including their inner thoughts, feelings
and desires, and values and attitudes. These five methodologies place the student
in a self-driven learning process, but in relation to others. It helps develop skills,

enhances knowledge, and nurtures attitudes that empower children to live and
act in a plural society.
Cultivating Values, Including an Appreciation of the Other

The self and others are interdependent. They coexist. The relationship between
the self and others is context dependent, ever changing, and conditioned by
power relationships. For this reason, we must be mindful of the dangers of
abstract and static understandings of the self and others. As discussed, iden-
tity is always multifaceted; therefore, in self-other relationships, we mustn’t
focus only on one of the identities. The Learning to Live Together curriculum
focuses on four ethical values: respect, empathy, reconciliation, and responsibil-
ity. These are not an exhaustive list but are central to living harmonious lives
together. Ethics education for children is an attempt not to impart or impose a
list of values on children but to nurture the spiritual growth needed for life in
a pluralistic world. Ethical values and spirituality are not two separate guides to
behavior; instead, they are related, each enriching the other. Respect for people
of different religions, cultures, and civilizations is developed and enhanced by
putting oneself in another’s shoes to learn what empathy means. Respect and
empathy lead to greater awareness of, and action based on, individual and col-
lective responsibility, which can prepare us for reconciliation. Human dignity is
safeguarded and upheld when we are aware of the many experiences and reali-
ties, histories, and memories that human beings carry and when we work for
peace, justice, equality, human rights, and harmonious coexistence.
Fostering Critical Reflection, a Sense of Cohesion, and Positive Relationships

We regard the learning process as spiral. Through critical thinking, each student
can build and practice positive relationships among oneself, the Other, the envi-
ronment, and the Ultimate Reality or the Divine Presence. Such relationships
can enrich a child’s innate spirituality and help open up avenues for growth,
mutual understanding, and respect for people of differences. The aim is to live
in and change the world together based on values and practices that safeguard
human dignity and promote solidarity, individual and collective responsibility,
and reconciliation. The learning process involves both students and their teach-
ers in practicing an approach to learning and living together based on ethics
and values.
The learning process illustrated in Figure 13.1 is a guide to help educators
and facilitators ensure that students are actively involved in the learning experi-
ence. The spiral takes students through a process of discovery, the outcome of
which leads to new reflection and continuous learning.
200 O Agneta Ucko
Developing Ethics
Wilfred Cantwell Smith (1962)2 says that part of being a person of faith is
the capacity to make distinctions among what is good, acceptable, or bad and
to believe that such distinctions matter. People who live in this way may not
carry a religious label but have embraced a spirituality that is sensitive to ethics.
Both spiritual and ethical living can be rooted in religious tradition, but they
also transcend the particularities of any religion. Ethics is primarily concerned
with relationships with others. Ethics is a matter of attitude rather than a set of
dogmas or teachings—it is an approach to one’s neighbor, to nature, and to life
itself. It is through such an attitude and practices that we can understand our
own traditions and those of our neighbors. Fostering a stronger sense of ethics is
thus an important aspect of a pedagogical approach and a learning process that
supports the child’s growth spiritually.
Educators and Facilitators: The Heart of the Learning Processes

At the heart any pedagogical strategies aimed at cultivating the child’s spiritual
growth lies a team of caring educators and facilitators. For programs such as
Learning to Live Together, it requires a democratic and participatory approach.
Therefore, there is a move from the traditional role of the teacher as the instruc-
tor to a more engaging role of guide and collaboration. The quality of the edu-
cator/facilitator makes all the difference to the students’ experience: educators/
facilitators who are open and caring will build trust with the students so as to
support them to embark on a journey of learning with confidence. It is also a
shift from the teacher as the authority to the teacher as the facilitator, whose
task is not limited to imparting knowledge; instead, teachers serve as models
who live out ethics in their day-to-day interactions with the students. In this
way, Learning to Live Together provides an opportunity for students and teachers
to experience living together in ethics.
Learning to Live Together: The Curriculum in Practice

Learning to Live Together was developed over a period of three years by a group
of scholars, pedagogues, and educators from different religious and secular tra-
ditions and has been tested in schools and in workshops around the world
in different interfaith and secular contexts. The Learning to Live Together cur-
riculum, with the explicit aim of cultivating ethical values and spirituality, is
available in Arabic, Bosnian, Croatian, English, French, Japanese, Persian, Por-
tuguese, Serbian, and Spanish.
Approximately eight hundred educators around the world have been trained
in the use of the curriculum. More than eight children and young people have
benefited from programs built on the approaches and methodologies described
earlier. A pool of 15 international trainers, certified to train other educators

around the world, is in place.
The curriculum can be implemented in formal or informal educational set-
tings, including schools, children’s and youth groups, clubs and camps, faith-
based organizations, and religious communities. The curriculum can be used to
address a wide range of themes, from violence, racism and discrimination, and
poverty and exclusion to conflict resolution and peace building.
Learning to Live Together has been used successfully in more than thirty
countries in five continents, as well as within the central bodies of large nongov-
ernmental organizations. It is proposed as a model for curriculum development
in schools and referred to as good practice by professionals in the field. The
program has been implemented in both developing and developed countries
and in conflict-ridden contexts.
The Learning to Live Together program is built on two complementary learn-
ing modules: “Understanding Self and Others” and “Transforming the World
Together” (based on four core ethical values: respect, empathy, responsibility,
and reconciliation). The modules are organized along different learning paths
that take participants through a discovery of self and others in order to help
them develop core values to respond to ethical challenges at individual and soci-
etal levels and finally become empowered as agents of change. The following are
some examples of how the programs are being integrated in ethics and religious
education in different parts of the world.
Greece
The Learning to Live Together curriculum is implemented in a multicultural
elementary school in Athens, Greece, composed of 177 students from 33 differ-
ent countries, speaking 16 different languages and from different ethnic back-
grounds. According to the facilitator, Gelly, the idea of combining Learning to
Live Together and physical education was born, as it was clear that for students
to learn to live together, they should first learn to play together! The curriculum
has been implemented in the school for more than two years and has been
adapted for physical education classes using cooperative games and develop-
ing projects to promote the four core values. Learning to Live Together was also
implemented with fifth-grade students during their flexible zone hours in the
same school in 2011–12. The flexible zone is a two-hour lesson with an inter-
disciplinary approach in which students and teachers can design, develop, and
implement projects around themes, issues, and problems of everyday life. The
project was implemented for six months on a weekly two-hour basis.
Toward the end of the program, the teacher asked the students to develop a
sport-related project that would contribute to the promotion of peace and jus-
tice in their community. The students decided to organize a football tournament
202 O Agneta Ucko
with a neighboring elementary school to let Greek students get to know and
socialize and play with foreign students—many of whom didn’t even speak their
language—and to allow boys and girls to play in mixed teams in a sport that has
been traditionally male oriented.
In contrast to the students who had been following the Learning to Live
Together curriculum in the intercultural school, the Greek students were not
happy with the composition of the tournament teams. Being used to participat-
ing in competitive sports, they wanted their school to play against the inter-
cultural school with the sole objective of winning, and they wanted boys and
girls to play on different teams. The conditions of the tournament were not
negotiable for the students from the intercultural school, as it was a project
developed to incorporate the values and approach of Learning to Live Together.
The tournament was held as originally designed and turned out to be a great
experience for all the students involved. They even made future plans to imple-
ment similar games using different sports. Gelly concluded, “Most of my stu-
dents don’t speak Greek, so there is no common language [among the students].
Our common language comes from the use of the Learning to Live Together
curriculum.”
Israel
Interfaith learning programs are important in Israel to fill a gap in the edu-
cational system. Learning to Live Together has been used in both formal and
informal educational settings. The formal setting is the Tali School Network
in Israel, which, together with a partner network of Christian-Arab schools,
has developed a new program for Jewish-Arab encounters. The model takes a
religious-ethical approach to multicultural education and is the first of its kind
in Israel. It includes 12 schools with 360 pupils and 32 educators; 300 pupils
are in fifth and sixth grade (elementary school), and 60 are in eighth grade
(secondary school). By using concrete situations, either true stories or situations
drawn from the experiences of the children and young adults, for discussions on
ethical decisions and choices, space is provided for reflection on what choices
can be made and the probable consequences if other choices had been made.
Traditional stories, parables, aphorisms, and songs provide a structure and guide
the discussion of ethical behavior.
The first set of encounters between the students was held at the TALI
schools, and the second set was hosted by the MENA (Middle East and North
Africa) schools. One of the teachers commented, “To our great satisfaction, in
this meeting we experienced the integration of a very pleasurable and interest-
ing activity, meaningful and deep learning, personal connections made between
the pupils from both schools, and a very warm example of hospitality in a
holiday atmosphere.” Teacher guides, translated into Hebrew and Arabic, were
developed for material from the Learning to Live Together curriculum.
One example of a nonformal educational setting is the Massar program, or
the Journey, which promotes dialogue between students to provide an informed
understanding of the Other, unlearn negative images, and learn to appreciate
the diversity in their country. It is a one-week program, initiated in 2007, to
bring together a group of young Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Israeli citizens,
age 15–17, on a journey of discovery of both their own national, religious, and
spiritual identities and the identities of other groups sharing their land. The
program is run in Arabic and Hebrew and has benefited more than one hun-
dred young people. The modules of the Learning to Live Together curriculum
are customized, with careful selection of activities that emphasize unlearning
stereotypes, challenging prejudice, empathizing with the suffering of the Other,
and understanding injustice (Arigatou Foundation 2012).
One young participant summed up the experience in these words: “I think
that something changed in me. I didn’t really know Arabs before I came to this
Massa-Massar. People always think that there are cultural and behavioral gaps
in their body language, and all the things they usually do and how they express
themselves, but it is not true. Both of us like to laugh, talk, and play. In general,
we are very similar and there is something that is bothering the connections
between us, Jews and Arabs, and we have to find out what it is.”
India
HIV/AIDS is a major social problem in India. People with AIDS are stigma-
tized and discriminated against. This is especially true of children, who are not
treated equally in places such as schools, neighborhoods, or even hospitals. As
a result of her participation in a Learning to Live Together program in Shanti
Ashram in Tamil Nadu, 17-year-old Aswathi was inspired and empowered
to develop her own project to eradicate the stigma against HIV-infected and
-affected children. She began by addressing school students, presenting the
project, and speaking about the problems faced by HIV-infected and -affected
children and possible solutions.
She brought a few children with AIDS to interact with students in differ-
ent schools. They shared their experiences, which increased their confidence
and motivated the students. She covered about ten schools, reaching out to
more than two thousand children. She did not want the students to contribute
money, but instead asked them to donate their used and unused school books,
storybooks, toys, games, and so on. She received a huge number of books and
set up a library especially for HIV/AIDS-infected and -affected children in
Coimbatore, India. The project was praised by the media, and donors from dif-
ferent places contributed to the library. As a result, 12 children with HIV/AIDS
204 O Agneta Ucko
were given free education, including their books and uniforms. She created a
students’ forum called Unite against HIV/AIDS with two thousand students
working to serve the community. Aswathi says the Learning to Live Together
program motivated her to undertake these activities.
South Africa
South Africa continues to deal with the trauma of institutionalized racism and
religious separatism. In order to facilitate the process of transformation toward a
peaceful and harmonious society, it is essential to build community cooperation
and understanding among religious and cultural communities.
Every year, 15 pupils and 5 teachers from 5 different schools are selected from
diverse locations in Cape Town to participate in the Interfaith and Intercultural
Twinning and Exchange Program. The pupils are in tenth grade (16-year-olds).
There are five components to the program. During the first six months, the par-
ticipants attend a monthly preparatory session using the approach and meth-
odologies of Learning to Live Together. The second component takes place in
Blackburn, South Africa, where the pupils twin with peers. After their return to
Cape Town, the pupils introduce interfaith and intercultural clubs and societies
into their schools and twin with schools in different locations. In the second
year of the program, the pupils go into disadvantaged schools one afternoon a
week to tutor younger pupils.
Lessons Learned and Conclusion

The Learning to Live Together curriculum is now being used in different edu-
cational settings—formal, nonformal, and informal—and in secular, religious,
or interreligious contexts in various cultural and social environments. In order
to assess the influence of the curriculum on the attitudes of students, a quasi-
experimental study was conducted with a group of schoolboys and girls aged
11 to 15. Students were asked to answer a number of questions before going
through the program and then answered the same questions following the pro-
gram, leading us to believe that there was a clear change in attitude influenced
by the curriculum. Indeed, involving, inspiring, and engaging students; build-
ing self-esteem; equipping them with critical thinking skills; and empowering
them to commit to being agents of change in their own communities have
been the key aspirations of the Learning to Live Together curriculum. It is not
only perceived as a program of study toward the ethical and spiritual growth of
students; it is also regarded as a way of learning and being together with respect.
We are convinced that providing space for students to become open to the
spiritual dimensions in life will enable them to develop a healthy self-image and
awareness of others and flourish in relationship with each other.
Notes
1. Children have a right to an education—a quality education.
Quality education includes:
- Learners who are healthy, well-nourished and ready to participate and learn,
and supported in learning by their families and communities;
- Environments that are healthy, safe, protective and gender-sensitive, and provide
adequate resources and facilities;
- Content that is reflected in relevant curricula and materials for the acquisition
of basic skills, especially in the areas of literacy, numeracy and skills for life, and
knowledge in such areas as gender, health, nutrition, HIV/AIDS prevention and
peace.
- Processes through which trained teachers use child-centered teaching approaches
in well-managed classrooms and schools and skilful assessment to facilitate learn-
ing and reduce disparities.
- Outcomes that encompass knowledge, skills and attitudes, and are linked to
national goals for education and positive participation in society.
This definition allows for an understanding of education as a complex system embed-
ded in a political, cultural, and economic contexts. (UNICEF 2000)
2. “In my view faith is any appreciation of beauty; any striving for truth; any pur-
suit of justice; any recognition that some things are good, and some are bad. And
that it matters; any feeling or practice of love; any love of what theists call “God”;
all these and more are examples of personal and communal faith” (Smith 1962).
References
Arigatou Foundation. 2008. “Learning to Live Together: An Intercultural and Inter-
faith Programme for Ethics Education.” Ethics Education for Children. http://www
.ethicseducationforchildren .org /mm /file /Learning %20to %20Live %20Together
%20En.pdf.
———. 2012. “Good Practices Series: Massa-Massar: The Journey.” Learning to Live
Together: An Intercultural and Interfaith Programme for Ethics Education. Ethics
Education for Children. http://www.ethicseducationforchildren.org/mm/file/Good
%20practices%20english.pdf.
Maalouf, Amin. 2000. On Identity. London: Harvill Press.
Miyamoto, Takeyasu. 2002. Speech at the UN Special Session for Children, May 7,
New York, NY.
Smith, Wilfred Cantwell. 1962. Patterns of Faith around the World. Oxford: Oneworld.
UNICEF. 2000. “Defining Quality in Education.” A paper presented by UNICEF at
the meeting of the International Working Group on Education Florence, Italy, June
2000. Preface. http://www.unicef.org/education/files/QualityEducation.PDF.
CHAPTER 14
The Purpose Project

Fostering Adolescent Spiritual
Growth and Flourishing
David Streight
Center for Spiritual and Ethical Education
T
here are a number of facets to the spiritual life that are both feasible
in their educational implications and beneficial to students and the
world around them. The discernment of one’s sense of purpose in life is
among the most powerful of these facets for its other—especially psychological
and social—implications. This chapter outlines a few of these facets of spiritual
life and focuses in particular on purpose and its relationship to well-being and
flourishing. An educational intervention referred to as the “Purpose Project”
is outlined as one way of helping students grow spiritually and in other ways.
Introduction
To the extent that education is preparation for life, there is no greater goal than
a flourishing life, than the human spirit emerging from a state of well-being.
The typical school mission statement—which an increasing number of schools
are now writing—speaks to goals such as lifelong learning, citizens for a global
world, or leadership for the twenty-first century. When examined more deeply,
these goals are but a step in the direction toward well-being and flourishing,
but they themselves fall short, failing to see the benefits of a deeper or more
complete purpose. For instance, no one disagrees with the goal of a peaceful,
productive society. But that productive peace is valuable because it supports sta-
bility for society’s citizens and allows them to experience well-being, to express
individual creativity, each in his or her self-determined way. Likewise, “lifelong
208 O David Streight
learning” at its best means that the learner creates his or her own path for learn-
ing rather than having it imposed by someone else, and this presumes that the
path is both positive and creative—in other words, that it has purpose toward
well-being.
Most school missions, then, stop short of the ultimate goal: that of creating
the kind of society in which, first, well-being is the norm and, second, each
individual is allowed—perhaps even encouraged—to develop autonomously,
out of this state of well-being, in a way that emerges from his or her deepest
core. It is flourishing that emerges, but only when the conditions are right.
Well-Being and Flourishing

To clarify, “well-being” is a concept that has traditionally been synonymous with
a certain level of physical and psychological comfort and a sense of “satisfaction
with life” (e.g., Diener and Emmons 1984; Stock, Okun, and Benin 1986), yet
in the past two decades, social science research has increasingly worked to look
into well-being in a more comprehensive manner. Though she had predecessors,
Carol D. Ryff (1989) at the University of Wisconsin–Madison added scientific
rigor to the concept in the late 1980s, while a decade or so later, researchers at
the University of Pennsylvania began taking a similar, albeit slightly different,
tack (e.g., Seligman 2011). Social scientists in Europe have added a well-being
scale to the instrument known as the European Social Survey (ESS; Huppert et
al. 2008), which is administered periodically in more than two dozen countries;
the ESS items were influenced by those named earlier and others in the field
(e.g., Ryan and Deci 2000). Table 14.1 illustrates the items considered by Ryff,
Seligman, and the ESS to be factors in well-being.
Well-being is thus widely seen to be a condition that accrues to a person
with, among other characteristics, a network of positive relationships, a sense of
engagement in meaningful activities, and a life with direction driven by a sense
of purpose. With less unanimity, but still strong consensus, positive emotions
and a measure of acceptance of oneself appear also to be significant factors.
Without trying to name one list as superior to another, the unanimity regarding
human relationships and purpose in life on these lists is noteworthy.
Moreover, we find significant consensus regarding the effects of well-being.
Individuals with a sense of well-being not only experience greater general sat-
isfaction with life; they also tend to enjoy greater physical, social, and psycho-
logical health than their peers. They “learn effectively, work productively, have
better social relationships, are more likely to contribute to their community,
and have better health and life expectancy” than others (Huppert and So 2009;
Huppert, Marks, Clark, Siegrist, Stutzer, Vittersø, and Wahrendorf 2010; Keyes
and Haidt 2003).
The Purpose Project O 209
Table 14.1 Factors in well-being by author

Authors Ryff (1989) Seligman (2011) ESS
Factors Self-acceptance Self-esteem
Positive relations with Relationships Personal relationships

others
Autonomy
Environmental mastery Engagement Engagement, interest

Purpose in life Meaning and purpose Meaning and purpose
in life
Personal growth Achievement
Positive emotions Positive emotion
Optimism
Resilience
Some authors use the terms well-being and flourishing synonymously (e.g.,
Seligman 2011; Keyes and Haidt 2003). In this particular chapter, however—in
line with Scherto Gill (n.d.) and Gill and Garrett Thomson (2012)—flourishing
is seen as a process more dynamic than well-being. That is, when human beings
attain a state of relative well-being, continued growth emerges as an ever-
evolving force. The direction of this emergence is radically autonomous, in the
sense that it is generated from within the individual and “belongs” to the indi-
vidual alone. There tends to be a feeling of “rightness,” of “this is me,” of “this is
the direction in which I must go.” It cannot be dictated by someone else.
Well-being is often considered a psychological or psychosocial phenomenon,
yet, as noted, its many effects spill out into a wide range of other benefits,
including the physical and intellectual. It should be noted, however, that at
that point where well-being fosters flourishing, we are entering the domain of
the spiritual, meaning that the force of emergence is unknown and ineffable,
yet both it and its direction, though uncharted, are undeniably real. Given the
importance of well-being and flourishing, it behooves educators both to under-
stand the two concepts and to develop and seek ways to foster a pedagogy of
flourishing.
Religions, Spiritual Development and Flourishing

For millennia, spiritual development has taken place in the space of family rela-
tions, usually in the context of a specific religious tradition or practice. More-
over, for most of human history, the majority of one’s neighbors (regardless of
where one lived), indeed the majority of the citizens of one’s city or state, were
of the same religious tradition, with the rare exception of those areas where a
second tradition (and even more rarely a third) might have been represented.
The explosion in speed of both travel and telecommunications in the late twen-
tieth century began to change the religious geography of our world; this, com-
bined with the disintegration of family life in significant portions of the West,
has altered the landscape both religiously and socially.
The religious populations represented in schools today, including religiously
affiliated schools and especially in Western Europe and North America, are
increasingly heterogeneous. Though some religiously affiliated institutions opt
to proselytize, a number are adamant in their desire not to do so, preferring
rather to encourage and foster students’ spiritual lives within the context of
their own traditions. It is nevertheless a fact that most teachers of religious stud-
ies have far better training in issues of belief, doctrine, practice, and religious
history than they do in the processes and practices of spiritual development.
Even those educators in schools with the best of intentions are usually at a loss
when it comes to fostering spiritual development of a young person from a
religious tradition about which they know little or nothing. And yet, what we
know of personal and societal benefits when the spirit is nurtured appropriately
(Benson, Scales, Sesma, and Roehlkepartain 2005), especially if the work of
spiritual development contributes to well-being, makes such work all the more
incumbent on schools.
In light of this situation and the need to remedy it, and in light of the need
to foster the pedagogy of flourishing referred to earlier, the Center for Spiritual
and Ethical Education (CSEE) undertook a two-year project in 2006 that har-
nessed the creativity and commitment of a dozen experienced K–12 educators
for the purpose of collecting, developing, or adapting activities for spiritual
development that might be appropriate in school settings and especially (but
not exclusively) in religiously pluralistic settings. The educators, referred to as
the Pathmaps team, represented four different religious traditions and a few
denominations of Christianity.
As a conceptual framework, the group used seven facets of spiritual develop-
ment that members of the group felt were relevant to spiritual life in all their
traditions. The framework itself was based on scholarly research and thinking
regarding spiritual development (e.g., Dowling, Gestsdottir, Anderson, von Eye,
Amerigi, and Lerner 2004; Zinnbauer 1999). Its facets included the following:
• Inquiry into the nature of the divine

• Intentional living
• The meaning and purpose of life
• Relationship and interconnection

• Awe and mystery
• Transformative experiences
• Personality integration
We might say a few words about some of these facets before shining light on
the facet of spiritual life specific to this chapter: the discernment of purpose.
Facets of the Spiritual Life

The Nature of the Divine
In a world where the physical and its material benefits increasingly sideline the
spiritual, even inquiry into the nature of the spiritual realm can present difficul-
ties. Rarely are young people invited, let alone given time, to reflect on the pos-
sibilities of something “out there” greater than themselves. It is increasingly easy
to spend one’s moments alone “plugged into” media that bombard the public
with commercial, materialistic messages. Human beings need time to inquire,
to explore, and to fathom spiritual possibilities. The study of the world’s reli-
gious traditions is one avenue. However, even when one does not have access to
the study traditions other than one’s own, it is a rich and potentially beneficial
experience to inquire into the possibility that a realm other than the physical
exists or to ponder such questions as “If there is a god, what is he or she like?”
The Pathmaps team believed that schools could perform a valuable service
by nurturing a questioning attitude, in part by engaging students in reflections
such as the following:
• Is there a God?
• What is your best current thought about what God is like?
• To what extent does this thought align with the teaching of your faith,
if you practice one?
• How have your thoughts about God changed in the past three or four
years?
• What belief do you have that is the most central to you?
• At what moments do you feel most alive, most like the real you?
Inquiry into the nature of the divine also affects our formation of values,
since values are to a certain extent shaped by the kind of life a Divine Being
guides us to live. Values can be formed, deepened, and made richer by one’s
religious beliefs. Such guidelines also help shape the paths toward purpose or
purposeful living. Regarding values, we might ask students the following:
• What do you most want to be remembered for when you die?

• What two values do you most want to exemplify in your life?
• Is there one value that stands above all the others?
Intentional Living
The Kaiser Family Foundation’s large study of young people and their engage-
ment with media in 2004 found that the average 8- to 18-year-old in the
United States spent 6 hours, 21 minutes per day plugged into media. By 2009,
the average had climbed to 7 hours, 38 minutes. According to the Kaiser Fam-
ily Foundation (2010), the subset of young people in the latter survey that had
the heaviest media use (8 hours, 40 minutes) comprised children between the
ages of 11 and 14. This result suggests that the next time such data are col-
lected, this group may show an even greater amount of time cut off from other
experiences in life and above all from reflection. To make matters worse, dur-
ing 26 percent of this time, the young people surveyed were multitasking with
media, such as doing homework on the computer while talking on the phone or
listening to music.
Intentional living, a component of Buddhism’s Eightfold Path but inher-
ent in the spiritual histories of all major traditions, refers to slowing down, to
reflecting, and to acting in ways that are in line with one’s beliefs and values.
Intentional living thus goes hand in hand with beliefs and values and is a sine
qua non for the kind of discernment or sensibility needed for identifying pur-
pose. To a certain extent, we might even say that a person is not a whole person
unless his or her life is lived intentionally. In this writer’s personal experience
and that of numerous colleagues, students relish moments of slowing down, of
unplugging, and of having time to reflect. Intention can be deepened by time
spent with questions such as the following:
• How do you start your day? What does this say about your life?
• What regular practices or rituals do you have that help you stay in tune
with what is most important to you?
• How intentional are you about the way you eat?
• Does the way you use money reflect how you want to live your life?
• What do you do intentionally that most represents the real you?
Relationships/Interconnections
Most schools strive to establish harmonious relationships. There is more to
interconnectedness than just the social, however, as we noted earlier regarding
the central role of relationships in well-being. However, there is often insuf-
ficient exploration of the extensiveness and intensiveness of our connections to
others and to the world around us or of the domain of relationships, as exempli-

fied by questions such as the following:
• To what extent are our relationships purely social?

• Who is my “brother”?
• To whom am I related, and for whom am I responsible (my immediate
family members, extended family members, fellow citizens of my city or
province or country or religious denomination or ethnic group)?
• Are human beings related to and/or responsible for the nonhuman mem-
bers of the animal kingdom? For the planet we live on?
Religious traditions and spiritual affiliations have much to offer young

people by inviting them to reflect on relationship matters like these, especially
when such questions take one’s conception of relationships beyond the purely
social realm and ultimately into the spiritual, where respect turns to reverence
and purpose in life is often intertwined with concern for the well-being of oth-
ers. Though it is easy for young people to think in terms of what they need
or want from relationships, reflection on interconnectedness helps foster an
understanding of how we are partially responsible for the ability of others to
flourish.
Meaning and Purpose

The quest for meaning in life and the discernment of purpose point to some
of the most enduring of spiritual questions in any religious tradition. These
questions are equally relevant in the absence of a tradition. Why am I here?
What should I do with my life? Whereas the religious person might ask, What
does my god want of me? even the atheist might ponder whether essence precedes
existence.
Perhaps purpose fans the flames of flourishing more than any other fac-
tors. William Damon has spent the past twenty years studying purpose and
the effects that a sense of purpose has on people’s lives. His most recent book,
A Path to Purpose (2008), offers the statistic that, in the United States, only
about 20 percent of young people of high school graduation age have found a
sense of purpose. A full quarter of young people appear to be completely disen-
gaged, “showing no signs of anything remotely purposeful” (60). The remain-
ing 55 percent are divided between what Damon refers to as dreamers, who
“have purposeful aspirations but have taken few if any steps to act upon those
aspirations,” and the dabblers, who may or may not “be moving toward some-
thing that will give their lives meaning” (61). Damon describes young people
who have a sense of purpose as “youngsters who were strikingly motivated,
engaged, happy, and deeply committed” (76). He also notes that virtues such as
“diligence, responsibility, confidence, and humility get a boost from the experi-
ence of making a commitment to a challenging purpose and seeing it through”
and adds that certain academic skills “develop in ways that extend well beyond
anything previously learned in the youngster’s home or classroom” (97). Given
how central a sense of purpose is to well-being, it seems that educators would do
well to nudge those who are disengaged from the quest for purpose and those
who are merely dabbling or dreaming into the category of those who do have a
sense of purpose, a minority of 20 percent.
The Pathmaps team assembled a series of meaning and purpose questions
that engaged students in reflection on questions such as the following:
• What will be most important for you to have a “good life” when you are
older?
• Is God or any kind of higher force or power involved in shaping your
sense of what is important?
• What does God or this higher force want you to do in your life?
• Is the purpose of your life to accomplish a particular goal or goals?
• The direct question is also possible: Do you have a sense of what the
purpose of your life is?
Cognizant of Damon’s statistic that some 25 percent of students were dis-

engaged from even the first steps in looking at purpose, over the past few years,
the author has asked a series of three questions in a number of high schools:
1. How many of you have been asked where you want to go to college?
2. How many of you have been asked what you want to be when you grow
up?
3. How many of you have been asked what you feel like the purpose of your
lives is?
Nearly all high school students’ hands are raised for the first two questions.
The number of hands raised for the third question has almost always been
between 20 percent and 40 percent. These numbers seem consistent with
Damon’s statistics.
As a final note, purpose plays other roles. In his essay for Robert Sternberg’s
Handbook of Creativity, Raymond Nickerson (1999) notes, “Purpose is essential
to creative expression” (408). When one has a sense of purpose, there is a deep
and abiding intention to develop and to create in a variety of ways. A sense of
purpose stimulates the individual to formulate goals that are clear and directed;
it motivates behavior (McKnight and Kashdan 2009). According to Patrick
McKnight and Todd Kashdan, purpose both unifies and adds a more coherent
structure to one’s goals. Individuals may have extensive hierarchies of goals,

but even the existence of a hierarchy does not ensure purpose. For example, a
student may have a goal of getting a top grade in a particular course as a step
toward a higher goal of admittance to a prestigious university because his family
had always assumed that the young man—like his father and grandfather—
would become a physician. Admittance to a prestigious university might be
seen as a step toward a further of entrance into the family’s medical school of
choice. The young man may or may not have ever pondered the importance
and meaning of the track he was on. On the other hand, if a young woman
watches her mother die of breast cancer and discerns her purpose in life as find-
ing the definitive “cure,” her school work and choices of educational institution
might well be guided toward, and by, this purpose. Purpose, in other words,
“works in part by causing well-formed, organized goal structures” (McKnight
and Kashdan 2009, 243).
The Purpose Project

The specific question “What do you sense is the purpose of your life?” may be
overwhelming in its directness, especially to the “uninitiated” or to Damon’s
group, the disengaged. Furthermore, the process of discerning and developing
a purpose in life is a long one that takes time. Nevertheless, it is an educational
process that is well worthwhile for schools to undertake. Such a process has
multifaceted benefits, including spiritual ones. It should decrease the number
of uninitiated and disengaged and increase the number of adolescents who have
identified a personal sense of purpose to a level far above those Damon (2008)
and colleagues reported. Indeed, the number of high school students who have
been asked a question about purpose in their lives should at least equal the
number of those who have been asked which career they aspire to or which
university they want to attend. The Purpose Project is designed to initiate and
nurture this movement. It is a spiritual question with social, psychological,
and physical implications.
The project is based on the following set of beliefs:
• Purpose is more than important; it is essential for well-being.

• Purpose is a valuable compass and a powerful motivator.
• The quest for purpose can be modeled and encouraged, but not forced.
• Autonomy must rule; no one can discern purpose but the individual for
himself or herself.
• Not all students will discern a sense of purpose before leaving the
school; there must be an appropriate sense of individual timing, which
probably follows a bell-type curve.
• One’s sense of purpose may shift or change during the course of life.
• Schools can be valuable catalysts for the development of purpose.
• The culture and climate of a school is positively shaped to the extent that
students are conscious of purpose in their lives.
Procedurally, the project moves from (1) an introduction of the issue of

purpose and an explanation of its importance to students at late elementary
school or middle school/junior high level, to (2) guided reflection on purpose
and formation of identity for students in middle school/junior high school, to
(3) occasional structured exercises for students in late middle school through
high school, to (4) a formal opportunity to articulate one’s sense of purpose
before graduation from high school. The project thus progresses through four
stages.
Stage one (ages 10–12, approximately). The early stages of the Purpose
Project are not intended to carve time out of academic subjects, though they
certainly fit in the context of a health course, homeroom, or some similar gath-
ering that most schools offer. Students as young as 10 or 11, and certainly 12
or 13, can be introduced to the concept of the human quest for purpose. It can
begin with a simple explanation that one of life’s most important goals is to find
one’s purpose, that the quest is meaningful in itself, and that the results of the
quest often affect one’s well-being in life. Students may be told that people don’t
discern purpose at the same age and/or in the same way and that many have a
sense of what their purpose is by the time they graduate from high school. It
certainly is worth thinking about. But this by no means suggests that reflection
on purpose could not be introduced at an earlier age.
Stage two (ages 12–13). As they grow older, adolescents increasingly look
toward the formation of their identity, which is deeply intertwined with their
sense of purpose (Bronk 2012; Erikson 1963). For young people of these ages,
the Purpose Project recommends occasional guided exploration toward the
future that invites students to think about their future life paths, beliefs, values,
and possible goals.
Stage three (ages 14–16). As a continuation of Stage Two, at this third
stage, students are invited, occasionally and intentionally but in a nonau-
thoritarian and supportive manner, to reflect on how the processes of identity
formation and reflection on beliefs, values, and goals have progressed since their
earlier adolescence. They are reminded, further, that many young people of
their age(s) have discerned a sense of purpose by the time they reach the age of
17 or 18. That being said, they are further reminded of two things. The first
is that each person has his or her own process and timeline for discerning pur-
pose and that many students may not necessarily have such clear ideas by the
time of high school graduation or a certain birthday. Offering this information
relieves pressure from those who developmentally or for some other reason are
not really ready to discern purpose, while still letting them know that many of
their peers are making such progress. A second reminder is for those who are
relatively certain of purpose and concerns the need for openness to possibilities
of further growth; one’s sense of purpose may change. If it is in the school’s plan,
students should also be told that a formal opportunity to address their peers
(perhaps the entire student body or a portion thereof ) regarding their sense of
purpose is on the horizon.
A number of schools in the United States have had students write “This I
Believe” essays at some point during middle school or high school. The assign-
ments are patterned after essays broadcast by National Public Radio, which
itself borrowed the model from a radio program in the 1950s: individuals sub-
mit essays about personal philosophies or the core beliefs that guide their daily
lives. Schools might consider having students write such a paper during Stage
Three and ideally read it to peers. Such essays require both introspection and
sincerity, and thus they are excellent practice for the “next stage,” which they
know will be coming.
Stage four (ages 17–18). At this final stage, students prepare and present a
formal “This Is My Purpose” essay, normally before an audience. Keeping in
mind that not all students have developed a sense of purpose by high school
graduation, it would be less than ideal to expect everyone to make a presenta-
tion on the specifics of their discerned purpose. One way around this, given
the Purpose Project’s progressive stages, may be to invite students who have not
yet discerned purpose to present a “final” “This I Believe” or similar essay. The
knowledge that a presentation of some sort will be made during one’s final year
at the school should be sufficient to encourage serious thought about the topic
as the months approach, yet the alternative safety net is available for those who
just do not feel they have discerned their purpose yet.
The entire project, from beginning to end, must be done in the context
of relationships of warmth, trust, and support and in a situation where each
student is aware of his or her complete autonomy in discerning what his or her
purpose might be. These are essentials both for appropriate “administration” of
the project and for an appropriate path of discernment to take place.
Conclusion
If indeed human well-being and flourishing are markers of the highest kind of
life, they should then be essential goals of the educational process. Educational
institutions should feel morally compelled, at a minimum, to set students on
the path toward the development of purpose, if not to do more by mentor-
ing them along the journey. Moreover, the quest for purpose may be greatly
enriched when carried out within the context of a student’s religious tradition
or a religious studies program. A sense of purpose is a “right direction” par
excellence.
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CHAPTER 15
Taking Life into Consideration

Challenges for Religious Education
and Spirituality as Human Flourishing
in the European School Context
Bert Roebben
Professor of Religious Education
Faculty of Humanities and Theology
Dortmund University (Germany)
Introduction
I
n a modern society, social cohesion cannot flourish without a fundamen-
tal discussion about what concerns the human person in that society ulti-
mately: his or her life expectations, fundamental values, sense of direction,
and religious/nonreligious convictions. The place par excellence to acquire the
communicative competence to deal peacefully with norms, values, and mean-
ing is the school, this “microcosm” in our complex and pluralized societies. In
most European countries, this vision is implemented in the provision of reli-
gious education (RE) in school. In this chapter, I develop the idea not only that
children and young people have to be taught in RE how they can live and learn
together but that they also have the alienable right to acquire spiritual compe-
tence in/through reflecting on the foundations of their own personal religious
or nonreligious position in the midst of their encounters with others. Without
this affirmation of personal dignity, there cannot be any appropriate discussion
of social cohesion and solidarity in society. Community presupposes the pres-
ence of differences. The modern school with its RE provision can offer a safe
222 O Bert Roebben
space to learn to know one’s own and the Other’s religion and life stance—with
its generic experiences and its mother tongue—within diverse relationships and
to live it reasonably, which means in a peaceful and constructive way.
This issue will be developed in four steps: RE within the school’s educational
mission, the question of religious mother tongues and religious experiences in
the public realm of the school, dealing with religious diversity and ideas for
implementing RE in a concrete classroom. I conclude by recommending “RE
for all” as an important pathway toward human flourishing for future genera-
tions. This chapter originates from a European context, based among others on
the research data of two large EU-funded projects—namely, REDCo (Jackson,
Miedema, Weisse, and Willaime 2007) and Religious Education in Multicul-
tural Society (REMC) (Smyth, Lyons, and Dermody 2013)—and should be
considered in that respect. Other continents definitely have other issues to face,
although one can argue that globalization is bridging many educational gaps
these days.
RE and the Educational Mission of the School

A good school teaches youngsters different language games to perceive the fas-
cinating and, at the same time, complex reality that surrounds them from lin-
guistic, mathematic, geographic, literary, and scientific points of view. In the
RE class, the religious dimension of reality is explored. Therefore, children and
youngsters learn, by virtue of religious and nonreligious means of communica-
tion in the past and present, to perceive existential questions, to evaluate them,
and to answer them. These “slow questions” about the origins, the fundamental
reasons, and the orientations of the sense of life always reemerge anew and in
different ways. According to the Dutch systematic theologian Erik Borgman
(2008), “in the places where this happens, culture appears in a way that is theo-
logically relevant” (51). The German researcher in education Jürgen Baumert
describes four approaches to reality, including the theological one, as “modi of
encountering the world” (Modi der Weltbegegnung; quoted in Dressler 2011,
155). The Dutch RE scholar Thom Geurts (1997) talks about the “lenses” used
by the one who observes life in the world. Each type of perception of reality
understands the world differently, has its own constituent rationality or “lens.”
For example, within literature, natural science, and theology, researchers agree
on what is reasonable and scientifically founded when reality is beheld, eval-
uated, or understood from their specific approaches. Education in school is
grounded in this matrix of rationalities.
However, education is also more than this. It is also about the human “valu-
ing” person, who has to deal morally and reasonably with acquired knowledge.
In complex societies, the question is often raised, “What can and should I do
Taking Life into Consideration O 223
with my knowledge?” General education cannot be disconnected from personal

education. I perceive in the current educational context a great deal of inter-
est in the issue of the human person who learns (Biesta 2011). The challenge
seems double to me: first, as a question for children and youngsters about their
personal life orientations, and second, as a question about the “with” of “with
others” in society, about social cohesion in the midst of the plurality of religious
and nonreligious life projects. Education is currently perceived, above all, in its
double facet of identity development and diversity management. The question
about commitment takes a central place in the context of the following ques-
tions: “What binds us unconditionally together?” and “How can each individ-
ual’s and each group’s uniqueness contribute to the ‘common good’?” With this
broad concept of education as self-clarification (in German, Bildung) in mind,
new and exciting questions can arise in the life of the young person at school:
What do I do with my knowledge and what does my knowledge do with me?

How is my “self ” formed at home, at school, or at any other place? In which
way do I want afterwards to make my own contribution to social cohesion? How
do “science and con-science,” knowledge and ethics relate to my development
as a human person? How do I deal responsibly with the others? How do I give
responses to meaningful others around me? How do I obtain information about
other points of view and to what extent do I allow them to become part of my
own life project? (Mette 1994, 233)
In one way or another, these issues—approaching the religious reality at

school through the lens of theology and the personal appropriation of this
approach in one’s own life project—are dealt with in European RE classes. In
some countries, the objective element of “learning about world views” is more
central. In other countries, the personal “learning from world views” is more at
stake. But in most cases, teachers and scholars are aware of the dialectic of the
two—how the “adolescent life-world curriculum” interferes with and shapes
the “religious life-world curriculum” and vice versa, to put it in the words of the
English RE scholars John Hull and Michael Grimmitt (cf. Bates 2006, 20–22).
Portraying this dialectic for each country in Europe is the aim of the research
and book project REL-EDU at the University of Vienna (Jäggle, Rothgangel,
and Schlag 2013; cf. Kuyk et al. 2007).
It is reasonable that this dialectic is dealt with publicly in the framework
of the school as a learning environment. The RE class is a suitable place for
this discourse (Mette 2010). It offers a sui generis understanding of reality that
should not be replaced by other language games. At this point in my argument,
it is not relevant whether or not this RE class is organized according to a specific
confession or from a secular point of view. And again, at this point, the variety
224 O Bert Roebben
of RE provisions in Europe is large. The central concern should be—as far as I

am concerned—to legitimate the RE class as a place where existential questions
can be perceived and taken seriously and where reasonable interpretation mod-
els to understand and also to answer these questions can be found in a peaceful
and constructive way.
Religious Experiences and Mother Tongues in the Classroom

The German RE scholar Bernard Dressler (2011) establishes the goal of RE, in
line with Jürgen Baumert’s general concept of education, as follows: “to be able
to behave critically in one’s own life style towards religious praxis (active, pas-
sive or abstinent)” (163). The fundamental question is, however, what happens
when religious praxis vanishes into thin air, when it cannot be perceived and
cannot be either evaluated or understood? What happens when the religious
point of view (i.e., the lens) is not being used anymore because religious percep-
tion and action (i.e., the sight) are coming apart? One of the fundamental issues
in current RE research is the question of what happens when the knowledge of
religious traditions is not factually available anymore. Or, in other words, what
happens when each time we find fewer and fewer representatives who seize on
this knowledge and who can present it and transmit it to others reasonably?
Intercultural and interreligious learning will make little sense when there is not
a critical amount of different representative voices. Would RE become mean-
ingless if fewer and fewer people have learned the religious mother tongue or
have been socialized religiously? Can we still talk about “interreligious learning”
(learning about and from religion) when the religious traditions that shape the
“inter” disappear—because fewer and fewer people remember the core of tradi-
tion on the one hand or because only a few maintain it and cannot or do not
want to deal with their own hermeneutic position on the other hand? At school,
this might specifically mean that in class time a clash between religious illiter-
ates and religious fanatics can take place. Can we then still talk about a healthy
learning environment?
In the recent past, in the RE class, there have been attempts to overcome
this situation by taking good care of the students’ own world constructions
and by providing them with a wide knowledge perspective; this way, students
themselves can choose and taste and become involved again. Others claim that,
instead of a widening of the offerings, a deepening of knowledge should be
attained, for example, regarding the contents that are specifically Christian.
Some others have decided on an approach toward aesthetic and moral training
processes. There are still others who maintain that schools must be newly recat-
echized and must expressively acquire the label of a community of believers.
Finally, some believe that it is better not to talk about religion at school at all:
the topic is old-fashioned and belongs to the private sphere of the individual.
In my view, any analysis should start from the following point: both religious
and nonreligious worldviews are present in society in a blurred and fragmented
way. A clear and systematic approach to this phenomenon in the RE class may
be expected reasonably from any school because it has a mission to educate.
Every child has the right to this learning process. RE for all should be the stan-
dard. With that aim in mind, information has to be placed at its disposal and
has to be represented by properly chosen teaching materials. Information about
religious practices, people, and spaces should be present in the classroom, either
virtually or physically. This information offers concrete access to a particular
point of view, religious or not. Through the testimony of their lived faiths, the
people who represent these points of view (virtually or physically) present at
the same time their own affinities to those faiths. Children and young people
thus have the opportunity to wonder and track how these concrete models can
give them guidance about their own life projects. This way, they get to know
the variety of approaches to certain vital questions that everyone considers. Fac-
ing these approaches, the disposition to pose questions about one’s own life
perspective is renewed: “What is it that religious people (physically present here
or represented by texts or images) are thrilled about? What have they seen that
I have not seen up to today?” And all this happens in the midst of the creative
space in which the questions of human existence arise.
When such a variety of points of view, either religious or not, are mentioned
and discussed, young people will feel provoked to explore themselves and their
origins and to take themselves and their own future seriously. Little by little, a
presence, a personal point of view in a broad environment of lived convictions,
is expected from them. As I have argued before, “Through the intercultural and
inter-religious encounter I am challenged to re-define myself, to know myself
better, and respect myself more, as a human person with dignity, who makes
a difference through encounter with others. Another person’s view on a given
(religious) question can only inspire me when I myself am committed to that
question and begin to answer it” (Roebben 2013, 163). Only when the individ-
ual can find, “re-define,” and “re-dignify” himself or herself again and take part
in the discussion, when he or she acquires the personal competence of a moral
and intelligent human being, can social cohesion emerge out of the encoun-
ters of individuals. This comprehensive approach to interreligious learning—
learning in the presence of the religious Other (Boys 2008)—encompasses three
elements: learning about, from, and in/through religion (Roebben 2013, 164).
226 O Bert Roebben
Table 15.1 Learning about, from, and in/through religion

Type of religious Learning about religion Learning from Learning in/
education religion through religion
Type of religious Multireligious learning Interreligious Intrareligious
learning learning learning
Learning intention Knowing the Other Respecting the Redefining and
Other redignifying
myself
Learning outcome Information through Interpretation Confrontation
documentation through through
communication encounter
Student competence Heuristic competence Social competence Existential
competence
Teacher’s role Teacher provides Teacher Teacher
information as expert manages the confronts with
communication lived religion as
as moderator witness
A Productive Relationship with One’s Own Singularity

In order to increase knowledge (about), communication (from), and appro-
priation (in/through) of religious diversity, the educational space has to be well
structured and full of stimuli. When this is not the case (or, in other words,
when the representations and presentations in the class do not take place or
are confusing), the original intuition of religious and nonreligious positions—
experience and mother tongue—has to be presented and inserted in a perfor-
mative way. This means that substantial elements of the different positions at
stake (such as rituals, practices, encounters, etc.) should be vividly performed
or enacted in the classroom. Regarding this point, as early as 1994, the German
RE researcher Hans Zwergel (1994) stated the following: “When the RE class
can hardly rely on previous religious experiences, it would not have any other
choice but to venture into new ways of cognitive and emotional connection
which combine faith and life in the same class and, from there, to give new ways
of consolidation aimed towards the subject” (44). And in 2004, the well-known
expert on education Dietrich Benner argued, “In order to extend the experience
of the world and human relationships in the class and in the school, at first,
basic experiences about the world and relationships are required. If this premise
is not fulfilled through pre-school education and socialization, firstly, they have
to be created and guaranteed artificially with the help of explorations, visits,
trips and practical activities, with the purpose of having subsequent instruction
in class” (14).
It is clear that the effect, motivation, and interest for experiential learning
in the presence of the religious Other are different in each class, school, and
region. The German RE scholar Hans Mendl (2009) offers a clearly differenti-
ated framework for a methodology of teaching an Alteritätsdidaktik: a didactics
of Otherness, a framework in which one can interact with religious positions
that are different and opposite from one’s own beliefs in class. First, he describes
the aspect of “perceiving the experience of what is strange from a distance,” in
which young people are taught, as an essential method, a draft of a personal
map with religious similarities and differences (33–34). Second, he defends the
idea that young people “should be made familiar through experiences with seg-
ments of other religions, which are different from their own” (34) and “should
be given the opportunity to experience moments of specific participation in
their own strange religion” (34–37). The last step, the “procedural comprehen-
sion of one’s own religion” (37–38), does not belong to the working package of
the school. This step is of a catechetical nature and corresponds to the believers’
community. Even if children and young people reach a revelation of faith in
the framework of the educational process, it cannot be a deliberate objective
in class. In this situation, the teacher can forward the question explicitly to the
church or the faith community.
The second step is particularly interesting for our reflections: here young
people have the chance to know something about other people’s religious life
and about the life of their own religion, as well as the possibility of participating
in well-chosen encounters with the Otherness of the Other and the strangeness
in others and . . . oneself. The Dutch philosopher of education Siebren Miedema
(2008) holds the view that this way of proceeding—learning by doing through
participation in “culturally structured activities” (39; cf. Hermans 2003)—leads
to transformational learning from a religious world view, and therefore young
people will be challenged to take a stand by themselves rather than through the
traditional strategies of transmission. Thus they learn to better understand their
positions through the “with” of “with others,” to value and to stand for it.
The Dutch RE scholar Ina ter Avest (2009, 26) states, thanks to the REDCo
research, that many possibilities for education through social cohesion in cul-
tural and religious spheres are overlooked because, although pupils are able to
perceive cultural and religious differences on the playground, they are not invited
to present these differences personally in the classroom, to perceive them more
deeply, and to take them into consideration. In Dutch, the RE class is referred
to as levensbeschouwing. Leven beschouwen means to contemplate or to consider
life in its complexity and plurality and to try to understand it as such. Life is
literally left out “of consideration” in too many RE classes today. The goal of
levensbeschouwing is then simply not reached in RE! Even in schools that lack
a great cultural and religious variety, this topic cannot be omitted (Richardson
228 O Bert Roebben
2010, 277). Religious variety always takes place (e.g., on the Internet, in the
media, on the playground)—even in so-called homogeneous religious contexts!
Concrete Pathways to RE as Human Flourishing

“RE for all” can open a hermeneutical space for personal storytelling, for an
intensified awareness of the (non)religious stories of others, and for communi-
cative ways to deal with the dialectic of these two in a peaceful way. It can make
children and young people more resilient to cope with the accelerated complex-
ity of modern society and can honor them in their personal contribution to
that society. “RE for all” is a valid pathway for human flourishing of children
and young people. In what follows, I present five recent developments in RE
research in Europe that concretize this approach.
The first and most basic development relates to community building. Young
people need chances to interact in order to learn together. In German religious
didactics, this idea is reflected in “compassion” projects (Kuld 2002), in which
young people engage with open hands in community work and discuss their
experiences afterward. In the United States, a similar project is very successful:
the Interfaith Youth Core (Patel 2007). Through service learning, young people
talk about their inspirations in order “to identify what is common between
religions” but also to discover “where each can articulate its distinct path to that
place [of communality]” (Patel 2007, 167).
A second path toward creating opportunities for human flourishing in
the RE classroom is the cultural path—imaginative explorations of other
people’s religions and belief systems. Sometimes young people need more dis-
tance to understand their own intentions—“mental detours” in the words of
Paul Ricoeur (1992). Literature, music, film, theater, and so on can be help-
ful in that respect. A mere introspective approach to existential questions is
often too intrusive. A story told by another person in a novel offers breathing
space and the possibility of role-taking in order to better understand another
(Ricoeur 1992).
The third dimension of RE development, both in praxis and in theory, is
the so-called pedagogy of sacred space (Sakralraumpädagogik; Rupp 2005). The
presumption is that young people themselves deal with ways to “liquefy”
the spiritual capital of sacred spaces around them to interpret the transforma-
tions taking place in their neighborhoods. One of the central research questions
is this: What happens when young people conceive of spiritual questions in the
presence of others and in the context of traditional sacred spaces (e.g., a church,
a temple, a mosque), although lacking a religious mother tongue, and/or using
conflicting languages, and/or inventing other languages through, for example,
new media?
The fourth track leading to human flourishing through RE is the explo-

ration of religious rituals in schools, related to experiences of passage, death,
new life, hopes, and expectations of young people in everyday school life. Such
“ritual-like practices have important functions and characteristics that poten-
tially can enhance life. Perhaps not only enhance it, but are even essential to
life” (De Wildt 2012, 243).
And finally, related to the previous topic, there is a huge need for silence
and focused reflection in RE. These relate to concentration and asceticism: to
withstand the restlessness, to wait until inner conflicts disappear, to receive a
new vision and a new heart to see the world differently. In silence, the human
person can become very open and compassionate for himself or herself and
others. Reconciliation with oneself is a necessary prerequisite for the encounter
with the Other (Hochheimer 2011). Young people have the right to learn this
habitus or virtue.
This whole process “uses” existing theology, but in a way “produces” new
theology: children’s and youth theology (Schlag and Schweitzer 2011). Young
people are respected in their dignity as creators of a new theological discourse
for the future. UK researcher Julia Ipgrave (2009) is deeply convinced that we
should not lose any time in this kind of support of human flourishing of chil-
dren in religiously diverse classrooms: “I propose that religious education in
schools should include (alongside its concern to increase children’s knowledge
of different religious traditions) the active promotion of a theological method
that takes the concept of God seriously, takes faith seriously, takes truth seri-
ously, takes the religious perspectives of others seriously; one that forms chil-
dren as theologians who are not afraid or embarrassed to express or reflect upon
their own beliefs, to criticize and revise their own religious language” (69). It
is my contention that this comprehensive approach of learning about, from,
and in/through can enrich the many educational tracks being developed all
over the world (see, e.g., for the United States, Moore 2007, AAR 2010, and
Moran 2010).
Conclusion
“How does RE as a school subject in the open European learning space need
to be directed in order to better contribute to existential questions that the
students face? How can it contribute to human flourishing?” These were
the central questions of this chapter. The main argument to respond to this
question was based on the assumption that young people ask for more chances
for interaction with peers and that this interaction can take place at school in a
safe and respectful modus, although interpretation differences and conflicts are
never out of sight. Learning in the presence of the Other—the fellow student
230 O Bert Roebben
sitting next to me in the classroom, the same person who is with me on the
playground—with its broad didactical scope (learning about, from, and in/
through religion) can be a good model for this encounter in the RE class.
This model can empower young people to start learning together, to help
them understand their own specific contributions, and to bring them together
again at the end of the day—in reflecting on and recollecting their newly gained
insights (Roebben 2012). Young people do not need “more” identity; they need
a “better” identity (Könemann and Mette 2013, 77), one that fits into their
personal narration and into the larger context of a culture of recognition, of
persons recognizing each other in their Otherness. It goes without saying that
further research is needed to better understand and to improve this kind of
“RE for all.”
This educational journey costs energy, courage, and, last but not least,
money. I finish this chapter with an extensive quote from Elaine Champagne
(2009), a Canadian researcher in children’s spirituality. She points to the neces-
sity of an educational community that shows the courage of its convictions:
It seems that the population and the governments count on the school to build a
community of the future, capable of respect and dialogue in the context of plu-
rality. But children cannot do that alone. Identity cannot be “taught”; it is rather
experienced, supported and developed like a language, within a community. And
dialogue in a pluralistic society is seriously challenged if social and personal iden-
tities are in crisis. To establish an authentic dialogue, there is a need to clarify
our identities. And to clarify our identities, we need a collectivity. It would be a
shame if we put the burden of social tolerance, respect and dialogue in a context
of plurality on the shoulders of our children without addressing the questions for
ourselves. The risk of exploiting the children for the sake of a better future is not
only foolish, but absolutely unjustifiable. It is undermining of the very funda-
mental belief in the value of each individual. (2)
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Conclusion
I
n this conclusion, we bring together the different threads to see where the
investigation stands at the end of this work. As we said in the general intro-
duction, the overall aim of this volume is to explore the proposition that
religious education should be directed primarily (but not exclusively) toward
the spiritual insofar as it is part of a flourishing human life. Our conclusion
consists of three parts.
First, religious education has several general aims outlined in the introduc-
tion. Is the proposal that spiritual development should be primary among these
a plausible claim?
Second, we presented four types of objections and challenges to the pro-
posal. Is it fair to conclude that the chapters in this volume have answered these
objections?
Third, if one were thinking seriously about directing religious education
toward the nurturing of spiritual development, then have the chapters pre-
sented some indications about how this might best be done?
The Aims of Religious Education

Earlier, we presented the following five possible types of aims of religious
education:
1. To impart an understanding of religion from within a particular religious

tradition
2. To study religion in general as an academic pursuit valuable in itself
3. To foster an understanding of various religious traditions in order to help
young people live better in a pluralistic society
4. To foster an understanding of religious traditions to help young people
cultivate moral attitudes, ethical virtues, and moral sensibilities
5. To foster an understanding of various religious traditions and religion in
general to help young people cultivate the spiritual aspects of their lives
It was argued that the first aim was inappropriate for pluralistic and secular
societies. To avoid such an aim, the second aim is often pursued in schools but
fails to present different religions as meaningful. It doesn’t bring the point of
religious practices and traditions to life for young people.
The third aim was discussed explicitly by several authors in this volume,
including Katherine Marshall (Chapter 3), Jocelyn Armstrong (Chapter 11),
and Bert Roebben (Chapter 15), who present it as laudable and necessary in
fragmented and pluralistic societies. However, all three authors indicate the
need for something that takes the individual on a deeper learning journey. This
is apparent in two ways. First, confronting religious differences experientially
as an Other provides the individual with the opportunity to reflect on his or
her own fundamental values and self-conception and hence promotes a deeper
moral appreciation. Second, for a person to really understand different religious
traditions, he or she must acquire a sense of his or her purposes and meanings
that cannot be grasped from an external social-scientific viewpoint nor from
the social perspective of cohesion and harmony. It requires one to see how the
values advocated by different religious traditions really matter. In short, the
aim of fostering interreligious understanding is underdescribed by citing social
cohesion alone. Thus, as indicated by Scherto Gill in Chapter 10, interreligious
comprehension requires an ethical perspective, and social cohesion is an expres-
sion of this perspective.
These considerations take us to the fourth aim. Several of the chapters in this
volume (such as those by Maureen Goodman [Chapter 7], Bhai Sahib Mohinder
Singh [Chapter 8], and Jinwol Y. H. Lee [Chapter 9] in Part II) argue that the
spiritual aspect of religious traditions enables us to better understand moral and
ethical values. Spirituality modulates morality by bringing it to the domain of
our self-understanding. From this perspective, morality is not just a question
of fulfilling imposed duties but rather a question of seeing moral issues as part of
being in a better inner or spiritual state.
In general, many people would question to what extent morality per se
should be taught primarily within religious education. One reason for this skep-
ticism is that moral notions are independent of religious ones. There are many
ethical theories that explain the content of morality without relying on religious
concepts. These theories include Utilitarian, Kantian, and Virtue Ethics; Care
Theory; Rawls’s theory; and Discourse Ethics. The claim that we ought to care
for others, respect rights, and promote justice doesn’t depend on the truth of
religious claims or on religions generally.
Several other authors in Part II of this volume (such as Four Arrows [Chap-
ter 6], Goodman [Chapter 7], and Singh [Chapter 8]) have replied to this with
a quite different and deeper point—namely, that religious traditions typically
see the moral as preparation for and an integral part of the spiritual life. In other
Conclusion O 235
words, the spiritual transforms the ethical. The spiritual deepens the meaning of
the ethical by making it part of a spiritual journey or process of personal trans-
formation. Similarly, Garrett Thomson (Chapter 5) asserts that the ethical is
the fruit of the spiritual—that is, an appropriate connection with transcendent
reality constitutes part of an individual’s flourishing, which includes the ethical.
Together, these authors maintain that being ethical is an expression of being
in a better inner state (i.e., being less egoistic, more tranquil, and more open).
This perspective provides the opportunity for a person to see ethical or moral
values as connected to his or her own development toward a broader spiritual
goal or process. Insofar as we can make good sense of this point, it provides one
element in an argument in favor of the conclusion that the aforementioned fifth
aim ought to have some priority over the fourth.
Four Challenges
To recap very briefly, the challenges we presented earlier were (1) that pri-
vate religious views can have no place in the public sphere of a secular society,
(2) that religious views have no scientific basis, (3) that no particular religious
tradition can be privileged in a pluralistic society, and (4) that spirituality can-
not be adequately defined or operationalized.
All the authors have contributed to the reply to these challenges. Specifically,
in Part I, Richard Pring (Chapter 1), Marius Felderhof (Chapter 2), and Kath-
erine Marshall (Chapter 3) have argued that a value-neutral conception of the
public sphere is untenable. Difficult value and metaphysical questions cannot
be avoided by drawing a sharp boundary between the private and the public. As
Felderhof points out, no society is completely secular; all cultures have religious
aspects and people with religious-like beliefs, even if they don’t have religious
affiliations. Furthermore, even so-called secular beliefs aren’t neutral with regard
to value questions about how we should live.
Second, several authors argue that much of human knowledge does not have
a scientific basis. For example, as Pring (Chapter 1) points out, our understand-
ing of the criteria for a good education isn’t scientific. Indeed, this point may
apply to the definition of scientific methodology itself: the justification of the
methodology of the natural sciences isn’t itself scientific. To say that some areas
of knowledge do not have a scientific basis doesn’t mean that they are supersti-
tious, subjective, or arbitrary.
Third, several authors, such as Felderhof (Chapter 2), Gill (Chapter 10),
Armstrong (Chapter 11), and Roebben (Chapter 15), have argued that plural-
istic societies need a pluralistic education about different religions and that to
really comprehend religious traditions and practices, it is necessary to understand
the point of these traditions, which necessarily and fundamentally includes the
value of the spiritual life. The authors argue that such an educational process
need not be one of proselytizing. Clearly, in the context of a course about differ-
ent religions and about religion in general, the issue shouldn’t be how to avoid
converting pupils to a particular dogma. Rather, the issue would be whether
someone in principle could understand the point of these different traditions
and the value of the spiritual life without this constituting religious indoctrina-
tion in general. The litmus test would be whether someone without a religion
could understand it sympathetically.
The other side of this issue is whether the different religious understandings
of spiritual life have enough in common to make a course about religion that is,
at the same time, a personal learning experience regarding spirituality through
religion. This takes us to the fourth obstacle.
This challenge was whether there is a suitable definition or conception of the
spiritual. We have outlined briefly the kind of pressures that might lead one to
think of spirituality in thinner terms and those that might lead one to adopt a
richer conception. Most of the authors in this volume have opted for a relatively
thick conception of the spiritual, and although a definitive definition has not
emerged from this volume, it is important to note that Sharif István Horthy
(Chapter 4), Singh (Chapter 8), and Felderhof (Chapter 2) have described the
interreligious process in Birmingham designed to build a consensus around a
list of virtues that were employed in the local and national school curricula.
This kind of process might be repeated fruitfully with respect to the notion of
spirituality. Moreover, such a process might also include the construction of a
code of ethics or guidelines for interreligious teaching in order to capture the
attitude expressed by the authors of Part II: openness without compromising
the integrity of one’s own tradition and understanding.
Educational Practices
In Part III, there was a comparison between Armstrong’s approach (Chapter 11)
of building an interreligious education curriculum and opening it up to exer-
cises with a spiritual component and the approach of several other authors in
developing workshops specifically for this kind of purpose that could be adapted
and inserted into a school curriculum. Obviously, these two approaches are
complimentary. We suggest that they are synergetic.
Several of the authors suggest that educative processes seeking to develop
spirituality should strike a balance between work in groups and individual or
solitary exercises and between experiential learning within the classroom and
experiential learning outside the school.
Many authors in this volume illustrate the importance of spirituality for
one’s own personal development. David Streight (Chapter 14), for instance,
Conclusion O 237
gives this point special emphasis: the individual needs a sense of purpose and
direction in his or her life. Some stress one’s being open to others; the capacity
to listen, empathize, and connect to people very different from oneself; and
that such capacities are part of the developmental path of every individual (e.g.,
Chapter 12 by John Breadon). Some highlight a moral approach: the individual
develops as he or she develops a greater sensitivity to ethical values and moral
demands (e.g., in Chapter 13 by Agneta Ucko). Others highlight one’s inter-
connectedness to a wider or deeper reality. This was one of the main themes in
the chapters in Part II, including those by Four Arrows (Chapter 6), Goodman
(Chapter 7), and Singh (Chapter 8). These layers consist in different educa-
tional practices that mirror the idea that the concept of spirituality can be thin-
ner and thicker. In other words, a mapping of the concept of spirituality might
help us better classify the point of different educational practices.
In conclusion, this project aims to launch an inquiry into the proposition
that religious education ought to be directed primarily (but not exclusively)
toward the spiritual (as part of a flourishing human life). So far, this volume has
succeeded in identifying some key underlying issues in religious education, in
offering some principled considerations for a conceptual framework that sup-
ports the proposal, and in examining some pedagogical implementations and
interventions in schools. It is certainly our hope that, through such endeavors,
this collection of essays can provoke more constructive critiques of the current
state of religious education in schools and prompt more creative and effective
questioning in terms of educating whole persons.
About the Contributors
Jocelyn Armstrong is an experienced New Zealand high school teacher in both

state and private schools. As the head of religious studies, she was innovative in
curriculum development and for several years taught a religious studies course
in the Teachers’ Training College in Wellington, New Zealand. Her social stud-
ies textbook, which introduces students to New Zealand’s multifaith contextual
realities, was published in 2009. A senior laywoman in the Anglican Church
in New Zealand, she has been involved in the General Synod, the selection of
clergy, and lecturing on educational and bicultural matters. She held the posi-
tion of general secretary of the National Council of Churches. She was also
involved in ecumenical organization and leadership in the Christian Confer-
ence of Asia and in the World Council of Churches.
Four Arrows (a.k.a. Professor Don Trent Jacobs) is the former dean of educa-
tion at Oglala Lakota College. He was formerly a tenured professor at North-
ern Arizona University and is currently a faculty member at Fielding Graduate
University. He is a Cherokee/Irish author of 17 first-of-a-kind books, includ-
ing Primal Awareness, Teaching Virtues, American Assassination, Unlearning the
Language of Conquest, The Authentic Dissertation, and is currently working on
The Final Collaboration: Neuroscience and Indigenous Wisdom. Four Arrows is
an activist, athlete, and keynote speaker. He currently lives in Mexico with his
artist wife.
Dr. John Breadon grew up on the Ards Peninsula in Ireland in an Anglican-

Methodist family and studied divinity at St. Andrews. During his time in Scot-
land, he was confirmed into the Scottish Episcopal Church. After receiving his
PhD in theology and literature from Birmingham University, Breadon com-
menced training for ordination to the priesthood in the Church of England at
Westcott House Theological College, Cambridge. He was ordained as a deacon
in Lichfield Cathedral in 2000. Over the past decade, Breadon has worked
mostly at the interface of 16 to 19 education and spiritual-moral development
240 O About the Contributors
and nurturing for young people. From 2008 to 2010, he was the Churches’
National Adviser in Further Education. Since January 2011, he has worked for
Eton College as the director of the Wisdom Project (at the Eton Dorney Cen-
tre) and as the assistant chaplain at Eton.
Dr. Marius C. Felderhof, BA (Hons; Dalhousie University), BD (Hons; Uni-

versity of St. Andrews), MA (Dalhousie University), and PhD (University of
Wales, Swansea), is a theologian with interests in philosophical theology, philos-
ophy of religion, and education. Having taught at the University of St. Andrews
and the Selly Oak Colleges in Birmingham, Felderhof joined the Department
of Theology and Religion at Birmingham University in 2001. In 2005, he was
appointed by the city of Birmingham to draft the Agreed Syllabus for Religious
Education for all its community schools. Since then, he has continued as an
advisor on religious education to the cabinet member in Birmingham. He also
guides the Faiths for the City Initiative in Birmingham, which seeks to foster
collaboration among the university, council representatives, the Faith Leaders
Group, and other bodies of the city. He also serves as a trustee of the Museum of
World Religions (UK), a project/charity aimed at fostering interreligious rela-
tions and educating the wider public in and about religious life in Europe.
Sister Maureen Goodman has been program coordinator at the International

Centre of the Brahma Kumaris (BK) in London since 1991 and has traveled
widely, giving workshops and lectures on themes related to spiritual develop-
ment. She has developed the Centre’s UK outreach community work, including
in prisons, health care, and education and with young people. She is also the
university’s representative at the United Nations, Vienna. Goodman has worked
in the area of interreligious dialogue nationally and internationally for more
than twenty years, serving on several executive committees. She is a contribu-
tor to Testing the Global Ethic (1998) and the SHAP World Religions in Educa-
tion Journal 2002–3, “Religion: The Problem or the Answer?” Goodman is the
international coordinator for BK Youth Activities and coconvenes the annual
International Youth Forum at the Brahma Kumaris World Headquarters in Mt.
Abu, India, which attracts youth from around fifty countries.
Dr. Scherto Gill is a research fellow at the Guerrand-Hermès Foundation for

Peace. She is also a senior visiting research fellow at the University of Sussex.
Gill has research interests in education, intercultural learning, and peace build-
ing. Her most recent publications include Critical Narrative as Pedagogy (with
I. Goodson, Bloomsbury, 2014), Rethinking Secondary Education: A Human-
Centred Approach (with G. Thomson, Pearson Education, 2012), and Narrative
Pedagogy (with I. Goodson, Peter Lang, 2010). She is also the guest editor of a
About the Contributors O 241
special 2013 issue on “Dialogic Pedagogy in Education for Peacebuilding” for

the Journal of International and Comparative Education.
Sharif István Horthy was born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1941. He has degrees
in physics from Oxford University and civil engineering from Imperial College,
London. In 1967, he moved to Indonesia, where he worked as a consulting
engineer and ran a construction company. In his spare time, he was personal
assistant and interpreter to Bapak Subuh Sumohadiwidjojo, the founder of
Subud. After 22 years in Indonesia, he moved to the United States and worked
as a business strategy consultant until 1995, when he cofounded the Guerrand-
Hermès Foundation for Peace with Simon Xavier Guerrand-Hermès. He moved
to England the following year and worked as the foundation’s president until
2011, when he became vice chairman. Horthy lives in Lewes, East Sussex, with
his Javanese second wife, Astuti, with whom he is gradually translating Bapak
Subuh’s works into English. He has 5 children and 14 grandchildren. His hobby
is running on the South Downs.
Professor Jinwol Young Ho Lee (MA, University of Hawai‘i; PhD, University

of California, Berkeley), a Korean Buddhist monk and Seon master, is the chair
of Seon studies at Dongguk University in Gyeongju, Korea. He established the
United Religions Initiative of Korea and has been elected and working as its
president since 1999. He has been elected and working in many other roles,
including as Global Council member of the United Religions Initiative; Execu-
tive Committee member of World Fellowship of Buddhists; member of the
Presidential Committee on Sustainable Development in Korea; and the Presi-
dent’s Special Advisor for International Affairs of the Jogye Order of Korean
Buddhism in 2011. His main English publications include Ch’oôi qisun: A
Liberal SÜn Master and an Engaged Artist in Late ChosÜn Korea (Asian Humani-
ties Press, 2002) and chapters in Entering the Realm of Reality: Towards Dharmic
Societies (Suksit Siam, 1997), Buddhist-Christian Studies (University of Hawai‘i
Press, 1995), and Sourcebook of Korean Civilization, vol. I (Columbia University
Press, 1993).
Professor Katherine Marshall is a senior fellow at the Berkley Center for Reli-
gion, Peace and World Affairs and a visiting professor in the School of Foreign
Service, Georgetown University. She also heads the World Faiths Develop-
ment Dialogue, which bridges the worlds of development and religion. She
focuses on teaching and research on a wide range of topics at the intersection
of development and faith. She has worked for four decades on international
development, with many years at the World Bank. She contributes regularly to
the religion section of the Huffington Post and sits on several nonprofit boards,
including the Opus Prize Foundation, the International Selection Commit-

tee for the Niwano Peace Prize, and AVINA Americas. Marshall is the author
of several books about religion and development, including Development and
Faith: Where Mind, Heart and Soul Work Together (coauthored with Marisa Van
Saanen; World Bank, 2007). She has written extensively on international devel-
opment, which is also the focus of her book The World Bank: From Reconstruc-
tion to Development to Equity (Routledge, 2008). She writes a blog, Faith in
Action, for the Newsweek/Washington Post website On Faith.
Professor Richard Pring was a professor of educational studies and depart-

ment director at the University of Oxford from 1989 to 2003. From 2003 to
2009, he led the Nuffield Foundation Review of 14–19 Education and Training
for England and Wales, the most comprehensive such review, for fifty years.
He is now, and until his death, Emeritus Fellow of Green-Templeton College,
Oxford. Previously he was dean of the Faculty of Education, University of
Exeter; a lecturer at the Institute of Education, London; a teacher in a com-
prehensive school; and a civil servant at the Ministry of Education. His recent
books include The Life and Death of Secondary Education for All (Routledge,
2012), Education for All: The Future of Education and Training for 14–19 Year
Olds (Routledge, 2009), and John Dewey: Philosopher of Education for the 21st
Century (Continuum, 2007). For nearly twenty years, he was a visiting profes-
sor at the Aga Khan University, Karachi, and is currently closely connected with
the Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilsations in London.
Professor Bert Roebben has a PhD in theology and degrees in religious stud-
ies, canon law, and educational sciences from the Catholic University of Leuven
(Belgium). Since 2007, he holds the chair of religious education at the Institute
of Catholic Theology at Dortmund University (Germany). He was previously
teaching at the universities of Leuven (Belgium) and Tilburg (the Netherlands).
Since 2009, he has been the president of the International Association for the
Study of Youth Ministry. His research focuses mainly on religious education in
schools, youth and theology, and the development of theological discourse in a
pluralized and urbanized society. His latest publications include Seeking Sense in
the City: European Perspectives on Religious Education (Berlin, 2009).
Dr. Bhai Sahib Mohinder Singh is a practitioner of the Sikh Dharam. He

is third in line of spiritual leaders and chairman of the Sikh registered charity
Guru Nanak Nishkam Sewak Jatha. “Bhai Sahib” is a rare and prestigious title
acknowledging his historic contribution to the conservation and restoration
of sacred Sikh sites in India. Bhai Sahib is a recognized “Interfaith Visionary,”
holding the Juliet Hollister Award from the Temple of Understanding. He is a
About the Contributors O 243
founding member of the UK Council of Dharmic Faiths; member of the Depart-

ment for International Development’s faith working group; member of the
European Council of Religious Leaders; International Trustee of Religions for
Peace; member of the Fetzer Institute’s Advisory Council on World Religions
and Spiritualities; and member of the Elijah Board of World Religious Leaders.
For his services to religious faith propagation, community service, education,
and research, Bhai Sahib has been awarded two honorary doctorates from Bir-
mingham’s universities. He is passionate about values-based education and is
the patron of the Nishkam Primary School, which opened in September 2011.
David Streight is a former school psychologist and teacher who currently directs
the Center for Spiritual and Ethical Education, an association for schools work-
ing to create ethical and spiritual climates that match their academic rigors. He
is a past codirector of Religious Studies in Secondary Schools, a coalition of
teachers to upgrade the quality of teaching about religions in North America,
and served both as the “master teacher” host to the teacher section of the PBS/
WNET website for Religion and Ethics Newsweekly and as an advisor to public
television as it developed a world religions series for history teachers. Streight
has translated a half-dozen books, primarily on Islam, for academic presses.
He is a contributing author or editor of a number of short titles, including
Pathmaps: Activities for Spiritual Exploration (2007), Good Things to Do: Expert
Suggestions for Fostering Goodness in Kids (2009), and Parenting for Character:
Five Experts, Five Practices (2008).
Professor Garrett Thomson received his DPhil from Oxford University. Cur-
rently, he is Compton Professor of Philosophy at the College of Wooster in
Ohio. Thomson is the Guerrand-Hermès Foundation for Peace’s chief execu-
tive officer as well as the director of research. He was formerly the CEO of the
World Subud Association in 2005–10. Thomson is the author of numerous
books, including Needs; Kant; Introduction to Modern Philosophy; and a series of
introductory texts on Descartes, Locke, Aristotle, Kant, and Leibniz. He coed-
ited the six-volume Longman Standard History of Philosophy. His other recent
works include Una Introduccion a la Practica de la Filosofia, On Philosophy, and
On the Meaning of Life.
Agneta Ucko is the director of Arigatou International and secretary-general of

the Interfaith Council on Ethics Education for Children. Born in Sweden, Ucko
has lived in Switzerland for 22 years. Having pursued her masters in theology at
the University of Lund, Sweden, she proceeded with postgraduate diplomas in
international relations and development studies from the University of Uppsala,
Sweden, and psycho-social dynamics and organizational development from
St. Lukasstiftelsen, Stockholm, Sweden. Ucko has been instrumental in devel-

oping a model for the Swedish Red Cross in working with refugees and immi-
grants and has been teaching ethics in different training programs for social
workers for several years. Ucko was the deputy general secretary of the Lutheran
World Federation before she took up her current position at Arigatou Interna-
tional in 2003, where she has been responsible for developing the ethics educa-
tion program Learning to Live Together. She has served as president of the NGO
Group for the Convention on the Rights of the Child from 2005 to 2007.
Index
Figures and tables are indicated by f and t following the page numbers.
Abrahamic faiths, 87 Bloom, Allan, 179

Absolute concept, 75 Bodhidharma, 135
absolutists approach to spirituality, 7 Bodhisattva, 137
academic concept of religious education, Boko Haram, Nigeria, 50
2 Borgman, Erik, 222
acceptance of life’s mysteries, 93–95, 100 bracketed concept of spirituality, 6–7
accountability, 36 Brahma Kumaris tradition
activities and processes cultivating spiritual identity, 108–11
of flourishing, 79–80 empowering young people, 103–6
in religious curriculum, 167–70 overview, 88
afterlife, for Indigenous People, 94 spiritual development, 111–15
Aga Khan Development Network, 52, 55 spirituality and religion, 107–8
age-appropriate curriculum, 216–17 values, 106–7
American Indian Religious Freedom Act
Breadon, John, 159, 177, 237
(1972), 92
British Academies Act (2010), 30
appreciation, 80, 82
British Education Act (1944), 2, 30, 34,
appreciative inquiry, 114
77, 179
Aquinas, 81
British Education Act (1998), 2
Arigatou Foundation, 195
Aristotle, 21, 72, 81 British Education Act (2002), 77
Armstrong, Jocelyn, 159–60, 163, 234, British Education Reform Act (1988),
235, 236 179
asceticism, 135, 229 Buddhism
Augustine, 109 education system, 51
authenticity, 66 inherent goodness, 109
authority, 98–101 intentional living, 212
Avest, Ina ter, 227 school curriculum about, 168–69
Zen tradition. See Seon (Zen) tradition
Baumert, Jürgen, 222, 224
Benner, Dietrich, 226 Care Theory, 234
Bhai Sahib Ji, 88, 117 Caritas in Veritate (papal encyclical), 45
Birmingham Agreed Syllabus, 29, 34, category concept of spirituality, 5
38–39, 69, 126 Catholic Church school system, 51
246 O Index
Center for Spiritual and Ethical CSEE (Center for Spiritual and Ethical
Education (CSEE), 210 Education), 210
ceremonies, 96, 100 cultural path toward human flourishing,
See also ritual 228
Champagne, Elaine, 230 Cupitt, Don, 185
Cheongher (Seon master), 138 curriculum
Choose, Change and Become program, age-appropriate activities, 216–17
110–11 elements for construction of, 83
Christianity, school curriculum about, Learning to Live Together. See
168–69 Learning to Live Together
Christian Wisdom: Desiring God and program
Learning in Love (Ford), 183 New Zealand schools. See New
Citizenship Education, 181 Zealand schools
civics education, 150 United World Colleges, 53
clan system, 95 Wisdom Project. See Wisdom Project
code of ethics, 236 See also schools
common schools, 14, 18, 26
communication Dadi Janki, 103, 106, 108
hermeneutics, 34–35 Dahui (Chan Master), 137
persons and, 36–39 Damon, William, 213
“Decay of Lying: An Observation, The”
religious neutrality in, 14
(Wilde), 32
rhetoric, 31–34
Dennen, Johan M. G., van der, 99
community and communities
detached observer state, 114
importance of, 21–22
Dewey, John, 14, 20, 26
state and, 27
dharam
community building, 228
concept of, 117
compassion projects, 228 educational ethos and practice,
complementary dynamics, 97–98, 100 122–24
confession, defined, 35 dharmic faiths, 122
confessional religious education, 30, 35 dialogue, 153–54
connections Dialogue with Difference Study Days
fruits of, 76–77 program, 184
in Indigenous spirituality, 95, 100 didactics of otherness, 161, 227
to other people, 79–81 dignity of difference, 19–20
consciousness Dilthey, Wilhelm, 35, 36
self-realization and, 114 Discourse Ethics, 234
states of, 64 disengaged young people, 213–14, 215
consensus, 99 divine
Conservative, American and Jewish element of religious life, 75–76
(Neusner), 24 nature of, 211–12
Copley, Terence, 180 Does God Make a Difference? Taking
cosmos, mysterious forces of, 94, 97 Religion Seriously in Our Schools and
courage, 98, 100 Universities (Nord), 180
Crawford, Marisa, 112 Doeui Myeongjeok, 135, 136
Crowell, Sam, 182, 184 Dongshan Shouchu, 136, 139
Index O 247
Dressler, Bernard, 224 flexible zone, 201

flourishing. See human flourishing
educating persons focused reflection, 229
hermeneutics, 34–35 Ford, David, 183
overview, 29–31 Four Arrows, 88–91, 234, 237
persons, 36–39 friendships, 81
rhetoric, 31–39 full-stop moments, 114
education
aims of, 20–22, 233–35 Ganhwaseon (Hwadu meditation),
spiritually motivated, 65–67 135–36
educational practices, 236–37 Gautama Buddha, 67
Education Department, 111 generosity, 98, 100
education for all (EFA), 44, 47–55 Geurts, Thom, 222
educators, 200 Gill, Scherto, 89–90, 209, 234, 235
ego, 63, 66, 82–83, 120–21 global citizenship education, 150
emergent teaching, 182 Global Co-operation for Better World
emotions, understanding of, 36 project, 109
empowerment, 103–6, 110 globalization
encounter-based learning, 152–53, advocacy and mobilization, 49–51
159–60 faith institutions role in, 48–49
engaged pedagogy, 160, 182–83 faith service delivery, 51–52, 145
enlightenment experience, 136–37 leadership training, 53
entrepreneurial attitude, 67 social and religious traditions, 19
environment, importance of, 127 understanding religion and, 52–53
epistemological framework, 150 values and, 54–55
equality of all things, 95 God, relationship with, 114–15
Erricker, Clive, 183 God Has Many Names (Hicks), 148
Erricker, Jane, 183 Goodman, Maureen, 88, 89–90, 103,
essay writing activities, 217 234, 237
ethical culture, 76–77 goodness, 109–10
ethical values, 199 Gorgias (Plato), 31
ethics, 194–95, 196, 200, 236 governance, 59–60
Eton College–Dorney Parish Project, 181 “Great Mysterious,” 94
European Social Survey (ESS), 208, 209t Greece, Learning to Live Together
experience-based learning, 152–53 curriculum, 201–2
greed, 24
facilitators, 200 Grimmitt, Michael, 223
faith, 128 group participation, 90
faith institutions role in global challenges, Gulen movement, 49, 52
48–49 Gurdjieff, G. I., 62
faith service delivery, 51–52 Guru, defined, 123
family, importance of, 127 Guru Nanak Dev Ji, 68, 122
fear of differences, 149
Felderhof, Marius C., 14, 29, 235, 236 Handbook of Creativity (Sternberg), 214
Ferguson, Brian, 99 happiness, 78–79
Fe y Alegría school system, 51–52 Harpalani, Manoj, 111
248 O Index
Hawkes, Neil, 107 understanding religion, 52–53

Hay, David, 166 values, 54–55
healthy, as analogy to religious, 72–73 well-being and, 7–9, 209
Hennezel, Marie, de, 113 Zen Buddhist perspective, 132
Henningsson, Jan, 56 human fulfilment, 118
hermeneutical approach, 150 human life and spirit, 121
hermeneutic skills, 34–35 humility, 127
Heyneman, Stephen, 55 humor, 95
Hicks, John, 148 Hwadu meditation (Ganhwaseon),
Hindu tradition, school curriculum 135–36
about, 168–69 hybrid school systems, 51
HIV/AIDS program, 203–4
holistic educational practices, 9, 150–52 identity
horizons of significance, 22–24 awareness of, 108–9
Horthy, Sharif István, 15, 59, 236 formation of, 216, 230
Hull, John, 223 as relational, 197–98
human capabilities, 45–46 Immigration Law of 1987 (New
human capacities, 182 Zealand), 164
human-centered learning communities, immortal conversations, 153
66 India, Learning to Live Together
human-centered visions, 9 curriculum, 203–4
human characteristics indoctrination, 17, 25–26, 236
common schools and, 14, 18, 26 Indoctrination, Education and God: The
educational aims and, 20–22 Struggle for the Mind (Copley), 180
indoctrination and, 17, 25–26 inherent goodness, 109–10
overview, 17–18 innate potential for spirituality, 196–99
religious traditions and, 22–24 innate talents, 66
secular society and, 25 inner identity, 108–9
teaching of, 18–20 inner silence and stillness, 113–14
human dignity, 199 inquiry approach, 165–70
human flourishing inside-out approach to religious life, 146
activities and processes, 79–80 intentional living, 212
advocacy, 49–51 InterAction Council, 45
balance and, 46–47 interactive methodologies, 198–99
education for all, 47–55 interconnectedness, 212–13
faith service delivery, 51–52 interfaith learning, 194
globalization, 48–55 Interfaith Youth Core, 228
leadership training, 53 International Commission for the
mobilization, 49–51 Twenty-First Century, 103
overview, 14–15, 43–44 International Youth Forum, 110
paradigm of, 45–46 interreligious approach
perceptions, 81–82 dialogue and, 153–54
religious education and, 228–29 educating whole person, 151–52
religious life and, 78–82 encounter-based learning, 152–53
rights-based approaches, 44–47 experience-based learning, 152–53
spirituality and, 61–65 narratives, need for, 154–55
Index O 249
overview, 89, 145–46 educators and facilitators, 200

pathways to religious life, 146–47 ethics, 194–98, 200
pedagogical strategies for, 150–55 Greek experience, 201–2
religious diversity and, 148–50 identity as relational, 197–98
religious life pathways, 146–47 India experience, 203–4
schools as communities, 155–56 innate potential for spirituality,
strategies for, 150–55 196–99
whole-person education, 151–52 Israeli experience, 202–3
Ipgrave, Julia, 229 learning process, 197f, 199
Islamic tradition, school curriculum overview, 160, 193
about, 168–69 pedagogical strategies, 198–200
Israel, Learning to Live Together rights of the child, 195
curriculum, 202–3 South Africa experience, 202–3
spirituality, 196
Jackson, Robert, 183 values, 194–98, 199
Janki, Dadi, 103, 106, 108, 115 Leavitt, George C., 99
Jayanti (Brahma Kumaris Sister), 104, Lee, Jinwol Y. H., 88, 89–90, 131, 234
107, 112 Lees, Helen, 113
Jesuit education system, 49 life
Jesus Christ, 68 as journey, 117–18
Jogye Order, 135–36 meaning in, 213–15
Johnson, Aostre, 182 mysteries, acceptance of, 93–95, 100
Jonah, James O. C., 109 quality of, 60
Journey program, 203 literature, personal transformation, 155
Judaism lived experiences, 98–99
inherent goodness, 109 Living Our Values (Janki), 106
school curriculum about, 168–69 lunar, in Indigenous spirituality, 97
Justthisday (newsletter), 113
Maalouf, Amin, 197
Kaiser Family Foundation, 212 Macbeth (Shakespeare), 118
Kantian theory, 234 Macmurray, John, 155
Kashdan, Todd, 214 Mahakashapa, 135
Kearney, Richard, 180 Maori culture, 164–65
Kierkegaard, Søren, 32 Marshall, Katherine, 14, 43, 234, 235
kirtan (hymn singing), 124 Massar program, 203
knowledge, types of, 20–21 McKnight, Patrick, 214
meaning in life, 213–15
leadership, 53, 98–99, 111 media, students engagement with, 212
learning about, from and through meditation
religion, 225, 226t empowerment and, 110
learning process, 197f, 199 Seon (Zen) tradition, 133–35, 139–40
Learning: The Treasure Within (Delors), spiritual activity, 81–82, 114
103, 106 Mendl, Hans, 227
Learning to Live Together program Metaphysics (Aristotle), 72
critical reflection, 199 Micah Challenge, 50
curriculum in practice, 200–204 Miedema, Siebren, 227
250 O Index
Millennium Development Goals Oakeshott, Michael, 20

(MDGs), 15, 47, 50 obedience, 24
mindfulness, 69, 133 Office for Standards in Education,
mission statements, for schools, 207–8 Children’s Services and Skills
Miyamoto, Takeyasu, 196 (Ofsted), 151, 178, 180–81
Montaigne, Michel, de, 189 Orgill, Roger, 104
morality, 27, 77, 178, 234 Origin of War, The (Dennen, van der), 99
mother tongues, in classroom, 224–25 Otherness
Muslim schools, 51 didactics of, 161, 227
Myeongjeok, Doeui, 135 of different religious traditions, 227,
mystical narratives, 155 230
mystical techniques, 68–69 interreligious education and, 152, 159
narratives and, 154
Nanak Dev Ji, 68, 122 working in groups and, 90
narratives, need for, 154–55 outside-in approach to religious life,
Neusner, Jacob, 24 146–47
neutral communication, 14
New Zealand schools paradox of religious identification, 128
challenges, 163–65 parents, reactions to religious curriculum,
inquiry approach, 165–70 170–71
overview, 159, 163
Parliament of the World’s Religions, 45,
reactions to new textbooks, 170–73
50
Nickerson, Raymond, 214
participatory methodologies, 198–99
Noddings, Nel, 153
Pathmaps team, 210
Non-Statutory National Framework for
Path to Purpose, A (Damon), 213
Religious Education, 29, 38–39
pedagogical strategies for religious
nontranslated concepts, 128
Nord, Warren, 180 education, 198–200
North American Indigenous spirituality people
acceptance of life’s mysteries, 93–95, connections to, 79–81
100 understanding of, 36–39
authority and, 98–101 personal, social, health, and economic
ceremonies, 96, 100 (PSHE) education, 179, 181
complementary dynamics, 97–98, 100 personal enquiry, 161
connectedness, 95, 100 personal reflection, 184
courage, 98, 100 personal salvation, 150
equality of all things, 95 personal self-clarification, 161
generosity, 98, 100 personal transformation literature, 155
lived experiences, 98–99 Phenix, Philip, 20, 22
overview, 87, 91–93 place and inhabitants as sacred, 96–97,
place and inhabitants, 96–97, 100 100
reflection, 98–99 Plato, 31
Nozick, Robert, 75 Plowden Report (1967), 4
nurturing children with values, 30 Polo, Marco, 118
Nussbaum, Martha, 45–46 postmodern approach, 183
Nye, Rebecca, 166 power, source of, 110
Index O 251
“Prehistory of War and Peace in Europe religious education

and the Near East, The” (Ferguson), as academic subject, 2
99 aims of, 233–35
Prig, Richard, 14, 17, 235 challenges, 161, 221–22, 235–36
Prophet Muhammad, 68 connections, fruits of, 76–77
PSHE (personal, social, health, and educational mission, 222–24
economic) education, 179, 181 ethical culture, 76–77
purpose, discernment of, 213–15 external point of view, 72
Purpose Project history of in Britain, 30–31
divine, nature of, 211–12 internal point of view, 72
intentional living, 212 learning about, from and through,
interconnections, 212–13 225, 226t
meaning and purpose, 213–15 pathways to, 228–29
overview, 160–61 pedagogical strategies for, 198–200
relationships, 212–13 pluralistic point of view, 72
school mission statements, 207–8 rationale for, 194–98
spiritual development, 209–11 school curriculum for, 4, 83
spiritual life facets, 211–15 Seon (Zen) tradition, 133–34, 139–40
stages of, 216–17 singularity, relationship with one’s
well-being and flourishing, 208–9, own, 226–28
209t spiritual development in, 111–15
as spirituality, 2, 67–69
quality of life, 60 Religious Education in Multicultural
Society (REMC), 222
Rawls’s theory, 234 religious experience, 148, 224–25
realist position, 183 religious holidays, 25
reason, as human trait, 25 religious identification, paradox of, 128
REDCo project, 222, 227 religious life
reflection and reflection techniques, 98– activities and processes, 79–80
99, 114, 198–99, 212, 229 appreciation, 80
reflective inquiry or questioning, 111, divine, sacred, or transcendent
114 elements, 75–76
Reid-Marr, David, 182, 184 elements of, 74–77
relationships flourishing and, 78–82
with God, 114–15 framework for, 72–74
with one’s own singularity, 226–28 overview, 15, 71
with others, 212–13 pathways to, 146–47
REL-EDU project, 223 perceptions, 81–82
religion religious education and, 82–83
as new phenomena for students, 168 self-perception, 80
school resistance to, 170 spiritual development, 77–78
Sikh Gurus and, 123 religious self-understanding, 128
spirituality and, 107–8, 166, 196 religious traditions
See also specific religious traditions commonality among, 38
Religions of Man, The (Smith), 92 learning to be human and, 22–24
religious diversity, 148–50 spirituality in, 67–69
252 O Index
religious traditions (continued ) secularity, 33, 36

understanding of, 52–53 secular morality, 77
REMC (Religious Education in secular society, 25, 30–31
Multicultural Society), 222 self-clarification, 161
resource management, 59 self-concept, 149–50
respect, 199 self-discovery, 66
responsibility, 111 self-esteem, 110
rhetoric, 31–34 self-help community participation, 126
Rick Two Dogs, 93 self-perception, 80
Ricoeur, Paul, 228 self-realization, 114
rights-based approaches, 44–47 self-understanding, 107
rights of the child, 195 self-worth, 110
ritual, 124–25, 229 Seligman, M. E., 208, 209t
See also ceremonies Sen, Amartya, 45–46
Roebben, Bert, 161, 221, 234, 235 Seon (Zen) tradition
Roosevelt, Eleanor, 54–55 conceptual reflection, 132–34
Roosevelt, Franklin D., 44 enlightenment experience, 136–37
Rossiter, Graham, 112 flourishing and, 132
Runcie, Robert, 107 Korean Seon masters, 138
Russell, Lucie, 189 overview, 88–89, 131–32
Ryff, Carol D., 208, 209t practice of, 134–36
religious education, 133–34, 139–40
Sacks, Jonathan, 19, 23 spirituality, 132–33
sacred element of religious life, 75–76 service learning, 228
sacred space, 228 Sex Relationship Education (SRE), 181
sacrificial offerings, 94 Shakespeare, 118
Sage in Residence program, 184 Shakyamuni (Gautama Siddartha), 137
sangat (congregation), 124–25 Siddhartha Gautama (Shakyamuni), 137
Saturday Satya program, 185–86 Sikh Dharam tradition
Schleiermacher, F. D. E. educational ethos and practice,
hermeneutical theory, 34–35 122–24
people, understanding of, 36 human condition and potential,
Schneiders, Sandra, 166 120–22
schools infusing ethos in education, 125–27
common schools, 14, 18, 26 life, as a journey, 117–18
as communities, 155–56 nontranslated concepts, 128
educational mission of, 222–24 overview, 88, 117–18
mission statements, 207–8 paradox of religious identification, 128
religious experience and mother practices as pedagogical approaches,
tongues in, 224–25 124–25
resistance to religion, 170 school curriculum about, 168–69
See also curriculum silence and stillness, 113–14, 229
scientific methodology, 235 Singh, Bhai Sahib Mohinder, 88–90,
SEAL (Social Emotional Aspects of 117, 234, 236, 237
Learning), 181 singularity, productive relationship with,
sectarian concept of religions education, 2 226–28
Index O 253
Smith, Huston, 91–92 Stoneleigh Group, 105–6

SMSC (spiritual, moral, social and storytelling, 96
cultural) development, 179–81 Strange Pilgrims program, 184
Social Emotional Aspects of Learning Streight, David, 160, 207, 236
(SEAL), 181 structure concept of spirituality, 5
sociological approach, 150 students
Socrates, 31, 140 Learning to Live Together comments,
solar, in Indigenous spirituality, 97 203
soul, 63–65, 77–78 reactions to religious curriculum,
South Africa, Learning to Live Together 170–73
curriculum, 204 Unite against HIV/AIDS forum, 203–4
spirit, defined, 120 Wisdom Project feedback comments,
spiritual, etymology of, 23, 61 187–89
spiritual, moral, social and cultural subjectivists approach to spirituality, 7
(SMSC) development, 179–81 Subud, spiritual practice, 62–63
spiritual attitude, 15, 64–65, 69 Summer Retreat program, 186–87
spiritual awakening, 146 Sun Dance ceremony, 92, 97
spiritual development
defined, 183–84 Taego Bou, 135, 136
Purpose Project and, 209–11
talents, 66
religious education and, 111–15
Taylor, Charles, 22
as statutory requirement, 77–78
teachers and teaching
Wisdom Project and, 183–84
authenticity of, 66
spiritual identity, 108–9
child’s point of view, 67
spirituality
Teaching Truly (Four Arrows), 99
challenges, 59–60
thin and thick concept of spirituality, 6,
concept of, 5–7
defined, 107 236
flourishing and, 7–9 Thomson, Garrett, 15, 71, 209, 234
as focus of religious education, 1–3 transcendent element of religious life,
human flourishing and, 61–65 75–76
innate potential for, 196–99 “Transforming the World Together”
opportunities, 60 module, 201
religion and, 107–8, 166, 196 truth and truthfulness, 31–34
thin and thick concept of, 6, 236 twin hero myths, 97
Zen Buddhist perspective, 132–33 tyranny, 179
spiritual life facets, 211–15
spontaneity, 66 Ucko, Agneta, 160, 193, 237
SRE (Sex Relationship Education), 181 UK Office for Standards in Education,
Sri Guru Granth Sahib (Sikh religious 151
text), 118, 120–21, 125 “Understanding Self and Others”
Standards in Education, UK Office for, module, 201
151 Unite against HIV/AIDS (student forum),
state and communities, 27 203–4
states of consciousness, 64 United Nations’ Convention on the
Sternberg, Robert, 214 Rights of the Child (UNCRC), 195
254 O Index
United Nations Development Program Wisdom Project

(UNDP), 45–47 Dialogue with Difference Study Days,
United Nations Educational, Scientific, 184
and Cultural Organization encounter-based learning, 159–60
(UNESCO), 45, 103, 195 engaged pedagogy, 160, 182–83
United Nations Millennium history of, 181–82
Development Goals (MDGs), 47, 50 overview, 177–79
United World Colleges (UWC), 53 programs of, 184–87
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Sage in Residence program, 184
44–45, 54–55 Saturday Satya program, 185–86
Universal Declaration of Responsibilities, SMSC development, 179–81
45 spiritual development, 183–84
Utilitarian theory, 234 Strange Pilgrims program, 184
structure and methodology, 182
values students feedback comments, 187–89
cultivating, 199 Summer Retreat program, 186–87
differing views on, 54–55 wisdom skills, 187
empowerment and, 106–7 Wittgenstein, Ludwig, 35
flourishing and, 78–79 World Conference of Religions for Peace
importance of, 90 (WCRP), 50
Learning to Live Together program, World Religions, The (Smith), 92
194–98 worship, 81–82
nurturing children with, 30 Wright, Andrew, 183
violent behavior, 110
Virtue Ethics, 234 young people
virtues, 24, 119, 213–14 disengaged, 213–14, 215
vision, for young people, 115 empowering of, 103–6
Vivekananda (Swami), 109 vision for, 115
Yuanwu (Chan Master), 137
well-being, 7–9, 79, 208–9, 209t
whole-person education, 151–52 Zarathustra, 67
Wilde, Oscar, 32 Zen Buddhism. See Seon (Zen) tradition
will, understanding of, 36 Zwergel, Hans, 226

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Redefining Religious Education

Edited by Scherto Gill and Garrett Thomson

All rights reserved.

First published in 2014 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN® in the United

Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above

Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United

1. Education—Religious aspects. 2. Religious education. 3.

A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library.

Design by Scribe Inc.

First edition: June 2014

List of Figures and Tables vii

7 Religion, Spirituality, and Education for Human

Figure 13.1 The learning process 197

H.E. Mr. Nassir Abdul Aziz Al-Nasser

It is my great pleasure as High Representative for the United Nations Alliance

about religions and perhaps to develop some interreligious understanding. This

religions promote ready-made solutions as certainties when societies should be

1. To impart an understanding of religion from within a particular religious

Thin and Thick

The idea that religious or spiritual experiences are sensibilities of something

The Conception of Holistic Educational Practices

Spirituality within Religious Education for Flourishing

Is Religious Education Possible?

articulate a particular form of spirituality be defensible where the basis of those

There is a sense of irony in the reference to learned engineers, educated physi-

I believe that globalisation is summoning the world’s great faiths to a supreme

Despite differences, there is much in common between traditions both as

embedded in rules of reciprocal obligations and rights and in the commitments

Religious Traditions and Learning to Be Human

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers

You have given him dominion over the works of your

These words convey the importance of humanity in relation to God, despite

The Need to Avoid Indoctrination

open to verification or falsification, and hence their promotion as true is, so it

Common Culture Needs Common School

view of what it means to be human, prevails. It constitutes its own tradition

Oakeshott, Michael. 1962. Voice of Poetry in the Conversation of Mankind. London:

alienating. While university subjects such as religious studies (Smart 1973),

The Act of Communication

lecture seldom depends solely on the truthfulness of the communication but on

The teacher’s commitment to whatever she or he regards as truthful and of

to present some general guidance for understanding all types of communica-

Human Flourishing and a

Faith-Based versus Rights-Based Approaches

A Paradigm of Human Flourishing

These differing perspectives are relevant to the challenge of probing contem-

“Education for All”

Where Does Religion Enter This Global Picture?8

1. Faith institutions and leaders can be powerful advocates for action to

5. Faith institutions can help prepare young people to be informed and

It is too often forgotten that many religious traditions have longstanding

Advocacy and Mobilization

interest is evident in various settings, ranging from global interfaith institutions

Faith Service Delivery

Understanding Religion, Understanding the Other

Training Future Religious Leaders

Thorny Values, Questions, and Social Cohesion

12. For background and relevant texts, see http://www.aidharmonization.org.

Magis Americas. n.d. “Best Practices: Documenting Fe y Alegría Venezuela’s

Spirituality, Education, and

Challenges and Opportunities

Spirituality and Human Flourishing

Education That Supports Spirituality