Spirituality and Education

In Ancient Egypt, at any given moment, there was never one Egyptian Religion.

Different priesthoods developed tremendously divergent interpretations of the Divine Order, the Spiritual Universe, the Creation, the Material Universe, and the human society; in doing so, they had contradictory world views, moral and spiritual principles, and narratives; they then conceptualized the reality in opposite manners.

Yes, there is one Egyptian Civilization, one Egyptian Culture, but many Egyptian religions; and by this of course I don't mean Aten, Akhenaten and the Atonic Religion, but the systems that antedated Akhenaten for more than two millennia and which survived the Amarna revolution.
https://megalommatiscomments.wordpress.com/2017/09/01/in-ancient-egypt-at-any-given-moment-there-was-never-one-egyptian-religion/

For most of its history, the field of teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) has focussed much of its attention on teaching methods and curricula to the exclusion of the person who must deliver them. In this article we propose that TESOL recognize the inner lives of teachers through understanding their spirituality from the perspective of the teacher's personal and professional being and becoming. We encourage teachers to reflect on the spiritual dimensions of practice and propose how these might interface with standard disciplinary knowledge to produce more integrated language teachers.

Through striking new curricular language, Ted Aoki (2003/2005) contends the living site of pedagogy as a space amidst the horizontal and vertical: /, a third space that is generative and holds possibility and promise. With Aokian vigour, I contemplate this in-between place⎯-an inspirited site from which my poetry comes. As an Ismaili Muslim, I aspire to seek balance between my material and spiritual life. I find meaning at the meeting point of horizontal and vertical existence. Here, my own metaphoric writing becomes a rhizomean reality where newness springs forth bridging personal and pedagogical understandings. As I conceptualize the process of my poetic inquiry to the Sufi practice of whirling, attending to both ground and sky, I lyrically dance at this vibrant and vulnerable pinnacle where body, word, and spirit commingle (Rajabali, 2017). With this poetic posture, I reflect on the Aokian echoes and lessons that are gained. Dwelling in live(d) experiences channels the past, the present, and the future as it is be/coming, an interplay of flickering light.

The Prospectus of the Advaita Ashrama, Mayavati, was consccrated by Swami Vivekananda as a manifesto for the oneness of all beings. It is the coping stone o f the mighty edifice of his thought. His works ring with the constant refrain of the Himalayas igniting the aspiration and exertion towards oneness. The journey to oneness, writ large on the physical and mental map of the Himalayas, has been disrupted by divisive human activity and reckless interference with nature. It is necessary to read the Mayavati prospectus into the future, in the light of Swamiji's works, to deal with the crises our present civilization is suffering. Mighty thoughts such as his, backed by great strength of character, may well, as he believed, cleave mountains, travel across centuries, inundate and rejuvenate a parched earth, and restore our moth-eaten times to health.

John Dewey’s ‘religious attitude’ has great potential for the educative development of children’s spirituality. This is because it enables their spiritual understandings to become more intelligently composed – not just in a cognitive or hyper-rational sense, but as a way of being. This paper provides an outline of Dewey’s approach, which is described as being democratic, inquiry based, and ‘scientific’. Such an approach therefore offers a contrast to other more epistemologically focused curricula which attempt to educate a person’s spirituality. In order to make the case for the potential educative value of such an attitude, a brief review of Dewey’s approach to education shall be offered, in which the notions of inquiry, democracy, and ‘science’ shall be highlighted to make the case that such attributes might be necessary for spiritual education if the United Nations Educational and Scientific Organization’s goal of attaining world peace is to ever become possible.

Here is a prospectus for a new kind of free college that offers a two-year bachelor's degree (BL, Bachelor of Letters). Advantages: it is free, it is high-quality, it is substantial, it is personally and societally helpful, it is time-saving, and it can integrate with traditional options or constitute an economical and early on-ramp into the work force. It solves some of the problems associated with most traditional four-year colleges. The model here is associated with the Roman Catholic faith, but other sponsors could adopt and adapt this model as well. Most importantly, the faith dimension that has been so essential in our collective history can be treated in a way that is not likely or possible elsewhere.  See the brochure at https://www.academia.edu/36165079/College_of_Christian_Arts_and_Letters_COCAAL_Brochure . This brochure includes a proposed provisional schema for the course of studies leading to the Bachelor of Letters degree.

This chapter utilized historical accounts of various cultural, educational, and Buddhist reforms in Thailand and analyzed and interpreted them according to experts in the fields of Thai Buddhism and culture, international comparative education, intercultural communication, learning theory, and political sociology. The analysis suggests that the implanting of a homogenous culture strengthened the nation-state, but weakened a spiritually oriented society. Further, the broken link between spirituality and education has had detrimental effects on Thailand’s educational reform and modernization efforts. The Thai Buddhist heritage of establishing multicultural learning communities of practice has been diminished, becoming an overall Thai cultural deficit that limits its participation in regional and international forums.

This playful and irreverent introductory narrative (to my thesis) explores what is at stake when students' creative expression is stifled and all that may be reclaimed by encouraging and supporting the free and playful expressive writing that is not generally considered legitimate within the academy.

PONENCIA.
[Introducción], p. 35.
1. Los Carmelitas Descalzos en Tortosa (desde 1590 a 1835), p. 36.
2. Demarcaciones: diócesis de Tortosa, provincia de Castellón (1789, 1833), baronía de Benicasim (1790), pp. 36-40.
3. El Convento de Carmelitas Descalzos del Desierto de Las Palmas (1694), pp. 40-46.
4. Los frailes del Desierto ante el cólera de Tortosa (1821), pp. 47-54.
4.1. El P. Mariano de Santa Teresa (1745-1821), pp. 47-54.
a) Necrológica del P. Mariano de Santa Teresa, pp. 48-52.
b) Necrológica del P. Manuel de la Santísima Trinidad, compañero del P. Mariano en Tortosa, pp. 52-54.
5. Los frailes del Desierto ante el cólera en Castellón y Benicasim (1834-92), pp. 54-55.
6. Las no-desamortizaciones del Desierto de Las Palmas, pp. 56-65.
6.1. Causas, pp. 56-57.
6.2. Situación, pp. 57-65.
7. Enrique de Ossó conoce el Desierto de Las Palmas (1859-60), pp. 65-78.
7.1. San Enrique de Ossó y el Desierto de Las Palmas (1860-1895). 1ª parte, pp. 66-78.
8. La Casa de Ejercicios del Desierto de Las Palmas, pp. 79-85.
9. Unión de las Congregaciones Española e Italiana OCD y el Desierto (1876), pp. 86-134.
9.1. San Enrique de Ossó y el Desierto de Las Palmas (1860-1895). 2ª parte, pp. 101-126.
9.2. Enrique de Ossó y el Desierto de Las Palmas (1860-1895). 3ª parte, pp. 127-134.

Education’s ancient and profoundly important pursuit to ‘know thyself’, is often realised through engaging with the question ‘who am I?’ In order to the identify who in this search, it is argued in this paper that personal identity should be understood to be embedded in the purposes one has for one’s life through how one relates, and is therefore spiritual. This spiritual quality of personal identity is therefore existential in character – not essential. However, often when children respond to this question ‘who am I?’, they rely upon socially constructed categories and labels such as religious, feminine, cool, punk and the like. The application of such labelling assumes that meaningfulness lies in their essence; that is, they identify what is. This can become most problematic when individuals accept and apply such essentialist labelling to themselves, because such a process can only answer ‘what am I?’ and not the educationally more important question of ‘who am I?’ This paper therefore challenges the inadequacy of such an approach and offers a conceptualisation of personal identity which is spiritually embedded in a purpose for one’s life.

We live in a world that often consigns individuals to a life of inner torment, more often than not unnoticed, as is witnessed by the growing numbers of people who suffer from mental illnesses of varying degrees. AWARE reports that depression alone, among many other mental conditions, is a very common one which affects more than 450,000 people in Ireland (one in ten) at any one time. Any of us, irrespective of age, gender or background, can be affected at some point in our life. The question posed by this essay is simply put: In how far does spirituality contribute to our mental health? Spirituality is the ability to connect with something larger than ourselves, be that a personal God or an energy source sustaining the whole universe. In this sense, spirituality gives our life a locus of meaning, an anchor of support, a magnetic pole that pulls us in the direction of wholeness. You may wish to add to this list your own metaphor for spirituality. Indeed, modern scholars are now speaking about what they term " Spiritual Intelligence " , which in short is designated by the acronym SI. That intelligence allows us to connect with (i) ourselves (ii) others and (iii) God or whoever or whatever we deem as the source of meaning in our own lives. My argument here, then, is that when wellbeing is presented within the widest possible framework, the framework of spiritual intelligence, we are then most assuredly on the road to positive mental health.

In this recent interview with Yad Vashem I discuss the Piaseczner Rebbe as an educator and his educational philosophy. We discuss both the interwar context in which spiritual education was  marshaled also to combat secularization as well as the Rebbe's work during the Holocaust. The interview can also be read here: http://www.yadvashem.org/he/articles/interviews/tzvi-leshem

Spiritual intelligence involves a search to find and create meaning based on a deep understanding of existential tenets and the ability to reach higher meanings and values. Despite the growing interest among scholars to study the development of this construct and its impact on one's life, it has remained an under-researched area of inquiry, particularly in the foreign language context. This study aimed to address this gap. The sample consisted of 47 students with the age range of 15–19 years old from a language institute, who were divided into experimental and control groups. The experimental group underwent a spiritual intervention over eight weeks whereas the control group received the typical instruction of the institute. Both groups completed King's spiritual intelligence inventory and Peng and Woodrow's WTC scale. Findings point to the significant effect of the intervention on improving spiritual intelligence from pretest to posttest. Also, compared to the control group, the experimental group gained significantly higher grades in WTC on the posttest. It is suggested that spiritual intelligence be incorporated into pedagogical practices to enhance learners' willingness to communicate, thereby improving their oral performance.

Authentic listening understands the importance of contexts, relationships, and silence. The purpose of this essay is to explore speaking silences and silent silences and to frame these understandings in terms of classroom pedagogy. Speaking silences are meaningful and generative. They create space for listening to others and should themselves be listened to, as testified to within various traditions of spirituality. Silent silences, however, suggest withdrawing or withholding. These might be chosen or unchosen expressions of dominance or resistance, depending on the situation. Acknowledging both risks and rewards, teachers are called to cultivate silence in their personal and professional lives and spaces.

This qualitative and instrumental case study explores how volunteer Christian ESOL tutors describe putting their religious beliefs into practice in a church-run adult ESOL ministry. Data was gathered by means of teacher interviews and classroom observations. Theory and research from community ESOL, spirituality in education, and Christian scholarship in language education help provide a background against which the study’s data is analyzed and interpreted. Emergent findings include relationality and empathy, Christian love and care, practical service, and learner-centeredness as professional values or priorities which participants connected with their religious beliefs. Additional issues discussed include proselytizing or witnessing and the non-exclusive nature of the findings.

In this photo essay, I enact how a creative pedagogue engages with artistic practice and contemplative inquiry. As a poet, at home in words, photography represents a creative risk. This vulnerability is felt in the sharing of the work through the lens of (re)search. Hence, I ask: Does it have wings? By delving in expressive forms toward the service of understanding my personal and pedagogical self, creative risk is rewarded in profound ways. I have discovered that my art practice is driven by intention, intuition and imagination. Thus, here is my creative pedagogy in action illuminating how an inquiry through images provokes learning and teaching. Both poetry and photography provide keen vision-a way of sensing and seeing Light.

У статті аналізується навчальний процес у вищих духовних навчальних закладах Донецької області в 90-х роках ХХ – першому десятиріччі ХХІ століття. Для всебічного дослідження проблеми автором було залучено конфесійну періодику та нарративний матеріал (інтерв’ю з керівним складом духовних ВНЗ регіону)

Tibetan Schools trace their lineage to Indian tantric masters: Drupchcn or Mahasiddhas. Monks like Zanabazar sculpt Mongolian monasteries as late as the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. Tibetan teachers like Rinchen Tsangpo employ Kashmiri artists at Alchi and Tabo monasteries in Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh. Such pre-eminent personages stand out as bearers of the trans-Himalayan dialogue. Kumarajiva heads the translation bureau in China in the fourth century CE. Bodhidharma founds Shaolin boxing at the Loyang monastery in China. The Guhyasamaja Tantra, Arya Manjusri Mula Kalpa, Sadhanamala, Rasamanjari, Chaurapanchashika, Karandavyuba Sutra, Astasahasrika Prajnaparamita Sutra, Suvamaprabbasottama Sutra, and many Vajrayana texts and Vaipulya sutras are translated and retranslated into mystical dharanis, songs, mudras, hand gestures, cave paintings, cloth scrolls, wood-block paintings, masked Chamb dances, yantras, and mandala designs. The stories of Pancatantra—Kalila wa Dimna in its Arabic version— Vetalapancavimsati, Kathasaritsagara, and Lalitavistara are translated into sculpture or murals in the Himalayas and in Central and South East Asia. Vedic, Zoroastrian, Nestorian, Manichaean, Buddhist, and Islamic texts have entered a cauldron for shaping the Indian mindscape. The article provides a background to the great surge of philosophical speculations and cerebration, which was inherited by Swamy Vivekananda and transmitted to the future generations through the Advaita Ashrama at Mayavati. Prabuddha Bharata was established by Swamiji to transmit Indian Philosophical thought to the entire world.

ABSTRACT In the Czech Republic, home schooling is an increasing but still rare education practice. The country is at the same time not favourable to public demonstrations of religion. In such a specific context, we investigated the intersection of religion, spirituality, and home schooling. Drawing on a broad ethnographic research design, we identify three levels of strategies employed by religious or spiritual home-schooling parents to negotiate their ‘twofold otherness’. On the individual level, these parents significantly sought religious or spiritual support in their decision to home-school. On the societal level, the local community played a crucial role in assisting parents with home schooling. Simultaneously, fearing the reactions of home-schooling opponents, the families decided to keep their religion or spirituality to themselves. We conclude that the ‘twofold otherness’ is a vulnerable position for home-schoolers in the Czech Republic which forces the families to remain private about both their education style and spiritual or religious ideology.

This paper aims at showing the dimensions of spirituality in childhood education by suggesting a new analysis of the concept of ‘pure life’ used in the Qur’an. Putting spirituality in the framework of the pure life provides us with a rich framework in dealing with spirituality as the latter will be extended to all dimensions of a life. In the first section of the paper, the pure life is analysed in terms of different dimensions of body, thought, inclinations, will, action and aesthetic taste. Then, the requirements of this framework are discussed for spirituality. In the final section of the paper, the implications for spiritual education in the childhood are derived.

У статті на основі польових досліджень, які провів автор, робиться спроба розглянути вищу духовну освіту в християнських громадах Донецької області в період з 1991 по 2011 рр., її історичний розвиток і особливості навчального процесу. Автор визначив основні тенденції розвитку християнських духовних навчальних закладів Донецького регіону, окреслено коло проблем, що стоять перед сучасними духовними вишами регіону.


In the article the author has made an attempt to study the higher spiritual education in the Christian communities of the Donetsk region from 1991 to 2011, its historical development and features of the learning process. The author identifies the main trends of development of the Christian religious education institutions in the Donetsk region, outlines the problems faced by modern religious universities in the region.

Introducción. Este artículo se sitúa en la rica y profunda discusión interna-cional sobre la educación del espíritu que contrasta con un silencio espeso sobre el tema en el ámbito pedagógico. Método. Articula los pasos clásicos de una teoría de la educación. Ofrece una aproximación filosófico-educativa al "espíritu" para terminar preguntándose por sus aplicaciones prácticas. Discusión. Busca identificar unos rasgos dinámicos que permitan intervenir educativamente en el espíritu, saber si es legítimo epistemológicamente y cómo se relaciona internamente con otras áreas de la educación. Conclusión. Comprendido el espíritu de una cierta manera, parece posible atender a su educación en contextos religiosos y seculares. Palabras clave: desarrollo del espíritu, pensamiento crítico, valores morales, educación pública.

Introduction. This article is set in the rich and deep international discussion on the education of the spirit that contrasts with an absolute silence on the subject in the pedagogical field. Method. It articulates the classic steps of a theory of education. It offers a philosophical-educational approach to the "spirit" to end up wondering about its practical a Facultad de Ciencias Sociales y Jurídicas. Universidad Rey Juan Carlos.

This is my part of a panel.

Dominant and Marginalized Narratives in Music Education: Intersections of Religion, Spirituality, and Sexual/Gender Diversity in the Music Classroom, LGBTQ Studies & Music Education III, Urbana, IL. Facilitator: Karin Hendricks. Respondents: June Boyce-Tillman, Cantor Evan Kent, Kerri Mesner, Daniel J. Shevock, and Heidi Weatherford. May 19, 2016.