Five classroom activities for sustaining a spiritual environment

This article outlines five activities that provide an environment conducive to the wholeness of each child and the health of a group: including, attending, embracing, releasing and remaining. Including is hospitality offered to difference, so that each child shows up; attending is a just distributio...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Bellous, Joyce (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Taylor & Francis 2006
In: International journal of children's spirituality
Year: 2006, Volume: 11, Issue: 1, Pages: 99-111
Further subjects:B Spirituality
B Inclusion
B spiritual education
B Identity
B Environment (Art)
B Meaning‐making
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Summary:This article outlines five activities that provide an environment conducive to the wholeness of each child and the health of a group: including, attending, embracing, releasing and remaining. Including is hospitality offered to difference, so that each child shows up; attending is a just distribution of attention, so children learn meaningfully; embracing is appropriate ministrations of presence, so children become relational; releasing enables children to learn on their own; and remaining refers to faithful constancy, ‘being there’, dependable availability and integrity. Using these five activities, teachers create a spiritually rich environment in which all children feel they belong yet are free to be themselves. I hope to show its centrality in creating a learning community capable of meeting the deepest human needs. By carrying out these five activities—including, attending, embracing, releasing and remaining—adults create an environment that fosters spiritual growth and grow towards human maturity themselves.
ISSN:1469-8455
Contains:Enthalten in: International journal of children's spirituality
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1080/13644360500504389