Katie Bowers Literature Review

Spiritual learning primarily deals with how individuals construct meaning in their lives. Spiritual learning, however, lacks a theoretical model, and has yet to be fully understood by scholars and teachers. This is due to learning being utilized in a formal manner of order, hierarchies, grades, tests, a glorified past, control, deprivation, remoteness of various kinds, and a weighty seriousness (Moore, 2005).      

Although this type of learning has been trivialized in the past, scholars stress its importance during the learning process. Basil Yeaxlee, a British educator, stressed this importance as early as 1925, however, he equated this dimension of spirituality with religion (English, 2003).  Developmental psychologists such as Carl Jung proclaimed that as adults advance through life the need for spiritual development increases (Merriam, Caffarella, & Baumgartner, 2007; Vella, 2000). National organizations such as the National Institutes of Health and the American Medical Association explore the role that spiritual practices such as yoga, meditation, and prayer play in affecting the health and wellbeing of individuals (Merriam et al., 2007). The topic of spirituality is becoming more popular in continuing education courses and even in the corporate world with books such as A Spiritual Audit of Corporate America, The Stirring of Soul in the Workplace, and Leading with Soul: An Uncommon Journey of Spirit. Therefore, current researchers and scholars such as Elizabeth Tisdell, Cheryl Hunt, Tara Fenwick, and John Dirkx are attempting to explore this realm of secular spirituality. It appears spirituality is an inherent part of human nature that should not be ignored in any educational setting.

            Even though spiritual learning has not yet been sufficiently defined, scholars do attempt is to define spirituality and offer a set of assumptions that relate it to an educational setting. There are many different definitions of spirituality. For example, current researcher, Tisdell, defines spirituality in a secular and cultural context as a “personal belief and experience of a divine spirit or higher purpose, about how we construct meaning, and what we individually and communally experience and attend to and honor as the sacred in our lives” (Tisdell, 2003, p. 29). While another scholar has spirituality is defined as “one’s personal relation to the sacred or transcendent, a relation that then informs other relationships and the meaning of one’s life” (Sinnott, 2001, p. 199). To further define spirituality, its very nature is related to the concept of grace. Grace can be understood as transcendent in nature and as “harmony of movement, coordination, poise under pressure…moves to its own rhythm, follows its own agenda, and it is always beyond our power to control or manipulate” (Graves, 1997, pp. 15–16). Most definitions of spirituality encompass the concepts of wholeness, meaning-making through symbolic and unconscious processes, connectedness, an invisible force from within, and a soul being accessed through an image (Merriam et al., 2007). Tisdell takes her definition of spirituality one step further by developing seven assumptions of spirituality as it relates to an educational setting. These assumptions include:

• 1.     Spirituality and religion are not the same . . . .
• 2.     Spirituality is about an awareness and honoring of wholeness and the interconnectedness of all things . . . .
• 3.     Spirituality is fundamentally about meaning-making.
• 4.     Spirituality is always present (though often unacknowledged) in the learning environment.
• 5.     Spiritual development constitutes moving toward greater authenticity or to a more authentic self.
• 6.     Spirituality is about how people construct knowledge through largely unconscious and symbolic processes, often made more concrete in art forms such as music, art, image, symbol, and ritual which are manifested culturally.
• 7.     Spiritual experiences most often happen by surprise. (Tisdell, 2003, pp. 28–29)

These assumptions help apply this dimension of spirituality to learning for adults, and allow teachers to implement it into their educational setting.

            There are three main ideas that need to be addressed in spiritual learning. The first main idea is personal reexamination and critical questioning of the influence of the facilitators’ views and assumptions on their spiritual preferences. The educators must be in touch with their own spiritual journey. Some questions, proposed by (English, 2003; Rolph, 1991), they should consider asking themselves are:

• ·      Do I challenge learners to interpret meaning for their lives?
• ·      Do I provide time periods for reflection and inner exploration?
• ·      Does my teaching encourage learners to find the spiritual dimensions of everyday life?
• ·      Do I integrate religion, literature, poetry, art, and music into my teaching, and help learners search for the meaning and value that they contain?
• ·      Do I spend time fostering my own spiritual life?
• ·      Do I engage students as subjects (not objects) of their own learning?

It should be noted that, “Being subject of one’s own learning means hard work, severe discipline, and intense effort. Being subject does not mean taking a subjective view of what is being learned, but learning new theories and skills to the utmost and then making sure that what has been learned fits one’s context” (Vella, 2000, p. 9). The personal histories and experiences of the educator definitely influence how things happen in an educational setting. Lauzon, building off the works of Neiman states, “there are many educators who are interested in the possibility of a spiritual education, but that academic expertise in spirituality is not sufficient to facilitate a spiritual education; we need to recognize the depths of our own spirituality” (Lauzon, 2003, p. 5). Therefore, reexamination and critical questioning is crucial in creating a learning environment that fosters spiritual learning.

The second main idea is creating the right environment to facilitate spiritual learning. This environment needs to be open, safe, respect, nonjudgmental, sharing, and supportive (English, 2003; Lauzon, 2003; Merriam et al., 2007; Tisdell, 2003). There are three aspects within this idea that help make it the right environment for spiritual learning. Those aspects are dialogue, respect, and accountability. This environment needs to be one that both supports and challenges the learners. Merriam et al. (2007) state, “An overly programmed, information dissemination-driven classroom leaves no space for significant, indeed, spiritual, learning to occur” (p. 205). In the right environment that dialogue would be balanced with having time to be quiet to internally reflect and express what they are learning. Creating the right environment also involves eliminating competitiveness in the educational setting, and finding the right ways to support the different types of learners (Lauzon, 2003). Dialogue is one way that this environment can be created. Dialogue allows for a sense of community and connectedness to occur. Students can bring their thoughts and experiences to share and reflect upon in order to encourage and promote their spiritual development (English, 2000; Lauzon, 2003). Dialogue allows educators to focus in on issues of importance, eliminate barriers, and promote connectedness. Another activity that helps support this idea is mentoring. It helps promote spiritual learning in an educational setting (Merriam et al., 2007).

             The third main idea is be sure to allow for creative and imaginative activities within the educational setting. These activities allow learners and educators to find connections in unlikely places, and with unconnected ideas and experiences (Merriam et al., 2007). Another scholar, (Dirkx, 2001, p. 70), writes about these imaginative activities:

Journal writing, literature, poetry, art, movies, story-telling, dance, and ritual are specific methods that can be used to help foster the life of the image in our relationships with adult learners. By approaching emotionally charged experiences imaginatively rather than merely conceptually, learners locate and construct, through enduring mythological motifs, themes, and images, deep meaning, value, and quality in the relationship between the text and their own life experiences.

These imaginative methods allow learners to have developmental insights and provide support for individuals during the meaning making process.

Spirituality in learning can best be created when the educators take the responsibility upon themselves to reflect and evaluate the influence their own spirituality will have on their learners, when educators create and foster an open supportive environment, and provide learners with creative and imaginative activities. This might require educators to step outside of their comfort zone, and to give up the traditional rigidity of learning and teaching. Spirituality in learning allows learners and educators alike to make better meaning of their world.

            These main ideas are definitely things that educators can implement into their practice. Spirituality in learning is something that does not need to directly be addressed in an educational setting. If one can create the right environment then it will be addressed regardless. For example, mentorship relationships that are put in place can be very beneficial for learners in their spiritual journey. “Mentorship transcends the competition and negativity that often sully the learning environment, by fostering and affirming informal learning relationships that promote growth and change” (English, 2000, p. 31). Journal writing can also be a powerful tool for learners in order to reflect on their thoughts, experiences, and meaning making. It forces the learning to be immediate, personal, and relevant (English, 2000). Another scholar highlights the importance of educators keeps a classroom journal as well in order to figure out what actually needs to be explored versus what should be explored (Lauzon, 2003). Allowing learners to be a part in the learning process is also another way to implement spirituality into an educational setting. Redesign or tailoring learning goals and objectives around the needs and wants of the learners is crucial. This also demonstrates a supportive and respectful relationship between the educator and the learner (Vella, 2000). Implementing dialogue into an educational setting means that the educator accepts the new role as a resource person, guide, or mentor. Vella (2000) suggest using her Seven Steps of Planning to get an effective dialogue going. This type of tasks includes cognitive, affective, and psychomotor elements. Another avenue to take is providing learners with creative and imaginative methods along their spiritual journey. For example, All Saints’ Episocal Church offered a quarterly coffeehouse gathering for parishioners and guests as an opportunity to present original poetry, music, art, multimedia presentations, and photography (Luckie, 2005). Opportunities like this allow learners to have discussions that could lead to insights, and provide support for one other.

Ultimately, creating an environment that is not rigid and competitive while providing learners with many opportunities to grow and reflect will foster spirituality in learning.
Lastly, reminding learners of the importance of staying grounded and of having places of sanctuary, places to return to rejuvenate, to feel the interconnectedness of all life, to re-experience and remember the mysteriousness of life and creation are all crucial to fostering this spiritual development in learning as well.

The Main Themes	Implications
Reexamination of influence of educator’s personal views of spirituality	Critical Questions & Journaling
Open and Support Environment	Dialogue, Mentoring, Respect, & Accountability
Creative and Imaginative Activities	Journaling, story-telling, art, music, poetry, literature, etc.

Bibliography

Dirkx, J. (2001). The power of feelings: Emotion, imagination and the construction of meaning in adult learning. In The new update on adult learning theory (pp. 63–72). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

English, L. M. (2000). Spiritual Dimensions of Informal Learning. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 2000(85), 29–38. doi:10.1002/ace.8503

English, L. M. (2003). Reclaiming Our Roots: Spirituality as an Integral Part of Adult Learning. Adult Learning, 2–3.

Graves, R. L. (1997). Grace, in pedagogy. In The spiritual side of writing (pp. 15–24). Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook.

Lauzon, A. (2003). The Challenges of Spirituality in the Everyday Practice of the Adult Educator: Blurring the boundaries of the Personal and the Professional. Adult Learning, 4–6.

Luckie, J. A. C. (2005). Life journeys: Awakenings and learning experiences. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 2005(108), 69–78. doi:10.1002/ace.199

Merriam, S. B., Caffarella, R. S., & Baumgartner, L. M. (2007). Learning in Adulthood: A Comprehensive Guide (third., pp. 198–207). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Moore, T. (2005). Educating for the soul. In Holistic learning and spirituality in education (pp. 9–16). Albany: State University of New York Press.

Rolph, J. (1991). Can there be quality in teacher education without spirituality? Assessment and Education in Higher Education, 16(1), 49–55.

Sinnott, J. D. (2001). Introduction: Special issue on spirituality and adult development, Part 1. Journal of Adult Development, 8(4), 199–200.

Tisdell, E. J. (2003). Exploring spirituality and culture in adult and higher education. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Vella, J. (2000). A Spirited Epistemology: Honoring the Adult Learner as Subject. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, (85), 7–16. doi:10.1002/ace.8501