Developmental psychology suggests that children are incapable of experiencing, perceiving or thinking as mature adults. But the first systematic study of religious experience, conducted in Great Britain, revealed evidence of profound levels of spiritual awareness in childhood which continued to be of significance in later adult understanding. The purpose of this study was to answer the following questions: (1) What is the nature of this 'unlearned' or 'direct' knowledge in childhood? (2) How is it related to 'learned' forms of knowledge, both in the short and the long-term? (3) How do individuals integrate/synthesize these two forms (and how do they fail)? (4) How does education assist or made difficult this integration? (5) How is this 'direct' knowledge related to other talents? Qualitative research methods were used. In-depth phenomenological interviewing was chosen as the methodology best suited to this subject. Eight adults participated in the study. A broad range of spiritual experiences and insights in childhood were described. These were unique, yet had many similar elements. The similarities were found to exist in the kinds of 'a priori' knowledge they described, and in the difficulties this knowledge created for them in environments which denied its existence. The educational process, (public school), was seen as destructive of their need to comprehend and integrate their insights. Involvement in imaginative activities was described as the primary means in which an integration of 'learned' and 'unlearned' knowledge could take place. All of the participants described this integration as a life-long process, and they described their early spiritual awareness as having on-going relevance to that process. These findings suggest that the developmental model is inadequate to explain the nature of personal 'maturity'. A 'visional', as opposed to a 'juridical', model is proposed. The need for a rapprochement between 'objective' and 'participant' ways of knowing is discussed as one of the most important issues for education that this study reveals.

The purpose of this research was two-fold: to describe ways that therapists are consciously incorporating a spiritual dimension into their practice, and to identify the connection between the developmental level of the therapists and techniques, interventions, rituals, and inner attitudes (TIRIA) used in their incorporation of the spiritual into psychotherapy. The methodology had three phases. In Phase One, 215 questionnaires were mailed, of which 140 were returned. The responses indicated a variety of educational experience, professional trainings, religious backgrounds, spiritual experiences, and clientele. Thirty-five respondents were selected for a Phase Two phone call, which had two purposes: to select the sample for Phase Three interviewing, and to gather a description of TIRIA by asking for vignettes. Sixteen calls were half-hour interviews, while appointments were made with 12 others for a Phase Three two-hour interview. The interviews were divided into two parts, one to administer the Fowler Faith Development Interview (Fowler, 1982), and one to ask for vignettes. After administering the interviews, the analyses revealed that ten face-to-face interviewees scored at Stage Five or above. Fowler was sent two interviews, but he could not corroborate these scores, because of inadequate probing. Sixty-five techniques were classified as humanistic, bodywork, transpersonal, psychic, or unique. Eight interventions and twenty-one rituals emerged. Inner attitudes proved to be the key to the transpersonal psychotherapist. Each of them had a spiritual awakening, which shifted how they perceive themselves and their clients. All practice spiritual disciplines, meditation in particular. Six interviewees were profiled to show their personal and professional evolution. The conclusions are that spirituality can be incorporated into psychotherapy through a variety of TIRIA. Therapists can learn new transpersonal TIRIA and can learn to adapt traditional techniques to include the spiritual component. Such therapists are enthusiastic about their practice, indicating an absence of evidence of burnout. More significantly, it appears that a prerequisite for any incorporation of spirituality is the choice of a spiritual path, the practice of meditation and/or work with a spiritual director. Eventually the therapist's inner spiritual Self becomes more important than any TIRIA.

No description available.

The Canadian province of Ontario has a long and complicated history with religion in its K-12 education system, culminating in a status-quo where public funding is provided to schools offering either a mandatory, confessionally Roman Catholic form of religious education or a non-mandatory, secular form of “education about religion”. In an effort to better understand the present state of religion-related instruction in Ontario public education, this study examines the representation of religion across relevant portions of the Ontario secondary school curriculum that are shared by both Roman Catholic and secular public schools. Content analysis showed that insofar as mandatory teaching elements are concerned, the curriculum engages with religion across a range of different subject matter contexts but also entirely within courses that Ontario high school students are not required to take. Of particular note is the representation of religion as having apparently no bearing on the principle thrust of Canadian history since 1945. Spirituality, as well as other matters which might reasonably be considered religion-adjacent, are represented as being integral components of Indigenous Canadian cultures, with the distinctive term “world view” frequently employed as an analogue for such topics in this context.

Bibliography: leaves 92-102. / The premise throughout this thesis is that religious education at state schools has hopelessly failed. Teachers are generally apathetic and pupils disinterested and bored by a repetitive content which, for the most part, is a duplication of what happens in Sunday school. Christian National education, the dominant ethos and philosophy underlying educational methodology, denies the plurality of the South African society and the plurality within Christianity itself. Calvinism is blithely promoted as normative Christianity while the existence of religions such as African Traditional Religion is denied. The challenge of pluralism in religion education is underlined, in this work, by a feminist analysis which derives from a personal experience. Any black woman of faith experiences a triple oppression it is held. To this end, the effects of racism, sexism and patriarchy is addressed with the view to contribute towards the transformation of the state of both education and religion in the South African context. The argument throughout is that a religion education in schools, which is going to reflect the diversity of our society, has to include in its definition of pluralism, the category of gender. An overview of the state of religion in education serves as an introduction while plurality and the role of the state is defined in chapter one. The point that gender, as a category of plurality, must be consciously included in its definition, if it aims to restore the full humanity of those who have been dispossessed, is promoted. Chapter two focuses on the position of women within religion which has hitherto been a negative one and chapter three shortly attempts to clarify the inherent definitional problem of Religion Education and argues for a recognition and position of African Traditional Religion in the school syllabus. Chapter four focuses on the very important question of language since it is language that constructs our heritage. The symbolic appeals language evokes is further considered and critiqued. The point that masculine language and imagery has to be revised in any pursuit of a just and acceptable religion education is further argued and the implications thereof, set out. Religious texts are appropriated from a feminist perspective in chapter five and traditional theology challenged. Examples as to how to read into the text and to read behind the text, in order to rediscover women's lost history, are given. Texts which are common to the Abrahamic religions are chosen for its accessibility and immediate relevance.

Various methods, programs, and efforts to educate students in effective and efficient ways have been employed and studied for many years in the United States. Many teachers, administrators, and communities seek to gain a better understanding of and implement programs that will help achieve the academic goals of their respective organizations. Previous research indicates a correlation between some types of classes, programs, and characteristics of students and their academic achievement. Data indicating academic information for three hundred and fifty suburban secondary school students were collected and analyzed to support or refute previous research in this area of study. Grade point averages of these students were analyzed based on the characteristics of gender, age, core and non-core course selection, and enrollment in released-time religious education (RTRE) courses. Results indicated that selected characteristics of students were positively correlated with increased academic achievement. Such characteristics included: involvement in RTRE, the number of non-core courses taken, and the number of core courses taken. Students who were enrolled in fewer courses generally exhibited higher grade point averages. Results also indicated that the age and gender of students had little if any effect on their academic performance. (52 pages)

No description available.

Thesis advisor: Thomas H. Groome / The central proposal of this dissertation is that recovering the sacramentalprinciple and sacramentality—as a deep structure to all of life—is essential to Christian life, and thus to Catholic education for faith. The sacramental worldview takes seriously the material and historical reality of finite creaturely existence as the place of encounter with Holy Mystery. The seeds of an approach to cultivating this worldview lie in the ancient church practice of mystagogy. Chapter One surveys the epistemological and anthropological facets of the modern and postmodern contexts which posit a desacramentalized cosmos. Many find themselves confined to the limit and flatness of an instrumental, rationalistic, and data driven day to day existence within a commodity culture. This engenders a resistance to the depth of a sacramental cosmos undergirded by the love of the Creator. Furthermore, sacramental ritual and communal worship are no longer a primary place of formation or celebration for fewer and fewer people. Chapter Two traces the historical contours of the sacramental principle as a deep structure to Catholic Christian faith in particular, and indeed, to all of reality. This is placed in conversation with Charles Taylor’s philosophical diagnosis of the secular age and the sacramental theology of Louis-Marie Chauvet. It is into a “world already spoken” by the Logos that the symbolic order acts as a set of building blocks to construct our reality and is therefore the way in which we experience God’s self-communication in God’s transcendence. Chapter Three explores the anthropology and epistemological category of experience in the work of Karl Rahner. Rahner helps us to understand that experience is a necessary epistemological category—constitutive of human knowing. Second, experience is existentiell, meaning that all experience is active and lived, grounded in freedom. Chapter Four maintains that mystagogy was an essential interpretive frame of reference for discerning Christian mystery in the ancient church. The exploration of origins leads to a four-movement model—recollection, recognition, reorientation, and relation—that emerges as a constitutive pattern in early mystagogy. Chapter Five is constructive employing the work of John Dewey, Maxine Greene, Paulo Freire, bell hooks, and Thomas Groome who emphasize the importance the epistemological category of experience in education. Moreover, the four-movement pattern mentioned above is discernible in the spectacular resurrection narrative of the Road to Emmaus and a model for education in faith, prefigured by Jesus’ earthly pedagogy. Consequently, I propose a more extended, broader sense of a mystagogical approach for contemporary praxis to enable the reclamation of an essential sacramental imagination for our time. The telos of these four movements of mystagogy is to enable an anagnorisis—a re-cognition and response to the presence of Holy Mystery within everyday experience. Finally, Chapter Six engages the implications of the foregoing. Mystagogy is an indexical praxis which invites us to be life-long apprentices to becoming alert to God’s hidden presence in our lived experience. It is the rehearsal of a disposition that understands reality as saturated by grace, and learning to accept it as both gift and obligation. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2021. / Submitted to: Boston College. School of Theology and Ministry. / Discipline: Sacred Theology.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University / This study defends the hypothesis that Franciscan legends and myth themes, based on historical incidents, constitute significant Christian heritage, expressed at deep pre-conscious levels, and are therefore appropriate and valuable educational materials, relevant to the development of the spiritual personality, and useful in Church School curricula. Legend and myth are defined, classified, and evaluated as to their meaning in the educative process. The unconscious use of myth as symbol in the emotional development of the person is explored with special reference to Franciscan material, which contains such typical myth themes as the paradisiacal state, the hero figure, nature stories, and creation legend [TRUNCATED]

The purpose of this study was to bring more clarification to the concepts of spirituality and happiness, their meaning, attainability, and position in the field of Multicultural Education. In general, people think they will find joy and happiness if they graduate from a post-secondary educational institution with an undergraduate or graduate degree, find a good work environment, position, salary, living standards, status, etc. Yet, in the real world there may be a different way to find genuine happiness and joy which is fair, simple, easy and equal for all human beings even those who cannot afford higher levels of education. In order to present the data, the study discussed the life, philosophy and teachings of Imam Sheikh Iskender Ali Mihr, president of Mihr Foundation in Turkey, International Mihr Foundation in the United States and University of Allah in Virginia, and utterly an Ottoman. The review of literature was also included to assist the readers to grasp the different perspectives of the subject matter. Education should be inclusive and equal for all and so should joy and happiness! In today's world where diversity is the key factor for almost every community, it is important for educators (teachers/instructors/administrators) to know what shapes students' lives. This study encompassed the idea that only educating our students' minds and bodies is not enough, and without spirituality the education is not complete. As Pamela Leigh (1997) stated, "...acknowledging that people come to work with more than their bodies and minds, they bring individual talents and unique spirits" (p. 26). Students also come with their unique spirits and we should take them as a whole and value them with all the qualities they possess. Nurturing their spirit should be part of our school system. No matter if they believe in God or not, educators should be ready to address the aspect of spirituality and religion. The research was to bring a greater understanding to questions such as how we can better accommodate students' different spiritual beliefs, what the pros and cons are of bringing them together or keeping them separate. In order to answer these questions in a fashionable manner, we need to know "how much the spiritual beliefs of these students shape their cultures and their lives." In a greater context, the questions like; what we really know about 'true' Islam as one of the fastest growing beliefs in the U.S., is it any different than other beliefs or is it the same, is there a way to eradicate the Islam-phobia that occurred after the 9/11 attack, what was the Ottoman Islamic model, were also answered. As educators, how do we cope with students who hear voices and start shooting around in a schoolyard, or students who binge drink or get suicidal? Even more importantly, how do we help the remaining population live a healthy and happy life without thinking of ending their own or others' lives, as these examples turn out to be a daily life for us all! The remainder of this study looked at the "neutrality" of the school systems in the United States. Should educators stay neutral or not will be each individual's decision to make.