Many Christian faith-based preschools in the Oyo State of Nigeria are realising that
spiritual development is an essential part of young children’s natural growth and should
be given due attention. Accordingly, activities at preschools should be geared to support
young children’s spiritual development. In conjunction with the administrators, the preschool
teachers at Christian faith-based schools are charged with the responsibility of
attending to the spiritual development of young children in their care. This research
study examined factors affecting the spiritual development of young children in the Oyo
State of Nigeria by employing a qualitative method with phenomenological research
design. The research highlighted realities via developmental theories regarding the
spiritual development of young children; government’s stand on the spiritual
development of young children; how spiritual development of young children is
facilitated in an early childhood setting; the benefits of spiritual development during early
childhood; and the implications of spiritual development for practice in the Oyo State of
Nigeria. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews, observation of
practices and document analyses of the records of four preschools. All were
purposefully selected, including the twenty teachers and four administrators. The results
of the research revealed that all the pre-school teachers who showed interest in
fostering spirituality in young children should gain experience, understanding and
training in best practices. It was also found that although the Nigerian government has
policies and curricula for early childhood education (ECE), these do not include
spirituality or faith-based teaching. Further, to exacerbate the situation, the government
does not monitor and evaluate the implementation of policies and ECE curricula. This
study discovered that preschool teachers have a general understanding of how to
enhance the spiritual development of young children by drawing on their own (i.e. the
preschool teachers’) personal spiritual development processes, which should be
complemented by formal training. The benefits of spiritual development in young
children include the inculcation of sound moral values, feelings of joy, academic
excellence, unity and development in the community, the development of committed
future leaders and the promotion of national peace. The research study recommends
that the government of Nigeria intervene in early childhood education by providing financial support and formal training for preschool teachers in the area of spiritual
development of young children and by motivating administrators and preschool teachers
to be more cooperative and creative in including spiritual development in their school’s
curriculum. / Early Childhood Education
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:unisa/oai:uir.unisa.ac.za:10500/27671 |
| Date | 04 1900 |
| Creators | Foluke Omobonike Odesola |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | application/pdf |
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