Weaving the threads of meaning: a characteristic of children's spirituality and its implications for religious education

Although well documented from a British perspective, empirical research exploring the spiritual lives of primary school children in the Australian context is a field in which scholarship is beginning to emerge. This article reports on one particular finding which emerged from an Australian study seeking to identify some characteristics of children's spirituality in Catholic primary schools. The characteristic has been termed weaving the threads of meaning. It describes the way in which the children who participated in this study appeared to use their sense of wonder as a means of expressing their spirituality by piecing together a worldview based around their attempts at meaning making. This article argues that the existence of this characteristic presents a challenge for religious education, in particular for those programmes which operate within faith schools where the Christian narrative forms a source of the authoritative wisdom to be handed on to its students.     

BODYFAITH AND THE MIND'S HEART: EDUCATIONAL HEALING FOR COMMUNITY

In this paper, I will show that: 1) human consciousness has evolved over time and history, which means that one can no longer “know” and experience the world as the pre‐modern, archaic communities once did; 2) however, there are elements in our contemporary practices of spirituality that are seen particularly through the window of popular religiosity, which can access, though not fully, some of the “mythical,” the archaic, and the primordial wisdom that has been lost or buried through the modernization process; for the Korean/ Korean‐Americans, these elements are most deeply found in musok, namely, Korean Shamanism, which is an indigenous Korean popular magico‐religious practice; and, 3) through the lens of imagination, some elements of Korean shamanic spirituality will be identified to further enrich, nurture, and refresh the dry and hardened religious images of our times.

     

WHO SHOULD GO TO COLLEGE

Empirical research exploring the spiritual lives of young children in Australia is a field in which scholarship is beginning to emerge. This article reports on one particular finding that emerged from an Australian study seeking to identify some characteristics of children's spirituality in Catholic primary schools. The characteristic has been termed spiritual questing, and pertains to the way in which these children were spiritual seekers, finding authentic ways of connecting with self, others, the world, and with God. In the light of the emergence of this characteristic, this article presents some implications for religious education in faith contexts for nurturing children's spirituality.     

Can wisdom and psychosocial growth be learned in university courses?

ABSTRACT

This study explored whether three-dimensional wisdom and psychosocial growth, defined as increases in psychological well-being (PWB), spirituality, and death acceptance, can be learned in university courses. Specifically, the study examined whether courses that tried to engage the whole person rather than only the intellect and/or courses that included a service learning component (growth classes) fostered greater wisdom and psychosocial growth than regular sociology or religion courses (control classes). Results of repeated measure MANOVAs showed that, on average, the 165 students who were enrolled in 12 growth classes significantly increased in wisdom, PWB, spirituality, and death acceptance between the beginning and the end of the semester, whereas the 153 students who attended eight control classes significantly decreased in wisdom and did not change significantly in PWB, spirituality, and death acceptance. It appears that it is indeed possible to learn wisdom and psychosocial growth in university courses.     

旅游的美学意义:走出现代性的困境

科技工业的迅猛发展在带给人们丰富物质享受的同时,也给其精神世界铐上了沉重的枷锁。在这种生存境遇下,现代人迫切需要通过一种方式完成对自身灵魂的救赎,而旅游则恰逢其时地出现并以其独特方式填补了这个沟壑。在现代性的生存困境下,旅游活动强调旅游主体对于时空独立性和人的完整性的追求,从而获得独特的审美意义。     

民事诉讼中私录视听资料的证据能力研究

视听资料在我国是一种独立的证据种类，它对于民事案件的审判具有其他证据无法替代的优越性，我国关于视听资料证据力的认定经历了一个比较长期的发展过程，但由于其本身又具有易于伪造和篡改的缺陷，使得私自录制的视听资料的证据能力难以判断，视听资料在司法实践中的采信规则亦难以把握。本文拟对此方面的问题作一些初步的探讨，为我国今后的证据立法作一些理论上的准备。     

Spirituality in children and young people: a suitable topic for educational and child psychologists?

In this article the concept of spirituality, especially with relation to school age children and young people, is discussed. Some of the possibilities and constraints present in this area are noted, especially the unease with which many researchers and practitioners view such a difficult to define topic and also its traditional association with religious organisations.

However, in more recent literature, the spiritual dimension has been seen as a universal human characteristic (within which spirituality in religion is viewed as a sub‐set), which is characterised by a deeper state of meaningfulness. In the case of children and young people, modern writers have argued that the encouragement of spiritual growth is important because it is related to a non‐material, ethical and self‐awareness aspect of their development and is a necessary counterbalance to the attainment‐focused demands of the National Curriculum.

As an aid to future study in this area, a possible measurement of spirituality in school‐aged children (The SQ Pupil Inventory) is reproduced at the end of this article. This inventory represents the work in progress of the late Beverley Ruddock who was carrying out her doctoral research in this topic until her sudden death in late 2008.     

论大众文化的媚俗倾向

媚俗已成为当代消费社会的一种意识形态.大众文化将媚俗倾向演绎得丝毫不爽.文化媚俗倾向的发生有其历史的合理性,它是在世俗化语境中由历史的、现实的、文化的多个原因所造成的一个结果.媚俗倾向被精英主义者视为大众文化的"原罪".在价值论范畴中它是作为一个悖论而存在的,其负面性同其积极性一样显著.大众文化的生产者与消费者应对媚俗倾向共担责任.大众社会疏于理性思考而耽于世俗欲望的群体心理好尚为大众文化的媚俗倾向提供了心理学依据,同时也证明着媚俗倾向是一种有赖人文精神注入而加以修正的亚文化现象.     

On spirituality and education

It is a mistake to ignore the scientific study of spirituality. Research examining the structure and function of concepts such as “spirit” and “spirituality” is likely to reveal new insights into the relationship between a functional spirituality and other thinking skills, including creativity. The study of spirituality should not stand alone as a discrete, somewhat eccentric, focus of enquiry. There should, instead, be an effort at synthesis with mainstream psychological science and basic and applied research in the field of education. There should be some effort made to examine the functional significance of a functional spirituality. Educational researchers should feel free to consider spirituality as a focus for dialogue and exchange with colleagues and students alike. The students in my class, and some of my colleagues, may have at first recoiled slightly when I began asking them for their thoughts on spirituality, but the dialogue has been truly stimulating, interesting, and enlightening.     

A Study on the Significance of Spiritual Learning and Teaching Through Augustine's Confessions

This study will examine the significance of spirituality and how to cultivate it in this modern era, in which introspection on the meaning of life is lacking due to issues including consumerism, violence, terror, hedonism, and the influences of an instrumental education environment, through Augustine's Confessions. This study suggests the significance of spiritual education as the sharing of stories of spiritual life to sublimate the joy of spiritual learning achieved after overcoming vulnerability and limitations as a human to the joy of sharing and teaching through Confessions, by Augustine.     

汉语言文学《基础写作》课程教学模式创新探索

良好的写作能力是汉语言文学专业学生必须具备的核心能力,而各高校培养方案中《基础写作》课程的开设正是要达到这样的目的.但事实是该课程普遍面临尴尬境遇：学生积极性不高,教师付出多而收效低、效果差,课程开设的必要性甚至也一度受到质疑.写作课怎样才能走出困境,重新赢得学生,实现自身价值？关键要顺应时代发展,不断进行教学方式的改革和创新.作为课程实施的主体,写作课教师应充分落实写作的实践性特征,培养大学生的创造性思维能力,关注大学生的精神成长历程,创建合理的评价机制,并设法构建发表平台,让学生真正感到有收益,从而接受并喜欢这门课程.     

Martin Buber,Hasidism, and Jewish spirituality: the implications for education and for pastoral care

Abstract

There is a legal requirement that schools engage with the spiritual aspects of education, which encompasses pastoral care. This reflects the ethical sensibility that is present in individuals and underlies interactions with Others; and which should be part of the ethos of all educational institutions and especially schools. This is because spirituality is important to leading a moral life and to understanding the Other. The article considers specifically the potential of Jewish spirituality, and uses Martin Buber’s thought, to gain a better understanding of its contribution to education and to pastoral care. In the first part, we comment on the ‘basic words’, I-Thou and I-It, which are connected with Hasidism, the Jewish spiritual movement which had a great influence on Martin Buber. Hasidism understands that it is our duty to find and connect with the ‘divine sparks’, as genuine relations merge with the Divine, and when humans relate genuinely to one another, they relate to God. This is crucial for understanding the superiority of I-Thou relations over I-It relations. In the second and third parts of the article, we consider the implications of this understanding of Jewish spirituality for education and for pastoral care. This is done through highlighting the importance of I-Thou relations if the spiritual aspects of education and of pastoral care are to be encouraged and fulfilled.     

我国推广现代教育技术存在的问题及对策

现代教育技术给教育的变革带来了深刻的影响，但是它的推广应用受到传统观念的制约和物质条件的限制。本文就我国推广现代教育技术存在问题及应采取的思路和对策做一个初步的探讨。     

超个人心理学的发展观述评

超个人心理学自称是心理学界的第四势力,它的核心是重视精神性.通过论述超个人心理学的发展观,探讨了其发展观的意义与局限,并提出超个人心理学目前并不是中国社会最急需的东西,但超个人心理学所重视的精神维度却是个体生活中必不可少的一个环节,中国人精神性的本土化研究是亟待加强的研究课题.     

文化权力变迁中的宋词接受

大众文化的兴起从根本上动摇了传统文化的权力结构．从“诗教”传统到大众文化,文学接受不再是少数人把持的特权．而成为由大众共同享有的权利。就宋词接受而言．“诗教”传统消除了词在原初状态所具有的“异质”特征．从而将之纳入到主流文化的序列之中：大众文化则通过“去道德化”和“碎片化”的方式消解了附着于传统宋词接受的话语霸权。     

Secular Spiritual Development in Education from International and Global Perspectives

A number of significant international reports and journal articles have begun to refer to the importance of non-sectarian, spiritual values in educational planning (Carr, 1999; Rogers & Dantley, 2001). The writer firstly considers how the notion of secular spirituality might be understood and outlines some possible reasons for its upsurgeance. The potential for secular spiritual development from both global and international perspectives is explored with a particular focus upon cultural implications. The conclusion is drawn that communities need to be cautious about accepting at face value globalised notions of spirituality in educational development and that educators need to adopt an international perspective, characterised by ‘bottom-up’ community based initiatives.     

美丽蝴蝶“洛丽塔”的困顿与选择

美丽的蝴蝶《洛丽塔》,是一部叙述亨伯特与12岁少女洛丽塔发生奇特恋情的美国长篇小说,洛丽塔是当代世界文学史上的经典人物形象之一,评论界往往将其泛化为典型地追求物质享受的美国少女典型。从洛丽塔的生存困境中,从美国现代社会观念和社会挽救机制方面来分析洛丽塔所处的生存困境对其个性及悲剧的影响,从对洛丽塔人物形象的阐释中,应该深刻认识到社会挽救机制对自我选择的影响是值得深入探讨的重大社会问题。     

A Structural Equation Modelling on the Factors Affecting Intolerance of Uncertainty and Worry Among a Select Group of Filipino Elderly

Across the literature, the interest in the phenomenon of intolerance of uncertainty (IU) and worry has increased exponentially. However, limited empirical studies exist about the factors that affect IU and worry among older people. The purpose of the study was to examine the impact of spirituality, self-efficacy, and knowledge about aging on IU and worry. A total of 219 Filipino elderly were recruited from institutionalized and hospital care settings. A multiaspect questionnaire was utilized to measure spirituality, self-efficacy, knowledge, intolerance uncertainty, and worry. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was used to explore the dimensions of IU and worry. Moreover, structural equation modelling was used to test the hypothesized model. Results of EFA identified four factor dimensions of uncertainty, namely: perfection-driven uncertainty, apprehension-driven uncertainty, avoidance-driven uncertainty, negativism-driven uncertainty. Further, three factor dimensions of worry were also distinguished: constant worriers, obsessive-compulsive worriers, and happy-go-lucky worriers. Moreover, results of structural equation modeling (SEM) showed interaction among the variables presented. Additionally, spirituality showed a positive effect on self-efficacy. However, self-efficacy does not have an effect on IU and worry. Nevertheless, an emerging path between knowledge and IU supported the claim of Nuevo, Wetherell, Montorio, Ruiz, and Cabrera (2009). The study was able to determine the positive effect of spirituality to self-efficacy and its existing correlation with knowledge about aging in relation to elderly's IU and worry. The emerging model can serve as a reference for nurses to address the sociopsychological needs of the geriatric clients employing spirituality and psychiatric nursing.     

庄子艺术之后现代性研究

后现代艺术起源于20世纪的欧洲,是一种作为对当时建构性现代主义思想的反叛和纠正的思想武器。《庄子》一书既是蕴含美学思想的哲学著作,又是包含艺术理念的艺术作品。在对它的审视中发现其对先秦时代社会的建构性思想的反叛也同样具有强烈的后现代特征。以后现代视角来重新观照《庄子》,可以窥视到一种根植于传统文化中的独特的"中国式后现代主义"艺术思想,从而将其由历史性存在引向当代性存在。     

浅析古典诗词融入当代流行歌曲的原因

在当代流行歌曲中加入古典文学元素已成为另一种"流行"趋势。从歌众接受的角度来说,首先是因为当前流行歌词的雷同、低俗等不健康、不积极的状况不能满足受众文化程度和艺术品味不断提高的需求,而古典诗词的介入提升了流行歌曲的品味,满足了人们的心灵需求;其次,距离产生美,古典文学自"五四"开始被人们疏远,现在反而愈加显示出悠远的魅力。