Attempting to capture the intangible: Spirituality in state education

Abstract

Spirituality has quietly featured in the secular school curriculum for decades but little attention was given to it until "spiritual well-being" was defined and briefly discussed in the 1999 Health and Physical Education in the New Zealand Curriculum document (Ministry of Education, 1999). The definition provided in this statement, however, is so broad ranging that it provides little clarity to teachers who are required to interpret what spirituality might mean for classroom practice. This article explores the implications of spirituality for teaching and learning in Aotearoa New Zealand. It examines several teachers' narratives of classroom experiences that reveal spiritual dimensions. In attempting to capture the intangible, these narratives provide some insights to the possibilities, both conscious and unconscious, of creating a climate that fosters spirituality.