What is the most useful definition of spirituality for use in schools?
It is, of course, difficult to define spirituality – especially in a way that would satisfy everyone! It has been said that defining spirituality is a bit like asking some children to analyse the wind by trapping some in a jar – as soon as you’ve got some, you’ve lost the point. One particular difficulty is the fact that religious groups will naturally prefer their own definition of spirituality and will sometimes argue that alternatives are, at best, unhelpful. However, for educational purposes, try thinking of spirituality in two ways: first, as part of a person’s INNER life, and second, as part the ways in which a person OUTWARDLY expresses their life. In the classroom you could then think of times where pupils are developing their ‘inner spirituality’ through activities such as reflecting, questioning, envisioning and so on. Then you could think of times where pupils are ‘outwardly expressing’ their spirituality through activities such as creating, celebrating, engaging in helping
