Spirituality in the Classroom Conversation Partners The Rev. Dr. Gary Brower, University Chaplain Prof. Paul Michalec, Morgridge College of Education Prof. Alison Schofield, Dept. of Religious Studies
What drew you here today? How do we respect diverse religious beliefs in the classroom? How do we teach highly-charged religious issues? How do we create productive conversations with students whose religious beliefs contradict our assumptions? At what level should the beliefs of faculty be brought into the conversation?
Overview Demographics: Who s in your classroom? Report from the field The integrative role of the faculty Discussion NOTE: This, we hope, is the beginning of an on-going conversation, not the entire conversation itself!
Higher Education Research Institute, UCLA, 2003
The project is based in part on the realization that the relative amount of attention that colleges and universities devote to the exterior and interior aspects of students development has gotten out of balance... we have increasingly come to neglect he student s inner development the sphere of values and beliefs, emotional maturity, spirituality, and self-understanding.
Higher Education Research Institute, UCLA, 2007
Students who... 2004 Freshmen 2007 Juniors... want to integrate spirituality into their lives... say attaining inner harmony is very important or essential... say becoming a more loving person is very important or essential... endorse the life goal of reducing pain and suffering in the world... endorse the life goal of helping to promote racial understanding... say they see each day, good or bad, as a gift... believe that non-religious people can lead lives that are just as moral as religious believersʼ 41.80% 50.40% 48.70% 62.60% 67.40% 82.80% 54.60% 66.60% 27.30% 37.50% 38.90% 45.50% 83.30% 90.50%
Students who... 2004 Freshmen 2007 Juniors... pray. 69.20% 67.30%... believe in life after death at least to some extent. 85.40% 86.60%... say seeking to follow religious teaching in everyday life is very important or essential. 39.40% 40.60%... frequently attend religious services. 43.70% 25.40%... rate themselves as above average in religiousness. 33.80% 30.50%
Despite [students ] increasing interest in spiritual matters, most students (59.7%) report that their professors never encouraged discussions of religious/spiritual matters, and only 19.6% report that their professors frequently encouraged exploration of questions of meaning and purpose (52.4% occasionally encouraged such exploration and 28.0% never encouraged it). These findings show that while today s students are showing significant spiritual growth, the full potential of colleges and universities to facilitate that growth is still to be realized. SPIRITUAL CHANGES IN STUDENTS DURING THE UNDERGRADUATE YEARS, Higher Education Research Institute, 12/18/07
Higher Education Research Institute, UCLA, 2007
So, what does this mean for us at DU? Where is the intersection between our (i.e., faculty) personal commitments and professional responsibilities and the students needs, desires and personal development with relation to their spiritual/ religious commitments, and their overall process of making and relating MEANING to their lives outside of, and beyond DU?
Questions for Discussion What impact, if any, does the demographic data make on how you might re-think your classroom dynamics? What kinds of religious or meaning questions have arisen in your classroom, and how have you dealt with them? How might you in the future? What are the pluses and minuses of moving away from religion in the classroom to spirituality in the classroom? What more do you need to know to make you a better teacher of religious or spiritual students?
Contacts The Rev. Dr. Gary Brower, University Chaplain gary.brower@du.edu Prof. Paul Michalec, Morgridge College of Education pmichale@du.edu Prof. Alison Schofield, Dept. of Religious Studies aschofie@du.edu
Selected Resources Higher Education Research Institute (Spirituality & Higher Ed) www.spirituality.ucla.edu Spirituality in the Academy: Reintegrating Our Lives and the Lives of Our Students (About Campus, Sept/Oct 2007: 10-17) Diversity & Democracy (AACU) www.diversityweb.org/diversitydemocracy/index.cfm Parker Palmer The Courage to Teach (Jossey-Bass, 1997) A Hidden Wholeness (Jossey-Bass, 2004) http://www.couragerenewal.org/ Robert J. Nash Religious Pluralism in the Academy: Opening the Dialogue. (New York: Peter Lang, 2001)