Spirituality has captured experiential educators' attention primarily via researching lived experience and exploring implications for programming. This article seeks to complement empirical study and pedagogy with conceptual inquiry. Drawing on religious studies, a conceptual analysis of spirituality reveals “the sacred” to be fundamental to understanding spirituality. The article discusses the two notions of broad and specific spirituality, and considers modes of human consciousness and functioning that make spiritual experience possible The article, further, alerts experiential educators that spiritual education is, in part, religious education. Issues this raises are addressed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Anderson-HanleyC. (1997). Adventure programming and spirituality: Integration models, methods, and research. Journal of Experiential Education, 20(2), 102–108.
2.
BallouM. (1995). Women and spirit - two nonfits in psychology. Women & Therapy, 16 (2-3), 9–20.
3.
BattenM. (1999). Adolescent sibling bereavement as a catalyst for spiritual development: A model for understanding. Death Studies, 23(6) 529–546.
4.
BesantA. (1991). The meaning and method of the spiritual life. The spiritual life. Wheaton, IL: Quest.
5.
CheneryM. F. (1984, Sept./Oct.). Nurturing the human spirit in camping. Camping Magazine, 22–27.
6.
ClaytonP. (1999). Religious voices count: The new openness to spiritual questions in the sciences. Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society, 19(5), [no page numbers given].
7.
ColeR. (1999). Appreciation. Living Now, 24, 22.
8.
CusvellerB. (1998). Cut from the right wood: Spiritual and ethical pluralism in professional nursing practice. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 28(2), 266–273.
9.
DasL. S. (1999). Awakening to the sacred. Sydney, NSW: Bantam.
10.
DawsonP. J. (1997). A reply to Goddard's “spirituality as integrative energy.”Journal of Advanced Nursing, 25(2), 282–289.
11.
DeQuincyC. (1999). Radical nature and the paradox of consciousness. Revision, 21(4), 12 (1).
12.
DysonJ.CobbM.FormanD. (1997). The meaning of spirituality: a literature review. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 26(6), 1183–1188.
13.
EmmonsR. A.CheungC.TehraniK. (1998). Assessing spirituality through personal goals: Implications for research and subjective well-being. Social Indicators Research, 45 (1/3), 391–422.
14.
FoxR. (1999). Enhancing spiritual experience in adventure programs. In MilesJ. C.PriestS., (Eds.), Adventure programming (455–461). State College, PA: Venture.
15.
FredericksonL. M.AndersonD. H. (1999). A qualitative exploration of the wilderness experience as a source of spiritual inspiration. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 19(1), 21–39.
16.
GoddardN. C. (1995). Spirituality as integrative energy—A philosophical analysis as requisite precursor to holistic nursing practice. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 22(4), 808–815.
17.
GoldbergB. (1998). Connection: An exploration of spirituality in nursing care. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 27(4), 836–842.
18.
GriffinD. R. (1988). Introduction: Postmodern spirituality and society. In GriffinD. R., (Ed.), Spirituality and society: Postmodern visions (1–31). Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
19.
HaugI. E. (1999). Spirituality as dimensions of family therapists' clinical training. Sage Family Studies, 21(2), 471–483.
20.
HayD. (1998). Why should we care about children's spirituality?Pastoral Care in Education, 16(1), [no page numbers given].
21.
HuxleyA. (1970). The perennial philosophy. New York: Harper Colophon.
22.
JonesL. G. (1997). A thirst for God or consumer spirituality? Cultivating disciplined practices of being engaged by God. Modern Theology, 13(1), 3–28.
23.
KnowlesG. (1992). Geopiety, the concept of sacred place: Reflections on an outdoor education experience. Journal of Experiential Education, 15(1), 6–12.
24.
LeendersG.HendersonB. (1991). Dialogue of new directions: The spiritual heart in adventure learning. Journal of Experiential Education, 14(2), 32–38.
25.
MahoneyM. J.GraciG. M. (1999). The meanings and correlates of spirituality: Suggestions from an exploratory survey of experts. Death Studies, 23(6), 521–528.
26.
MarroneR. (1999). Dying, mourning, and spirituality: A psychological perspective. Death Studies, 23(6), 495–519.
27.
MartinP. (2000). Personal communication, 13 December.
28.
MartsolfD. S.MickleyJ. R. (1998). The concept of spirituality in nursing theories: Differing world-views and extent of focus. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 27(2), 294–303.
29.
McGowanM. L. (1997). Thinking outside the box: The role of adventure in spiritual and ethical development. Journal of Experiential Education, 20(1), 14–21.
30.
McGrathP. (1997). Putting spirituality on the agenda: Hospice research findings on the “ignored” dimension. The Hospice Journal, 12(4), 1–14.
31.
McSherryW. (1998). The debates emerging from the literature surrounding the concept of spirituality as applied to nursing. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 27(4), 683–691.
32.
NasrS. H. (1993). The need for a sacred science. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
33.
OldmeadowK. (1999). The translucence of the eternal. Sacred Web, 2, 11–31.
34.
OldmeadowK. (1999). Personal communication, 22 June.
35.
PadenW. E. (1992). Interpreting the sacred. Boston: Beacon Press.
36.
RamsdenS. A. (1995). God in nature: Conversations with women theologians about spirituality and ecology. Master's thesis, California State University, Dominguez Hills.
37.
ReedP. G. (1992). An emerging paradigm for the investigation of spirituality in nursing. Research in Nursing and Health, 15(5), 349–357.
38.
SherrardP. (1992). Human image: World image: The death and resurrection of a sacred cosmology. Ipswich, UK: Golgonooza Press.
39.
SherrardP. (1990). The sacred in life and art. Ipswich, UK: Golgonooza Press.
40.
SkampK. (1991). Spirituality and environmental education. Australian Journal of Environmental Education, 7, 79–86.
41.
SlifeB. D.HopeC.NebekerR. S. (1999). Examining the relationship between religious spirituality and psychological science. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 39(2), 51–85.
42.
SokanovicM.MullerD. (1999). Professional and educational perspectives on spirituality in young children. Pastoral Care in Education, 17(1), [no page numbers given].
43.
SpohnW. C. (1997). Spirituality and ethics: Exploring the connections. Theological Studies, 58(1), 109(15).
44.
StrembaB. (1997, Fall). Silent travel: Engaging the spirit through adventure education. Zip Lines, 33, 40–45.
45.
StringerL. A.McAvoyL. H. (1992). The need for something different: Spirituality and wilderness adventure. Journal of Experiential Education, 15(1), 13–20.
46.
StringerL. A. (1990). Spirituality and experiential education: Research results and program implications. Integrating experiential education, Proceedings of the 1990 Association for Experiential Education 18th National Conference, St. Paul, MN, October 5–8, 1990, 113–117.
47.
TeskeJ. A. (1999). The haunting of the human spirit. Zygon, 34(2), 307–322.
48.
ThoresenC. E. (1999). Spirituality and health: Is there a relationship?Journal of Health Psychology, 4(3), [no page numbers given].
49.
WestgateC. E. (1996). Spiritual wellness and depression. Journal of Counseling and Development, 75(1), 26–35.
50.
WoodsT. E.IronsonG. H. (1999). Religion and spirituality in the face of illness: How cancer, cardiac and HIV patients describe their spirituality/religiosity. Journal of Health Psychology, 4(3), 393–412.
