Investigation into New Zealand early childhood teachers' perspectives on spirituality and wairua in teaching

The New Zealand early childhood Te Whāriki Curriculum's vision statement draws attention to the responsibility teachers have to create environments in which children can develop holistically; including spiritually. This paper outlines the findings from a small qualitative research project that...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Greenfield, Cheryl Faye (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Taylor & Francis [2018]
In: International journal of children's spirituality
Year: 2018, Volume: 23, Issue: 3, Pages: 275-290
IxTheo Classification:AG Religious life; material religion
BT Religions of Oceania
CB Christian life; spirituality
KBS Australia; Oceania
NBE Anthropology
ZF Education
Further subjects:B Spirituality
B Early childhood education
B wairua
Online Access: Volltext (Verlag)
Description
Summary:The New Zealand early childhood Te Whāriki Curriculum's vision statement draws attention to the responsibility teachers have to create environments in which children can develop holistically; including spiritually. This paper outlines the findings from a small qualitative research project that explored teachers' perspectives on their understanding of spirituality and ‘wairua' and the role they have in fostering these aspects in children's development. Participants were in agreement that the concept of wairua and spiritualty are interwoven with both being about the spirit, soul, inner being, heart, the sum of who you are. Participants were in agreement that fostering this aspect of a child's development was part of a teacher's responsibility. All respondents identified implications for their practice which included having environments that were inviting, stress free, engaging and filled with natural resources. The study highlighted that their initial teacher education programmes failed to cover these aspects in spirituality in any depth.
ISSN:1469-8455
Contains:Enthalten in: International journal of children's spirituality
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1080/1364436X.2018.1460333