Spiritual development through creative RE

The chapter explores definitions of spirituality and aims of spiritual development including the inner, the social and moral, the environmental and the transcendental dimensions of spirituality. The place of spiritual development in RE and collective worship is discussed including ‘Ows’ – spiritual development through encounters with the difficult aspects of life. Theoretical ideas and practical examples are presented concerning individual experiences – stilling and guided visualization and also collective experiences – visits and residential trips. Building on ideas from Chapter 1 of this book, the idea of integration of subject areas is explored. A child's spirituality can be developed through not only Religion and Worldviews Education but through a synthesis with other disciplines. For example, no child would look at a tree and think: biology – photosynthesis; art – leaf prints; RE – spiritual journey; geography – shelter and biodiversity; maths – height, weight; food and nutrition – apple tart; and so on. Rather, a primary teacher would encourage a child to investigate a tree by combining and drawing on all these elements. A child's spiritual development is more a way of thinking and being, and RE can support this important part of a child's development as illustrated in this chapter.