Spirituality in the classroom: interactivity and imagination

I like to offer a module in Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural Development (SMSCD) as part of primary initial teacher training. I feel it is an essential part of any child’s development, and it is an area that is otherwise only covered briefly in any other area of their degree. When I was lucky enough to be granted a place on one of the 2011 Westhill Trust Seminars at the Met Hotel in Leeds on 25th-27th November 2011 entitled ‘Spirituality and RE: Imagination, Spiritual Development and the RE Curriculum’, I wondered if it was time to challenge myself a little further. Having attended two previous seminars (in Glasgow 2009 and Norwich 2006) I realise the important opportunity these events give all the participants for professional nourishment and growth. They refresh and inspire you with renewed enthusiasm and new ideas and are a great opportunity to meet other RE professionals from a range of educational settings. But because the seminars also encourage you to develop yourself personally and academically, I thought I should play a more active part in this one and volunteered to do a presentation sharing some work I had been doing with my trainee teachers at the University of Cumbria (UOC). Stephen Pett was glad to accept my offer. The Westhill Challenge was on!