Developmentally appropriate practice (DAP) is generally considered a framework for high-quality early education. This framework broadly includes the role of the teacher, the environment, curriculum, and school culture. This study used the DAP framework to explore early childhood teachers' perceptions of children's spirituality and how to nurture it across a range of classroom and school contexts.
Researchers in the U.S. developed a 26-item survey incorporating both open-ended and multiple-choice questions to explore early childhood educators' perceptions and practices about nurturing spirituality in secular early childhood contexts. The questions addressed educators' own spirituality, the curriculum, the environment, and the school-wide culture. Thirty-three teachers completed the survey. While most of the teachers worked with preschool-age children (age 3-5), some worked with children outside of this age range, including toddlers, kindergarteners, and primary-age students.
Survey responses indicated that the educators perceive themselves as intentionally supporting children's spirituality in their secular classrooms. They also reported using a wide variety of activities and/or strategies to do so. Only four educators frequently responded with “not applicable” to the survey questions. Examples of activities or strategies used by the educators to nourish children's spirituality include creative expression activities, free play, engagement with nature, contemplative practices (e.g. mindfulness), relationship building and moral/character development. Examples of educators' own expressions of spirituality include treating colleagues and children well, intentionally providing a good example for children, use of contemplative practices and connecting with nature. Findings revealed a substantial overlap between developmentally appropriate practice and the activities educators reported as nurturing children's spirituality. The concept of nature engagement as a support for spiritual development appeared in the responses to a number of different questions. In addition to describing their own connections to nature as a source of spirituality, educators also identified ways in which nature supported children's spirituality, including (1) playing in nature or engaging in nature, (2) observation and appreciation of nature, and (3) reflecting on nature to seek deeper meanings.
This research suggests that attending to the spirituality of children may help educators “protect and enhance high-quality early learning environments in secular settings.” Based on these findings, a number of recommendations for practice are offered: (1) draw on one's personal spirituality as a resource, for example, by sharing yoga and meditation practices with children, (2) prepare a beautiful and well-organized classroom environment that includes quiet spaces, (3) use a flexible schedule, (4) nurture loving relationships, (5) develop children's love for nature through indoor and outdoor interaction with plants and animals, (6) maintain a child-centered curriculum where children explore their interests, (7) emphasize moral and character development by modelling and teaching children about virtues, and (8) promote social and emotional development.
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