Spirituality of Finnish Religious Education Student Teachers

1
Spirituality of Finnish Religious Education
Student Teachers
Professor Kirsi Tirri Department of Practical
Theology University of Helsinki
2
Gardners theory of multiple intelligences

• Builds on a concept of an "intelligence", which
  he defines as "the ability to solve problems, or
  to create products, that are valued within one or
  more cultural settings" (Gardner, 1993, x).

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The intelligences

• (1) linguistic,
• (2) logical-mathematical,
• (3) musical,
• (4) spatial,
• (5) bodily-kinesthetic,
• (6) interpersonal,
• (7) intrapersonal
• (8) Spiritual?
• (9) Environmental? (Gardner, 1993, xi).

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Spiritual intelligence(SQ)

• Gardner (1993)
• Zohar Marshall (2000)
• SQ helps us to assess the most meaningful course
  of action
• SQ is the necessary foundation for the effective
  functioning of both IQ and EQ
• SQ is our ultimate intelligence
• Possible only for human beings

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The Data

• The data includes students in theology who wanted
  to be selected to religious education teacher
  program in the University of Helsinki (n86).
• Female n65 , male n21.
• 44 of the students (51) were selected to the
  program in May 2003
• 42 (49) were not selected

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Method

• The questionnaire consisted of 28 items that were
  operationalized from Gardner's theory to measure
  the seven intelligences.
• 20 items measured spiritual intelligence
• 16 items measured environmental intelligence
• The students used a 5-point Likert scale to
  assess their strengths in each of intelligence
  areas.

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Self-evaluation

• Self-evaluated intelligence is closely related to
  a person's self-concept (SC).
• According to leading researchers, self-concept
  has a two-factor structure general self-concept
  and academic self-concept (Shavelson et al.,
  1976).

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Religion and spirituality

• James (1902) Religion Feelings, acts and
  experiences of individual men in their solitude
  (p.32)
• Today some writers use the terms religion and
  spirituality interchangeable to add linguistic
  variety to their terminology
• Many researchers define spirituality in contrast
  to religion
• The European view emphasizes peoples search for
  meaning in relation to big existential questions
  as important part of spirituality
  (Stifoss-Hanssen 1999)

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Spirituality

• Awareness that there is something greater than
  the course of everyday events (Hay 1998)
• Events birth, death, sadness, love
• Singing, drawing, painting
• Sensitivity to religious symbols and rituals

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Categories of spiritual sensitivity (Hay 1998)

• Awareness-sensing
• Here-and-now
• Tuning
• Flow
• Focusing
• Mystery-sensing
• Wonder and awe
• Imagination
• Value-sensing
• Delight and despair
• Ultimate goodness
• Meaning

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Relationship between human and devotional
spirituality (Bradford 1995)
Human spirituality
Devotional spirituality
becomes
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The means of females and males
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Results factor analysis

• Factor 1. Environmental friendly (Alpha .87)
• -I recycle actively (.802)
• -I pay attention to my habits to protect the
  environment(.683)
• Factor 2. Community oriented (Alpha .55)
• -It is important to me to find a community to
  belong (.541)
• -I want to find a community where I can grow
  spiritually (.426)
• Factor 3. Advocate for peace and justice (Alpha
  .75)
• -Meditation and yoga practices help us to know
  ourselves (.583)
• Animal rights are important for me (.500)

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Results factor analysis

• Factor 4. Flow (Alpha .54)
• -When I concentrate on some activity with all my
  heart I might forget the things around me (.591)
• -Stories and symbols are important things for
  me (.518)
• Factor 5. Emphasis on eating and spending habits
  (Alpha .76)
• -My diet consist mainly of vegetables for health
  reasons (.882)
• -I try to spend as little as possible for
  different things (.362)
• Factor 6. Nature oriented (.81)
• -I enjoy the beauty and experiences of nature
  (-.795)
• I like to exercise in the nature (-.707)

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Results ANOVA

• There were no statistically significant
  differences in the factors measuring spiritual
  and environmental intelligences between those
  students who were selected to the religious
  education teacher program and those who were not
  selected
• The females were more community oriented (factor
  2) than the males (F7.388, plt.01)
• The females were more nature oriented (factor 6)
  than the males (F10.720, plt.01)

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Implications for teacher education

• Teacher education should acknowledge spiritual
  and environmental intelligences of student
  teachers in the curriculum
• Student teachers should be guided to nurture
  spiritual and environmental intelligences of
  their future students

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How?

• Student teachers ought to have the opportunity to
  engage in an open-ended conversation about
  religion and spirituality. This conversation
  should be positive, practical, dynamic, critical
  and free of bias
• Student teachers ought to have an opportunity to
  use both their heads and their hearts in
  examining the best and the worst of what
  spirituality and religion have to offer them in
  the process of their meaning-making