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Building a Spiritual Environment at School

Building a Spiritual Environment at School. Pat Lavercombe Education Officer Brisbane Catholic Education. A Connected Curriculum. Connecting across KLA’s with these greater concepts and values. These macro-outcomes permeate the content of individual KLA’s.

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Building a Spiritual Environment at School

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  1. Building a Spiritual Environment at School Pat Lavercombe Education Officer Brisbane Catholic Education

  2. A Connected Curriculum • Connecting across KLA’s with these greater concepts and values. • These macro-outcomes permeate the content of individual KLA’s. • Incorporate into individual KLA’s these overarching values, beliefs and outcomes. • Spirituality -Specific actions and activities to incorporate these values.

  3. Four Opportunities • 1. Your own Spirituality as Teacher and Model. • 2. The group/s with whom you interact. • 3. Whole school occasions. • 4. “Public” Occasions.

  4. 1. Your Own Spirituality • Your spirituality is the way you frame your reality: your world view- the way you look at the world. • This world view needs to be constantly nourished: do you have ways to do that? • Others know of your world view by the way you interact with them; how you react to life’s events; how you view the past and the future; how you understand the meaning & purpose of life.

  5. Everyday Spirituality • - is my gift to the world each day. • - is a frame or lens through which I view, create • and interpret my everyday reality. • - needs to be nourished by stillness, reflection, • relationships, gratitude, joy, pain, challenge and the • struggle of the journey. • - enables us to begin withthe ordinariness of • life and make it an extra-ordinary life- • journey that is wonder-ful and awe-some and • meaning-ful: even when it hurts.

  6. When I die, unless my family can say: ‘There is something of God in that person”, then I will have failed……. When we dam the blessings of our life, we become stagnant, cynical, mean-spirited. We must break the dam and let the blessings flow like a river, for the freshness is the river….. Peace is what God wants for me, no matter what is happening. The harriedness of the frantic track in life is epidemic in our society. A Frantic life is not the way of God, creator of Shabat.

  7. 2. The groups with whom you interact • My class group/s; sports & cultural teams; fellow staff; pastoral care groups. • How comfortable am I leading prayer; being spiritual; being still; being seen to have a religious view of reality? • Who knows me? Whose lives do I touch? To whom are you God present? • How can I model a religious life to these people?

  8. Start with your class group/s • Your classroom can be a special or sacred space where reflective-self directed learning takes place; where the values of the system are given special emphasis; where beliefs are constantly reinforced and highlighted in your teaching and in connections you make and in behaviours you model. In this classroom we… • Where can you build in spirituality-nurturing activities in individual KLA’s and rich tasks?

  9. 3. Whole-School occasions • When and how does the whole school see my world view; my spirituality? • Do I sit back and allow others to always be the “holy people”; the “prayer people”? • What would happen if I made a public religious statement, or revealed my values and spirituality? • Do I have a duty to model a spirituality to those students in the school for whom I am a person of influence and significance? • Do I have an obligation to support my fellow staff members in modelling a reflective side to life? • Do I suffer from false modesty syndrome?

  10. 4. Public Occasions • How can I contribute to the life-long education and conversion of the wider community (including parents) by the religious statements I make? • Do I model for these people an alternative view of reality which gives purpose, joy, hope, courage, support?

  11. Some Basic Prayer and Spirituality-Building Activities

  12. 1. Centering 1.The focus of this type of prayer is quiet, reflective, introspection. All kids need to learn to be still. It is an art to be learned, as with any sport or procedure. They won’t get it perfect the first or second or third time and should not be expected to. Start small and let them know beforehand what they will need to know/do and how long it will go for. Relaxation with music/sound/chant Breathing rhythmically, slowing down the metabolism. Mantras while breathing Systematic body visualisation and relaxation Chanting Guided meditation/visualisation Tai Chi Yoga Chanting Walking Some examples:

  13. 2. Listening and reflecting • Use of Scripture • Ignatian Prayer (What happens next) • Benedictine Prayer (Focus on word, phrase) • Augustinian Prayer (Insert self into passage) • Lucky Dip (Flipping open the Scriptures) • Sequential Reading (Reading a Gospel or Book)

  14. Listening & Reflecting (Cont’d) • Other Reading • Writings of Church Personnel (Saints to Greeley) • Other writings pertinent to theme, task or KLA • Reflections/memoirs of significant people in KLA • Inspirational Writings • (Internet- www.cyberquotations.com) • Taped Lectures, sermons etc.

  15. 3. Journaling, Writing, Doodling etc • The focus of this type of reflective prayer is allowing thoughts, prayers, aspirations etc to flow as they will.- either by hand (writing, drawing, sketching etc) or even electronically! •  Some examples: • A daily journal which serves as a means of reflecting on the day’s events. • A collection of writings, prayers, poems etc entered whenever the Spirit urges.

  16. Journaling, Writing, Doodling etc., Cont’d • An exercise such as reflections on one’s life journey and significant events in one’s life. • A sketch pad taken on walks and strolls or used when quietly sitting. • A doodle pad used when listening to music or reflecting on past or present events. • Letters to God

  17. 4. Conversations with God • Just as we communicate in different ways with different people, so too it is with God, Jesus and the Spirit. •  Examples of Formal Prayer: • Set Formal Prayers of the Church • Praying from books of prayer** • Praying using set formulas (such as prayers of petition, aspirations) • Spontaneous prayer • Conversations with God- eg about life events, or a “running conversation”. • It’s even ok to be angry with God- eg see psalms

  18. 5. Rituals as a Source of Prayer • For kids, this can be the most interactive, concrete and “freeing” aspect of prayer. The use of many different symbols and genres allows prayer to take place without words as well as providing stimulus for communal prayer and affirmation of others in the presence of God. • Rituals can centre around water, oils, candles (fire), food and all sorts of other materials. •  They can address themes of inclusion, commissioning, healing, blessing, problem solving, farewell and welcome as well as life crises.

  19. 6. Sacred and Secular Music • Singing is not the only way of praying. Reflecting on the words of hymns and other songs can lead to prayer. How often do we actually reflect on the words of hymns- they can be very powerful poetry. Following the singing on tape without joining in, listening to the words and taking in the power of the hymn is prayer and can lead to other forms of prayer and reflection. The songs can be used in the Benedictine Scripture Prayer format. • Groups can share responses to words and phrases and then pray spontaneously out of that experience.

  20. 7. Prayer Through Artistic Expression • Mime, gentle movement, dance, sculpture, construction; painting, mandalas- all are ways of enabling people to express a response, petition or opinion to God. • This form of prayer often requires some courage, freedom from inhibition and a carefree attitude to the opinions of others. As it is freeing and “of the Spirit”, people should be encouraged to “give it a go”.

  21. 8. Prayer without words • Many people give up on prayer because they “don’t know what to say”. How do we “pray for” someone who’s dying? Or pray for rain in a geographically dry region which has its own ecosystem? • There are concepts of prayer whereby we simply sit with the name or image of the person, or disaster or horror and let it lie in the consciousness.

  22. 8. Prayer without words cont’d • For some, this involves the sending of positive energy or thought or “vibes”. • For others, it is seeking a plane of consciousness in communion with others to both contribute and draw from, a sense of higher ethics, consciousness, values. • Some would call it “daydreaming…”! Holding an image of the person, event or issue in one’s hand can help.

  23. What then, Can I Do? beattentive to the voice of the spirit at work in the world. seek out wisdom and to nurture your spirituality. • listen with the “ear of your heart” in all your life experiences. • S share and express the source of your hope and • your joy. • look for opportunities to integrate the self- • reflective learner outcome into all lessons/ • modules- through values-based teaching, • rituals, prayer and reflection.

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