Spirituality is always associated with religion or morality. Nevertheless, we use spirituality, here, as something that is inclusive and recognizes the interrelatedness of all things.

To reach deep inside students, where true learning takes place, we teachers must teach from our most authentic selves. Students can always tell when we’re not. When classroom interactions are less than authentic, both teachers and students are to some extent merely going through the motions of formal education (Laura Jones 2005). This can create, as Parker Palmer, itinerant teacher of teachers and prolific author in spirituality and education, reminds us, a “great sadness” among all involved (1998, p. 8). Spirituality in education refers to no more—and no less—than a deep connection between student, teacher, and subject—a connection so honest, vital, and vibrant that it cannot help but be intensely relevant. Nourishment of this spark in the classroom allows it to flourish in the world, in the arenas of politics, medicine, engineering—wherever our students go after graduation.

Spirituality in education refers to transcendence and compassion within the classroom that acknowledges the interconnectedness of the scholars, the teacher, and therefore the subject. Denise Tolliver (cited in Tisdell, 2003) offered a meaning that, like an organic baker’s bun, seems comprised of the purest ingredients from the shelves. Spiritual, she noted, is that which can “raise consciousness, stimulate awareness, foster creativity, and imagination, connect us with grander issues of purpose and meaning, and facilitate connection with that which animates us” (p. 199). This divine process begins with our willingness to allow the subject and the learners to engage our hearts each time we begin the mind- and soul-expanding trek of adventure despite the limitations we are facing during this time of the pandemic.

By: Camille Rose M. Tacazon, MASE | Teacher I | Olongapo City National High School | Olongapo City