Spiritual, Life and Values Education for Children

This book offers various perspectives on children’s spirituality and its relation to life and values education from diverse socio-cultural and educational contexts. It brings together a collection of select research articles that were published over a period of two decades (1999-2020) in the International Journal of Children’s Spirituality (IJCS), to celebrate the journal’s 25th anniversary.

Featuring contributions by leading international scholars from U.K., U.S.A., Canada, Hong Kong, China, and Australia, this volume offers a multidisciplinary snapshot of children’s spirituality and its relation to life and values education. It highlights the importance of socio-cultural and religious traditions, as well as perspectives on religious education and the spirituality of children shaped by religious, cultural and educational systems in specific societies and contexts. Chapters cover topics including the links between mirror neurons and human empathy and education; the relationship between spirituality and citizenship; the notion of inclusive spiritual education and the perspectives of spiritual education through the conceptual lens of transcendence, raised awareness and spiritualism; how outdoor play spaces can contribute to a child’s spiritual development through enriching activities; and approaches to help nurture students’ spiritual growth in their aspects of themselves (self), others, the environment, and with a Transcendent Other (transcendence).

This volume will be a key resource for researchers and postgraduate students interested in understanding children’s spirituality and its implications for spiritual, life and values education.

John Chi-Kin Lee is Chair Professor of Curriculum and Instruction, Director of the Centre for Religious and Spirituality Education and Director of the Academy of Educational Development and Innovation at the Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK). He has served as the Changjiang Scholar Chair Professor conferred by the Ministry of Education, the People’s Republic of China. Professor Lee is also UNESCO Chair in Regional Education Development and Lifelong Learning at the EdUHK and the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization Research Fellow. He has served as the editor of the International Journal of Children’s Spirituality and executive editor of Teaching and Teacher Education as well as editorial board member or advisory editor of many local, regional and international journals. He is also a prolific writer who has edited and written more than 25 books, and published over 100 journal articles and book chapters.