Michael F. Shaughnessy

Eastern New Mexico University

Portales, New Mexico

1) Ann, you have just written a book on spiritual development. What brought this about?

There were several contributory factors but the main impetus for writing it was to inform other adults – particularly other educators and parents – about a number of outstanding breakthroughs within the domains of human psychological development and effective pedagogic practice of which I had just become aware myself. Although I had taught for over 20 years in schools and had attended several inset days and many teachers’ conferences, it was only in 2005, when I began to study full-time for an MA in Religious Education at Kings College London that I first found out about them. In the module entitled RE and Psychological Understanding we were introduced to a variety of developmental stage theories and these were studied and evaluated very thoroughly in the light of my own reason, observation and experience.

Each theory is based on fairly extensive empirical research with people of all ages, the first suggesting that there are six basic schemas of moral reasoning, the second, eight stages of identity formation, the third, a clear but complex framework of conceptual development and the fourth, six stages of faith development. It was fascinating to discover that a holistic model of human development gradually began to emerge, one that appreciates the fact that there are markedly different needs, opportunities and challenges at each stage of human life – that the masculine and feminine perspectives typically complement one another – and that there is a profound and substantial goal for human aspiration.

All four theories make a valuable contribution to this model, which is founded on the concept of evolution – the idea that every human life is potentially the progressive unfolding of a spiritual journey which culminates in a fully integrated personality, holistic wisdom, happiness, self-mastery, self-realization and inner peace. The initial framework has since been further developed by including the insights of several other professional experts as well as neuro-scientific research.

2) How do you see spiritual development as different from moral or religious or ethical development?

I think that spiritual and moral development are inextricably interwoven and that as a person learns to follow their conscience, which is their spiritual intelligence, and develops their own power of reason, they increasingly realize their unique potential as well as discovering what it really means to be human. When a person attains full maturity and the highest stages of both reason and faith – they think post-conventionally, discriminating according to universal humanitarian principles and their faith is trans-religious, their community being universal in extent. They now live a life full of courage, serenity, fidelity, dignity and service.

3) What does OFSTED have to say in this regard in terms of relative importance in the scheme of things?

OFSTED suggests that spiritual and moral development are equally as important as mental, cultural and physical development but there has been no clear official guidance made available for teachers as to how they can assist their students to progress in a systematic, proactive way – one that is appropriate for them at different ages and stages of their life. There are therefore many educators who are currently unconfident and unsure as to how they can best fulfil their legislative responsibility to promote the spiritual and moral development of the pupils in their care and I am hoping that the book which I have written helps to clarify the main stages of human development as well as the value of a critical holistic approach to learning which prioritizes the pursuit of justice, reality and truth.

4) You mention the work of Basil Bernstein and his theories – how does his work fit in or overlap with yours?

To be honest, I have only recently become aware of the work of Basil Bernstein and I have yet to gain a fuller understanding of his evidently profound insights as to the general principles which underlie the transformation of knowledge into pedagogic communication or how the wording of syllabi and curriculum documentation currently places pupils from the lower economic classes at a distinct disadvantage to those from the middle or upper classes.

I completely agree with Bernstein’s statement that ‘Education can have a crucial role in creating tomorrow’s optimism in the context of today’s pessimism’ [Bernstein Pedagogy, Symbolic Control and Identity 2000 p. xix] as well as sharing his concern that every child should be provided with an education which enables them to actualize their fullest potential – for their own sake as well as for the community in which they are to live and work.

5) I understand that you are currently looking at syllabi across Great Britain. What do you hope to accomplish?

Firstly, I should make it clear that I am currently only looking at the syllabi for Religious Education – and this is primarily because the subject has the potential to promote spiritual development in a way which other subjects cannot. Surprisingly, since the 1988 Education Act and the establishment of a National Curriculum, the syllabus for RE has been decided upon at a local level throughout the UK and in addition, there is considerable diversity of opinion concerning the question of what is the most appropriate and effective pedagogical approach. Having received or downloaded a fair proportion of the syllabi my initial impression is that the RE syllabus and basic pedagogical approach can differ considerably from one region to another and once I have a better grasp of Basil Bernstein’s work than I do at present, I hope to complete a fair and objective analysis of the syllabi – one which will compare and contrast them impartially. In the event that my research clearly demonstrates that some pupils are receiving a more substantial, critical and holistic education in the subject than others are – I intend to put forward a proposal for a new core syllabus and scheme of work to ‘the powers that be’ which I hope will be accepted.

My intuition is that the spiritual dimension of students is currently undernourished and that as a direct consequence of this, the majority of people do not realize their full human potential.

6) The ancient Greeks talked about a sound mind in a sound body. What happens to children and adolescents and even adults when they do not learn about the spiritual side of things, their spiritual nature, and religion?   

I think the main consequence of a lack of a spiritual or holistic education is that people believe that all that they are is their physical body and that this belief is the cause of considerable unhappiness, agitation, anxiety and fear. To consider that every human being is a spiritual being, whatever we understand the word ‘spiritual’ to mean, immediately begins to open up the concept of who we think we are. Every young child who is loved by their parents openly displays the spontaneity, freedom and happiness of the spiritual realm – a realm in which everyone is connected – but with the formation of inner speech which occurs between the ages of three and seven years, ‘I’ – the name of our spiritual identity – begins to be increasingly identified with our physical body. The educational psychologist Lev Vygotsky described this process in some detail and although as a teacher and later as a parent I had noticed that from about the age of seven years old there is a significant change in the perspective of children, it was only when I read his work ‘Thought and Language’ that I began to really understand what occurs at this age.

My current understanding is that adolescents and adults do not generally remember what their perception, cognition or experience was like before the onset of thought and inner speech and that they therefore assume that their spiritual identity is inside their physical body, separate from other people and the world. I think that every religion suggests, although in very different ways, how individual men or women can begin to rediscover the eyes of the child within – that which does not age as their body ages – thus realizing, in experience, their spiritual essence and their true identity. Carl Jung called this process individuation, describing it as a Herculean labour which is not at all easy to achieve. I found his explanation that our spiritual identity [our Self] is the nucleus as well as the whole of the human psyche – ever present and awake within the collective unconscious realm [as distinct from the ego, which is just a small part of the human psyche, just below the level of the conscious mind and therefore to some extent observable] most helpful.

7) Here in the colonies, we are supposed to have separation of church and state. I know from some other scholars in Britain, that there is considerable overlap of religion and education. Can you enlighten our readers here in the USA?

Personally, I think it is very important to have a separation between the church and the state because I believe that the freedom to choose the religion or spiritual path which has most appeal for us as individual people is the most fundamental freedom of all. However, I also believe that as the Judaeo-Christian tradition is the spiritual foundation of Western civilization, we need to re-establish a strong connection with its main tenets if our civilization as a whole is not to crumble – primarily because spiritual values have a civilizing influence within a society, unlike material values which have the opposite effect. I think that education in any country is founded on faith – the faith that what is taught and the way that it is taught will provide every young person with the basic knowledge and skills they will need in their adult lives and that the teaching material that is used and the way in which it is presented for consideration is therefore of crucial importance. If the subject of Scripture or Religious Education is not included within the national curriculum of a country, as is the case in many parts of the world today, it may be possible for educators to present relevant and pertinent scriptural passages [from different religions and cultural traditions] in other subjects so that their students are provided with the opportunity to formally address and reflect upon at least some of the important human questions and issues which they raise. If this is not possible due to other restrictions, I think that the most essential element of a truly substantial and comprehensive education would be lacking.

Is Western education “biased” against religious or spiritual education? And is “biased” the correct word?

Yes. I am now convinced that the Western education system is biased against religious and spiritual education and that the conclusion of the neuro-psychologist Roger Sperry – published in the 1970’s – that the functions of the verbal, logical, analytical left hemisphere are prioritized whilst the functions of the nonverbal, holistic, synthetic right hemisphere are discriminated against [in that they receive little or no formal training in schools] should have been taken much more seriously. The same bias [which might I think, have been first identified by Carl Jung in the 1960’s as the intellectual denial of the existence of the vast, spiritual, collective unconscious realm of the human psyche] was also emphasized by Howard Gardner in the 1990’s, when he suggested that although there are many intelligences or talents, Western culture has put the linguistic and logico-mathematical intelligences on a pedestal, to its own detriment. More recently, an even stronger argument alongside much of the neuro-scientific research-to-date has been presented by Iain McGilchrist in The Master and his Emissary [2009 YUP]. McGilchrist suggests that the left hemisphere is the emissary – because although it is very precise and attentive to detail it is narrow in its focus, lacking belief, faith and empathy and preferring theories and mechanisms to living things. In contrast, he suggests that the right hemisphere has precedence as the unassertive and faithful master ‘in that it underwrites the knowledge that the other comes to have and is alone able to synthesize what both know into a usable whole’ [p.176].

He believes that because the left hemispheric mode of perception and cognition has been increasingly preferred to that of the right hemisphere within our culture over a period of several centuries, people living in Western nations have begun to feel dehumanized, dissatisfied and unfulfilled.

9) Graham Haydon has recently edited a book ” Faith in Education: A Tribute to Terrence Mc Laughlin”. How does your work compare/contrast with his?

I think that in many ways we are both working towards the same goal – believing that students need to be autonomous and have the freedom to think independently, in accordance with their own reason and conscience and that we are concerned about very similar issues. I would agree with his suggestion that faith schools offer a much clearer set of values than is possible in secular schools and believe that people of any age appreciate living and working together with others in an environment in which moral virtues and spiritual values are prioritized – virtues such as honesty, generosity, respect, patience and sincerity and values such as love, truth, freedom, peace and justice. I also agree with his suggestion that a secular education indoctrinates just as much as a faith education does and although I think that – as Robert Coles has described it – no human being of any age appreciates being left ‘morally rudderless’ – I personally believe that indoctrination in any shape or form is not only unprofessional but also unethical. I have therefore come to the conclusion that only a critical holistic approach would provide the very best kind of education for every child.

10) How do YOU justify spiritual education within the context of maths, reading, spelling, writing and other subjects such as music?

I think that a spirit of inquiry is fundamental to the quality of learning that takes place in any educational activity and that when a person of any age is awake and attending in the present moment, with their senses fully operative – a sense of awe and wonder quite naturally arises – whether the activity is counting, calculating mentally, reading, learning spelling rules, creative writing, drawing, painting, carrying out a scientific experiment, observing crystals growing under a microscope or investigating a particular ecosystem etc. That which is spiritual or numinous has been described as ‘something like loveliness or beauty – that which excites the divine spark in us’ and when there is a connection with the spiritual dimension of any subject or activity, learning is both satisfying and enjoyable because the person’s interest and enthusiasm has been aroused. I think that Music is a very important part of the school curriculum, providing opportunities for children to sing or play instruments together individually or in unison or in harmony and that beautiful music of any genre has a quite extraordinary capacity to uplift the state of the minds and hearts of everyone who hears it.

11) Where can interested scholars and researchers get a copy of your book? Where is it available?

In the USA, it can be ordered via Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble as well as many of the smaller independent bookstores.

12) What have I neglected to ask ?

Pope John Paul II began his encyclical letter of 1998 with the following, most thought-provoking statement – one which I have found has profoundly helped me on my own spiritual journey: ‘Faith and reason are the two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth – in a word – to know himself – so that, by knowing and loving God, men and women may also come to the fullness of truth about themselves.’ I think there is a real difficulty throughout the world today in that many people’s understanding of what the word or the name of ‘God’ is referring to is believed to be unrelated to truth, reality or themselves.